Episodi

  • 19 - Tarot Cartomancy. (part 3).

    19 - Tarot Cartomancy. (part 3).
    Jun 19 2026
    Tarot Cartomancy. (part 3). Methods and Practices. Common Spreads and Layouts. Tarot card reading often employs specific layouts, known as spreads, to position cards in relation to a querent's question, providing structured insights into various life aspects. These configurations assign distinct meanings to each card's location, facilitating a positional interpretation that reveals temporal, emotional, or relational dynamics. Common spreads vary in complexity, from simple single-card draws to more elaborate ten-card arrangements, allowing readers to adapt to the depth required for a session. The Celtic Cross spread, a ten-card layout, is one of the most widely used configurations, featuring a central cross formation overlaid by a staff of four cards. It originated in the late 19th century through influences from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an occult society that integrated tarot into esoteric practices, and was formalized by member A.E. Waite in his 1911 publication The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. The spread gained broader popularity in the 1970s amid the New Age revival, as tarot entered mainstream spiritual exploration. Positions typically include: the present situation (card 1), crossing obstacle (card 2), subconscious foundation (card 3, below), recent past (card 4, left), potential future or conscious goals (card 5, above), near future (card 6, right), querent's attitude (card 7, bottom of staff), external influences (card 8), hopes or fears (card 9), and overall outcome (card 10, top of staff). This structure offers a comprehensive view of influences surrounding a query, balancing internal and external factors. For simpler inquiries, the three-card spread provides an accessible entry point, particularly for beginners, due to its linear format and minimal cards, which reduce interpretive overwhelm while building foundational skills. Common variations include the past-present-future layout, where the first card reflects recent influences, the second the current state, and the third potential developments, offering a timeline-based overview. Another variant, body-mind-spirit, assigns positions to physical well-being (first card), mental or emotional state (second), and spiritual alignment (third), promoting holistic self-reflection. These spreads emphasize narrative flow, connecting cards sequentially to form coherent guidance without requiring advanced expertise. The Horseshoe spread, a seven-card arc-shaped layout, is favored for exploring interpersonal dynamics, such as in relationships, by mapping evolving influences in a curved progression reminiscent of a protective emblem. Positions generally cover: past influences (card 1), present circumstances (card 2), near future (card 3, about 3-4 months), the querent's attitude or key advice (card 4, center), surrounding energies or others' perceptions (card 5), hopes and fears (card 6), and probable outcome (card 7). This configuration highlights relational tensions and resolutions, with the central card often serving as a pivotal insight into personal stance amid external factors. Custom layouts allow flexibility beyond fixed spreads, accommodating daily or thematic needs. A particularly simple and popular method is the one-card draw, also known as Single Intention Tarot, which uses a single card to provide direct guidance or an answer to a specific question or intention, such as matters of love, decisions, or yes/no queries. It is valued for its speed and simplicity, offering fast insights, and is commonly performed online through virtual card selection. Readings are typically regarded as tools for entertainment and personal reflection. To perform a one-card draw: - Calm your mind with deep breaths and create a quiet space. - Clearly define your intention or question (e.g., "What should I know about my relationship?"). - Shuffle the Tarot deck while focusing on your intention. - Draw one card. - Interpret the card's meaning in relation to your question, using standard Tarot symbolism, intuition, or guides. The one-card draw can also be used for quick daily guidance, selecting a single card to represent the day's overarching theme and encouraging focused awareness on its energy throughout routine activities. For broader annual overviews, the 12 Houses spread draws one card per astrological house, arranged in a circle to forecast developments across life sectors: self and identity (house 1), finances (house 2), communication (house 3), home and family (house 4), creativity and romance (house 5), health and routines (house 6), partnerships (house 7), shared resources (house 8), travel and learning (house 9), career (house 10), community (house 11), and spirituality (house 12). This method provides a yearly panorama, integrating tarot with astrological frameworks for contextual depth. Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners. For those new to tarot seeking to read independently, the following steps offer a foundational...
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    20 min
  • 18 - Tarot Cartomancy. (part 2).

    18 - Tarot Cartomancy. (part 2).
