Universal Fantasy - the Fool

I totally like this card. Lends itself to stories easily.

Why is he sitting there? Does he know there's a drop-off? Is there a drop-off? How far does it go? Is the creature with him his companion or did it just happen by? Is our "fool" a young person, a "fool," a seeker, an adventurer?? Is he on drugs and that creature with him, nice little puppy!, a figment of his imagination?

I think of him as resting, whereas most "0" cards show movement. Leaping, strolling, jumping, stepping off, absent-mindedly or on purpose. This fella though -- he is beginning a journey, or voyage, I think on purpose, and he is beginning with no pre-designed ideas. No expectaions. Just going - and seeing where the road leads. At least - it seems that way to me. And my! He's in for a trip!!

Any other observations?
PS - did he get dressed in a hurry?!
Is he ready to begin a journey? Physically? Mentally? Spiritually?

What jumps out at me when I look at this card:
The 'hands' on the canine creature look simian, complete with thumbs!
The butterflies are emerging/transforming from the blue feathers in his hair.
He wears fingerless gloves but no shoes.

Now I am not sure what these thing mean to me, I think their meaning will change each time I see them. Right now they stand for those mysterious things that are beyond my present understanding and a suspension of disbelief.

Hope you don't mine me jumping in here, the other group I was in tanked.

ahhh yes; the gloves.

I think there is a name for gloves like that. I know there are shooter gloves similar to these; no fingers so you can better pull the trigger yet keep your hands warm enough to not get stiff.

But I'm thinking I have seen fancy lace gloves like this on sites about clothing in earlier years. European? Probably.

So he is wearing XXX-style gloves, and no shoes (which would be infinitely more practical) or ... has he worn out his gloves and this is all that's left? Someone had to raise this young lad - did his "mother" sew them up as best she could??

So many stories --

Now - more about the Fool as ourselves as we journey through the tarot.

Okay, gloves aside, this is ourself -- young at heart but not a child, ready for adventure but not particularly prepared (he has just the bare basics and his wits), willing to head out with no particular place to go.

I think his dog/companion here might be an image from his mind. They share the same "hair" and the feet are indeed ape/man-like. It is part canine, part feline, part monkey, and maybe part air because the blue ties in with the blue hair and butterflies of the Seeker. I'm calling him a seeker at this time.

So - from the almost limitless depths of the Seeker's imagination comes forth all or nearly all that is bird or mammal. Would you say this is so?

If we look ahead to the Magician and Priestess we see the next 2 people/archetypes our new Seeker is going to encounter.

Here I'm going to equate the Seeker with a new born child. The first thing he wonders at is the magic. "Things" happen to him, and he has no concept as to why they are happening. Everything is wonderous and magical, because he cannot yet grasp the idea of "cause and effect." He doesn't not know who or what is causing things to happen to him, so he is still on the outside just looking and wondering. And reacting.

But we can get into the Magician and Priestess (once known as the female Pope) in another thread.

Any more thoughts here as to how the Fool pregresses through the Majors?
Do you think the Minors are everyday occurrences? The Majors the archetypes of the world? Do the images in this deck reflect your ideas??

Does this Fool representation fit with the rest of this deck?

[added:] butterflies! Why didn't I remember this - symbol of transformation. And the color blue ... any suggestions? Why is it on the traveler's companion as well?? There, on the creature, it is concrete, part of the body. Long flowing tail. For our young Seeker it is rising from his head; thoughts, images, spiritually or emotionally beginning the transformation.

So, our naive seeker IS spiritually ready, mentally prepared, to begin the Major journey of transformation.

Skydancer said:

Any more thoughts here as to how the Fool pregresses through the Majors?
Do you think the Minors are everyday occurrences? The Majors the archetypes of the world? Do the images in this deck reflect your ideas??

Click to expand...

Generally speaking, I see the Fool as the manifestation of the querent or the essence of chaos. The depiction in this deck fits right in with those two concepts for me. The man himself could easily be someone you could meet at work, on the train, in a class... he has an air of comfortable familiarity. Chaos is seen in the humanoid animal, butterflies transforming, his clothing, and the very landscape. I do see tarot as a book, with the trumps assuming the role of chapter titles and the pips relaying the story. The images in this particular deck read like a particularily engrossing novel, the kind that is hard to put down.

