Vecchia Signora Card (Sibilla)

[Decan]

I post below a link towards a wonderful article on La Vecchia Signora (on Kapherus'blog about the Vera Sibilla Italiana).

https://sibillareadings.wordpress.com/2019/07/27/musings-on-la-vecchia-signora-the-old-lady/

 

 

I post the link here in the Oracle section because the section with regard to Cartomancy doesn't include the Sibilla but it would be more its "natural place" somehow.

 

The article really goes in depth and gives a practical example too. Otherwise we always learn something interesting, here that the Sibilla was derived and expanded from the Austrian Gypsy Cards (Zigeunerkarten), actually it's something I didn't know at all while I noted a few similarities between the cards for these decks.

Well, I'm a fan!

 

For this little deck I don't know other very good online resources currently, while maybe in the past there were some great resources on the internet, but websites disappear at times. Otherwise and to be fair I think that there are certainly wonderful resources in Italian language, but I don't understand Italian at all so I'm pretty limited here!

Edited July 30, 2019 by Decan

[Flaxen]

Thank you for sharing this @Decan. The Sibilla is a deck I’d like to spend more time  with. It’s proven very accurate in the past. 

[Decan]

And... I just learnt that mister Kapherus is offering a course for the Sibilla (it's for October); there were a few rumors on February about this and nothing much (no particular validation I mean), but I was waiting that (while I didn't know honestly if this would be a possible option). Good news!

[Decan]

On 8/6/2019 at 5:43 PM, Decan said:

And... I just learnt that mister Kapherus is offering a course for the Sibilla (it's for October)

I did it! 🙂

Kapherus is a good teacher, patient and all!

Each card of this little Sibilla Italiana has rich meanings and we can read it upright and reversed (or upright only, both options are traditional, it's to choose).

I will probably continue, it's one of the decks I love the most, but not that easy to be fluent with the Sibilla Italiana, for now we have learnt the basics (the meanings and how to read with a few spreads). Encouraging!

[Flaxen]

Well done @Decan! Look forward to hearing more about your explorations with this deck. 

[Decan]

4 minutes ago, Flaxen said:

Well done @Decan! Look forward to hearing more about your explorations with this deck. 

Thanks! I bought a notebook for my spreads with the Sibilla (and I'll include in it too some Grands Tableaux that I do regularly with Lenormand) to compare between what I interpret and what the future will bring at my door! Or from the news when my questions will be about current events.

I should have done this before, but it isn't too late! 🙂

[Decan]

I read somewhere that the Sibilla Originale (Il Meneghello) was revised for its very last edition (I don't have a copy of this edition, it's new); the corners are rounded and the card stock isn't shiny but matte, same back than the previous edition.

It's not bad news that the card stock isn't laminated anymore, and the same for the corners, but this doesn't necessarily mean that this matte card stock is amazing, I will wait a bit and look at a few reviews on Youtube when there will be some videos there. Matte at Meneghello could be really matte, so I'm a bit curious there...

EDIT: I finally saw a pic of a card from this new deck; it seems there is no coating at all on the paper 🥴

Edited December 20, 2019 by Decan

[bastetly]

WdF?  Meneghello's has such lovely coloration.  i would love to have it, but not if it can't be used, and not at his prices either.  WHY is it so hard to get a simple deck RIGHT??  Let's see:  nice colors, the lottery #s, the suits and #s, some keywords, and the GD cardstock!  Is it so hard for CARDMAKERS to get this right?  This subject induces cursing fm me 😄

[Decan]

On 12/22/2019 at 5:27 AM, bastetly said:

WdF?  Meneghello's has such lovely coloration.  i would love to have it, but not if it can't be used, and not at his prices either.  WHY is it so hard to get a simple deck RIGHT??  Let's see:  nice colors, the lottery #s, the suits and #s, some keywords, and the GD cardstock!  Is it so hard for CARDMAKERS to get this right?  This subject induces cursing fm me 😄

Yes! Currently the best sibilla on the market is probably Everyday Oracle by Lo Scarabeo and not an expensive deck!

