Tarot News, March 2006
"Right at the end of Carnival"
I love the above card, a nice Justice. Andrea Vitali showed it to us, but he seems to assume, that it is a
forgery from 17th century. Nonetheless, it's a nice card.
Between the 14 Bembo cards the card Justice was a single "cardinal virtue". Actually we assume, that in this beginning time of Tarot this Justice didn't mean "common Justice" as it was generally understood, but a specific "female idea of Justice", reigning in a "city of women"
with a last word in matters of love and Minne and courting, a specific world, which had their foundation in the ideas of the poetress Christine de Pizan, who stood in close contact to the French court around 1400 and to Valentiana
Visconti and Isabella of Bavaria, both reigning women in France in this time around a weak man, Charles VI the crazy. Well, a good time for some necessary women liberation in 15th century.
Tarot has very much to do with women liberation, maybe today, too, but also in 15th century. Considering destinies like that of Beatrice de Tenda and that of Parisina, both killed (1418 and 1425) for "adultery" short before "Trionfi time", it was necessary, that something happened. And it happened:
Jeanne d'Arc,
in the time of the Trionfi cards
When we've suddenly female knights in the Cary Yale Tarocchi (likely produced in the year 1441), then this has something to do with Jeanne d'Arc (was killed 1431) and the public reaction on her appearance. The Milanese court reacted on things, which happened in France.
Well, in Savoyen playing cards were forbidden for men (1431), only allowed, when they played with women. Early Tarocchi cards were a female domain. And this phase of a female dominion on the Tarocchi game endured till the 70's of 15th century. So this specific Justice in the 14 Bembo cards meant something very well known: Justice for (and not against) women.... according to the wishes of the female commissioners.
The start of Tarot was NOT male business.
Whatever male-dominated playing card research said before ....
When the Milanese duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza in 1469 ordered to paint a Fresco with Tarocchi players,
it was projected for the rooms, where "the women took their meals".
It was NOT where the male courtiers had their gambling activities, which were mostly betting on chess and on tennis game results and usually they had other more expensive hobbies like jousting and hunting, as it was exspectable for young knights of noble descendance.
And when you've eyes, you see, that there are female drivers on the triumphal chariots of the early Trionfi cards, in Milan and in Ferrara. And the Cary-Yale Tarocchi also shows a female. No wise men, no cigans, no magician nor the gamblers made Tarot, it were young women - in our modern terms: It were the (rich) girls, who made Tarot. And they got their decks, when they married.
Huck in his didactical mood
"Perhaps they understand now ..."
We had been lazy with the Tarot News this year, focusing our energies more on real research than on talking too much.
This was not successless. So actually we have a lot of things to tell in the moment, but mostly
not the time to do so as still there are things which demand MUCH energy and cry to be finished.
But here are a few new decks, perhaps you at least get the impression, that things are not totallly dead here:
Very much articles have appeared since our last Tarot News 10 monthes ago ... too much to list them all. And actually we've much to do to finish other already collected material ... mostly we get more, before we can finish the rest of the old. Here are some points, where you could start to explore "something" ... but actually, feel sure, that you don't find all. It's too much. We asked for some help some monthes ago ... we didn't find much and not enough. In the case, you do not remember (September 2005):
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Dear Friends of Trionfi.com,
good news and bad news.
Good News: In the last 2 years we've focused to reach results in the research of the "unknown" origin of Tarot. This website was a part of this enterprise. We're now far enough to claim, that we've reached deciding new progress in the answer to the question, where and how Tarot developed.
... deciding new progress ...
Bad News: We've reached our private ends to finance the work on the website and our studies. We speak of a few 10.000's of working hours on the project, which were given by private people to reach something .... a lot of work and some private money.
We cannot proceed in this way. Offering new results for free web accesss is a nice thing, and we would wish we could go on with it.
However, we're in existential difficulties. We need some income from the website or from our research ... just to make it possible. So we're in a state of self-defense. Somehow society must pay for this "work on really good web content".
So we've different possibilities.
1. We can transfer the content of the website to a common "advertising" website. Anything on the website would look "bad", likely you know, what I mean. I hate such things.
2. Or we can turn the whole content to "closed content", where only members have access. Also a not very pleasant solution, we think it of worth, that people with not much money have access to good results.
