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<H1>Tarot card - Moon</H1>
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<h3>Essays of Andrea Vitali: </h3><h1>Card 18: The Moon</h1></b></p><br>
<p>
THE MOON
In Charles VI Tarot <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V46L.jpg">(figure 1)</a> and in Ercole I D'Este Tarot <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V47L.jpg">(figure 2)</a> the Moon is represented as a star studied by astrologers. In Visconti Tarot pack
<a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V48L.jpg">(figure 3)</a> a young girl holds in her hand the crescent moon in accordance with a common method used for other cards, such as the Stars card in the same
pack or the same card in Bartolomeo Colleoni's Tarot. In Saint Clemente basilica in Rome, a fresco represents Saint Christopher while he's going to cross
young Jesus who's holding in his hand a full moon, and it is an example of light, as Saint Ambrogio said:" Ergo annunziavit luna misterium Christi"
("Therefore I announced you through the moon, Christ's mystery").<br>
In Cary's sheet we find a completely different image: the moon dominates with its rays a half terrestrial and half aquatic landscape. In the water
there's a crab o cancer. On the hilly ground there are two opposite buildings <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V49L.jpg">(figure 4)</a>.
Cancer is the zodiacal abode of the moon, and also an animal
that symbolizes Inconstanza (Inconstancy) as I found in Cesare Ripa's essay "Iconologia" <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V50L.jpg">(figure 5)</a>,
in which inconstancy is represented with a
"Donna che passi co' piedi sopra un Granchio grande, fatto come quello, che si dipinge nel Zodiaco; sia vestita di color torchino, e in mano tenga
la luna. Il granchio è animale, che cammina inanzi, e indietro, con eguale dispositione, come fanno quelli che essendo irresoluti, or lodono la
contemplazione, hora l'attione, hora la guerra, hora la pace... La Luna, medesimamente, è mutabilissima, per quanto ne giudicano gli occhi nostri;
pero si dice, che lo stolto si cangia come la luna, che non sta mai un'hora nel medesimo modo..." (pages. 276-277, ed. 1669). ("Woman who trample
on a great Crab, made the same as that one painted in Zodiac; she is deep blue dressed, and holds in the moon her hand. The crab is an animal, that
walks forwards and backwards with same inclination, as those who are irresolute, and love contemplation, but sometimes they do love action, or war,
or peace. In the same way the moon is very inconstant, for what our eyes can see, so one says that the fool changes as the moon, that doesn't stay in
the same way for just an hour").<br>
The two buildings standing aside under the moon disc are two lighthouses. Their presence is strictly connected to the moon by many reasons: first of all
because this star has always been a light for sailors, because of the worship of it (as you'll see later) and because of the symbolisms connected to its
designation of "Triforme" (Three Shaped). In Natale Conte's Mythology dated 1551, the author writes that the Moon was "Venerata dagli Egiziani col nome
di Iside e preposta alle tempeste e ai naviganti come attesta Luciano nel "Dialogo Zefiro e Noto" (Book III°, cap. XVIII, p. 468). ("Worshipped by
Egyptians with the name of Isis and it was assigned to storms and to sailors as Luciano affirms in his 'Dialogue between Zephyrus and Noto' "). <br>
Cartari reports an image of the goddess <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V51L.jpg" target="subframe2">(figure 6)</a> holding in her hand a little ship and defining her "Imagine d'Iside dea Egittia che è la Luna
tenuta la dea de naviganti... e che sono poi stati di quelli, li quali le hanno dato nella destra mano una navicella, con la quale volevano farsi
mostrare, che ella passò in Egitto, conciosia che quivi fosse celebrata una festa come scrive Lattanzio, dedicata alla Nave di Iside" (pages 85- 86).
