The Moon from the Jacques Vieville Tarot

Today, we would like to share a bit of history about the woman who appears in The Moon in the original 1650 Jacques Vieville tarot deck.

The woman in this card is sitting under a tree while hand spinning wool to create yarn. Because of the dark, overlapping colors in the original card, it looks like a stick is coming out of the woman’s stomach. However, the history of this image makes it clear that she is actually holding the stick underneath her arm.

Hand spinning is an ancient textile art in which plant, animal, or synthetic fibers are drawn out and twisted together to form yarn. In this image, the woman is holding a wooden stick, called a distaff, under her armpit. This distaff can also be tucked to the side of a spinner's belt. With her other hand, she is using a spindle to spin the yarn.

This depiction shows the woman holding the distaff underneath her right arm and the spindle in her left hand. Traditionally, these tools were used in opposite hands. Many scholars believe that the images in the Jacques Vieville tarot are mirrored. So, this reversal may be further evidence that this is the case.

Similar imagery of a woman spinning yarn can also be found in historic Italian tarot decks. Like in the Jacques Vieville deck, they may depict women holding similar tools.

The first card on the left is The Sun from the Rothschild sheet that was produced at the beginning of the 16th century. You can see the outline of the distaff, spindle, and string.

The second image is from The Sun from the Tarocchino Fine Dalla Torre from the end of the 17th century. This also shows a woman holding a distaff under her right arm and a spindle in her left hand.

The third image is The Sun from the Tarot of Charles VI from the 16th century. This pattern is similar to The Sun from the Tarocchino Fine Dalla Torre deck and The Sun from the Rothschild sheet. However, it is unclear if the woman is holding a distress or an arrow. But, it appears that she is holding a string between her hands.

The final image is The Star from the Leber-Rouen tarot deck from the 16th century. A woman is standing in the sea and is holding a long staff with an arrow pointing downwards. The upper end of the staff looks similar to the top of a distaff which is found in the other cards.

In the left two images, it’s obvious that the women are holding a distaff. In the right two images, the drawings are more ambiguous as to what the women may be holding. In the Jacques Vieville tarot, it is clear that the woman holds a distaff and spindle.

Learning about the history of these cards can give you a better understanding of the time period when they were created. We hope this will help you create accurate interpretations for The Moon in your readings.

We look forward to sharing more about these cards in future posts.

You can learn more about the amazing history of these decks at the following links:

The Tarot Wheel
Pre-Gebelin Tarot History
Tarot Forum - Jacques Vieville Thread