World Spirit Study Group - The Fool (0)

Jewel-ry

In this card a woman is about to step straight off the top of a building. Now the thing that strikes me is that the fool in a 'conventional' tarot card is about to step from a cliff. This then is a slightly different concept. In the 'cliff' scenario, the fool is already on 'terra firma' and generally appears to not see the edge of the cliff. In this card however, she is dancing along a pitched roof. She had to have taken a risk to get up there in the first place. So she must know the danger but she is still prepared to take her chance. Is she pushing her luck? She appears very happy-go-lucky and is surrounded by birds who almost definately are her friends. They bring her flowers. Birds generally are messengers between heaven and earth and can represent freedom. The flowers are life itself. Her trusted dog is tugging at her skirt, which is ragged. He, as in most decks, is trying to warn her of the imminent danger.

So the message here is a leap of faith, take a chance, a risk, trust but there is an obvious danger too.

J :)
 

13thFaeChylde

When I look at this card I recall this quote...

Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Begin it now.

---Goethe (1749-1832), German poet and dramatist

I get the sense that she knows that her success, or even destination is not guaranteed...but she has friends who will assist her (the birds) and who will look out for her (the dog) while she goes on her journey.
 

lunalafey

The fool has a carefree attitude, nothing can hurt me, anything is possible, have no worries.
One thing that differs from the 'conventional' is the fool is a woman {intuition}. The Fool is alot about trusting your intution, to others it my seem you go blindly into the line of fire, yet reach the other side unharmed. The WS Fool is destine to fall from the roof (but whose to say she will get hurt?), and if the dog does not let go, he's going down too. I see the fool and the dog as one in the same. There is an element of holding on to the rational/trusted, but letting go of fear enough that you feel both protected {little voice that says, 'not this time'} and invincable- 'don't tell me I can't, I love a challenge...let's go'-- ('and I may die trying to prove you wrong!')
Faith & bravery gets things going- and can often encourge and rally other to follow 'a cause' {the birds}
 

spoonbender

I love this Fool! She looks so carefree, so naive, so free! I never really payed much attention to the fact that she's a woman up to now, because it really "fits" on this card: the Fool is receptive to the world around her, is intuitive, she 'feels', rather than 'thinks'... Thanks Lunalafey for making me see that! And that quote from Goethe is so appropriate here, She Who Watches!
To me, the fact that she's dancing on the ridge of a roof, shows that she is about to leave what's so familiar to her, what she already knows and where she feels secure (symbolised by the house and to a certain degree by the dog). The roof, to me, shows that she wanted to get as high as possible, her spirit truely is uplifted... She can see so far here! I like what Jewel-ry said about this, that is was a risk to get up there in the first place.
The birds bringing her flowers show that what she is doing is the right thing to do, like a 'thumbs up' from the universe. There is always a certain danger in the Fool-card, but I really don't get the feeling that the Fool here should be afraid - now is the time to trust.
What Lunalafey said about the Fool and the dog being one in the same makes perfect sense, but I had never thought that far (I should start thinking more!). It fits beautifully!

Edited to add the link, in case other people want to see it too!

Spoonbender
 

Tarotmyst

A few things i noted...

When I look at this card I get the feeling that the house belongs to the fool. Considering this card comes at the beginning and the end of the major Arcana cycle it gives me the impression that she has climbed onto her roof to be closer to the divine/heavens. Almost like she is on top of HER world.

She is carefree and has faith and a closeness to her god that she trusts in. This is what gives her the freedom and the confidence to take such risks as dancing on rooftops.

The dog tugging at her skirt warns against being too foolish in certain situations. He seems pretty determined to hold on to her and gives me a real grounded feeling when I look at him. I think he represents friends as well as our own common sense and inner warnings.

The skirt being so ragged also shows how simple the fool’s life is. She doesn’t need fancy clothes or possessions. She is happy dancing with the birds and being close to the universe.

I also noted that there were 7 birds - seems significant to me.

Also this card gives me a sense of childlike fantasy and curiosity because it reminds me of characters like Snow white and Cinderella singing and dancing with the animals in the disney films.
 

spoonbender

Tarotmyst, thank you for sharing that with us! You brought it beautifully into words, and I hope we'll hear more of you in the World Spirit Study Group! I too noted the seven birds, but I don't really know what to think of it. It relates the card to the Chariot... perhaps the Fool is more secure, more in control than we think - or than she lets on? What do you think?

Spoonbender
 

Tarotmyst

Yes that makes sense. I was thinking more about 7 being regarded as a spirtual number...

But linking it with the chariot works too. The fool must have a similar sense of inner control but i think this comes from innonce and peace rather then the more driving control and disruption of the chariot.
 

Sulis

I've had this deck for almost 2 years, it was the first deck which I really connected with and I love it. This deck contains some of my favorite cards of any of the decks I have but it's also got some cards I just don't like. The Fool falls somewhere in between - it isn't as bad as The Sun and The Star but it's certainly not one of my favorites.

Why is this woman on the roof? That's what screams out at me every time I see this card. It just seems like a very strange place to begin a journey. A cliff I can get my head around but a roof?.....
Having said that, there are elements of this card which I really like:
I love the birds and how they appear to be bringing her flowers, almost as if they bring the blessings of the Gods.
I love the fact that this Fool is a woman and the way she's not stick pin thin.

I just can't get past that roof :)

Some of your comments are bringing me round a little though :)

Love and light

Sulis xx
 

lunalafey

Sulis said:
I just can't get past that roof :)

In dreams, a house is considered to represent the 'self'.....so you can stretch it to say that the roof is representational of ones asperations, or the intuitive, higher self?
Also in astrology, there is use of 'houses' the 10th house is sometimes called the 'roof'.....10th house association is job/career, your 'calling' & the reputation from such, being in the public eye, public status and the time that it takes to accomplish these things.
 

lark

The Fool

This card brings back a childhood memorie for me.
We used to climb a fence that was next to an old shed in our yard. And we would jump off the roof flapping our arms.
The girl on the card looks like she's just about ready to start flapping her arms.
We were absolutely sure that if we did it enough times one of those time we would take off and really fly.
Talk about carefree faith!

Those little birds are saying "You can fly! You can fly!
Just like in the movie Dumbo
At least Dumbo had those big ears.
All I had was my skinny little 8 year old arms.
But, I was filled with faith.
The dog pulling on her dress reminds me of my dog Nickle, who barked his head off when we jumped off the building.
Even he knew it was dangerous.
Boy, were we dumb kids!
Sometimes I wonder how we all survived to adulthood.