Fiorenza Tarot Booklet

Fiorenza Tarot

BY LONDA R. MARKS

ALCHEMIST PUBLISHING LLC ©2010 LONDA MARKS

FIORENZA TAROT® Designed By Londa Marks ©Copyright 2010 Published By Alchemist Publishing, LLC. Publishing Date: January 01, 2010 ISBN-13- 978-0-9819532-7-4 ISNB-10-0-9819532-7-1 Written & Designed By Londa Marks Credits & References: Wikipedia Artwork By Fabio Borbottoni (1820-1891) From a series of 120 oil paintings.

Introduction Londa is a best selling tarot author and illustrator having been published by Lord of the Rings and A&E History Channel publisher U.S. Games Systems, Inc., and Alchemist PublishingTM, LLC. Londa has created Londa Tarot, Crow’s Magick Tarot, The Alchemist Tarot®, The Alchemist’s Spell Tarot®, Medici Tarot® and Fiorenza Tarot®.

Londa is known for her unique original characters, dramatic design and brilliant coloration. During 2009 she became immersed in historic studies of Florence, Italy and the Renaissance period. All of which have greatly influenced her writing, product designs, illustrations and paintings. Her Magickally Enchanted® luxury products line has been inspired by Florence, Italy and the Renaissance period.

When you purchase from Alchemist Publishing,TM LLC., Londa Marks’ publishing house, you receive a completely artisan-crafted tarot deck from start to finish; giclee tarot cards designed and or illustrated by Londa Marks are suitably printed for fine art galleries and museums. Giclee is the next best thing to the actual painting. Colors are rich and detail is abundant and the giclee prints are archival quality. This makes for a purely magickal product delivered directly from the artist’s environment. Vibrations from the creator Londa Marks and her artisan son who lovingly finishes and prepares his mothers creations are evident beginning when you open the packaging they are sent in. Art and tarot collectors and those who prefer to purchase the finest magickal instruments will find this a sublime way to add to their inventory of magickal devices and oracles.

Alchemist Publishing also prints a standard tarot deck, high gloss coated for daily use. Moreover, acquiring your tarot decks directly from the artist allows for a purely magickal tarot reading when using her tarot decks. After all, clients want pure magick when having a tarot reading from someone who uses a tarot deck for them. Isn’t that what tarot readers want when they do tarot readings?

Isn’t pure magick, accurate spiritual guidance and answers what you want when you purchase a tarot deck or tarot reading? Of course. That’s the point of getting a tarot reading; to have unearthly and spiritually guided insight.

Artists who create tarot cards channel from otherworldly realms. And each tarot deck chosen by the artist to create is chosen because they deeply connect with that particular body of spirits. The other side to that is, possibly the artist doesn’t choose the work but the spirit of the work chooses the artist.

Londa Marks’ love of Florence, Italy was stirred throughout history classes while growing up and attending St. Mary’s Catholic school as the nuns discussed and taught about Brunelleschi’s Duomo and other architectural wonders in Italy. Italian Art History, painting and drawing in art colleges that Londa attended fused her soul to Firenze, Italy and can be seen throughout all of her work.

On January 1, 2009, the birthday of Lorenzo de` Medici, Il Magnifico, 560 years earlier, began a deeply spiritual connection to Firenze and Medici for Londa. Lorenzo, the patron of artists during the Renaissance, one of the most brilliant artists that ever lived, became Londa’s spiritual patron and artistic guide. During 2009 Medici Tarot was created. And, now Fiorenza Tarot®. The profound calling to develop the Medici Tarot® is outlined in Medici Tarot®. Londa, once again, incorporates the magick of Firenze into a magickal instrument.

With Lorenzo’s position in Florence during

the Renaissance his focus was as leader yet he breathed much of his artistic soul into and through his chosen prodigies - except for his own poetry.

With each work of a Renaissance artist we also see a bit of Lorenzo’s soul. After completing the Medici Tarot®, Londa found a need to keep building tarot cards and related products based upon what she was deriving from her studies and findings of Florence, Italy. Thus, the Fiorenza Tarot® was an appealing additional tribute.