("Isis Egyptian goddess image which is the Moon regarded as sailors goddess…and then they were, those who gave her in her right hand a little ship,
through it they intended to show themselves, that she passed to Egypt, for there was a feast as Lattanzio writes, dedicated to Isis' Shipping"). <br>
Pignoria, about and ancient cameo representing the goddess, he writes: "Nel cameo s'e rappresentata Iside come si vede nelle medaglie antiche di Hadriano
e di Antonino Pio;... et significa questa figura a mio giudicio il Navigio d'Iside, del quale si fa menzione nel Calendario Rustico Antico. Et nella
medaglia d'Antonino si vede un Faro di Porto che tanto piu conferma la congettura. Leggasi Apuleio nell'11" ( Lorenzo Pignoria in "Notes to Cartari's
Book of Images" in "Ancient Gods images", 1647. page 298). ("In the cameo Isis is represented in the same way as she is in ancient medals of Hadriano and
of Antonino Pio; and this figure means to me Isis' Shipping, mentioned in Ancient Rustic Calendar. And in Antonino Pio's medal we see a lighthouse that
confirms this conjecture." You can read it in Apuleio's 11th book").<br>
Really, in Apuleio's Metamorphosis the author describes the Isis Ship giving us a great representation of this ritual. The Numismatic Cabinet of Castello
Sforzesco in Milan, holds many different coins in conformity with descriptions made by Pignoria about them. They are bronze Alexander drachmas of
imperial age made coined by Antonino Pio (138 - 161). On these coins there is Isis' breast on one side and "Isis Pharia", or the goddess sailing towards
a lighthouse on a wood, on the other side <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V52L.jpg">(figure 7)</a>. This star representation in Cary sheet show two lighthouses aside and under the full Moon disc. To
explain all this, we have to remember that the Moon was considered "Three Shaped" by ancient people and that its three aspects were connected to its
three virtues. Cartari writes in his book: "E' chiamata Luna Hecate e Triforme, per le varie figure, ch'ella mostra nel corpo suo secondo che più,
o meno si trova essere discosto dal Sole, onde sono parimenti tre le virtù sue. L'una è quando comincia a mostrare il lume a' mortali,
porgendo con quello accrescimento alle cose…L'altra è quando ha già la metà di tutto il lume... La terza è nello intiero lume" (p. 80). ("She is
called Hecate and Triforme Moon, for all the shapes she shows in her body more or less it depends on the position of the sun that lights or hides it,
and three are her virtues. One is when she show the light to mortals and lighting things grow. The other is when she is half alighted. The third is
when she's full (moon)".
In the sheet are represented these three aspects of the three shaped Moon: the lighthouses that staying on the two sides of the card symbolize first
moon appearing and half moon, while the star shining above and in the middle of the card emphasizes the full moon. And more, there are the three phases:
crescent, full and waning moon, other aspects of the triple designation of the Moon whose light, in each of its phases is a lighthouse for those who are
sailing on the sea. Probably, the water that is represented in the low side of the card is connected to the moment during which the moon does not
appear for it is hidden by the sea, in accordance with ancients belief. About this Cartari writes: "Ritornando ad Apuleio - ei dice - che dormendo
li parve vedere questa Dea (la Luna) la quale con riverenda faccia usciva dal Mare - perché finsero i Poeti, che il Sole, la Luna, e tutte le altre
stelle tramontando si andassero a tuffar nel mare, e che quindi uscissero al loro primo apparire - e a poco a poco mostrò poi tutto il lucido corpo."
(page. 87).("Returning to Apuleio - he says - that by sleeping he thought he saw this Goddess (The Moon) who was rising from the sea - for poets
pretended that the Sun, the Moon and all the others stars when waning went diving in the sea and therefore that they went up when they were appearing -
who slowly showed her bright body.") <br>
Referring to the obscure Moon , to quote Saint Ambrogio, Cartari underlines once more the fickleness of the star, whose instability becomes a moral
teaching not to be imitated by men "Et acciocche questa immagine della Luna, oltre alle cose naturali, che in essa sono mostrate, ce ne insegni qualche
altra più utile alla vita umana, riguardiamo a quello, che dice il Beato Ambrogio, il quale con l'esempio di questa, il cui lume si può chiamare
ragionevolmente incerto, perche mutandosi tuttavia hor cresce, e hora scema, ci ammonisce, che fra le cose humane non è fermezza alcuna, e che tutte
col tempo si disfanno. Et per questo dicevano alcuni, che gli antichi Romani di famiglia nobile portavano ne i piedi certe Lunette, con essere con
quelle spesso ammoniti della istabilità delle cose humane, accioche non insuperbissero, ancora che fossero di molti beni copiosi, e abbondanti, perché
