No. 19

Tarot 19

The old Italian tarot pictures of La Luna, The Moon, do not contain two canines and a lobster. What is in old pictures is a half-moon, and two astrologers who talk with one another. A flowery field is nearby.

In the Bolognese tarot picture are two astronomers, apparently debating beneath a moonlit sky that also features several stars. One holds a compass and globe, the other a T-square. Further, in the Minchiate of Florence, an astronomer with compass gazes upward, while sitting with a massive disk that bears the Roman numerals 1 through 12. In many cases, depicted Italian astronomers and compasses of some old decks were icons of astronomy or astrology, which calls for many calculations.

The maiden symbolises the Moon in Renaissance art. Also, an engraved 1665 deck shows Greek Diana with her hunting dogs. The Visconti-Sforza triumph cards show a modestly clothed maiden holding the Moon in her hand. And in the Tarocco Siciliano, a woman stands gesturing toward a man lying sleeping beneath a tree, a discarded club by his side. [Little; Huson 139-42]

In the Marseille decks, in the foreground there is a pool with a lobster or crab arising from the waters. The lobster is supposed to represent the astrological sign of Cancer, the Crab. In the middle distance, two dogs (or a dog and a wolf) stand howling up at the moon, which is shown both in its full and crescent form, somehow relatable to flux and reflux. In the distance, two hills are topped with towers. The Moon shines on the scene, and is in some pictures partly obscured by clouds.

An uncut sheet of cards (the Cary sheet) from Milan in the early 1500s shows a very similar design; lacking only the dogs.

The early decks signal this: recognising and calculating patterns relating to the heavens, in other terms, celestial pattern-recognition. And the moon is said to influence emotions. However, one can avoid being controlled by silly ones among them by calculations too. [Hollander 97-100]

Possible Aligment

In the present, simple arrangement of trump pictures, the luminaries come in an order that shows how much light they give. Viewed from the earth, the Sun (previous picture) is brighter than the Moon, and the Moon is brighter than the Star (next picture).