Long before the tarot became known to the general public, in many homes in southern Italy people "read the cards" with the same deck used to play scopa or briscola. Neapolitan cards, with their suits of cups, coins, swords and batons, were for generations the tool of a domestic, popular cartomancy, passed down by word of mouth, often among women, with variations from village to village. It is a less codified tradition than the tarot, but rich in images and practical wisdom.
The deck
The Neapolitan deck consists of forty cards, divided into four suits of ten cards each. In each suit there are seven pip cards, from ace to seven, and three figures: the Knave, worth eight, the Knight, worth nine, and the King, worth ten. As we have seen when discussing the tarot, these suits descend from the playing cards that reached Italy in the late Middle Ages, and they are the same ones from which the tarot drew its minor arcana.
This kinship is important: those who know the tarot suits will find a familiar language in Neapolitan cards, and vice versa.
The value of the suits
In folk cartomancy the four suits have fairly constant symbolic spheres, although the details vary greatly from one local tradition to another.
| Suit | Traditional sphere | Tone |
|---|---|---|
| Cups | Feelings, home, affections, celebrations | Generally favourable |
| Coins | Possessions, work, concrete news, exchanges | Tied to matter, often positive |
| Swords | Disputes, worries, obstacles, decisions | Generally demanding |
| Batons | Toil, journeys, commitments, energy | Variable, tied to action |
The suit of swords is considered the most difficult in many traditions, but it should not be read as a threat: it indicates what requires attention, clarity and sometimes a necessary cut.
The figures
The three figures of each suit often take on the role of people in a reading.
- The Knave usually represents a young person, a messenger, news on its way, or a thought.
- The Knight indicates movement: an arrival, a departure, a change drawing near.
- The King represents an adult, authoritative person, or the person consulting.
In some traditions, since there is no Queen, one of the figures is used to represent a woman, according to local conventions. There is no rule valid everywhere, and it is precisely this variety that characterises folk cartomancy.
Some cards with traditional meanings
Every family and every village had its own interpretations. Some associations recur fairly often:
- the ace of cups, often read as the home, the hearth, the family;
- the ace of coins, as news or a concrete opportunity;
- the ace of swords, as a sharp decision or an event that requires strength;
- the ace of batons, as a commitment or a labour to be faced;
- the seven of cups, as a moment of joy or meeting;
- the seven of coins, as a result achieved after effort.
It must be stressed that these readings are not universal: it is more accurate to regard them as examples from a living repertoire that each reader enriches with their own experience.
How the cards are laid out
There are many ways, some very simple. One of the most widespread is the spread in rows.
- Shuffle the deck while thinking of the question and cut with the left hand, following a common custom.
- Lay the cards face up in rows of five or three.
- Look at neighbouring cards in pairs or threes, seeking combinations.
- Note the predominance of suits and the presence of figures.
- Read the whole as a story, from the first card to the last.
Neapolitan cartomancy gives great importance to combinations: two or three cards of the same value, for example three aces or three kings, were often interpreted as a strong signal.
An example reading
Someone asks how the period about to begin in their family will go. In a row of five cards come the ace of cups, the knight of coins, the four of batons, the seven of cups and the knave of swords. The reading, in a symbolic key, tells of a home environment at the centre of attention, a practical change on its way, a commitment requiring energy, a moment of shared serenity and, finally, a thought or worry to be clarified with the right words.
A tradition worth preserving
Cartomancy with Neapolitan cards is also a cultural heritage: it tells of the way whole communities gave shape to their hopes and fears with the simplest of tools. The Studio Esoterico Cornelio regards it as a tradition to be respected and known, alongside the tarot, for its concreteness and its deep bond with everyday life in the South.
In short
- Neapolitan cards number forty, in four suits, with Knave, Knight and King as figures.
- They share their origin with the tarot suits and speak the same basic language.
- Cups, coins, swords and batons indicate affections, possessions, disputes and commitments.
- Folk cartomancy varies greatly from place to place and values combinations of cards.
- It is a domestic and cultural tradition, to be known with respect and a sense of history.