Artist Fabio Borbottoni Scenes from life or a desired life, can be found on tarot cards. As well they generally contain encrypted messages and directions all sent through the supranatural.

Artists are influenced by many things during their life. These influences can be called: a muse.

Florence, Italy is Londa Marks’ muse as it was Fabio Borbottoni’s. All art work, designs, writing and product development that she does is deeply embedded with bits of Florence’s soul and her love for its magickal world of art.

Fabio Borbottoni lived from 1820-1902. He was an accountant for the railway and part time painter in Florence, Italy. Scene excerpts from his paintings are shown in the Fiorenza Tarot® deck and were painted by Fabio before Florence was changed and prepared for its brief position as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy in 1865. Florence still held much of its medieval feel and look when

he painted the village.

Fiorenza Tarot® Fiorenza Tarot® is a tribute to Florence, Italy.

It is a collection of art by Fabio Borbottoni and card designs by Londa Marks which depicts the beautiful city not only visually but poetically.

Deep, rich, earthy colors kissed by the Tuscan sun and long shadows that seem to not want to leave the alluring medieval village allows one to feel the coziness Florence offers; the type of secure feeling that one yearns for when hugged by someone they love.

Spirits of Florence linger within the stone hallways, alley ways, piazzas and alluring paths of the village’s fortified labyrinths. Not ghosts, but intellectual souls cling to the village refusing to leave their nurturing womb where their artistic products were born and released.

Each Renaissance artists’ thoughts and notions were shaped and defined by another artist or patron. Businessmen and bankers designed their approaches artistically and ritualistically. Cosimo de` Medici said, “Money, like mysticism thrives on rituals.” Magick was incorporated into every step of their way and it still shows today.

Even those who are not artists flock to Florence, beguiled by the mysteries it holds; drawn to the

invisible heartbeat still wanting to explode again like it did in the Golden Age of the Renaissance.

And, there is a need to understand the mind of high intellect that historic artists possessed.

Subtleties in Tarot Reading To be a good tarot reader you must be attuned to subtleties. To be a great tarot reader you must be attuned to the universe. Ironically, this requires a humble nature; one that’s acquired only after years of diligent study and application.

Fiorenza TarotÂŽ contains subtleties that you will begin to feel at home with once you study each card and understand its value. These are images that closely convey what Florence looked like during the Renaissance period. Shortly after these paintings were painted began the transitional point in time from old world medieval to a newer medieval world, all the while Florence clinging to its medieval history and roots.

Old world Florence remains and the spirits of the Renaissance will never die or be torn down no matter how modernized Florence becomes. The Renaissance artists were sent to earth to cultivate a kind of magick that only those who are open to it and ready for it will completely understand.

This will last for many more years to come because not only does Florence cherish its history but much of the world does.

As you use the Fiorenza Tarot® deck you may connect with Renaissance spirits who recognize you as a special entity capable of understanding humanity and its needs. And, in turn you may be given the keys to some of Florence’s magick; that which opens the doors to not only information that will help you do a high quality tarot reading but also provide you with answers to your own daily questions.

Fiorenza Tarot® Cards Divinations In deciphering the Fiorenza Tarot® divinations take into consideration that though they may have historic descriptions of the art on some cards, all divinations are metaphors for answers to questions in a reading. Londa Marks has carefully selected a section of each painting with the idea in mind that it be descriptive of the card’s purpose and its divination. Once you understand and apply these principles you will begin to see a tarot reading unfold with depth and value. Though the cards may appear to have simplistic art and nature, they are deeply meaningful.

The cards are meant to be used in upright and reverse, thus you will find reverse divinations. Even though there are reverse divinations, the connotation of the word reverse may connote negatives which may be true in some cases but not always.

Further, if a reverse divination does appear nega-

tive or as a warning, there are always ways to turn it around. And, the fact is that the reason you may be getting a reverse reading for a particular card is because you need to turn a situation around to a positive.