I dont' have La Vera Sibilla by Masenghini but it looks good (nevertheless I'm not wild about the back...)
For the new Il Meneghello it's really too bad, I think they made an error by choosing a cardstock not really appropriate to use the cards. At least the previous edition with its shiny aspect had vibrant colors.

[katrinka]

On 12/20/2019 at 1:53 AM, Decan said:

I finally saw a pic of a card from this new deck; it seems there is no coating at all on the paper

I swiped this photo from Il Meneghello's facebook page. It's hard to tell, but I imagine you're correct - they do a lot of uncoated decks. The coloring looks very similar to their old glossy deck (I call it the Polaroid Sibilla), a watercolor wash over linework. Still no lottery numbers, though.
It would make a great special occasion deck, if that's the case. It just won't stand up to heavy use.

 

1 hour ago, Decan said:

Yes! Currently the best sibilla on the market is probably Everyday Oracle by Lo Scarabeo and not an expensive deck!

I agree. It's a nice coloration, the stock is flexible, leathery, it has the lottery numbers, and it's dirt cheap. The

backs are nothing to write home about, but they're tolerable, and who sits around staring at backs anyway? You can get a copy to wear out AND a backup for very little money.

 

1 hour ago, Decan said:

I dont' have La Vera Sibilla by Masenghini but it looks good

I used to have it. It was STIFF. Like, hurts to shuffle stiff. I riffle, and it used to dig into my thumbs like crazy, it actually made them sore if I did more than a draw or two. Kaph reviewed it a couple of years ago and said the cards would work well in bicycle spokes, lol: https://sibillareadings.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/la-vera-sibilla-deck-reviews/

1 hour ago, Decan said:

(nevertheless I'm not wild about the back...)

Me either. Sibilla is recommended to be read with reversals and those backs aren't helpful. That lady's head, black holes for eyes, floating above some quasi-mystical wheel...somebody's idea of the sibyl, I guess. It doesn't go with the card illustrations, you can tell it was done much later.  And everything solid royal blue, with tons of royal blue on the card faces, too. (And those dots...what worked for Seurat is not working here!)

I do like the box, though. It reminds me of Delft. But I passed my copy on.
It's not BAD, it's just better for someone who doesn't riffle. I don't think I'd have developed such an aversion to it if it hadn't tried to slowly amputate my thumb tips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Decan]

@katrinka the pic from Il Meneghello's facebook page is nice, nevertheless I saw another pic elsewhere from someone who bought this deck lately.

Not the same quality than the previous glossy one, but is it really an improvement? For the corners yes I think, otherwise...

 

I checked and this post is open to everyone, so I post the link just below so that you can judge:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10219967451157490&set=p.10219967451157490&type=3&theater

 

2 hours ago, katrinka said:

I used to have it. It was STIFF. Like, hurts to shuffle stiff. I riffle, and it used to dig into my thumbs like crazy, it actually made them sore if I did more than a draw or two. Kaph reviewed it a couple of years ago and said the cards would work well in bicycle spokes, lol: https://sibillareadings.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/la-vera-sibilla-deck-reviews/

Lol, good to know that, I take note!!

For the backs, yes it probably depicts a sibyl, but I thought it depicted the Statue of Liberty's face and didn't understand why they did that! Oh My! I'm all wrong as usual! 🤪

Edited December 23, 2019 by Decan

[katrinka]

57 minutes ago, Decan said:

I checked and this post is open to everyone, so I post the link just below so that you can judge:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10219967451157490&set=p.10219967451157490&type=3&theater

Oh, dear. That texture. I kind of want one now...

 

58 minutes ago, Decan said:

For the backs, yes it probably depicts a sibyl, but I thought it depicted the Statue of Liberty's face and didn't understand why they did that!

Even the Statue of Liberty would be a better fit than that 50's pulp comic-style floating head hovering over a wheel. ANY random image would. A howler monkey. Rob Schneider. Bill the Cat.
I wish the people making Sibilla decks would just find some nice antique playing card backs and use those!

Those Il Meneghello backs are OK, though.