The Fool

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THE FOOL

Q:	What principle in life does the card represent?
A:	The Fool represents our innocence, creativity, spontaneity and our inner child. The Fool is androgynous as it represents part of us which has no gender; our spirit or soul. However, note that for the purpose of this essay, I have used the masculine gender to simplify.
Q:	What is the essence of the card?
A:	Trust, as the Fool is self-confident and believes that the universe will provide him with what he needs.
●	Care-free attitude and youthful energy; the Fool is willing to experience life (good or bad) and will be the driving force for his travels.
●	No concern for the past as the Fool lives in the present and wants to explore new horizons (the Future), in order to learn his place in the universe.
●	Transformation, as during his wanderings the Fool will learn to achieve unity or/and enlightenment (culminating in the World card). The cycle of life from birth to death and then rebirth again (Reincarnation).



Rider Waite	Marseille	Ansata	Old Path
© US Games Systems Inc	© Grimaud	© Ansata-Verlag 1981	© A G Muller 1990
© Estate of A E Waite 1993		© A G Muller
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RIDER WAITE TAROT
© US Games Systems Inc

This pack is one of the most well known in use today.

When we look at this card, we can see:

A young person (androgynous) walking nonchalantly towards the end of a cliff. He is carefree and seems oblivious of the danger (the cliff) despite the frantic effort of his travelling companion (the little white dog) to attract his attention. His head is turned towards the sky and a white sun shines. He wears a crown made of laurel leaves and a red feather seems attached to it.

Here we have the setting of the essence of the card: the innocence of the soul (The Fool himself), oblivious of the harshness of life (notice the garment the Fool wears; lavish and elegant demonstrating that he has not yet experienced difficulties in life). An innocent soul which is perhaps naïve and idealistic in his views of the world, (the white rose in the Fool's hand represents divine love and purity of heart). The Fool seems happy to follow his own path and he is strong minded (the laurel crown stands for victory and the red feather gives the Fool the solar energy necessary to pursue his goals). He does not listen to the voice of his conscious (the little dog which represents the Fool's domesticated instinct).

The Fool leaves his past behind him (the mountains) and takes with him his experience from life (the wand with the bag on his shoulder). He walks to his right towards the edge of the cliff.

Another aspect of the card is revealed: the fact that the Fool walks on the right is a direct link to the right hemisphere of the brain which deals with feelings, imagination, fantasy, religion, risk taking, philosophy, present and future. Almost all of these are part in one way or another of the Fool's card.

The Fool is going towards his future with willingness and is happy to leap into the unknown (the edge of the cliff), to achieve enlightenment (the white sun which is may be a representation of the spiritual self).

This in my view is what the Fool card is about: the soul starts its journey at birth (when innocence and purity prevail) and acquires experience throughout life (the different concepts of the major arcana that the Fool will encounter) in order to achieve enlightenment found in the World card (the last major arcana), before all begins again (perhaps a reminiscence of the principle of reincarnation from birth to death and birth again?).

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ANCIEN TAROT DE MARSEILLE
© Grimaud

One of the most popular Tarot packs, widely used in my native country; France.

The Fool looks very different: he does not look young and androgynous anymore. He looks middle aged with a white beard (symbol of wisdom) and wears a pair of trousers, which tell us that this Fool is definitively a male (no mistaken identity here). He walks aided by a stick on the countryside where no immediate danger can be seen (no cliff and no water here). We can see that his travelling companion (a little dog) tries to attract the Fool's attention or maybe is he indeed attacking the Fool and ripping his trousers? This is open to interpretation. The Fool wears a strange hat, which may look like a jester hat (?). As his garments looks medieval, it could be this Fool is a jester wondering from town to town?

We have a different vision of the essence of the card: the innocence of the soul (The Fool himself) has been lost as this Fool is a middle aged man which has experienced the harshness of life. He is supported by a staff for walking (perhaps he feels the weight of the years on his body) and his trousers are torn (perhaps due to the consequences of his wanderings rather than the result of his companions attack on him?). It seems that this Fool is still determined to pursuit his goals. The Fool does not seem to acknowledge his little dog as he may be reluctant to tap into his intuition. This is emphasised by his collar decorated with five bells (representing our five senses and the material world), his bag hides from view a sixth one which represents intuition and psychic abilities. The Fool does not seem to realise that intuition is also part of his makeup.

The Fool does not leave his past behind him, as the mountains have all but disappeared. However he still takes with him his experience from life (the wand with the bag on his shoulder). He walks to his left towards an unknown path.

Another aspect of the card has changed with this version of the Fool; the fact that he walks to the left, the direct link to the left hemisphere of the brain which deals with logic, reason, perception, reality, present and past.

This Fool has encountered the reality and probably the harshness of life. He has a rather practical and logical perception of life and he lives in the present time. This Fool does not seem happy to discover life, he is wandering as he has done in the past and does not seem aware of his spirituality (no white rose or yellow lotus, no white sun in this card). He seems like a lost soul, a wise man regarding the reality of the material world, but not wise enough when it comes to spirituality.

