These Gypsy Cards, portraying the Biedermeier period, from 1812-1848. The cards have beautiful art, almost like the period of Medieval times, combined with Greek mythology. The Biedermeier period marks the rediscovery of ancient Greece, the admiration of Greek sculpture, pottery, paintings, architecture, and the foundation of Roman architecture. However, a high proportion of Greek art and other works are only known through Roman-made copies, while Roman buildings have also significantly outlived Greek structures. To know Roman art is, therefore, to know Greek art. The Biedermeier period proceeded into Art Deco times. The Biedermeier period's admiration of Greek art is superior, leading to the idea of the European Super Man.
Merriment and Sadness—two cards, one truth. One laughs beneath the stars; the other weeps beneath them. Yet both lift their eyes to the same heavens.
Sadness
Sadness is not an enemy. She does not come to destroy, but to remind. She brings stillness. She brings the silence that follows a storm. When this card appears, it speaks of sorrow that has found no voice—until now. It could be a goodbye still echoing in your bones, or an ache buried beneath smiles. It is loss, yes. But it is also recognition—that you once loved deeply enough to feel the pain.
Sadness is not weakness. It is presence. It calls you inward, to sit with yourself in a dark room and listen.
And once listened to, she begins to dissolve... like mist at dawn.
Merriment
And here comes her twin. Barefoot, bold, and bright with color—Merriment doesn’t ignore the sorrow; she arrives because of it.
She is laughter despite the tears. She is joy that bubbles up for no reason at all. She is the sunrise that follows grief—not because it fixes anything, but because it whispers: “You are still here.”
When Merriment appears in a reading, it’s a reminder to feel again. To dance not because life is easy, but because your soul still remembers rhythm.
True merriment isn’t surface-level entertainment. It’s deeper. It’s the resilience of the soul. It’s the smile that comes after understanding the pain. A celebration of the fact that your heart can still open.
In the Tarot, these two cards are not opposites. They’re companions. They walk with you together. One teaches depth, the other lightness. But both say the same thing:
