Musings on La Vecchia Signora: The Old Lady

Today I want to explore what many Sibilla readers consider to be one of the more challenging cards in the Sibilla deck, the 2 of Spades: La Vecchia Signora. She can be tricky because of the diverse meanings she may represent in a spread. On the other hand, the 2 of Spades is one of the few cards in the suit of Spades that can be considered somewhat positive in nature, especially when supported by Clubs or Hearts.

First, The Old Lady can be a neutral significator card. In general she represents a mature woman over the age of 60 years. She is your grandmother, or elderly mother, or any aged female family member or friend. She is filled with wisdom and practical experiences and happy memories, and she offers helpful advice— unless she is surrounded by unfavorable cards. Then she can be critical and meddlesome and horribly disagreeable.

An exception is when La Vecchia Signora falls with La Nemica (The Female Enemy). Traditionally, this combination can represent the mother-in-law, with no associated negative connotations— unless of course if she is accompanied by other negative cards.

The Old Lady can show a connection to the past. She can indicate someone or something already known. For example, she will often represent an ex-wife or ex-lover. In love readings this card May reveals that the ex is still in the game.  But look closely at the accompanying cards. She can also represent a lover from the past, or even a soulmate from a past lifetime.

General Meanings

In general La Vecchia Signora represents old age or the process of growing old. In a positive sense, she represents family values and traditions, and established practices proven over time. On the other hand, her negative aspects may suggest someone or something outdated or old-fashioned and no longer thriving.  She will indicate a situation that is in decline and moving towards its natural conclusion.

The Old Lady is a card of slow change. She denotes the end of a phase or the completion of a task.  She does not foretell a death or ending, but she does show matters moving in that direction. She can also describe something old such as an old house (La Vecchia Signora + Casa) or an old car (La Vecchia Signora + Viaggio).

But be careful— the combination Viaggio + La Vecchia Signora can indicate a short trip— usually to your destination and back in just one day.  Perhaps a short visit to grandma’s house. This meaning comes from the keywords “Viaggio – Visita” on the Vecchia Signora card from the Masenghini La Vera Sibilla. These keywords can be translated as “travel – Visit.”

In my daily cards, The Old Lady will often appear to indicate that I will be running errands or taking a short trip to visit someone or something. Recently I drew Vecchia Signora with Letterato (Scholar) which correctly predicted a quick run to the library. 

The combination Vecchia Signora + Donna di Servizio is interesting if you are familiar with the Austrian Gypsy Cards (Zigeunerkarten). According to tradition, the Italian Sibilla was derived and expanded from the Gypsy cards, and these two cards were based on the women in the Gypsy Visit card. You’ll notice that the younger girl in the Visit card offers the older lady a bouquet of flowers, similar to those offered by Donna di Servizio. When the Old Lady and Woman Servant fall together, they carry the same meanings as the Visit card from the Gypsy deck: a visit, a meeting, getting together, a tête-à-tête, two influential women, etc.

La Vecchia Signora represents your life experiences. In career readings, she can represent one’s past job experience. The combination Vecchia Signora + Lettera can indicate a communication from an old lady, or an old document or book in a general reading, but in a career reading it can represent your resume or CV.

In a financial reading La Vecchia Signora represents traditional business practices, or a legacy business. She can denote a family business, often multigenerational.

La Vecchia Signora indicates a generational connection to family. She can show up in a reading to represent a female ancestor.  Morte (Death) + La Vecchia Signora  almost always represents the querent’s deceased grandmother in my readings. If the querent is older, she may represent the deceased mother. La Vecchia Signora + Morte + Disgrazia (Misfortune) will show an elderly woman passing away. If Vedovo (Widower) appears in place of Disgrazia, it means the same thing.

Health

In a health reading, The Old Lady will most often represent illnesses and diseases associated with old age. She can warn of dementia or Alzheimer’s, arthritis, osteoporosis, muscle atrophy, and general the deterioration of any health condition. As a secondary meaning, The Old Lady can represent the bones, the teeth, or any kind of calcification in the body including kidney stones, and gallstones. But when surrounded by favorable cards, she will predict a slow recovery and a long life.

