I Misteri Della Sibilla
 
This deck is not a tarot deck but is, rather, one of the many versions of "Parlour Sybil" decks that gained a lot of notoriety during the Victorian Era as a women's divination game.  Not taken totally seriously, yet not completely blown off, either, the Parlour Sybils were a sort of variation on the standard poker deck using images similar to tarot cards.  Most Sybils decks, like this one, feature 52 cards as is standard in a poker deck.
 
This deck, published by Dal Negro, features absolutely beautiful watercolor-style paintings for the images within a white border.  Underneath the image is a text box with the title of the card written in Italian, accompanied by a couple of keyword meanings for the card, and the suit/rank of the poker card to which it corresponds.  Each card is numbered three ways; aside from the poker card number, there are two different smaller numbers above the text box; I can't read Italian so I can't determine from the booklet what these numbers are for.
 
Since this isn't a tarot deck, there are no Major or Minor Arcana.  However, included in this deck are two cards which represent a sort of "significator;" one if the querent is a man, and one if the querent is a woman.  This is a direct descendant of the Etteilla tarot decks with whom these Sybils share a common ancestry.  Wherever they gain some influence from tarot, it is always from Etteilla.
 
Aside from being numbered according to the poker deck correspondences, there aren't really any suits that these cards break down into.  There are just the 52 cards.  I can't say for sure that none are valued more than any other, however, since I don't know the significance of those two sets of numbers.  They may very well be value assignments when using the deck in certain games.
 
The cards themselves are slightly wider than standard size but handle and shuffle easily due to there being only 52 cards in the deck.  The edges are polished to a smooth finish and the corners are nicely rounded.  The cardstock used is thin and flexible with a semi-gloss protective coating so they will wear well too.  The back design is simple but elegant; a crosshatched gold metallic latticework over a maroon marbled look background.  This is reversible, although I don't know if this deck uses reversals or not.  Sybils decks generally do use reversals so it's a decent guess.
 
I would say these cards are more for the collector than for anything else.  I don't know anyone who personally uses a Sybils deck to do readings with, although I do know people who collect them, especially in light of their being step-children of tarot through the Etteilla line, so to speak.  However, since this one is all in Italian, as well, it would be very difficult to actually get accustomed to using unless one were either *very* familiar with Sybils decks, or are fluent in Italian.  This deck, like all Dal Negro decks, are hard to find because of lack of sufficient distribution here in the US, but Alida has it on their website, and not too expensively, so if you like it, I'd recommend checking that out there.
 
Click here for pictures
 
or here to return
 
Please use your browser's back button to return from pictures
 
Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace
 
I Misteri Della Sibilla
published by Dal Negro, Treviso, Italy