Artist: Unknown

Nice interpretation: Generosity. Philanthropy. Charity. Kindness. Gratification. Gifts. Material gain. Not-so-nice interpretation: Avarice. Selfishness. Envy. Jealousy. Bad debts. Unpaid loans.

I think I’ve posted this image upside-down, which might be bad luck. Looking closely at the card, there are three coins that have a horse and rider on them. The way I have it posted, horse and rider are upside-down. Giordano Berti proposes, in his book The History of the Tarot, that the deck was produced between 1442 and 1447, because the coins show both sides of the golden florin coined by F. M. Visconti in 1442 and withdrawn from circulation at his death, in 1447. Upside-down and right-side up are not so important in this deck as they are in modern tarots: there is no evidence it was ever used for divination. I like to assume the card was right-side up when I drew it.

I could find the fact that the deck was never used for divination as a wonderful excuse to write nothing further about the meaning of this card. The other wonderful excuse I have is that the washing machine overflowed today, spreading about ½ an inch of water through a large portion of the mildew-inclined basement. That said, I’m glad the washing machine was in the basement and not on the first floor, and I’m glad it’s winter so we can keep the wood stove cranked to help dry things out, and I’m glad it seems a relatively easy fix. Martin came home early to help me wring out the spare futon and the collection of cardboard boxes and the drywall and such. So I think the card was definitely right-side up. If it was upside-down, I’d be in a foul mood— but I’m happy.