The Fool & Death

poivre

Before I start, Yes I couldn't sleep last night! LOL

In the Death card, the sun shows through the pillars, in the east.
The sun rises in the east.

In The Fool card, the sun is in the east but The Fool is jumping
into the west.

Why doesn't The Fool jump towards the (east) rising sun?
(the sun rising in a new day)

This may make no sense but wouldn't The Fool jumping towards
the east make it more logical. I was thinking he's jumping into
the west, this would make for old issues instead of new ones.

In the 9 of Swords the person is facing the east. This to me
is the darkness before dawn. The sun rises in the east, so the
person is waiting to see a light in their problems. This is why I wondered about The Fool facing the other way.

Just a question, nothing serious.
 

poivre

After I posted this I was wondering

~ The sun behind The Fool is white. Is this divine
protection on his travels and not the sun at all?
 

mercenary30

I do believe that in the ToM tradition the fool does face to the East. RWS is the one that doesn't. This was another change that was made. I seem to remember reading the answer to this once, but for the life of me I can't remember where or what that answer was......
 

Fulgour

Fool for Waite was Shin not Aleph

Vincent said:
This trump is attributed to the Hebrew letter Aleph, and is placed on the eleventh path, which joins Kether to Chokmah. It is the very beginning of manifestation.
Why then does Waite position "The Fool" between
"(The Last) Judgement" and "The World" in his book?
This clearly indicates he considered this card as Shin,
just as did Levi and so many other Continentals...
 

Vincent

Re: Fool for Waite was Shin not Aleph

Fulgour said:
Why then does Waite position "The Fool" between
"(The Last) Judgement" and "The World" in his book?
That is a good question, and one which can be solved by reading what Waite has to say.

Vincent
 

WalesWoman

If he's heading East, hmmm. Darned if Ros, if you didn't make me have to start thinking again. Maybe wisdom comes from the East, it's so old, the beginnings of civilization, pilgramages to Mecca and other Holy Places, seeking the Holy Grail. The Wise men, Secrets of the Orient, etc. The romance and mysteries of it. Oriental thought processes, yin-yang, balance he almost has that look of walking on a tight rope, his body is perfectly balanced.

Facing left- feminine, following with the intuitive /creative forces of nature? Plus having the sun at his back lights the way ahead of him, not blinding him by the bright glare of it. (Not that he seems to be noticing where he's going)

Our culture seems to think of west as the great unknown and place of expansion, "Go, West, young man. Go West!" But the Egyptians for one thought the West was the place of death, the East the place for rebirth.

That's all I can think of for now.
 

Aset

Why doesn't The Fool jump towards the (east) rising sun?
(the sun rising in a new day)

This may make no sense but wouldn't The Fool jumping towards
the east make it more logical. I was thinking he's jumping into
the west, this would make for old issues instead of new ones.

I can't say that I've thought a lot about this, but him moving from east to west immediately makes more sense to me. Think about it - he's *coming* from the east and moving towards the west, as he moves through his journey, ultimately to end and start again.
 

Richard

In The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Part II, § 3, Waite explains why the Fool is headed away from the East.
 

KariRoad

Le Mat XXII - IIXX taM eL

The beauty and the genius of it all is, Pamela Colman Smith gave the Tarot world an entirely new Fool, a new direction, and the real possibility that her Fool is walking backwards.

Edited to add: The Fool isn't walking in the 'wrong' direction, just possibly 'facing' backward.