The Vera Sibilla (or Sibilla della Zingara) inherits its suit system from the playing card tradition. This is nothing extraordinary in itself. The Lenormand oracle also follows this system, but in a different way.
Coming from the German/Austrian Spiel der Hoffnung, Lenormand cards are assigned their value according to the meanings that the four suits have in the German tradition, where Spades are, on average, better than Clubs. Plus, I have never been able to see much numerology behind Lenormand. Other card systems, such as the Gypsy cards, the Biedermeier Aufschlagkarten and the Kipper cards, do not employ suit correspondences.
As I have said before, and as other Sibilla experts confirm, the Vera Sibilla is a result of the application of the same archetypes as those of the Gypsy cards to the Italian system of reading playing cards (every country has its own variations, probably). Even then, the Sibilla evolved into its own system, so the suit correspondences are not just like those of playing cards. We’ll see why.
The first, most obvious distinction is between red suits and black suits. In the Vera Sibilla, the back suits, i.e. Spades and Clubs, tend to be more active and dominating. Their influence on the spread, in other words, is often stronger, and they tend to influence red cards rather than being influenced by them. This is a rule of thumb, however, and there might be exceptions.
Within the first binary distinction we find the fourfold division of the four suits*. Here, the most glaring pattern that you will find is that Spades cards are all somewhat negative, or at least difficult neutral cards. On the other hand, Hearts are almost all positive, or at least neutral to positive. However, Hearts are red, which means that the presence of negative cards can easily turn a positive Heart card into a negative omen, while Spades tend to be very dominating cards.
If you examine Spades and Hearts side by side, as I’ve done in the numerology series, you will notice that each Heart card is the direct opposite of the Spade card with the same number. Thus, Hearts and Spades symbolize the basic polarity of good and bad that exists in everyday life.
In the middle, we find the other two suits: Diamonds and Clubs. Whereas Spades are black and negative, Clubs are black and positive (with the exception of the Ten of Clubs, which is neutral). Clubs therefore have a strong -mostly- positive influence, while Spades have a strong -mostly- negative one.
Diamonds, finally, are red, which means that they are easily influenced, but they are more of a mixed bag, compared to Hearts: they are mostly neutral, with some very negative cards, some problematic ones and some mildly positive ones. Diamonds and Clubs move within the good-bad polarity that is established by the suits of Hearts and Spades.
HEARTS
It doesn’t take a revolutionary philosopher to realize that Hearts deal mostly with emotions. They are a relatively straightforward suit, showing the many facets of our more intimate relationships. Curiously, the Six of Hearts is called Money, and is the significator card for, well, money.
However, since one of its major meanings is the past (all sixes have to do with the concept of time), I suspect that whoever drew the card was going for the image of a safe to symbolize the idea, and then they decided they could attach the archetype of money to this card.
Be it as it may, even when the Six of Hearts means money, it often shows that emotions and finances are entwined in the situation (as opposed to other money cards such as the Handmaid or the Surprise).
All the other Heart cards have obvious connections with the inner world of emotions their outer manifestation as personal relationships. If we had to associate the suit of Hearts to a planet, it would obviously be Venus, the smaller benefic, ruler of love, emotions, art and beauty, all stuff that goes under the suit of Hearts.
CLUBS
In traditional playing cards, the suit of Clubs is connected to work, toil, the countryside, study and learning. It is not particularly positive, as it is black and conveys ideas of struggle, labor and the need for discipline. It’s not bad, but it’s not a suit of free success.
In the Sibilla, however, the Suit of Clubs is mostly about good luck, opportunities and money. No card in the suit depicts the idea of toil, although some of the cards convey it when reversed. Most of them are connected with chances and opportunities, and also with social relationships. They also showcase the notion of objective production (as opposed to the inner realm of the Hearts), recognition, advancement.
The two best cards in the deck, the Peacock and Fortune, are part of this suit. The only mixed card in the deck is the Ten, Levity, which still conveys the idea of chance, randomness etc. but in a more neutral way, with possible negative undertones depending on the situation.
If we were to associate the suit of Clubs with a planet, it would probably be a tie between Jupiter and the Sun. Jupiter is the greater benefic, ruler of luck, protection, religion and dolce vita, all concepts we find in the suit. The Sun is the planet of royalty, recognition and greatness.
DIAMONDS
Unlike in playing cards, where Diamonds are mostly about money, here the Sibilla seems to want to convey the idea of “everyday happenings”. As Sibilla expert Etienne Valancourt pointed out, the suit of Diamonds is the suit of seeds and impulses, of news, of happenings in general.
It is not a positive suit, though it’s not as negative as the suit of Spades. It shows how our experience of the human condition can lead us to very dark places as well as to very bright ones. If we were to associate this suit with a planet, it would be Mercury, a neutral, shapeshifting influence that can be positive or negative, heralds news and new phases, rules communication, writing and commerce.
SPADES
The Suit of Spades is the one no one wants in their spreads, unless they are waiting for an old lady to kick the bucket so they can get their hands on her money. Every major unpleasant aspect of life is covered here, from death to malady, from tears to loss, from violence to imprisonment, from disasters to desperation.
While the suit of Hearts has an expansive, easy feeling about, the Spades separate, hurt, scar (sometimes for life). At a deeper level, it might be said that the Spades represent the tough lessons we learn from life, or the lessons we learn from pain.
A child truly learns that knives cut only by grabbing one the wrong way (Spades), even though her mother would rather he learned by simply listening to her love-filled advice (Hearts). If we had to associate the Spades to a planet, it would be a tie with Mars and Saturn, the two malefics. Mars rules conflict, war, surgery and struggle, while Saturn rules death, decay, limitation, poverty, depression.
* Some versions of the Vera Sibilla, unfortunately, do not have suit icons, and use a somewhat confusing system of letters. C stands for Cuori, i.e. Hearts (thus, 3C is the Three of Hearts); F stands for Fiori, Clubs (3F = Three of Clubs); Q stands for Quadri or Diamonds (3Q = Three of Diamonds); P stands for Picche or Spades (3P = Three of Spades).