0-Il CANCELLO [The Gate] Upright Card Divination: Gates to paradise from a place lost in time yet still giving its gifts are opening and beckoning exploration. History may repeat itself but will also be mixed with new perspectives. Prepare to embark upon a strong path that will offer feelings of security as well as freedom - especially when you go through the gate. Reverse Divination: Resistance to change will prevent new opportunities that could otherwise enrich one’s life.

I -FIORENZA MAGIA [Fiorenza Magick] Upright Card Divination: The Magick of Florence Italy stems back to the Renaissance in Fiorenza Tarot®. With that in mind, you are being asked to consider the magick of art, the power of magick and the art of magick and power. Cosimo de` Medici said, “Art and Magick call to each other.”

Reverse Divination: Without creative approaches the capacity to win respect remains dormant.

II-ALTA SACERDOTESSA [High Priestess] Upright Card Divination: She walks through time and it becomes her future. A personality reveals

that a foundation built long ago proves to make her influential and authoritative, as everything she has experienced has made her who she is today.

Alta Sacerdotessa [High Priestess] embodies her past series of events and, will withstand any test placed upon the power she holds. Thus, the independent one, like the columns in the ancient cathedral, is integral in keeping a monumental structure standing. Reverse Divination: Foundational aspects should be addressed and reinforced.

III-POTENTE DONNA [Powerful Woman] Upright Card Divination: During the Renaissance social status of a wealthy family could be improved through arranged marriages. An example is: Piero de` Medici’s wife Lucrezia Tornabuoni who made arrangements with Maddalena Orsini, wife of Lord of Monterotondo and Bracciano, for their daughter Clarice Orsini, then of Rome, to marry their son Lorenzo de` Medici. Through this marriage, Clarice became the mother of nine children. One of them was Pope Leo X, another was Pope Clement VII. Clarice died at the age of 34.

Reverse Divination: Marriage, not for love, but for money can create a void in the female. Time lost cannot be replaced.

IV-POTENTE UOMO [ Powerful Man] Upright Card Divination: The art of being an emperor, de facto or not, was employed in Renaissance Florence. Medici were astral in how they com-

manded to be respected like that of royalty. To be a powerful man requires not only egos from a higher level than the material world but the ability to know how to harness it. Savvy diplomacy and the bank behind them were a combination for pure power. Reverse Divination: Without a humble persona a powerful person is akin to fire trying to burn during pouring rain.

V-PAPA [Pope] Upright Card Divination: Santa Maria Novella was completed in 1470. Dominican monks preached in the Piazza Santa Maria Novella, one of the largest piazzas in Firenze’s historical centro (center). Major events, tournaments and feasts have been held there since the late Middle Ages. Monk’s maintain an ancient herbal and medicinal plant laboratory to supply their farmacia (pharmacy) which is located next to SantaMaria Novella. Organic measures are best to heal. Reverse Divination: Out of sync with body, mind and spirit.

VI-AMORE [Love] Upright Card Divination: Like chakras on a body, straightly aligned, six windows are shown in the pyramidal structure.

Arising from an earthly point to a heavenly point the windows appear open, except for the largest window at the bottom, nearest to the earth. A red door is closed. Standing alone and yet in between two walls the pyramid structure watches a couple leave it’s grasp. The road is bright and the couple

strongly holds onto each other. Reverse Divination: A red window appears closed.

VII-NAVE [Vessel] Upright Card Divination: The Arno River, an important waterway in Italy; the largest river in the region carries two travelers traveling through time and upstream towards a dam. To the left is a point of docking. Reverse Divination: With an irregular flow rate the Arno can switch gears from smooth to torrential and dry to near- flooding within 48 hours.

VIII-PERSISTENZA [Persistence] Upright Card Divination: The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) was first built in Roman times (10th century), when the via Cassia, an important Roman road the Etruria traversed, crossed the river here. Roman piers were built of stone, the superstructure of wood.

The first document containing anything about The Ponte Vecchio first appears in a document of the year 996. Destroyed by a flood in 1117 reconstruction was in stone but swept away again in 1333.

