Gay Tarot - The Fool/10 of Wands

These two pictures are quite similar: They both show the same young man and his dog (some labrador-like animal) on the road. On The Fool he has his thimb up, hoping that the approaching truck will give him a lift. The dog is sleeping, curled up at the man's feet. There's a butterfly in the air and high over the man, there's zeppelin floating along with the image of a crocodile on it. So the traditional symbols are there

The 10 of Wands shows the same young man but this time he's walking, his dog on the leash. I don't know how I get this impression, but I think he's heading into the other direction, maybe going back to where he came from in The Fool. But the pictures don't necessary suggest that, do they? The dog might look a little older in the 10, I think. But you can't see any change in the man.

I like The Fool. But I still don't understand how the picture of the Ten of Wands connects with the card's meaning. The booklet outlines a traditional 10 of Wands. Maybe the young man goes back home to care for his ill father or something. But you can't see it. Hm.

Has someone already made up his mind on this one? Or can you shed some light on it, Lee?

There are a few different facets to these cards.

In terms of general sequence, the 10 of Wands shows a more mature approach to life than the Fool. The Fool has made a choice to travel, but then he just stands there, rather like a child would, waiting for someone to come along and take him and his dog somewhere. Also, you can see that the Fool and his dog are unwisely standing in the middle of the road and would be hit by the truck if it didn't stop, whereas a more experienced hitchhiker would be standing at the side of the road. The dog has no leash because the Fool has simply picked him up and taken him on a journey, as a child would, with no thought for the dog's needs.

In the 10 of Wands, the young man is no longer waiting for whatever comes, but is rather taking his future in his own hands and walking towards his destination. The dog is now leashed, because the young man is more mature now and is taking responsibility not only for himself but for his dependent, the dog, taking care of it and ensuring it will not run away or run in the path of a vehicle. From the appearance of the shadows, it seems that the sun is directly before the man and dog, thus suggesting sunset, which would, again, suggest greater maturity.

In terms of the traditional 10 of Wands meaning, as one could imagine, it would be quite a laborious procedure to walk down a long highway in the heat of the day. You can see that while the young man is walking, the dog is standing still, which means that the young man will have to stop and encourage the dog every few feet, thus proving to be a burden.

Overall, the two cards suggest to me a story of someone who starts out in life with an optimistic, childishly faithful attitude. By the Ten of Wands, he has gone through some life experiences and is now older but wiser. He now sees that life brings with it its own burdens and problems. However, even though he is more sober and mature, the 10 of Wands shows a greater level of attainment, because he has taken more responsibility for himself and is moving more steadily toward his goal. His willingly carries his burdens (i.e. the dog), and in fact now realizes that his burdens can be his greatest sources of inspiration.

I deliberately specified to Antonella that his back should be straight, and not bent over as in the RWS card, because I felt the young man was, as the expression goes, bloodied but unbowed. This is a very personal card for me.

As for telcontar's thought that he might be walking back to where he came from, this is an interesting interpretation which had not occurred to me, and which has some interesting psychological and metaphysical implications. Antonella may indeed have had this in mind, since the landscapes shown on the left side of the Fool and the left and right sides of the 10 of Wands seem to support this interpretation.

-- Lee

telcontar said:

The booklet outlines a traditional 10 of Wands.[/B]

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What does the booklet actually say?

thanks Lee

Highway 57 Revisited

When I was a student at Southern Illinois University
(back in the '70s) ~ I used to hitchhike up and down
the full length of the state going from home to school.

I'd carry a big old (mostly empty) cardboard suitcase
with SIU on one side, and my hometown on the other.
It served as a visual and worked better than my thumb.

But there were many, many miles that I would walk
to just keep moving ~ plus I suppose it signalled the
oncoming drivers too ~ up ahead, a weary traveller.

I can see myself in both roles here, Fool & 10 of Wands,
some goals just down the road, and others years away.

Re: thanks Lee

Fulgour said:

I can see myself in both roles here, Fool & 10 of Wands,
some goals just down the road, and others years away.

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Exactly!

Originally posted by Elentir
What does the booklet actually say?

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"The Burden. Responsibilities. Obligations. Overcommitting yourself. Realizing that burdens are a part of life."

-- Lee

Thanks, Lee for making me understand the cards better. And thanks, Fulgour, for deepenig this understanding by giving such a good illustration.

The Fool was my daily draw today and I met him again when I read something about writers as jesters in a book on literature... A lot of people seem to think of The Magician as the ultimate artist's card. For me, The Fool signifies the artist much better: the playfulness, the rambling, this "let's-go-where-life-leads-us"-attitude that helps you to life fully and to draw from it in your work. The ability to wonder and to be in awe. Of course it takes a lot of The Intuitive and a little of The Magician, too- but what I need most to do good work is The Fool

I should also note that the Fool in the Gay Tarot can have a darker interpretation -- this Fool may be doing something a bit dangerous by hoping to be picked up by a trucker. There could be a sexual undertone here...

-- Lee

Lee said:

I should also note that the Fool in the Gay Tarot can have a darker interpretation -- this Fool may be doing something a bit dangerous by hoping to be picked up by a trucker. There could be a sexual undertone here...

-- Lee

Click to expand...

Interesting point! Well, he has changed his trousers for the journey back, I may add, hehe.

Yaboot

And perhaps the journey was undertaken solely for the purpose of meeting a trucker, and now he is on his way back home...

I don't mean to reduce the meaning of the card (or of the deck) to the trivial. But sometimes the trivial can contain mysteries of its own...

-- Lee

And now we know what is in the Fool's backpack -- a change of pants!

-- Lee