    Jun 18 2026
    Tarot Cartomancy. (part 2). Post-1970 Global Spread. The post-1970 era marked a significant democratization of Tarot card reading, driven by the New Age movement's emphasis on personal spirituality and self-reflection, which shifted Tarot from esoteric circles to mainstream accessibility. Eden Gray's books, such as The Tarot Revealed (1960) and A Complete Guide to the Tarot (1970), played a pivotal role by presenting Tarot as a tool for psychological insight rather than strict fortune-telling, influencing a broad audience during the 1970s countercultural surge. This approach aligned with New Age ideals of holistic growth, making Tarot appealing to those seeking empowerment amid social upheavals. In the 1980s and 1990s, feminist and queer communities further adapted Tarot to reflect marginalized perspectives, fostering decks that centered women's spirituality and non-normative identities. The Daughters of the Moon Tarot (1984), created by Ffiona Morgan, exemplifies this by featuring all-female imagery and round cards symbolizing equality, drawing from goddess archetypes to support lesbian and feminist spiritual practices. Such innovations challenged traditional gender roles in Tarot iconography, promoting inclusivity and self-affirmation within women's and queer circles. The 1990s onward saw digital technologies propel Tarot's global expansion, enabling online readings and apps that transcended geographical barriers. The Labyrinthos Tarot app, launched in the mid-2010s, offers interactive learning and virtual readings, amassing millions of users by integrating gamified lessons with traditional symbolism. Concurrently, multicultural decks emerged, incorporating diverse symbols; for instance, the Sacred Roots Tarot blends Afro-Indigenous ancestral motifs with Tarot structure, while the Chinese Tarot (1993) fuses Eastern philosophy and artwork. These adaptations reflect Tarot's internationalization, appealing to global audiences seeking culturally resonant divination. Commercialization accelerated this spread, with Tarot festivals and celebrity involvement boosting visibility since the 2000s. Events like the Los Angeles Festival of Tarot (inaugurated in 2025) and earlier conventions such as TarotCon (starting in the 1990s but expanding post-2000) gather practitioners for workshops and vendor expos, fostering community and commerce. Celebrities including Jada Pinkett Smith and Beyoncé have publicly endorsed Tarot for guidance, amplifying its cultural cachet. The global Tarot cards market, valued at approximately $1.3 billion in 2023, underscores this growth, projected to rise with increasing digital and inclusive offerings. The Tarot Deck. Structure of Major and Minor Arcana. The standard Tarot deck consists of 78 cards, divided into the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. This structure, while rooted in 15th-century Italian playing cards, was formalized for occult purposes in the 19th century. The Major Arcana comprises 22 cards, often referred to as trumps, numbered from 0 to 21. The sequence begins with The Fool (0), symbolizing the start of a journey, and culminates with The World (21), representing completion. These cards depict archetypal figures and concepts, such as The Magician, The Lovers, and Death, and were originally added as special trumps to the Italian tarocchi game's suits in the 1440s. The term "Major Arcana" was coined by French occultist Éliphas Lévi in his 1856 work Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, emphasizing their significance in esoteric traditions. The Minor Arcana includes 56 cards, organized into four suits, each containing 14 cards: numbered cards from Ace to 10, plus four court cards (Page, Knight, Queen, and King). The suits are Wands (or Batons), Cups, Swords, and Pentacles (or Coins), derived from the Latin-suited playing cards of 15th-century Italy. In occult interpretations, these suits correspond to the classical elements: Wands to fire (creativity and action), Cups to water (emotions and intuition), Swords to air (intellect and conflict), and Pentacles to earth (materiality and stability). This elemental association was elaborated in early 20th-century esoteric texts, such as P.D. Ouspensky's The Symbolism of the Tarot (1913), which linked the suits to elemental spirits like salamanders for fire. Historically, the Tarot deck evolved from the tarocchi packs of northern Italy in the 1440s, used primarily for card games without a fixed divinatory sequence. By the 19th century, occultists like Lévi standardized the numbering and arcana divisions, integrating Kabbalistic and astrological influences to create a cohesive esoteric framework. This shift marked the transition from gaming to symbolic divination. In Tarot readings, the Major Arcana cards address overarching life themes and spiritual lessons, while the Minor Arcana provide insights into daily events and practical matters.[46] This distinction allows readers to balance profound ...
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    14 min
  • 17 - Tarot Cartomancy. (part 1).

    17 - Tarot Cartomancy. (part 1).
