Lorredan wrote:Well little bits at a time as I peruse the deck.
Firstly, the Bateleur and the Fool are both minus one shoe/boot,and brings to mind the Lingua Franca of the Italian word shoe- Scarpa(polari to take to ones feet and run off) or the French word Sabot which is the basis for sabotage. Also back in biblical times the antiquity of the symbolism of the shoe or boot in connection with luck and marriage, when the plucking off of a shoe denoted the confirmation of a contract redemption or change of ownership. Neither Fool or Bateleur is slave or freeman, they walk between both worlds it seems. We also have some left over from this symbolism as we tie old shoes on the back of cars after a marriage- who has lost their freedom I ask?
Great stuff. I never even noticed the two without shoes! It seems pretty clear to me that in Mitelli's mind, the two were very connected:
Lorredan wrote:The Strength card is reminiscent of Mantegna's card with the broken pillar. I like the Traitor card.
How I love the carefree attitude of the Fool. There is such lightness in the drawing. I am not sure I agree with the lack of Her Popeness as a negative to a deck in popularity- I reckon maybe she was a he in the main. It is interesting that the 16 cards that have not been used are like what we do for 500 now when playing (removing 4's down). It is like a whole suit is missing in an odd way.
The Traitor is shocking, probably even to those of us who already have an understanding of Le Pendu as "The Traitor". I can't think of any other tarot card that shows such a graphic depiction.
Concerning the Popess, well.. I think you know I've wondered for years now about the origin and possible connection to a male pope, so it "makes sense" to me to see two popes in this deck. I guess I'm biased from too many discussions on other forums where it usually feels that the Popess and Empress are looked on with a positive and loving view and the Pope and Emperor are seen as dogmatic and patriarchal. To lose the popular female aspect and double the masculine seems a recipe for poor sales to me!
Regarding a "missing suit".. that's a very interesting observation that would never occur to me. Hmmmm.
Lorredan wrote:The Devil is elegant is he not? Except for his tattered wings. I have something tickling at the back of mind about the trident he carries and the sea serpent he stands upon. It will come to me as I look at the images some more.
The devil is amazingly beautiful, probably the most handsome devil I have ever seen in a tarot, even with his taloned feet.
I wonder if that is an eye on his wing. I'm increasingly convinced that the Tarot de Marseille devil had eyes on his wings.
Lorredan wrote:I like the partial pictorial pips too again reminiscent of the Medieval Scapini- Scarpini seems to have used many of Mitelli's devices especially for the coins.
I guess I am an Italianophile rather than a follower of the French fashion per Tarot de Marseille.
Oh I remember now about the trident...
The trident was traditionally a tool of war, and the three prongs were Change, Conflict and Creation, sort of in opposition to the Trinity in Christianity; In addition, according to symbols the trident, in the hands of Neptune/Poseidon, was used to strike the ground to cause tidal waves and earthquakes.
I think of Shiva when I think of the trident, and that makes me think of an aspect of the devil as well, at least as the Destroyer. I love Shiva, and find a connection with him to gods of ecstasy like Dionysus as well, who I think also can be traced to our horned fellow above.