3. We can try to publish our recent "really new results" in a book first, hoping that we get some money with it. Naturally this will lead to the condition, that our new results ... that what I call "deciding new progress ... will appear on the website "later", how much later we cannot say. Well, it's that what we try to realize in the moment ... cause we don't see another good way. It will turn the website to a second hand article ... it's a pity. But somehow we've to help ourselves, if nobody helps us.
4. We find a sponsor for the website. Well, the website exists cause of sponsorship ... we're the sponsors with our 10.000's of working hours. But that's not enough. We need now a sponsor with some money.
... we need money ...
If you're a potential sponsor and considers our enterprise as a good positive action to create a nice web, please consider, if you could do something for us. If you wish to have some small advertising for it on our website, just reminding, that you did something good in this world ... we will agree.
If you think, that producing a book with the newest results might be a good business ... book production takes money first, before it can be successful, and you're interested to participate in this business ... we also would listen to your suggestion. Actually we prefer a sponsor ... but ...
... Contact ... 
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We didn't get much help and occasionally we become a little bit sarcastic about it. Nonetheless:
A lot of the riddles of Tarot are solved
... but mankind is too lazy to adapt reality quickly. Good ... we don't care. It was always a problem in history to communicate new insights. Here are some novelties to the state of things:
- Chapter: Oldest Tarot Cards. Some new (and important) insights about the development of the Daphne motif, actually a key problem of the Tarot development. Not published cause of "missing help".
- Chapter: Imperatori cards. Some deciding insight about the existence of Tarot as a Game "before the cards existed". Not published cause of "missing help".
- Chapter: Ferrari 1441. Further material has arrived. Not published cause of "missing help"
- Chapter: Documents (1): Has found a new structure. Some material is published. Not all, cause of "missing help".
- Chapter: Documents (2): Needs to be reworked. No time, cause of "missing help".
- Chapter: 5x14-theory. Not finished, cause of missing time.
- Chapter: From 14 to 22. Great advances, the wedding deck of 1468 with 22 trumps (likely the first) is identified. French participation in the Tarot development detected. Most of it not published cause of "missing help".
- Problem of the different Tarot numerologies. Deciding new insights, not published and you know, why.
- Chapter: Boiardo Poem. Some advances, cause we got some help. ... :-) not enough, at least we got some, with thanks to Marco and Ross, who translated.
- Chapter: Mantegna Tarocchi. Greater advances in the research, greater advances in the documentary material (with thanks to Murray Mencies).
- Timeline. Needs to be apdated.
- Chapter: Locations. A greater start.
- Chapter: Biographical section. It took a (small) start.
- Chapter: Researchers. Greater advances.
- Chapter: Iconography. Anyway - a problem for later.
- Heroes Tarot. Of some importance to understand the development in the 70s, 80s and 90s in 15th century, but "not started".
- Forum. It didn't develop.
- Chapter: Museum. Found progress, it is now international and it has now about 5500 decks. Some time it was out of function cause of technical changes, still it hasn't been repaired completely. "Missing help", missing time.
- Tarot as a Game. No progress, but it looks not really as necessary to have some.
- The Name Trionfi. New material, most of it not published.
- New: Author's corner
With some satisfaction we heard the News, that after in Summer 2004 (Olympic games in Greece) we wrote our Olympic Game the Olympic Winter games recently in Turin had a Tarot ballett at the final festivity. Thanks ...
Composed by Huck Meyer
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Actual Tarot News / Tarot News Ticker
Hi,
we're on a way to reform our Tarot News concept ... this I do wrote already a longer time,
but in the meantime didn't happen much change here. Well, take it, as it is.
to present their News at this place here, immediately after they've published it.
This is technical done by "iframes"-boxes. The reporters have their own sites, on which they publish selfresponsible, and have given us the allowance to display their results here. At the end of each month I will summarize the various news.
As you see at the number of boxes, the project is at a start, and there are not many reporters. If you're interested to cooperate in a similar manner, please contact
tarocchi7 "at" yahoo.com
please exchange "at" with @
Tarot News has its focus on the development of Tarot history, but is also interested to report about important modern events, deck publication and new literature to Tarot history.
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