Overall, the Fool has lost his spontaneity and innocence with the Ancien Tarot de Marseille. The quest for enlightenment does not exist anymore and the reality of life is only too real with this Fool. All the themes of the Fool are lost here: dreams, faith, the leap into the unknown, inner child, innocence, invention, originality and purity of heart.

A very sad Fool in my view.

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ANSATA TAROT
© Ansata-Verlag 1981

This pack is unusual as it contains only the twenty two major arcana.

The Fool still looks young but not androgynous. Notice the muscular body, no mistaken identity here, the Fool is male. He walks in the countryside aided by a walking stick (perhaps a divinatory rod to find water as the earth looks barren). Immediate danger is not obvious apart from his travelling companion (a ferocious looking black dog) which attacks one of his legs. The Fool wears a costume of opposite: one half is made of luxurious fabric adorned with pearls (it reminds me of the costume of a Spanish toreador) and the other half is made of rags. Notice that this Fool wears one boot and one shoe and that he has been injured during his wandering as one of his ankles is bandaged. His strange costume is complete with a rather bizarre hat adorned with foliage.

We still have the essence of the Fool; the innocence of the soul. The Fool himself is now better equipped as he has experienced the good and bad in life (shown in his costume). The Fool does not seem to be affected with the harshness (the bandage) or goodness (pearls) of life as he takes them on his side and carries on his journey. This is also emphasised by the way he pays no attention to his travelling companion. The black dog represents the untamed natural instinct and intuition (like the wolf in my pack). The Uranian energies are present as this Fool is eccentric in his appearance (one boot and one shoe). The Fool knows that he can tap into his intuition (the dog) or his natural instinct (the foliage on his hat, which represents nature coupled with wisdom as the hat is worn on the crown charka) whenever he needs it. A true sense of wisdom is experienced by this Fool.

The Fool carries his belongings (his experience from life) on his back without a stick. He bears the weight of his past directly on his back and it does not seem to have an effect on him. From his bag the handle of a mandolin or a guitar can be seen together with a parchment roll. Like the Rider Waite and my pack, the Fool walks again towards his right looking at an erected obelisk in the sky.

We are back to the now familiar theme of the Fool: the right side of the brain dealing with feelings, imagination, creativity, fantasy, religion, risk taking, philosophy, present and future.

The Fool's creative streak is emphasised by his mandolin and the parchment which may contain his music, writing or poetry.

This Fool has encountered both the reality of life (good and bad) but he does not seem to be affected by his experiences as he continues on his path toward enlightenment (the obelisk in the sky as a dream like apparition).

We have some of the theme of the Fool encapsulated in this card; the soul is better equipped as it has experienced the good and bad in life. The Fool seems to be prepared to accept whatever life throws at him and knows how to tap into his animal instinct and intuition when needed.

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This pack has a more Wiccan feeling.

The Fool still looks young but not androgynous despite his long blond hair. His gender is easy to see as he wears a pair of green leggings together with a green jacket and hat. He walks in a brisk fashion towards a hill with three paths. Notice that he has his back to us. A little baby has crawled towards on open fire and its mother tries to prevent an accident. A partridge looks at the Fool.

Here we have different vision of the essence of the Fool; the innocence of the soul is also represented by the baby unaware of the danger of life (the open fire). The baby can also be seen as the past which is not represented by a cliff (Rider Waite) or mountains (my pack) but as a representation of the Fool himself as a toddler and the experience he had around this time (burning his hand and learning to be less care free). The danger seen in the Rider Waite (the edge of the cliff) and my pack (the water) has been replaced by a partridge, which is an ambivalent symbol as it symbolises the truth but also deception and temptation (the Devil card). The Fool is looking for enlightenment and during his journey he will encounter deceit and learn about truth (Justice and Judgement cards). The dog (in the Rider Waite, Ancien Tarot de Marseille and the Ansata tarot) has been replaced by a woman (the mother of the baby), which stands for the feminine energies (intuition, compassion, care and protection) and she performs the same task as the dog in the other packs; she tries to attract the attention of the Fool in order to prevent him hurting himself. The Fool turns his back on his past (the baby and the mother) and his experience of life good or bad (the fire and the mother, or the costume of opposites seen in the Ansata Tarot). He is determined (brisk walking similar to my Fool), to find his own path and to walk towards the unknown (the hill).

The Fool carries his belongings (his experience from life) on his back. He walks not exactly to the left or right, rather into the distance toward a hill with a choice of paths, one seems more dangerous at it runs along the edge of a cliff. A butterfly emerges from its chrysalis.

We are back to the now familiar theme of the Fool, the unknown, walking into the distance. We do not know which path the Fool will choose. It is an adventure and the Fool can shape his future according to the path he will take. Here we have the principle of free will and how his choices will affect his destiny. The butterfly represents the soul emerging (after rebirth) in search of enlightenment (the white sun in the Rider Waite, the yellow lotus in my pack, the obelisk in the Ansata).

Although the Fool in this pack looks at first glance different from traditional packs, in reality all the themes of danger, intuition, faith, experiences, determination, past, future and quest for enlightenment are still present with different symbolism.

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