Reversed

When reversed, La Vecchia Signora can be quite disagreeable. As a significator, she represents a crotchety old woman with a nasty disposition. She can be someone lost in the past, or someone with outdated ideas or antiquated methods that lead to failure.

Women suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s will appear in my readings as The Old Lady reversed. In general, the reversed Old Lady shows tensions in a situation, that left unresolved, May lead to disruption and separation.

The reversed Vecchia Signora is bad news in love or business readings. She heralds disagreements and arguments and a general lack of compatibility in any partnership. In financial readings the Old Lady reversed can indicate greed or a loss of profits due to outdated practices or equipment.

Example of La Vecchia Signora in a Reading

The following reading is a quick three-card draw pulled for a young family member looking for work. The querent asked, “Will I find a job within the next month.”

The Presente di Pietre Prezioze card in the center of the trio represents an opportunity or offer of something valuable. Clearly a job offer is coming within the next month. La Vecchia Signora suggests that the offer comes from an older woman. This reading stands out in my mind because the reversed Sacerdote seemed like an unexpected card to find ending the trio. It usually indicates trouble with the authorities, or some kind of illicit or criminal activity. Something with this offer did not seem on the up and up.

It turned out that the young man’s grandmother offered him a summer job doing maintenance work on her home and yard. The reversed Sacerdote simply showed that the old woman paid her grandson “off the books.” In other words, without claiming government taxes on the income.

Musings on Presente di Pietre Preziose/Omaggio di preziosi

The 3 di Quadri (3 of Diamonds) in La Vera Sibilla is one of my favorite cards in the deck. In the oldest surviving decks from the late 19th Century, this card is called Presente di Pietre Preziose (Present of Precious Stones), and it corresponds to the 3 of Diamonds in the playing card deck.

In the 1970s an edition of La Vera Sibilla was published by Masenghini with this card renamed as “Omaggio di Preziosi (Tribute of Precious things), and associated with the 8 di Quadri (8 of Diamonds) instead. The 3 of Diamonds in the Masenghini deck is replaced with Donna di Servizio (Servant Woman), which is associated with the 8 of Diamonds in the older traditional decks.

Interestingly despite the swap to Donna di Servizio in the Masenghini Sibilla, the 3 of Diamonds still features the keywords “Regalo-Pietre preziose (Gift/Precious Stones). So there appears to be some confusion in meaning between these two cards in the 1970s Sibilla.

Anyway, the thing I love about Presente di Pietre Preziose is that is so useful. It can represent so many diverse things. It is the card to use when you need to represent any object or personal possession, for example when reading on a lost or missing item.

In a general reading this card can denote that a gift is on the way. With Messagiere you can expect a package in the mail. Specifically, Presente di Pietre Preziose can represent a piece of jewelry. With the 5 of Hearts (Allegrezza al Cuore) it will represent an engagement ring or an engagement taking place. With the Ace of Clubs (Imeneo), it’s a wedding ring. If you work with quartz crystals and gemstones, this is the card that will represent them in a reading. In a spiritual reading, this is the card that tells me which crystals would benefit the querent.

In traditional Sibilla cartomancy some cards bear a positive influence on surrounding cards in a spread, and some will negatively affect their neighbors. In a general sense, Fiori (Clubs) tend to be dominantly positive, and Picche (Spades) tend towards negativity. But most cards are considered to be neutral and are at the mercy of these more dominant influences.  Presente di Pietre Preziose is a neutral card, although it tends to be more auspicious in financial readings, and less favorable in romantic situations.

When positively influenced, Presente di Pietre Preziose is an excellent card to find in a reading for work or money. It can represent an advantageous proposal or a lucrative offer. It brings the idea of wealth, opulence and luxury to surrounding cards. The overflowing box of jewels looks sumptuously rich.

If this card falls next to a person card, it describes that person as wealthy. Next to Casa, it describes an expensive home, and with Viaggio it represents a luxury car. But when surrounded by negative cards the offers and proposals can sour, and the luxury items can turn out to be without true value. Presente di Pietre Preziose with Falsità can represent a fake diamond ring or other glass baubles and costume jewelry. With Il Ladro,  it’s a warning of the loss or theft of something valuable.

Presente di Pietre Preziose is generally not a welcome card in a love relationship reading because it indicates a focus on material advantage rather than emotional fulfillment. When this card appears in reading about a troubled relationship, it will show a general lack of compatibility. The partners want different things, and are more focused on their own individual ambitions than on each other.