    Jun 18 2026
    Tarot Cartomancy. (part 1). Tarot card reading. Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy, or divination using cards, in which a practitioner interprets a deck of 78 illustrated cards to provide insights into a querent's past, present, future, or personal circumstances. The practice draws on the symbolic meanings of the cards, often arranged in specific layouts known as spreads, to facilitate self-reflection, guidance, or prediction of events, with ethical guidelines often advising against readings that seek information about third parties without their consent. While rooted in esoteric traditions, it is also employed for psychological exploration and therapeutic purposes, helping individuals process emotions and motivations without relying on supernatural claims. The Tarot deck originated in 15th-century northern Italy as a playing card game called tarocchi, with the earliest known decks dating to the 1440s in cities like Milan and Ferrara. These early decks were commissioned by wealthy families, such as the Visconti-Sforza, and featured hand-painted artwork by artists like Bonifacio Bembo, emphasizing themes from classical mythology, virtues, and cosmology. The association with fortune-telling emerged much later, in the late 18th century, when French occultists like Antoine Court de Gébelin proposed mystical origins linking the cards to ancient Egyptian wisdom, though historical evidence supports only the gaming roots. By the 19th century, Tarot had become integrated into Western esotericism, influencing movements like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and inspiring modern decks such as the Rider-Waite-Smith, which standardized symbolic imagery for divinatory use. Structurally, the Tarot consists of two main divisions: the Major Arcana, 22 cards representing archetypal life themes and spiritual lessons (e.g., The Fool symbolizing new beginnings, The Hanged Man representing surrender and new perspectives, Temperance embodying balance and moderation, The World signifying fulfillment and completion, or The Tower denoting upheaval), and the Minor Arcana, 56 cards divided into four suits—Wands (fire, creativity), Cups (water, emotions), Swords (air, intellect), and Pentacles (earth, material matters)—each containing numbered cards from Ace to 10 and four court cards (Page, Knight, Queen, King); for instance, in the Swords suit, the 9 of Swords symbolizing anxiety and despair, the King of Swords representing intellectual authority and logic, and in the Pentacles suit, the 9 of Pentacles signifying self-sufficiency and abundance. In a reading, the querent typically shuffles the deck while focusing on a question, after which the reader lays out cards in spreads ranging from simple one-card draws to more complex spreads like the Celtic Cross (10 cards) to interpret their upright or reversed positions relative to the query. Interpretations blend card symbolism, numerology, astrology, and intuition, with psychological explanations attributing efficacy to phenomena like the Barnum effect, where vague statements feel personally applicable. In contemporary contexts, Tarot reading spans entertainment, spirituality, and therapy, with decks adapted for diverse cultural and social applications, including social justice and personal development. Studies highlight its role in fostering self-awareness, as practitioners use it to externalize inner conflicts and gain perspective, supported by its multi-sensory engagement through visuals and narrative. Despite skepticism from scientific communities regarding predictive accuracy, its enduring popularity underscores its value as a reflective tool rather than a literal oracle. Origins and History. Early Associations with Divination. The origins of cartomancy trace back to the introduction of playing cards to Europe, which derived from Mamluk decks originating in the Islamic world of Egypt and Syria during the 13th and 14th centuries. These early cards featured suits such as cups, coins, swords, and polo sticks, as evidenced by a preserved 15th-century deck in the Topkapi Sarayi Museum in Istanbul. Traders and sailors brought these cards to European ports, particularly in Italy and Spain, around the 1370s, where they were adapted with local suits like batons replacing polo sticks. Initially used exclusively for gaming, these cards laid the groundwork for later divinatory practices by providing a medium for chance-based interpretation. The first documented associations between cards and divination emerged in late 15th-century Europe, amid growing moral and religious opposition. Sermons in German-speaking regions during the 1480s explicitly condemned the use of cards for fortune-telling, portraying such predictions as sinful inventions linked to gambling and superstition. These prohibitions, including early bans in Switzerland from 1377 that extended to predictive uses, reflected broader ecclesiastical concerns over cards as tools for glimpsing the ...
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    16 min
  • 16 - Tarot card reading. (part 2).

    16 - Tarot card reading. (part 2).