le ricchezze, e altre cose tanto stimate da' mortali fanno apunto, come la Luna, la quale hora è tutta luminosa, e risplendente, hora assotiglia in modo,
il lume, che di sé mostra più poco, e all'ultimo così diventa oscura, che più non vi pare essere"( pag. 91). ("Therefore this moon image in addition to
natural things shown into her, could teach us something more useful in human life, and shall look at what Beato Ambrogio, who took example
by her (the moon), whose light is almost instable, because changing now she grows, and then wanes, she warns us that there is no stability in
human things and that everything dies as time is passing by. For this reason someone said that ancient Romans of noble family used to put on
little moons on their feet, to be warned about the world unsteadiness and not to be proud even if they were rich, because richness and all the
thing that human being consider rich, behave in the same just as the moon does, now she's brilliant and shining, now she get thinner and shows
a weak light and then she becomes obscure and cannot be seen anymore").<br>
The presence of the dog in the great iconography of the goddess, underlines the relationship between the Moon and Diane as Guglielmo Choul tell us in
his " Essay on ancient roman religion" dated 1569 showing us an ancient medal dedicated to Giulia Pia "Et per mostrare anchora meglio che Diana et Luna
erano in quel tempo una medesima cosa, io ho fatto qui mettere un'altra medaglia di bronzo de la medesima Giulia nella quale è scritto Luna Lucifera"
(p. 81).("To better show that at those times the Moon and Diane were the same person, I have put here another bronze medal of the same Giulia on which
it is written Lucifer Moon"). In the image the goddess is portrayed with a dog at her feet, and she's keeping a torch high. About this torch Cartari
says that "Può l'accesa face in mano di Diana….mostrare anchora, ch'ella lucendo di notte fa la scorta a' viandanti, e perciò era chiamata quivi
Diana Scorta, e duce" (page. 78). ("For sure the lighted torch in Diane's hand still shows that she lights the road to travellers in the night for
this reason she was called guidance and leader").<br>
A beautiful image of the goddess with these attributes <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V53L.jpg">(figure 8)</a> can be found in Natale Conte's Mythology (1616 edition). The dog and other animals
that accompany her , such as deer and snakes, symbolize inseparable human instincts to subdue to get to the "Just Men City", that, to Omero, the goddess
held dearer. (J. Chevalier - A. Gheerbrant "Symbols Dictionary" 1986, volume I, page 103). <br>
The later presence of two dogs, one black and the other white, in the Moon card, such as that of Marseille Tarot <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V54L.jpg">(figure 9)</a>, has exact references
in medieval context. The two dogs or other animals become the symbol of day and night, according with a widespread concept that linked these two
colours to two different and opposite situations. As Cartari tells us, as he talks about the Moon cart dragged by two horses, he affirms that
"Di questo l'uno era negro, e l'altro bianco, come dice il Boccaccio, perché non solamente appare di notte la luna, ma si vede anche il dì" (pag. 75).
("One of this horse was black and the other one was white, as Boccaccio says, because not only at night the moon appears, but it can bee seen even
during the day"). I found another example of this kind of representation of day and night in a wonderful painting by Jacopo del Sellaio "The Triumph
of Time" <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V55L.jpg" target="subframe2">(figure 10)</a> that now is at Museo Bandini in Fiesole: the Old man sits on the sun circle on which there are numbered hours. Under him,
in correspondence with dark and light hours, there are a white and a black dog to indicate time that's passing by without stopping, in daytime as
in night time. The dog colours in the Moon card symbolize, in accordance with a typical Renaissance concept, that the star virtue is always present
even if when it does not appear, as Catari writes: "La virtù sua ha forza non solamente in Cielo, ove la chiamano Luna, ma in terra anchora, ove la
dicono Diana, e fin giù nell'Inferno, ove Hecate la dimandano, e Proserpina, perch'ella è creduta scendere nell'Inferno tutto quel tempo, che à noi
sta nascosta" (pag. 80).("Virtue has its strength not only in the Sky, where it is called Moon, but even on earth, where it is called Diana, and
even down to Hell, where it is called Hecate, and Proserpina , for she's been thought to got down there all that time during which she's been
hidden to us"). <br>
In the middle Ages and in Renaissance, but even later as we can see in iconology essays, usually human virtues were compared to animal virtues.
