Ancient Minachiate Etruria

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kiama	25 Jan 2003
Yesterday I succumbed to the temptation, and purhased this very interesting deck, called the Minchiate Etruria. It's a reproduction of a 1725 Florentine Minchiate deck, and thus, has 43 'Majors': The normal Majors, minus the Popess, plus the four elements, four virues (Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence), plus the12 zodiacal signs. The Minors are the same, and the 4 of Discs has a wonderul drawing of a 18th century elephant.. ;) Does anybody else have this deck, info about it, or know of any decks like it? It's not a divinatory deck obviously, definitely a gaming deck, but I would love to know if there are any rules our there for games with this deck? Kiama

Macavity	25 Jan 2003
Yes, I've been looking at some of these non standard decks too... A modern version of the Minchiate is produced by the late Brian Williams: http://www.tarocon.com/ who produced a book associated with the deck. I am wavering between "reproduction" and modern creations on some of these decks. This has the unfortunate potential for having to purchase both perhaps? :) There's also some information on various historic decks on Tom Tadfor Little's site: http://www.telp.com/tarot/bwminchiate.htm and of course the TaroHermit stuff... Macavity

Lee	25 Jan 2003
If you're interested in Minchiate decks, then I second Macavity's suggestion to buy Brian Williams's deck/book set, because it's a nice big book with lots of juicy information and good pip card meanings. I know it's an added expense when you already have the Ancient Etruria, but I don't think you'll find any other written info about Minchiate decks. -- Lee :)

RiccardoLS	30 Jan 2003
In Lo Scarabeo we have the original text of a book written by Giordano Berti, but never published. Not even in Italian language. What a pity :( Riccardo

Jewel	30 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by RiccardoLS In Lo Scarabeo we have the original text of a book written by Giordano Berti, but never published. Not even in Italian language. What a pity :( That is a real shame. I have often wished LoScarabeo would publish books to go with the decks (such as you did with the Fey). Any chance the book could be reconsidered for publication?

Cerulean	05 Feb 2003
...have references to it on his site to his Minchiate work? I've been trying to translate his booklet with the Romanti and there are tantalizing bits and pieces...sigh...his knowledge of historical astrology and classical work seems to me link up many missing pieces for me...if I can just get the references right. By the way, his Dante references in English are right on. Mari H.

Aoife	05 Feb 2003
I bought this deck a couple of days ago. Unfortunately the Moon card is missing - I've e-mailed Lo Scarabeo in the hope they can help. It's the most beautiful deck I've ever seen - I'd love to be able to read with it.

Cerulean	05 Feb 2003
For the Minchiate Etruria by Lo Scarabeo: 40 majors 16 courts 40 minors --- 96? That is what is listed in the Lo Scarabeo site. I fished my set out of storage and keep miscounting. For discussion of the Etruria from Andy's playing cards: http://it.geocities.com/a_pollett/cards17.htm I'll try to find where 97 comes in from the Williams set and post later... Mari

Cerulean	06 Feb 2003
Thanks for posting this question, earlier Kiama...I've found what I needed in Brian Williams' Minchiate book to compare the Ancient Etruria work to an oop commerative Siena tarocchi. Brian William's Minchiate book for his deck has extremely accurate and useful designs...I had forgotten before this thread how good it is. ------------------------------------------------- I also hope what I post below is useful---similar to earlier links posted in a related discussion thread. ------------------------------------------------- I've never found a site in English that explains the Minchiate. Although, a gentleman known as Uri Raz seems to have posted scans of one of the Minchiate reprints, below. http://www.private.org.il/Minchiate/ I've only found Brian William's book in English, as part of his Minchiate set. A review follows by Tom Tadforlittle, which explains the suits a bit better: http://www.telp.com/tarot/bwminchiate.htm The Minchiate is said to be a Florentine game similar to bridge. Best wishes and happy reading __________________

Macavity	06 Feb 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Mari_Hoshizaki For discussion of the Etruria from Andy's playing cards: [link given] It's an interesting site Mari - Thanks. Rather off-topic, I note it includes some pages on cards of the Mamaluks etc. It always rather surprises me that North Africa and the Middle East didn't have more obvious influence over modern Tarot? (Except perhaps for the (hypothetical) Egyptian link?) After all, they certainly had a large input into western astrology, alchemy and the corresponding "updated" disciplins and we have plenty of (claimed) associations with Hebrew mysticism too... :) Macavity

The Ancient Minachiate Etruria thread was originally posted on 25 Jan 2003 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.