Two of its central piers were left. It was rebuilt in 1345. Reverse Divination: World War II brought another fear of demolition when the Germans destroyed other important bridges but spared The Ponte Vecchio. Before leaving Florence, the Germans blew up all the medieval bridges except the Ponte Vecchio. The bridge across the Arno where Dante first saw Beatrice, the Ponte Santa Trinita, was crushed into a pile of stones.

IX-INDEPENDENTI [Independent] Upright Card Divination: A gated wall protects entry to a lone watchtower. Shrubs soften the gateway providing privacy but the windows in the watchtower allow the insiders to keep an eye on who may be approaching. As two people gaze up at the watchtower there are 9 openings that someone could be looking out of. No one knows which one may be the viewing window, or do they? Reverse Divination: Protection may be an illusion.

X-PROFITTI [Profits] Upright Card Divination: Early in the morning, before anyone else arrives to the market square a Florentine Merchant pulls up his two-wheeled cart to the opened doorway; the first spot that customers will approach after entering. While awaiting his daily purchasers he counts his products for sale and makes sure he has enough inventory to fill all of the orders he anticipates. Reverse Divination: Being truly hungry for a goal gives one a cutting edge.

XI-GIUSTIZIA [Justice] Upright Card Divination: In the Piazza Santa Trinita, named after the church of Santa Trinita, is an ancient Roman column known as the Column of Justice, also thought to be a statue of a pilgrim. It is believe that the statue is actually St. Alexis from the fifth century.

He abandoned a wealthy lifestyle to live and die as a beggar. In turn he was given honor of canon-

ization. Reverse Divination: Justice always has two sides. The choices made based on analysis is not always the right choice. Though the choice based on what’s in your heart may be the most difficult choice, generally it is the correct choice.

XII-IMPRIGIONATO [Imprisoned] Upright Card Divination: Il Carcere delle Stinche (The Prison Stinche), an imposing square structure located in the center of Florence on Via Ghibellina around 1300 - 1800’s opened its only door, The Door of Miseries as named by Florentines, to usher prisoners inside. Prisoners who could afford to offer prison guards monetary gifts found a better lifestyle inside the walled world. The more that was paid the better the lifestyle or, the sooner the release. Reverse Divination: Outside The Prison Stinche, stands a lone man with his merchant’s stand filled with his hand crafted goods. Proudly he has placed his hat on his head and stands firmly and almost content, ready for buyers. Yet, rather than go to an open market place with other merchants he feels more secure staying near the four walls that housed him for so long and, feels more secure taking small steps away from his imprisoned past. His green drape over his stand depicts a crisp and fresh base for his goods and his ideas of life once again growing.

XIII-FRESCH DI VITA [Fresh Life] Upright Card Divination: An ancient gate of Firenze, Porta

al Prato stands mightily. Constructed in1284, it still stands on the Fratelli Rossetti Street and the Belfiore Street. In 1529 Pope Clement had the Imperial army return his Medici family to Firenze.

Before doing so he had the gate reinforced from fear of attacks on himself for doing so. Reverse Divination: The Medici family were returned to their city, their home, in Firenze safely.

XIV-ASTINENZA [Abstinence] Upright Card Divination: Alone along the river Arno a man contemplates his life past and the one ahead. Though he feels as if he would rather jump in and let the flow of the emerald waters take him downstream to where ever it ends up he looks at his boat and contemplates the benefits of it instead. A gigantic wall stands behind him blocking him from quickly returning to the hustle and bustle of life directly above him. He must swim or row a boat to get out of the cove. Reverse Divination: Contemplating choices and how they effect your life from time to time is as important as being focused on daily routines.

XV-TENTAZIONE [Temptation] Upright Card Divination: The Old Market area of Florence was the location of this church since before the year 1000, yet this historic artifact was torn down and replaced with a Piazza. A double stairway was standard for many churches of the Old Market area symbolic of open spaces. Ironically this area

was a maze of dark and narrow medieval streets that tucked away some of Firenze’s homeless.

Now its a meeting place for evening strollers and the distressed spirits of long ago have vanished.

