The meaning of the dog upon the Fool

Actually, whether the card has a dog, lynx, or other animal is open to question.

I wondered more what to make of the symbolic significance, within a reading, of the action of the animal (let's call it a dog for argument's sake) on such a deck that has the full clarity of the Noblet deck - one of the earliest near fully extent decks from the 1600s, and very much a standard that appears to have been principally influential in the development of Tarot.

Could it have the same significance as saying 'keep your legs crossed'?

jmd said:

Could it have the same significance as saying 'keep your legs crossed'?

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this made me smile - and I thought the answer might be 'listen to your instincts before you act' - whether that means to cross OR uncross your legs.

'I am here to remind you that you are here' is the dog's function for the Fool I think. Just like Sirius does ~Rosanne

I always saw the dog as something trying to get your attention. There have also been times when I saw it as a friend along for the folly. An ignored friend at that.

Rosanne said:

'I am here to remind you that you are here'

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Oh - I like that very much. Sort of being mindful and bringing your consciousness to the present moment before you act. Perhaps reminding you that you need to focus on what you are doing NOW - because a lack of focus and concentration can sometimes lead to a fall.

Perhaps the real Fool is the dog,
trying to help the human beings.

Fulgour said:

Perhaps the real Fool is the dog,
trying to help the human beings.

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LOL - thanks Fulgour, I had to think about that for a sec before the penny finally dropped!

I've always seen the dog as a loyal companion whilst the fools on his journey.
This companion is there to remind you that you are protected. He's also there as a warning, he's barking at the fools heels because he's too close to the edge of the cliff.

I've always had the notion that the animal, pulling down his pants, is exposing him to the world... his more creative side that is.

Always makes me wonder where he should be placed on the tree... or if he should be placed on the tree at all. Maybe that's what the lack of number is all about. Gives me a slight problem with a certain alphabet and some well-trodden paths, but those are just details.

As to divinatory significance... I simply don't know, I've never seen him appear in a reading of mine.

There is a very old saying in Sicilian...and it translates into English as:

The dog always bites the man with the torn pants.

I have heard it over and over from the older generation...maybe it's a universal expression now, but I first heard it in my husband's family, from his generation (he is 78) and older.

They use it whenever something bad happens to someone who already has a lot of trouble or pain in their lives. So, when we told my sister-in-law that I had diabetes...she said The dog always bites the man with the torn pants..

In the Waite-Smith depiction, the dog looks more like a playful companion....

But...the dog as a life force often represents a great companion to man...loyal, unconditional love....playful....when when we open ourselves to that which is new and when we "travel in between the boundaries" of life, how wonderful to know we have a companion for the passage.

So, perhaps, the dog stands for the idea that no matter what we face in life, we are not alone. There is always a force, literal-real, or a spirit that is with us along the way, reminding us we are loved, that we can play, that life can be fun.

Then, too, sometimes when the worse that could happen seems to have happened, and our pants are metaphorically "torn," the dog bites us! yet again.

Opens up many possibilities for "upright" or "reversed" meanings, just as The Fool can serve as trickster, magus, scapegoat, dullard, free-spirit....

Just some thoughts.

terri