Sibilla decks.

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When discussing the Mitelli Tarochinno on another forum, someone introduced me to a Sibilla deck that is really quite beautiful called the "Sibilla Della Zingara". This one (and maybe all of them???) is based on a regular 52 card deck. I wonder if the meanings came first, and then the illustrated version followed? Here are a few cards from it that I find really lovely:

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The entire set can be viewed here:
http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photo ... la_Zingara

I'd really like to learn more about Sibilla decks. Does anyone else use them? Is there a good resource to learn more about them? Anyone know their history?

Re: Sibilla decks.

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Hello Roberto,

I love Sibillas. I have a couple of them. Even one by Luigi Scapini, the same artist who made the medieval tarot, among others.

All Sibillas I have seen are based on a full, 52 deck of playing cards. Some of them have poems that somehow explain the image. Some also have numbers, as lottery numbers. :-)

I find appealing the relationship between oracle decks and fairy tales, as pass times for the same kind of soirees on the 17th-18th Century. I also find interesting Sibilla’s relationship with comics. In a way, you are generating a random comics strip you then proceed to read. Some of these images depict situations or events from daily life, some others are borrow from European Folklore and symbolism.

In a way, the Sibillas seem to work the opposite way than the Lenormand deck. In the Lenormand we have a set of symbols that we need to place on a quotidian context to make the message useful, while in the Sibillas we have quotidian images that we need to understand at a symbolic level to make the message understandable.

These decks are quite fun to read!

Best,

EE
What’s honeymoon salad? Lettuce alone
Don’t look now, mayonnaise is dressing!

Re: Sibilla decks.

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I really appreciate the reply Enrique, thanks!

What you say about the Sibilla decks compared to the Lenormand decks makes a LOT of sense. There's very much a "folk" feel to these, and a sense that "anyone" could read with them. While there is a sort of mystery feel to them, the "meaning" of every card is pretty easy to sense, and stories are easy to build using the different components.

I really love these, I'm afraid that after feeling very smug about not buying many decks the past few years... I might just have to get a few of these. Any recommendations?

Re: Sibilla decks.

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Robert,

My favorite one is ‘Sibilla Originale del 1890′by Il Meneghello.

Here you have a three images as a sample: http://www.tarot-as-tarocchi.com/images/p021_1_24.jpg

I love La Leggerezza!

I have a limited, numbered, edition, and I know there are other printed versions of the same deck, which feels a little older than La ‘Sibilla dela Zingara”, which I also like a lot.

Best,

EE
What’s honeymoon salad? Lettuce alone
Don’t look now, mayonnaise is dressing!

Re: Sibilla decks.

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EnriqueEnriquez wrote:Well, Robert, thanks to this thread now I have been playing again with my Sibillas. It is amazing how clearly these cards speak! :shock:

Thanks.

EE
I'm delighted to hear that Enrique, and jealous too! I'm planning on buying myself one when I've settled in England. I've been trying to learn a bit more about Lenormand the past few days; but in the back of my mind I keep thinking "Sibilla... get the Sibilla!"

Do you tend to use them intuitively based on the image and situation? Or have you acquainted yourself with "traditional meanings"? Both?

I find the connection to playing cards very interesting. I assume after a while of using the sibilla, a regular playing card deck would "flash" the sibilla meanings.

I'd like to learn more on the history of these decks. They're fascinating, and some are also incredibly beautiful.

Re: Sibilla decks.

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le pendu wrote:Do you tend to use them intuitively based on the image and situation? Or have you acquainted yourself with "traditional meanings"? Both?
I simply see the narratives evolving. They hit you with such consistency and clarity! Now and then I would pay attention to the suits, either anchoring them with social hierarchies, classical relatonship like hearts=emotions, and things like that.

But as you place three cards in a row, BANG!

I just took three cards right now: Ladro (a Thief entering a house through a window), Falsitá (one of my favorite cards, featuring a fat cat sitting on a chair, in front of a half-open cabinet), and Giovane Fanciulla (a delicate young lady standing in a garden). The innocence of the woman, the naughtiness of the cat, and the imminent treat of the thief are so clear! You get a story in a blink.
le pendu wrote:I find the connection to playing cards very interesting. I assume after a while of using the sibilla, a regular playing card deck would "flash" the sibilla meanings.
Yes! In fact, years ago I used to read with a regular deck of playing cards (There is something amazing about the feeling of shuffling and handling a simple Bicycle or Tally Ho deck. No other deck feels that right) and what came to me were the Sibilla’s images. I could look at a card, close my eyes, and start describing a whole image which was a lot more appealing to the client. I would get, for example, the jack of Hearts, and start describing “a lover sitting below a window, serenading someone who sleeps inside the building.”

I have come to realize that I forgot these associations. :cry:

Best,

EE
What’s honeymoon salad? Lettuce alone
Don’t look now, mayonnaise is dressing!