Now, in this post, I shall discuss the trump cards of this deck.
The trump cards are a series of 22 cards. 21 of them are numbered from 1-21, and there is one unnumbered one, called the fool (or "matto") . this series is known to the fortune tellers as the "major arcana"
the picture above shows the first 5 trumps, including the fool ( numbered 0)
note the card marked "2" it bears the text "la papessa"- "the popess " this is intended to refer to pope joan, who was said to have reigned ( disguised as a man) in the middle ages. also , the card marked '5" depicts " il papa"- "The pope"
the top 5 trumps. in most games played with the deck, the 20 ("judgement") is regarded as the highest trump-
the trumps of 10-13. here you see the effect of making the cards double faced.
trump 12, "the hanged man, " is usually depicted as a man suspended by his foot from a gallows ( see below) . however, when the deck became double-faced, all that was left was his pants and legs!
the hanged man, before becoming double faced.
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