    Jun 18 2026
    Tarot card reading. (part 2). Waite and Crowley. The Rider–Waite–Smith deck, released in 1909, was the first complete cartomantic tarot deck other than those derived from Etteilla's Egyptian tarot. (Oswald Wirth's 1889 deck had only depicted the major arcana.) The deck, designed by Arthur Edward Waite, was executed by Pamela Colman Smith, a fellow Golden Dawn member, and was the first tarot deck to feature complete scenes for each of the 36 suit cards between 2 and 10 since the Sola Busca tarot of the 15th century, with certain designs likely based in part on a number of photographs of them held by the British Museum. The deck followed the Golden Dawn in its choice of suit names and in swapping the order of the trumps of Justice and Strength, but essentially preserved the traditional designations of the court cards. The deck was followed by the release of The Key to the Tarot, also by Waite, in 1910. The Thoth deck, first released as part of Aleister Crowley's The Book of Thoth in 1944, represent a somewhat different evolution of the original Golden Dawn designs. The deck, executed by Lady Frieda Harris as a series of paintings between 1938 and 1942, owes much to Crowley's development of Thelema in the years following the dissolution of the Hermetic Order. While the deck follows Golden Dawn teachings with respect to the zodiacal associations of the major arcana and the associations of the minor arcana with the various astrological decans, it also:- reverted to the traditional Marseille numbering of Justice and Strength as arcana 8 and 11, respectively (though it retained the swapped associations with respect to the Hebrew alphabet). - swapped the Hebrew alphabet associations of the fourth and seventeenth arcana (The Emperor and The Star, respectively), in accordance with Crowley's Liber Legis of 1913. - renamed several of the major arcana. - renamed the suits of Batons and Coins to Wands and Disks (the latter instead of the Golden Dawn's "Pentacles"), and, - adopted the Golden Dawn's court cards, except that the Knight was not renamed. While Crowley managed to print a partial test run of the standalone deck using seven color plates included in The Book of Thoth, it was not until the 1960s, after Crowley and Harris's deaths, that the deck was first printed in its entirety. Tarot divination in the United States. Two of the earliest publications on tarot in the English language were published in the United States, including a book by Madame Camille Le Normand entitled Fortune-Telling by Cards; or, Cartomancy Made Easy, published in 1872, and an anonymous American essay on the tarot published in The Platonist in 1885 entitled "The Taro". The latter essay is implied by Decker and Dummett to have been written by an individual with a connection to the occult order known as the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor. While it is not clear to what extent the Hermetic Brotherhood used tarot cards in its practices, it influenced later occult societies such as Elbert Benjamine's Church of Light, which had tarot practices (and an accompanying deck) of its own. Adoption of the esoteric tarot practices of the Golden Dawn in the United States was driven in part by the American occultist Paul Foster Case, whose 1920 book An Introduction to the Study of the Tarot made use of the Rider–Waite–Smith deck and assorted esoteric associations first adopted by the Golden Dawn. By the 1930s, however, Case had formed his own occult order, the Builders of the Adytum, and began to promote the Revised New Art Tarot,[m] by Manly P. Hall with art by J. Augustus Knapp, as well as Case's own deck. Executed by Jessie Burns Parke, the artwork of Case's deck, the B.O.T.A. Tarot, generally resembles that of the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, but the deck also shows influences from Oswald Wirth and the original design of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn tarot. Case promoted the deck in his 1947 book The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages, which also marked one of the first references to the work of Carl Jung by a tarotist. Esoteric use of the Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot was also promoted in the works of Eden Gray, whose three books on the tarot made extensive use of the deck. Gray's books were adopted by members of the 1960s counter-culture as standard reference works on divinatory use of tarot cards, and her 1970 book A Complete Guide to the Tarot was the first work to use the metaphor of the "Fool's Journey" to explain the meanings of the major arcana. Tarot divination since 1970. The work of Eden Gray and others in the 1960s led to an explosion of popularity in tarot card reading beginning in 1969. Stuart R. Kaplan's U.S. Games Systems, which had been founded in 1968 to import copies of the Swiss 1JJ Tarot, was well positioned to take advantage of this explosion and reissued the then out-of-print Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot in 1970, which has not gone out of print since. Tarot card reading quickly became...
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    12 min
  • 15 - Tarot card reading. (part 1).

    15 - Tarot card reading. (part 1).