Tarot (the cards) as a book. I ran across this idea not too long ago - but have yet to run with it. A 78-page book? Somehow I think that the book itself might be longer, but with 78 (give or take) illustrations.

I like your ideas here. Chapter Titles. Have you ever been in a Tarot Circle Story?? It's where people sign up, and one draws a card to begin the story, and writes it up (not long - cause it's online) and then you leave it at a crucial moment and the next person draws a card and continues the story. The last person (usually 10 or so participants) has the fun job of tying it all up and make some closure to the adventure. The ones I've been in a few years ago always had knights and princesses and Grand Adventure!!!

I would like to move on from that. Go deeper into the characters and meanings - situations.

I would think this deck would lend itself to such an exploration. In the Story Circles each person uses whichever deck they want - just posts which card and from where at the beginning of their segment.

I've been thinking of seeing if I could get one going here at AT. You must have read my mind!!

*S*

I've never been a part of a story circle, it sounds entrancing. It might be fun to draw a Trump first to come up with a creative chapter title. I think the tarot has an infinite number of pages, each card in itself has an amazing amount of depth but once you start combining cards the depth and breadth of meanings expand exponentially.

I'm participating in the One Deck Wonder exercise mentioned in the Talking Tarot forum, and I chose the UF deck to work with exclusively for a period of time. Plus, another list I'm on is using this deck right now, so I have every opportunity to study it. And I'm glad I am because this deck is very unusual, and I think has a lot to offer.

When I spent a little time with this Fool, a few things came to mind. I also thought it was interesting that he has fingerless gloves on but no shoes. It could be that he needs these gloves to help him hold his flag and not hurt his hands. (Flags seem to be very prevalent in this deck, and I'm tempted to do a little research on this... ) And could it be that he isn't wearing shoes because he's not going anywhere... at least not physically.

Which brings me to the butterflies, which I think is the most interesting feature of this card. The butterflies being borne from the feathers in his hair seem to be saying that this Fool *is* traveling, but is doing so within his mind as his thoughts are being transformed into living creatures.

This is actually very interesting because this deck appears to be very "airy" with many scenes taking place high in the sky. And by the deck's very nature of being a fantasy deck, this Fool seems to be saying that the trips we'll be taking will be in our thoughts and dreams....

Have you ever held a big flag on a windy day? I have, and they are *very* hard to hang onto. It requires more than a bit of physical strength and effort to keep from being buffeted all over creation. Now notice the Fool and his huge flag, he holds it with little effort and the flag is billowing with a gust of wind. What's to keep him from being swept over the edge? And what is the significance of the color purple in this deck? I have found it on many cards.

yeah - LOTS of purple!

Flag - yes, I can see that now.
But what I wanted to say is that I've been reading, and a new-to-me idea about the Fool is that he's not so much a person as Seeker ... but a person who is undeveloped. Potential. The Undivided Man. Or is it Undividuated. That sort of thing.

So - ideas (butterflies) arising from his hair (head), the mystical companion who exhibits many of the same traits, the flag like you mentioned (showing that he is not real but potential) (in my thinking right now), the fingerless gloves and no shoes. Sitting on the edge, another sign that he is on "the brink"; potential, character undefined, poised for developement.

And the Book of Tarot is his path. Teacher. Education. Encounters. Growth and failures -- or rather, growth by failures. And paths crossing. Chance encounters. Is there such a thing?? a "chance" encounter??

So - in summary I will say that my understanding of the tarot - ahhh ... a song just came into my head - "A fool on the hill sees the sun going down and the eyes in his head see the world going round." I bet we could make a whole tarot deck just from the Beatles!!

Anyway - my understandings of the "bits of cardboard" are deepening, expanding. To me, now, it's not only a person on the quest of adult-hood, but much more deep than that. To me, just now, today, I see that it makes no difference at all which deck you use. It just matters that you pick up one.

Hmmm... that sounds way too simple seeing it in print here. It feels so much more than that. I totally feel different the more I explore.

Ahh man. If I get a lot of this from the first card in the storydeck what's gonna happen when I get to, say, card 43??