Saint Ambrogio in his "Hexaemeron" (VI, c. IV, 17) affirms that the dog should be model for Christians for its fidelity and gratitude it shows
to its benefactors. In the book "Archbishop, bishop of Adria, Carlo Labia's pastoral ventures" dated 1685, in "Impresa LXXX - Non valent latrare "
(Emblem LXXX - There is non need to bark") (page 906) the dog qualities such as "capacity, fidelity, pity, constancy and gratitude" are listed
as qualities that every bishop should possess to carry his pastoral duty out.<br>
A wonderful example of two dogs, one black one white, are represented in this way, can be seen at the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini.<br>
The Temple is one of the most important buildings of the Humanistic Age in Italy by architect Leon Battista Alberti commissioned by Pandolfo
Sigismondo Malatesta Lord of Rimini. This building is more similar to a pagan temple than to a Christian church, and it really seems a neo
platonic monument. Valturio declares that that the building iconographic planning was inspired by Philosophy or better "to more hidden secret
of Philosophy" that could be reached only by true experts. Really, one of the chapels deal with planets, with civilisation and Egyptian
Theology symbols. Alberti started to work in 1450 and ended ten years later after Sigismondo Malatesta was condemned by Pope Pio II Piccolomini. He
was a refined intellectual humanistic man "but since the Pope knew and shared intellectual habitat and symbolic system values which are the building
basis, and for this reason he knew well how to interpret it even "ex contrario" and gave a cruelly exact and very strong interpretation" (Antonio
Paolucci's "Il Tempio Malatestiano", 2000, pages 9 - 10).<br>
Pope Pio II defined it a pagan rituals place and a temple "of infidels demon worshippers", and he used his knowledge to manage politically.
The object of my study is the "Cell of relics" in which Piero della Francesca painted in 1451a fresco representing "Sigismondo praying Saint
Sigismondo" <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V56L.jpg" target="subframe2">(figure 11)</a>. The interesting thing here is the presence of two dogs, one black one white, on the right of the fresco, crouched and with
their muzzles towards two different and opposite directions <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V57L.jpg" target="subframe2">(figure 12)</a>. The presence of the dogs is justified by an allegory: to emphasize
Sigismondo's fidelity and gratitude towards his protector are used dogs that do possess these virtues. The dogs' colours demonstrate that Sigismondo's
fidelity is always alive, in daytime and in night time. Their muzzles looking at different directions prove that Sigismondo's devotion to Saint
Sigismondo is not only at the present, but it has always been and always will be there: in past as in the future. For what I know about this, this
is the first iconological interpretation of the presence of the two dogs in the fresco.<br>
Going ahead in this study about the Moon dogs symbolism in the Renaissance, we found that they are connected to the useless of strong excesses
born under the star. The emblem from Alciati CLXV "Inanis impetus" (Vainless strength) (page 695, 1621 edition) <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V58L.jpg">(figure 13)</a> is very expressive:
"Lunarem noctu, ut speculum, canis inspicit orbem seque videns, alium credit inesse canem et latrat: sed frustra agitur vox irrita ventis, et
peragit cursus surda Diana suos". ("At night the dog look at Moon's face as it was a mirror, and looking at it, he believes there is another dog
and barks: but his voice vainly goes in the wind and Diane goes on travelling impassive"). <br>
In Vieville Tarot there's a woman who's spinning under the Moon <a href="http://www.associazioneletarot.it/Saggi/images/V59L.jpg">(figure 14)</a>. As I said before about the Sun card in Charles VI Tarot, the Fates
myth is strictly in relationship to the Moon for it generates life. Really the Moon, as ancient people knew, influences human humours and plants
growing, influences sea tides and human births. Cartari writes that the Moon: "Per essere pianeta humido affretta il tempo tal'hora con il suo
flusso, onde ne nascono alle volte i figliuoli nel settimo mese, che è a lei sottoposto e fa quasi sempre il parto più facile". ("For it is a humid
planet, sometimes it makes the time running fast so that babies are born on the seventh month of pregnancy, and it makes birth easily"). And about
Fates, the same author affirms, quoting Varrone, that these goddesses "Sono state dette dal partorire, come a quelle ne toccasse la cura: donde
venne che i Latini ne chiamarono una Decima, l'altra Nona, perche il tempo del maturo parto, è quasi sempre a l'uno di questi duo mesi, nono, e
decimo. Ma perche chi ci nasce ha pur anco da morire, fu detta la terza delle Parche morta dalla morte, con la quale era creduta mettere fine al
vivere humano" (p. 223).<br>
("Are assigned to birth and take care about that, for this reason Latin called them Tenth and Ninth for birth time is generally at these months,
ninth and tenth. But since who has born has to die, the third Fate was called of Death, for she was believed to give death to human beings"). <br>
(In the text, wherever references to Vincenzo Cartari "Images of Ancient Gods" are not explained, I intend to refer to Venice edition of 1609). <br>
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