    Jun 17 2026
    Tarot card reading. (part 1). Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy whereby practitioners use tarot cards to purportedly gain insight into the past, present or future. The process typically begins with formulation of a question, followed by drawing and interpreting cards to uncover meaning. A traditional tarot deck consists of 78 cards, which can be split into two groups, the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. French-suited playing cards (Marseille tarot) can also be used; as can any card system with suits assigned to identifiable elements (e.g., air, earth, fire, water). History. The first written references to tarot packs occurred between 1440 and 1450 in northern Italy, for example in Milan and Ferrara, when additional cards with allegorical illustrations were added to the common four-suit pack. These new packs were called carte da trionfi, triumph packs, and the additional cards were simply known as trionfi, which became "trumps" in English. One of the earliest references to tarot triumphs appears around c. 1450–1470 mentioned by a Dominican preacher in a sermon condemning dice, playing cards and 'triumphs'. References to the tarot as a social plague or as exempt from the bans that affected other games continued throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, but there are no indications that the cards were used for anything but games. As philosopher and tarot historian Michael Dummett noted, "it was only in the 1780s, when the practice of fortune-telling with regular playing cards had been well established for at least two decades, that anyone began to use the tarot pack for cartomancy." Claims by the early French occultists that tarot cards had esoteric links to ancient Egypt, the Kabbalah, Indic Tantra, or the I Ching have been frequently repeated by authors on card divination. However, scholarly research reveals that there is no evidence of any significant use of tarot cards for divination until the late 18th century as it was believed to be invented in Italy in the early 15th century. In fact, historians have described western views of the Tarot pack as "the subject of the most successful propaganda campaign ever launched... An entire false history and false interpretation of the Tarot pack was concocted by the occultists; and it is all but universally believed". The belief in the divinatory meaning of the cards is closely associated to the notion of their occult properties, a view commonly held in early modern Europe propagated by prominent Protestant Christian clerics and Freemasons. From its uptake as an instrument of divination in 18th-century France, the cards went on to be used in hermeneutic, magical, mystical, semiotic, and psychological practices. It was used by Romani people while telling fortunes, as a Jungian psychological apparatus for tapping into "absolute knowledge in the unconscious", a tool for archetypal analysis, and even for facilitating the Jungian process of individuation. Court de Gébelin. Many involved in occult and divinatory practices attempt to trace the tarot to ancient Egypt, divine hermetic wisdom, and the mysteries of Isis. The first was Antoine Court de Gébelin, a French clergyman, who wrote that after seeing a group of women playing cards he had the idea that tarot was not merely a game of cards but was in fact of ancient Egyptian origin, of mystical Qabalistic import, and of deep divine significance. Court de Gébelin published a dissertation on the origins of the symbolism in the tarot in volume VIII of the work Le Monde primitif in 1781. He believed that the tarot represented ancient Egyptian Theology, including Isis, Osiris, and Typhon. For example, he thought the card he knew as the Papesse and known in occult circles today as the High Priestess represented Isis. He also related four tarot cards to the four Christian Cardinal virtues: Temperance, Justice, Strength and Prudence. He related The Tower to a Greek fable about avarice. Although the ancient Egyptian language had not yet been deciphered, Court de Gébelin asserted the name "Tarot" came from the Egyptian words Tar, 'path' or 'road', and the word Ro, Ros, or Rog, meaning 'king' or 'royal', and that the word literally translated to 'the Royal Road of Life'. Subsequent research by Egyptologists found nothing in the Egyptian language to support Court de Gébelin's etymologies. Despite this lack of any evidence, the belief that the tarot cards are linked to the Egyptian Book of Thoth continues to the present day. The actual source of the occult tarot can be traced to two articles in volume eight, one written by Court de Gébelin and one written by M. le C. de M.***, who has been identified as Major General Louis-Raphaël-Lucrèce de Fayolle, Comte de Mellet. This second essay is "considerably more impressive" than de Gébelin's, albeit "as full of assertions with no basis in truth", and has been even more influential than Court de Gébelin's. The author makes no acknowledgement of ...
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    18 min
  • 14 - Tarocco Piemontese. (part 2).

    14 - Tarocco Piemontese. (part 2).