In health readings, the 3 of Diamonds will usually show a successful outcome of the prescribed treatment. Because it is predominantly a financial card, it can sometimes show out of pocket expenses or insurance issues when accompanied by unfavorable cards. In my own readings, Presente di Pietre Preziose has come to represent a very specific medical condition.

I suffer the distinct misfortune of regularly spawning kidney stones, and the 3 of Diamonds can make me shiver and sweat when it appears in my daily card draw.  I recently drew the daily combination of Presente di Pietre Preziose with Ladro (Thief) and La Nemica (the Female Enemy).  My immediate impression was that a woman would steal something of value from me, or perhaps a warning not to lose the lapiz pendant I wear on a chain around my neck, which would cause me anger and upset.

I suppose I was subconsciously blocking the true message in these cards because I did not want to contemplate the misery to come. In a matter of hours I was bent over in agony on the way to the hospital with a 4mm stone stuck in my ureter. The warning in the cards could not have been any clearer.

The cards show the stone (Presente di Pietre Preziose) being passed out of my body (Ladro) with sharp pain (La Nemica). The Female Enemy who is brandishing a blade in her left hand will often represent sharp pain in my daily cards– either physical or emotional.

When I’m trying to locate a lost item, I use the 3 of Diamonds to represent the missing object– unless it’s some kind of document which may be better represented by the card Lettera. Of course for a missing person I will use a person card, and for a missing pet I always use Bambino— I was taught that Fideltà and Falsità are never used to represent domestic pets, even though these cards include the images of a dog and a cat respectively. Naturally I also use Bambino to represent a child.

For locating missing objects I like to use the Lost Man Spread. I set my intention that the 3 of Diamonds will represent the item in question, shuffle the cards while I focus on the location of the lost object, and then spread the deck face up on the table and search the position of the 3 of Diamonds. The cards that appear next to Presente di Pietre Preziose– usually the first two or three on the left and those few directly on the right– will provide descriptions of where the item can be found.

When my nephew lost his DS game console I drew the following spread to help locate the missing toy. Presente di Pietre Preziose was surrounded by Casa and Bambino on the left, and Ammalato and Falsità on the right. Casa confirmed for me that the item was somewhere to be found inside the house. Bambino immediately suggested that baby brother had something to do with the disappearance of the gaming device.

Ammalato led us on an unsuccessful search of the three-year-old’s bedroom. Then it occurred to me that Falsità will usually represent a cupboard or enclosed storage space, and Allegrezza al Cuore suggests an area for dancing and play… THE TOY BOX in the playroom!!!

Well, we were disappointed when a thorough search of the toy box turned out to be a waste of time, but the missing game device did eventually turn up. It was found in the playroom under the baby brother’s trampoline!  In retrospect, it makes good sense. An enclosed (Falsità) bed (Ammalato) used for jumping and dance and play (Allegrezza al Cuore)! The Sibilla can represent anything in life. The trick is learning to puzzle out the correct message.

The combination of Presente di Pietre Preziose with Allegrezza al Cuore reminds me that the 3 of Diamonds can also represent natural gifts and talents. It can reveal where we shine like a precious stone. I was surprised once in a reading when the cards predicted a marriage engagement with the classic combination of Allegrezza al Cuore and Presente di Pietre Preziose. 

The client was confused because she was wholly dedicated to her career, and she had no intentions for marriage. She was not even involved in a steady relationship. It all made sense when it was revealed that the woman was a professional dancer, and the cards were highlighting her talents (Presente di Pietre Preziose) as a dancer (Allegrezza al Cuore), and predicting a fabulous opportunity on the way for a new gig and the advancement in her career.

I also love that Presente di Pietre Preziose is one of the few cards in the Quadri suit that retains its general positivity when reversed, but its influence is still considered neutral. With favorable cards, it promises slow improvement. No matter how difficult the situation appears at the moment, all will be resolved satisfactorily in time. But beware! With negative cards the reversed 3 of Diamonds may show greed and avarice. With the reversed Donna Maritata it describes the proverbial gold digger. With reversed Gran Signore, it’s the stereotypical tight-fisted cheapskate.