Lo Scarabeo's new Gypsy Oracle cards....

6 Haunted Days

Does anyone else have these? http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0738713066/ref=nosim/aeclectic/

They came out last month, but I'm sure earlier in Europe. I just got them in the mail and they are curious, kinda creepy, very antique looking images!

The art/style looks like it was drawn in the teens, '20's. Does anyone know, were these cards released like decades ago, then LS is not republishing them? They sure look it! There is no artist name anywhere on the box or LWB. It's gotten me very curious! In a way though it also adds to the charm and strangeness of the deck.

They're playing card sized, with a very PC style back in swirly red. The borders surrounding the image are black. The images themselves....just very old looking and some are just weird! Hard to pin down, but they certainly give off a creepyish vibe. I love it! })

There are 52 cards and they have the image with a card title on top.

The titles are:
Doctor
Despair (has a guy in 19th cen. garb holding a gun to his head!!)
Room
Waiting
Love
Lord
Money
Sighs
Child
Conversation
Scholar
Hope
Faithfulness
Constancy
Melancholy
Lover
Misfortune
Letter
Friend
Prison
Sorrow
Enemy
Reunion
Thief
Foe
Old Woman
Gift
Falseness
Widower
Soldier
Fortune
House
Surprise
Cheerfulness
Service
Frivolity
Messenger
Wife
Servant
Malady
Merchant
Death
Consolation
Pleasure-seekers
Thought
Wedding
Joyfulness
Haughtiness
Sweetheart
Young woman

And each title has a relevant image/scene. There appears to no order they should be in...no numbers etc.

They were cheap, and look quite interesting in an obscure way. Anyone else have a set?
 

Aulruna

I have the Lo Scarabeo edition from 2000. The booklet says it's a reproduction of a 19th century deck, no author is given though.
 

6 Haunted Days

Aulruna said:
I have the Lo Scarabeo edition from 2000. The booklet says it's a reproduction of a 19th century deck, no author is given though.

Ah ok, only this new edition shows up when you do a search for it. My LWB didn't even have that mention about it being a reproduction.
 

Queen of Disks

Got mine yesterday. (defineatly a repro.) I haven't used it yet, but I like them alot. What struck me is that the image on the Wedding card is the painting "The Marriage of the Virgin" by Raphael, and the image on the Hope card is "Hope" by George Frederick Watts. (Had to look that one up! I studied art history ;) )

Very nice cards!
 

SpiritOfTheDogz

Just got mine today

they look very usable and intuitive cards, can't wait to try them out

Paul
 

stella01904

I have an older LS version, like this:
http://wicce.com/zingarapix.html
The backs are a kind of light sepia-toned version of the Fortuna image.

I'm glad I got it when I did, or I'd be stuck with those black borders and multiple titles! Why does LS always end up doing that? Also, their advertising blurb may say 19th century, but look at this card:
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h...ella zingara/?action=view&current=6Picche.jpg
6 Haunted Days has dated it correctly - it was apparently published sometime between WW I and the mid- to late 20's. Nobody wore this stuff in the 19th century.

The bits in the upper left corner are playing card correspondences. P is for Picchi, Spades; Q for Quadri, Diamonds; F for Fiori, Clubs: and C for Cuori, Hearts. So 3C, Belvedere, is the three of Hearts. The numbers at the bottom by the titles are for divining winning lottery numbers - I haven't managed to get them to work for big state lotteries, but I imagine you'd have had a chance when the cards were first published and your neighborhood had a little underground lottery going on.

The SDZ is based on an older Italian Sibilla, available as the Sibilla Originale:
http://www.libroelibri.com/meneghello12.htm

Or the near-identical La Vera Sibilla:
http://www.houseoftarot.com/Sibilla/La+Vera+Sibilla+by+Masenghini.html

From what I've been told, the Sibillas are quite popular in Italy and it is not uncommon to see them for sale in grocery stores!

There are also modern versions, for those who prefer such things:
http://www.houseoftarot.com/Sibilla/I+Misteri+della+Sibilla+by+Dal+Negro.html
http://www.houseoftarot.com/Sibilla/Sibilla+'800+by+Dal+Negro.html
http://www.houseoftarot.com/Sibilla/Magica+Sibilla+by+Dal+Negro.html

Hope this helps. :D
 

SpiritOfTheDogz

I quite like the black borders, they make the pictures stand out more imho, certainly better than the light colours. I think something like navy blue would go better though, dark enough to make them stand out but not to dark as to make the whole picture look dark.

the multiple titles i must admit are a pain as are they in all their decks but I'm sure I'll get used to them with use

Paul
 

stella01904

Yes, a thin black border would have been okay. Other than that, everything should have been left intact. Those black title bars across the top, in the image itself, are particularly asinine.

Il Meneghello hasn't monkeyed with their Sibillas, though - theirs are lovely! And the card stock is near indestructable. So all is not lost. :D

ETA: OMG! I hadn't noticed before, but LS has removed the playing card correspondences from the images! ARE THEY OUTTA THEIR MINDS???!!!!!!

Get the Il Meneghello La Vera Sibilla!!!!
You can see them all here:
http://www.itarocchidigabriella.it/sibille.htm
 

SpiritOfTheDogz

stella01904 said:
LS has removed the playing card correspondences from the images! ARE THEY OUTTA THEIR MINDS???!!!!!!

Not sure while they're needed, if I wanted to read with hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds I'd use a pack of playing cards, but they have pictures and imho are meant to be used by reading the pictures.

Paul
 

stella01904

I use both. Like with Lenormand.