    Jun 17 2026
    Tarocco Piemontese. (part 2). Gameplay. Basic Rules. The Tarocco Piemontese deck is primarily used for trick-taking games in northern Italy, with the most common being Scarto, a game for three individual players (no partnerships). Other variants exist for four players in fixed partnerships, such as regional games in the Piedmont valleys. Play generally proceeds anticlockwise, starting with the player to the dealer's right. The full 78-card deck is used, consisting of 22 trumps numbered from 0 (Matto, or Fool) to 21, and four suits (batons, cups, coins, swords) of 14 cards each (10 pips plus king, queen, knight, and jack). In Scarto and most Piemontese games, the trump hierarchy ranks the Angel (20) highest, followed by the World (21), then 19 down to 1, with the Matto as a special card. In Scarto, the dealer shuffles and deals packets of five cards to each player three times, giving each 25 cards. The remaining three cards form the scarto (discard pile), placed face down; the dealer also discards three cards from their hand face down onto the scarto (avoiding high-value cards like 5-point honors or the Fool where possible). The objective is to capture the most card points over one or more deals, with the player having the lowest cumulative score losing (traditionally paying for drinks or a stake). There are no declarations or bonuses beyond card points and the scarto. Trick-taking follows standard rules: the leader plays any card, and subsequent players must follow suit if possible; if unable, they must trump if able, otherwise play any card. The highest card of the led suit wins unless trumped, in which case the highest trump wins (with 20 > 21 > 19 > ... > 1). The Matto can be played at any time as an excuse, without following suit or trumping; it does not win the trick but is returned to the player's won tricks pile. The winner of each trick leads the next, and all 25 tricks per player are played (though the scarto is added to the dealer’s tricks if they win the last trick or per variant rules). At the end of the deal, card points are tallied using the nominal system: kings and trumps 1 & 20 score 5 points each; queens and the Fool score 4; knights 3; jacks 2; all other cards (including trumps 2–19 except 20) score 1. The total raw points approximate 91 (exact varies by method); points are counted in batches of three cards from each player's won tricks (last batch may have 1–2 cards), subtracting 2 points per full batch of three, with adjustments for incomplete batches (e.g., +1 then -2 for Fool's 2-card batch). Each player's effective score is their adjusted points minus 26 (or half the total divided by 3). The scarto cards are typically added to the dealer's score. Multiple deals continue until a player reaches a loss threshold. Four-player partnership variants adjust dealing (e.g., 18–19 cards each with a small talon) and scoring to team totals, often aiming for over half the card points (around 45–57 depending on variant). Strategies and Variants. Effective strategies in Tarocco Piemontese games focus on controlling tricks with high trumps, particularly preserving the Angel (20) and World (21) to capture honors and pips while forcing opponents to use lower trumps early. In individual play like Scarto, players balance aggressive leading of suits they are long in to draw trumps versus saving them for key moments. The Matto is valuable for evading unwanted tricks containing low points or avoiding ruffs. Timing is crucial, as over-trumping can deplete resources needed later. In partnership variants, signaling via card plays or gestures conveys information about trump length or voids, such as leading specific low trumps to indicate holdings in high trumps (15–21). Declarations of combinations (buon gioco), like sequences of trumps or matings (king-queen pairs), may be allowed for bonus points in some 4-player games, declared before play. The pozzetto (dealer's discard) encourages the dealer to win at least one trick to claim those points. Risk assessment weighs trumping for immediate gains against developing suits for length wins. The Piedicavallo variant, played in Piedmontese valleys, uses a 62-card deck (removing low pips: 1–4 swords/batons, 7–10 cups/coins), emphasizing trump play due to shorter suits. It is for four partnerships, with 15 cards each plus dealer's 17 (discarding 2), targeting 57+ points from 114 total, including vola bonus for all tricks. Signaling is explicit with words and gestures, and the Matto acts as a permanent excuse. Three-player adaptations like basic Scarto dominate, but 4-player versions vary regionally, such as in Turin-Milan areas with full deck, adjusted hierarchies, or declaration values. These preserve core mechanics while fitting local preferences. Cultural and Symbolic Aspects. Role in Piedmontese Culture. Tarocco Piemontese has long served as a cornerstone of social interaction in Piedmontese society, particularly in ...
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    11 min
  • 13 - Tarocco Piemontese. (part 1).

    13 - Tarocco Piemontese. (part 1).
