A musing on the Fool and Magician

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 28 Oct 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Osher	28 Oct 2004
One advantage of 4 hours driving a day is that you have thinking time... I'd like to bounce a notion I had off people, to see if it cooking with gas: The Fool and the Magician are in many ways foils of each other. They are both explorers, and so in that sense are the same. However, the Fool explores externally, using internal tools. That is, using nothing external, he walks around geographically. The Magician uses instruments, i.e. external tools, to explore internally (i.e. he doesn't move). In that sense, they are the exact opposite. The Fool has knowledge, but doesn't allow it to be the focus of his journey. The Magician is on a journey to find knowledge, and that is the focus of his trip. Again, exact opposites. The Fool is often seen walking away from the viewer, and is an individualist. The Magician is often seen facing the viewer, and seems to be presenting himself. He is therefore a team player, a sharer. There are more opposites, but I think it's something interesting?

Fulgour	28 Oct 2004
Ironically, since The Fool has been given Aleph by some, and Aleph, being the first letter is in fact the first card... The Magician ~ these have become hopelessly entangled.

firemaiden	28 Oct 2004
Well, I see the Fool as the real magician, who has real magic, and is able to "travel" outside of time and space (outside of the game) while the bateleur-performing street magician, is the guy who got his magic tricks out of a kit from Disneyland. (remember those? the chinese laundry tickets you could tear up and magically reassemble? the wands that changed the number of their spots? the trick lock, the coin in a bag, a self restoring rope you could cut...) Perhaps even, the bateleur/magician is the the normal every day human face of the same magical being who at night becomes divine Fool.

Formicida	28 Oct 2004
I really like that idea, Osher. If you don't mind, I'll copy it down into my journal to muse over myself.

Osher	29 Oct 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Formicida I really like that idea, Osher. If you don't mind, I'll copy it down into my journal to muse over myself. I'd be honoured!

The A musing on the Fool and Magician thread was originally posted on 28 Oct 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.