Their cries are no longer heard by the passer-bys but a lovely serene environment lures one to dancing flecks of light that playfully sneak into the crumbling stone walls - as if their spirits still linger there now in shapes of light. Reverse Divination: Abilities of altering physical and spiritual appearance are found in order to experience a necessary transformation.

XVI-TORRE [Tower] Upright Card Divination: A haunting shadow of a tower lays upon a windowless stark wall of a building directly in front of a distant lurking tower. Two men stand at a perspective point of a triangle between wall alleyway and tower. One man faces the tower the other faces away from the tower as if he does not want to recognize a tactical formation he is standing in. The alleyway leading to the distant tower seems to close in more and more the closer one gets to the tower while a heavy, terra cotta door on the left almost warns one to enter. Though the door appears plain its decorative passageway seems to express that luxurious quarters await the guest and appears to protect a solid building with 10 battlements casually lining the top, as if they were decorative as well. Such a simple setting holds many secrets. Reverse Divination: Being

aware of the nuances will allow one to unraveling ideas and strategies.

XVII-UNIVERSALE [Universal] Upright Card Divination: When Julius Caesar established Florence in 59 BC his soldiers settled there making it a military camp. All streets led to the Piazza della Repubblica. The next 200 years saw turbulent times as the Goths ruled and fought the Byzantines cutting the population to around 1,000 people. When Charlemagne conquered in 774 Florence became part of the Duchy of Tuscany.

The population grew and commerce prospered.

Webbed structures dating back to 1800s of the Florentine village resembles the universe with galaxies laced together feeding off one another; spiritual energies radiating its vibrations. Reverse Divination: All aspects of an environment must be favorable for life to develop.

XVIII-CEREBRALE [Cerebral] Upright Card Divination: The Renaissance period produced an intellectual society that shaped the future of European thinking. Florence, Italy during the Renaissance was a center for deep thinkers. Though the moon is known to provoke negative actions and thoughts it is known that it amplifies thought in those who write, create music and art as well as strategists. Florence’s Renaissance has been called the center of magick due to the enormous amount of creativity that has been born there. Cosimo

Medici said, “Art and magic call to each other.”

Generally, the moon can be a provocateur of the artist, the creator. Reverse Divination: Drawing down the moon’s ghost can be risky.

XIX-ILLUMINAZIONE [Illumination] Upright Card Divination: Plates of sunlight nourish the environment while coloring the earth gold. Thirty one openings showing on the building bid the light to enter yet only parts of the building gathers it. Time is needed for the sun to change positions to bathe the other sections. Aesthetic effects are produced while the source produces growth and nourishment to the surrounding areas. Reverse Divination: Darkened areas remain cold until their season arrives.

XX-VALUTAZIONE [Assessment] Upright Card Divination: Upon entering the house of God one is reminded that they are entering a portal to the heavens where they have a chance to shed sins. Souls beg to be rejuvenated and evaluates their earthly actions; needed penance is applied.

Reverse Divination: Purified entities have risen to Heaven.

XXI-FIORENZA [Florence] Upright Card Divination: Attuned to the world of Fiorenza one finds direction as they connect with spirits of past souls. Creativity is drawn from the well-spring of ancient

muses and new inventions bloom. Thousands of years of vibrations from those who have gone before combine with yours to make you who you are today. Reverse Divination: Unaware of who you are or what you want in life causes an endless, restless search, but not in vain. One searches until they find what they are supposed to even if it takes several lifetimes.

Card Spread Layout FIORENZA TAROTÂŽ ~ CARD SPREAD

All cards sum up your reading with the (the 6th card) showing you the outcome.

1. The card in first position represents the nature of your question. This will show you what surrounds your question or problem.

2. The card in second position represents what is influencing your problem.

3. This card is what is behind you and has influenced your problem or question.

4. This card indicates that which will influence your future in relation to your question or problem.

5. The fifth card has to do with the hopes of what the outcome will be.

6. In the sixth card you will find the answer to your question. But be sure to analyze how it works with the other cards.

BOOKS & TAROT CARD GAMES

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