Tarot - The Visconti-Sforza Cards

The other day I stopped by TJMaxx to return some chinos for my son. I made a quick walk thru the store to check on favorite departments - books, cards, dishes, and shoes. I found these tarot notecards and was intriqued.

Inside, I found a brief description of the history of tarot cards. Tarot is derived from the Italian tern tarocco. Teracchi refers to a deck of 78 cards and a game played much like Bridge. These first appeared in Ferrara, Italy in the 1400's. The French used the deck for fortune-telling during the 18th century. In Britain in the 1880's, the Rosicrucian secret society the Order of the Golden Dawn adopted its use.

The Visconti-Sforza tarot deck, which appears on my notecards, is the most complete surviving hand-painted 15th century deck. It is now owned by the Morgan Library, inherited from the estate of Pierpont Morgan, who purchased them in 1911.

I had my cards read once in Des Moines by a woman who made her living doing just that. A well-known journalist in the area had consulted Dorothy with regard to a life-changing decision she had to make. This was a woman whose work and opinion I respected, so I decided to give it a go for myself.

Recently I re-listened to the tape she made of my reading done back in 2002. It was eerily accurate looking back over the last 7 years of my life. Today, when I pulled the cards from the box, the short explanation on the back of each of 4 cards in the set made me stop and think about some of the decisions I have made recently and will need to make in the future regarding my life, my family, and my work.

The first card I pulled was the Queen of Coins. This card represents opulence, security, prosperity, and well-being. Other than the opulence, it pretty much describes my life...for someone on the outside looking in.

Tomorrow I will pull another from the box and we will see which one turns over...