    Jun 17 2026
    Tarocco Piemontese. (part 1). The Tarocco Piemontese, also known as the Piedmontese Tarot, is a 78-card tarot deck originating from the Piedmont region of northern Italy, featuring Italian-suited minor arcana and 22 trumps with distinctive iconography, primarily used for traditional tarot card games rather than divination. This deck evolved in the early 19th century in Turin, building on earlier 18th-century influences from French tarot styles, such as the Tarot de Marseille, which Piedmontese cardmakers gradually adapted by incorporating local Italian elements and eliminating French inscriptions by the mid-19th century. The structure consists of four suits—cups, swords, coins, and batons—each with 14 cards (ace through 10, plus king, queen, knight, and jack), alongside the 22 trumps consisting of 21 numbered cards (I to XXI) and the unnumbered Fool (Il Matto), all featuring Italian titles and Arabic numerals on the trumps for gameplay clarity. Key features include single- or double-ended designs, with the latter becoming standard in the late 19th century for easier play; notable artistic elements encompass hand-colored woodcuts, regional motifs like the Phrygian-capped Il Matto (Fool) with a butterfly and knapsack, and manufacturer marks on the ace of coins, such as those from historic Turin producers like Giovanni Rossi (18th century) or Alessandro Viassone (1875). By the 20th century, the Tarocco Piemontese emerged as Italy's sole surviving 78-card tarot pattern for games, produced by firms like Modiano and Dal Negro, and it remains popular in northern Italy and emigrant communities abroad. Overview. Description. The Tarocco Piemontese is a 78-card tarot deck originating from the Piedmont region of Italy, primarily employed in the trick-taking card game Tarocchi Piemontese. This deck serves as the most prevalent tarot playing set in northern Italy, emphasizing practical gameplay over divinatory purposes in its traditional form. Its structure adheres to the classic tarot format, comprising 22 trumps (arcani maggiori)—21 numbered from I to XXI plus the unnumbered Fool (matto)—and 56 suit cards (arcani minori) organized into four Italian suits: batons (bastoni), cups (coppe), swords (spade), and coins (denari). Each suit includes 14 ranks: ace through 10, followed by knave, knight, queen, and king. Distinguishing it from other tarot decks, the Tarocco Piemontese represents a regional Italian variant closely aligned with the Tarot de Marseille tradition but featuring unique artistic elements, such as intricate single- or double-ended illustrations on the trumps and courts, without the esoteric alterations seen in later occult adaptations. Traditional versions prioritize functional, non-mystical designs suited to card play. The name "Tarocco" stems from the Italian tarocchi, a term for the 78-card decks used in 15th-century European trick-taking games, with uncertain deeper origins possibly linked to slang for "fool" or game replies. Significance. Tarocco Piemontese serves as a preserved regional variant of tarocchi games, embodying a distinct folk tradition that traces its roots to the 16th century in Piedmont, Italy, where it evolved independently from broader European tarot influences. This deck, first documented in printed form around 1760 by Giuseppe Lando in Turin, represents one of the longest unbroken lineages of Italian tarot styles, blending elements of the Tarot de Marseille with unique local adaptations such as the Fool's butterfly emblem and regional suit designs. As a cornerstone of Piedmontese card-making, centered in areas like Turin and the Sesia Valley, it highlights the Duchy of Savoy's historical role in fostering specialized playing card production until Italy's unification in 1860. The deck's significance extends deeply into Piedmontese folk culture, where it has long facilitated social gatherings and reinforced community ties, particularly in rural settings during the 19th and 20th centuries. Commonly played in traditional osterias known as piòle—historic taverns that served as post-work social hubs—Tarocco Piemontese games often unfolded over extended sessions on Sundays, involving diverse groups from merchants to locals, and were regulated to curb excessive gambling while preserving their recreational essence. In family and village contexts, such as evening veglie in homes or bars across valleys like that of Piedicavallo, the game transcends mere entertainment, acting as a vessel for intergenerational transmission of customs and fostering bonds of friendship and shared identity. Local associations, including Pro Loco groups, continue to organize tournaments, underscoring its enduring role in rural Piedmontese life. In contrast to the esoteric or divinatory legacies of French-influenced tarots, Tarocco Piemontese emphasizes practical gaming within its native Italian context, originating as a sophisticated Renaissance-era card game among ...
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    16 min
  • 12 - Swiss Tarot. (part 2).

    12 - Swiss Tarot. (part 2).
