Quick questions about... le Mat/le Fov/the Fool

jmd

These threads arise out of some of the general questions on the Marseille, and seek to make it easier to sort and find more specific queries...
 

lunakasha

OK....please bear with me as this is my first post since receiving my very first Marseille deck....:)

(Which I am already getting VERY attached to! :D )

I am just curious: what is the significance of Le Mat having his pants ripped by the cat??? I also wonder why the cat turned into a dog in the later decks (ie Rider-Waite)???

Thanks in advance for your help....

:) Luna
 

jmd

Whether it is in fact a cat is a little open to question. There is, to be sure, a small animal - but other than that, whether it be cat, dog, fox, or any other number of possible quadruped is, from simply the image perspective, a little ambiguous. Some have specifically linked the animal to the lynx, or even, astronomically, to the constellation of the Little Bear (small dipper).

With regards to the 'tearing down' of the pants, it may be worth remembering that part of the more standard clothing of the times were not pant(aloon)s, but rather what we would these days call stockings, rolled up when the weather proved colder. The animal jumping up may therefore also have been 'playing' with, possibly, a loose thread - or something else, and far more personal and of permanent fixture to the man, if the depiction of the Noblet rendition is considered.

With regards to the 'significance' of the act, part of that can be interpreted in various ways: whether the Fou is considered a foreigner in a village, and to which the local dog keeps away; a friendly companion to the Mat in his ongoing journey into strange territories; or an attack from a wild creature; or even a representation of fear, with the hare striking chilling fear as it unexpectedly jumps upon the poor Fou...
 

kwaw

If it is a dog, the dog was a symbol of the senses. That the fool appears to not be aware of the dog, could symbolise a withdrawal from sensory awareness in contemplation, in the mystical sense.

kwaw
 

firemaiden

I like the idea that the dog/cat is playing with a loose string or something from the yarn of the stockings.

A puppy will attack your slippers, if they are fluffy, and not let go even while you are walking. :D

The playful aspect of the cat/dog puppy reinforces the playful aspect of fool.

It also makes him all the more ridiculous and foolish if his pants are being ripped off, exposing his er... backside - and the blissful unawareness of being exposed - conveys a foolish innocence -- or as Kwaw says -- being lost in mystical contemplation.
 

lunakasha

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this card....so much to think about!!! Now that I look again, jmd, you are absolutely right--it could be a small dog (chihuahua? :) ) or another small animal...I think maybe I saw the cat because I am so fond of them ;)

:) Luna
 

Myrrha

An odd thing is that in some of the conver decks it is his *stockings* that are the flesh color and get torn down to reveal a darker color underneath. "Flesh" color in TdM seems to represent humanity and human concerns. I'm not sure what all this adds up to but it is interesting to think about.

--Myrrha
 

Diana

I wonder if the dog (for to me it must be a dog. I can't see any other animal behaving in the way that this animal does on the card) could refer, amongst other things, to Anubis (a dog, or a jackal), who guided the souls to the underworld.

Dogs are often figured as psychopomps.
 

smleite

Originally posted by Diana
I wonder if the dog (…) could refer, amongst other things, to Anubis (a dog, or a jackal), who guided the souls to the underworld.

Dogs are often figured as psychopomps.


If it is really a dog (and I agree it must be one), and if we can interpret it as a guide of the souls or a psychopomp, then it deserves some thought to see how small and impotent he looks to be, and how ineffective are his efforts to scare the Fool.
 

Diana

Yes, the dog is not leading him. The Fool is in control here.

To me the Fool has come to represent more and more a state of bliss. Nirvana. When you finally meet "god" and realise.... oh wonders of wonders.... that you are yourself "god".

The little dog (backwards in English it's spelled "god") accompanies us, and nudges us on. Kind of all excited the doggy is!

Oh, the Fool is definitely not the beginning of the Tarot journey. He ends it. He represents freedom, liberty and release from all terrestrial ties.

How I long to be a fool.