Faerie Tarot - The Fool

Instead of the callow youth most frequently found in more conventional depictions of The Fool, this card depicts a mischievous-looking impish fairy of mature years. At least, that's my impression, based on this fairy's full beard tinged with grey. This is a Fool whose innocence doesn't derive from inexperience, but instead arises from an open and pure heart, or as Nathalie puts it, a "heart of a child."

He has no ties, nothing weighs him down. His companions are "small animals like this garden dormouse." The dormouse is reminiscent of the frolicing dog in the RWS Fool. This fairy walks along the branches, one misstep away from falling, but he has no fear, no concern for his safety.

He is also surrounded by luscious looking berries, which tells me that the universe will provide him with whatever he needs, without having to struggle for it. I get the sense that this is not a foolish Fool, but the wise fool common to many spiritual traditions. I would be reluctant to follow the RWS Fool off the edge of the cliff, but I think I would willingly follow this fairy Fool through the tree branches, trusting that everything will be fine in the end, whatever happens and however it all turns out.

Alan

I checked the dormouse in the net and here is something I found about them.:

"The dormouse is a strictly nocturnal species, found in deciduous woodland and overgrown hedgerows. It spends most of its time climbing among tree branches in search of food, and rarely comes to the ground. It feeds on flowers, pollen, fruits, insects and nuts. During the day it sleeps in a nest, often in a hollow tree branch or a deserted bird nest or nestbox.

Dormice live at low population densities (one tenth as abundant as bank voles and woodmice in the same habitats). They can raise one or occasionally two litters a year, each usually of about four young. The new-born dormice remain with their mother for 6-8 weeks before becoming independent. The breeding season and success depends very much on the weather. Dormice are able to lower their body temperature and become torpid, so saving energy, if food is short or weather prevents them foraging. During the winter they hibernate and are not normally active again until about April or May. Thus dormice may spend three-quarters of their year "asleep", behaviour which earned them their sleepy reputation in Lewis Carroll's Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. Dormice live up to five years in the wild, much longer than other comparable small mammals."

I was just looking at this card again and wondering about the bottle the fairy has. Is that flower nectar, medicine or some magic potion perhaps?

Does the fairy have a mask on his face? It looks like he does, doesn´t it? Maybe he has two faces, a young one for beginnings and an old one for endings?

I also found something more about the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus). My books says they tend to be loners and are usually not very social. That is a good companion for the Fool, who also likes to walk his own paths. MAybe they sometimes walk together and sometimes they go separate ways.

The fruit looks like a plum. The tree has plenty for both the dormouse and the fairy, so there is abundance and there´s loads of energy available for them both.