    Jun 17 2026
    Swiss Tarot. (part 2). Distinctive Features. Iconographic Variations. Swiss Tarot decks exhibit notable iconographic variations rooted in regional adaptations of the broader Tarot de Marseille tradition, particularly through the incorporation of pagan elements that diverge from Christian symbolism prevalent in many European tarot patterns. In place of the traditional Papess (II) and Pope (V) figures, Swiss decks feature the Roman deities Juno and Jupiter, depicted as regal, enthroned gods in classical attire—Juno often shown with a peacock or scepter, and Jupiter with thunderbolts or an eagle—reflecting a secular shift influenced by anti-clerical sentiments in Protestant regions following the Reformation. This substitution, originating in the Besançon pattern from which Swiss Tarot derives in the late 17th century, underscores a deliberate move toward mythological rather than ecclesiastical imagery, aligning with post-Reformation trends toward de-Christianization in popular art and games in Protestant areas of Europe. The artistic style of Swiss Tarot remains closely tied to its Marseille heritage, characterized by simplified, bold color palettes in primary hues—reds, blues, and golds—applied to flat, two-dimensional figures with minimal shading and sparse backgrounds that emphasize symbolic clarity over narrative depth. Unlike the more illustrative Rider-Waite deck, which incorporates detailed scenes and esoteric embellishments, Swiss Tarot maintains a stark, woodcut-inspired aesthetic with unadorned pip cards and trump figures in period costumes, prioritizing functionality for gameplay while evoking 19th-century folk art traditions. Specific trump imagery in Swiss Tarot adheres to traditional motifs with French titles printed on the trump cards. The Fool (unnumbered or XXI), for instance, portrays a jester-like wanderer in motley attire adorned with bells, carrying a bindle and accompanied by a snapping dog, symbolizing naive adventure and folly in a manner consistent with early Marseille depictions. Similarly, the Death card (XIII) shows a skeletal figure wielding a scythe amid falling bodies or a barren landscape, representing inevitable transformation through its grim, unembellished reaper iconography. Unlike later occult tarot interpretations, Swiss Tarot lacks modern esoteric overlays such as astrological glyphs, Kabbalistic trees, or alchemical symbols, preserving a purely pictorial tradition focused on moral and allegorical themes derived from medieval trionfi without 19th-century hermetic additions. This absence reinforces the deck's historical role as a game tool rather than a divinatory or mystical instrument, maintaining iconographic purity in its reproductions. Design and Printing Characteristics. Swiss Tarot decks, exemplified by the 1JJ variant, employ traditional Roman numeral indexing on the trump cards, utilizing additive notation such as IIII for 4 and VIIII for 9 in certain instances, without any Arabic numeral alternatives to preserve historical authenticity.[6] This numbering system extends to the minor arcana pips, where inconsistencies appear, such as VIIII for the nine of cups while other suits use IX, reflecting the deck's roots in early European printing conventions. The court cards in Swiss Tarot are single-sided and lack corner indices or reversible designs, which supports gameplay functionality in games like Troccas and Troggu by requiring players to fully reveal each card's orientation and suit. Face cards are not vertically symmetrical, adhering to classic Marseille-style layouts that prioritize illustrative detail over modern convenience features. Early editions of Swiss Tarot were produced using woodblock printing techniques, with designs carved into wood and colored via stenciling or block overlays in limited hues like red, blue, green, yellow, and brown on a black base. Over time, production evolved to lithographic methods in the 19th century for more consistent reproduction, while contemporary versions utilize offset printing to maintain the hand-drawn, woodcut aesthetics of originals dating back to around 1830. Standard Swiss Tarot decks consist of 78 cards with proportions approximately 60mm by 110mm, though slight variations occur across publishers like AGMüller. Some modern editions feature bilingual labels in German and French to accommodate Switzerland's linguistic diversity, alongside traditional French titles on the majors and suits. Usage and Gameplay. Troccas. Troccas is a trick-taking card game played with the full 78-card Swiss Tarot deck, typically for four players in two fixed partnerships, though variants exist for three players. The deck, comprising 21 trumps (numbered I to XXI), the Fool, and four suits (cups, coins, swords, and batons) of 14 cards each, enables the game's structure by providing powerful trumps and an excuse card in the Fool. All cards are dealt in packets—usually in three rounds of six, ...
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