Origin of the concept and expression of "Fool's journey"

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 03 May 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Rusty Neon	03 May 2004
(1) Does anyone know the origin of the idea of the "Fool's journey" through the tarot? (2) Does anyone know who coined the expression "Fool's journey" through the tarot? Thanks for any answers. I'm curious as to at what point in history this idea arose and this expression arose.

Ravenswing	03 May 2004
Rusty-- Interesting question. I just went on goggle-- "fool's journey" + "origins" and found this site: www.lelandra.com/comptarot/womanstarottimeline.htm A quick answer there. If it doesn't do the trick, there's more sites on the search. fly well Raven

closrapexa	04 May 2004
Ravenswing, I did the search, and I found this essay: http://www.tarot.com/about-tarot/library/boneill/fool-journey Very detailed, I doubt anyone would wish for more. Lots of other subjects, too. Like when Dr. Robert O'Neill compares the Major to the Divine Comedy, he goes into each card and explain where in the Comedy it appears. I've never heard of Dr. Robert O'Neill. Who is he?

jmd	04 May 2004
I haven't visited the given links recently, and do not recall Robert O'Neill discussing the provenance of the term 'Fool's Journey' (by the way, Robert O'Neill has written, in my personal opinion, some of the most important material on the Tarot over the past twenty years, including his important book Tarot Symbolism). I am unsure as to who coined the term, but what follows are some of my reflections. One of the suggested (now dis-credited) meanings for the term Tarot is that it came from Egyptian meaning 'Royal Road' (Ta-Rosh). The Tarot has therefore at times been viewed as providing a road to spiritual enlightenment. In 1975, a small book by Stephan Hoeller also appeared under precisely that title: 'The Royal Road'. In it, the second section (Part II) is headed: 'The Road and the Journey', in which chapter III is titled 'Preparing for the Journey', and chapter VII 'The Fool's Pilgrimage'. I cannot recall anywhere else where there seems to have been such a clear indication for the term... though it may possibly also occur in some of CC Zain's, M.P. HAll's or Paul F. Case's work. Of course, the sense for the Tarot being a 'Royal Road' is mentioned by each of these authors, and goes back to pre-20th century works. Chapter VI of the first part of Seventy-Eight degrees of Wisdom is titled by Rachel Pollack 'The Great Journey' - that's around 1980. ...and of course, there is that wonderful collection of postcards published in 1993 and titled The Fool's Journey Tarot Postcards. It would indeed be worth knowing who coined the term. Though, again, the sense that here was a journey which is reflected in the Tarot predates its specific association as the Fool's!

closrapexa	05 May 2004
Does anyone know of a conflicting theory? That Tarot isn't about a journey?

jmd	05 May 2004
Tarot symbolism may indeed reflect or indicate signposts along a journey... though some may not agree even with this. There are, however, a number of questions, and one of these is whether it is the Fool's journey (with which I personally do not agree, except in a looser sense that each representation represents part of the journey, the Fool representing its culmination, along with the World), and another is, as specifically asked in this thread, where the term 'Fool's Journey' originates.

tmgrl2	05 May 2004
I always think of each small event in my life as being a "mini-journey" sort of like life being full of "little deaths"...but I don't see the Fool, personally as beginning or even ending...If the card shows up in a spread, usually, the meaning for that question presents itself depending on position in the reading and the other cards...the fool has many roles and travels everywhere....He might be sitting on the fence in the middle of one of my mini-journeys, laughing, or giving me advice in a conundrum ...sometimes it has wisdom for me, sometimes it tells me to laugh at myself...it's alway different. jmd...I love O'Neills' work...there is a website with his sketch of each card's history...At the end of the history of the icnology of the Fool, he states, (and I paraphrase) while it might be likely that the theme of a Fool's Journey might have some allegorical reference, there is not sufficient evidence that the cards were originally designed with this in mind. In my own readidngs, I see so many locations of the Fool, some early ones in the middle...that I'm comfortable placing the Fool where it "falls." in a reading. terri

The Origin of the concept and expression of "Fool's journey" thread was originally posted on 03 May 2004 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.