As I’ve mentioned on this blog, I’ve been studying the divination tradition of the Bolognese Tarot (Tarocchino Bolognese, literally the Small Tarot of Bologna) for some months now. I’ve been doing it under the direction of a traditional practitioner of this art, whom I’ve befriended and with whom a wonderful exchange of ideas has started.

I plan on introducing this form of divination in its main lines for a couple of reasons: 1) it is little known outside of Italy and it deserves some love 2) Its reading techniques are markedly different from the current approach and allow for a very concrete, down-to-earth approach 3) I want to discuss some spreads done with it in the future, and I can’t do it without introducing it first 4) it is the oldest tarot-related divination tradition that we know of, and it is therefore cool from a historical standpoint.¹

The Ugly Duckling and Its Quirks

Like the almost totality of very old decks, with a couple of exceptions (the Visconti deck is one) the Bolognese tarot is distinctively unappealing from an esthetic standpoint, largely because, like other popular pre-RWS decks, it was meant to be used by poor people as a playing deck at the local inn.

The reason it is called ‘tarocchino’ (small tarot) has to do with its reduced size, probably to enhance its handlability. However, it is not just the size of the cards that is reduced, but also the number of the cards that comprise the deck: all pip cards from Two to Five are removed, leaving only the Ace of each suit plus the cards from Six to Ten and the court cards.

Furthermore, the Pope (Hierophant), Popess (High Priestess) Empress and Emperor are absent from the deck for political reasons, as Bologna was directly under the control of the Church. Instead, the deck includes four ‘Moors‘ (the Moors were Muslim colonizers that had conquered parts of Italy.)

Finally, the Bolognese Tarot has another peculiarity, in that the Major Trumps are out of order compared to our regular system. This may sound surprising to some, but our current ordering of the trumps is a relatively recent development and has nothing mystical about it (the oldest preserved document with the order of the trumps gives a rather different sequence).

An Old Tradition

The Bolognese Tarot tradition was almost entirely confined to the city of Bologna and the surrounding areas, and was at risk of dying out, until both the card game and the divination tradition were transmitted to a larger public thanks to the power of the Internet.

Interestingly, to this tradition is connected the most ancient set of meanings handed down by old sources. The following list dates back to the pre-Napoleonic period and gives the meanings of a reduced pack of thirty five cards. I’m copying it here for its historical interest, but it does not correspond to the system I have been taught:

1. The Juggler (Magician): Married Man
2. The Lovers: Love
3. The Chariot: Journey
4. Temperance: Time
5. Strength: Violence
6. The Hermit: Old (Person)
7. The Hanged Man: Treason
8. Death (called ‘Thirteen’): Death
9. The Devil: Wrath
10. The Star: A Gift
11. The Moon: Night
12. The Sun: Day
13. The Angel (Judgement): Marriage or Agreement
14. The World: Long travel
15. The Fool: Madness
16. King of Wands: A Bachelor
17. Queen of Wands: A Prostitute
18. Knight of Wands: Something Knocking at the Door
19. Page of Wands: Thoughts of the Female Querent
20. Ace of Wands: Sexual Escapades
21. King of Cups: An Old Man
22. Queen of Cups: Married Woman
23. Knight of Cups: Reconciliation
24. Page of Cups: The Female Querent
25. Ten of Cups: The Roof of the House
26. Ace of Cups: The House
27. King of Swords: An Evil Tongue
28. Ten of Swords: Tears
29. Ace of Swords: A Letter
30. King of Coins: The Male Querent
31. Queen of Coins: The Truth
32. Knight of Coins: Thoughts of the Male Querent
33. Page of Coins: Unmarried Woman
34. Ten of Coins: Money
35. Ace of Coins: The Table

As I said, this is not the system that I’ve been taught, and it is very likely that even back then more than one system existed (usually, significant differences are found from quarter to quarter in Bologna and from small village to small village in the surrounding areas). Since this cartomantic tradition predates Etteilla’s by at least a quarter of a century, and probably more, and since Etteilla says he learned to read the tarot from an Italian card reader (though he pretends it was Alexis of Piedmont to add to the mystery), it is not to be excluded that the Bolognese tarot had some influence on him.

But this is speculation. What is clear is that tarot divination, whenever it was born, was brought into the world as a way of addressing concrete issues. This series of articles is dedicated to bringing the tarot back to these roots.

MQS

1. If you want to read more, you can start with the Wikipedia page. More Information is contained on the webside of the Associazione Le Tarot ↩︎