The Sola-Busca Tarot

The Alchemical Symbolism of a Renaissance Masterwork

Peter Mark Adams

The ancient Egyptian hieratic script was used for religious texts, demotic for ordinary
purposes. Similarly, the tarot also presents us with two languages or grammars each of
which reflects the divisions within Renaissance society: the world of the elite and the world
of the common people. Each utilized tarot decks that reflected their unique position in the
world, their range of interests and the financial means relative to their realization.
The tarot that arose within the elite segments of society can aptly be described as the noble
tarot. It was commissioned by noblemen from noted Renaissance artists, presumably at great
expense, and handcrafted using the finest materials. Whilst some of these decks were used for
gaming purposes others appear to have been commissioned as luxury presents and were
considered to be collectors pieces which accounts for their survival over the last 500 years
or so.
It was with such masterworks of the card makers art that the tarot realized its fullest
symbolic expression. A distinguishing feature of such noble tarots is that they could be
structured utilizing elaborately coded systems of meaning, symbolism and references that
appealed to their intended audience. If there was to be a deck whose symbolism was to be
based on esoteric principles, then it would probably be one of these noble decks.
A perfect example is the magnificent, hand painted late-15
th
century Sola-Busca tarot. This is
the oldest (circa 1490) surviving full deck of tarot cards. It consists of 22 trumps and 56 suit
cards in four suits each with 4 court cards. Despite this conformity with the structure of most
modern decks it is in other ways quite idiosyncratic.
It was, presumably, owned by the Venetian Venier family, descendants of the Roman
Emperor Valerian, whose coat of arms (three red bars on a silver background with an optional
gold diagonal band or belt to signify a specific branch of the family) may appear as many as
seven times throughout the deck, though it is sometimes difficult to discern. For example,
each of the 4 Aces bears a coat of arms but only
the Ace of Swords retains sufficient definition to
allow us to discern the Venier arms. In addition,
trumps IIII Mario (above), XIIII Bocho and XV
Metelo all appear to display these arms.
The deck itself was created by the anonymous
Master of the Sola-Busca Tarocchi who, based
upon a detailed analysis of the stylistic similarities between this work and other engravings of
the time, is now known to be Nicola di Maestro Antonio.
The symbolism of the deck is ostensibly based upon major figures from Roman history. But
its highly decorated cards appear to contain a deeper layer of symbolism based upon the
stages of the alchemical opus.
For many centuries Alchemy was indistinguishable from the science of its day. But whereas
todays scientist maintains a certain distance from his subject matter in order to minimize his
subjective bias, the path of the alchemist demanded complete subjective absorption in his
work.
The classical stages of the alchemical opus Nigredo (blackening/decomposing), Albedo
(whitening/purifying), Citrinitas (yellowing/emerging) and Rubedo (reddening/realizing)
match the stages of any profound process of psychological individuation and spiritual
transformation. This psycho-spiritual process in turn mirrors the inner or energetic
transformations, and their accompanying visions, of that universal yoga that constitutes the
mystical path.
Alchemy, despite its centuries long incubation of the science of Chemistry, was in its highest
form, a path of inner cultivation and individuation. The impenetrability of the classical
alchemical texts and the obscurity of their imagery derives as much from the difficulty of
translating such profound, pre-verbal, psycho-spiritual experiences into the language of
everyday life as from the need to retain the secrecy that all spiritual practices required in the
face of the centuries of persecution perpetrated by the Vatican.



One clue to the hidden layers of meaning within the deck is the presence of Alexander the
Great (King of Swords). But his depiction, with a gryphon drawn chariot, connects him not
with the historical personage but with the romanticized figure of the Alexander Romance
literature, collections of tall stories and fabulous exploits that grew up around his name.
His centrality to the symbolic structure of the Sola-Busca is underlined by the appearance of
people closely connected with him amongst the court cards: his mother, Olympias (Queen of
Swords) and father, Philip of Macedon (King of Disks). We also have the father Alexander
(modestly) claimed to be his true father, the god Zeus Ammon (Knight of Swords). Based
upon the Alexander Romance literature, we can add Alexanders other true father, the last
Pharaoh of Egypt, Nectanebo (Knight of Cups). After the king had fled Egypt his people
asked the oracle of Serapis where their king had gone only to be told that he would return not
as an old man, but as a youth, setting the scene for Alexanders conquest of Egypt. Serapis is
represented amongst the court cards as Serafino (Knight of Disks). Finally, Alexanders
father, Philip, consults the oracle of Apollo at Delphi to learn who will be king after him (the
answer is, of course, Alexander), and so Apollo also appears amongst the court cards (Knight
of Batons). In the Alexander Romance statues are to be erected on Alexanders death to a
number of figures including Hercules (his first ancestor) and Pallas Athena (Queen of
Batons). In conclusion, we have at least 7 of the 16 court cards directly related to the
mythical Alexander of the Alexander Romance literature. We can therefore infer that this
constitutes a second level of interpretation of the Sola-Busca deck.
As we will see, Alexander appears amongst the suit cards as well.
In the Sirr Al-Asrar (Secretum Secretorum or Secret of Secrets), a text that purports to be
instructions from Aristotle to Alexander (though in fact a 6
th
7
th
CE compilation),
Alexander receives advice on a wide range of subjects including Alchemy.
Through translations of these texts the complex, multi-layered figure of Alexander the Great
entered European culture depositing further layers of symbolic significance onto Alchemys
already overloaded surface.
On first acquaintance the alchemical significance of the cards is quite obscure, even for
someone with knowledge of the stages and symbolism of the alchemical process. One of
many clues to the existence of a deeper layer of meaning, and therefore of an alternative
system of interpretation, is trump XVI wherein we see a figure in red, the Sun and an
alchemical animal, the Basilisk, described as a dragon with the head, wings and feet of a
cock. The Basilisk was reputed to kill at a glance.


In alchemical terms the Basilisk represents the merging of Sulphur and Mercury and
symbolizes the merger of our higher and lower natures (spirit and soul) to form the Child of
the Philosophers. In the Alexander Romance literature, Alexander the Great is reputed to
have killed the Basilisk by showing it a mirror so that it died from looking at its own
reflection. The kingly figure depicted in trump XVI is looking away from the animal as he
holds some object by its handle presumably a mirror - over the Basilisks head. If so we
would be justified in claiming this card to be a representation of the Alchemical Alexander.
All of the symbols depicted on this card are connected with the fourth and ultimate stage of
the alchemical opus, the Rubedo. The red figure, the Basilisk and the appearance of the Sun
serve to pre-figure the completion of the great work.
In Ripley reviv'd: or, an exposition upon Sir George Ripley's Hermetico poetical works
Eirenaeus Philalethes (George Starkey) the 17th century alchemist writes:

Then shall the heavenly fire descend and illuminate the earth with inconceivable glory.
The crown of thy labours shall be brought unto thee, when our Sol shall sit in the south,
shining with redness incomparable.
This is our Tyre, our basiliske, our red poppy of the rock, our Lion devouring all things.
This is our true light, our earth glorified.


Postscript
Work on the hidden symbolism of the Sola-Busca Tarot continues. My comments rest upon the research of
many fine scholars over the years. It is therefore fitting that the contribution of Sofia di Vincenzo, Giordano
Berti, Laura Paola Gnaccolini, Mark J. Zucker and Andrea De Marchi be acknowledged here. Also the many
expert contributors to the Tarot History Forum: http://forum.tarothistory.com/index.php.