a question about the fool's dog, help please!!!

ArcanoMáximo

a question about The Fool's dog, help please!!!

did you ever see this tiny dog in a good sense? I was wondering me that because some time it looks for me like the SnowWhite's stepmather when like a old tender grandmother is saying to her " bite, bite this beautiful and very brigth red apple ". You already know the rest of the tale. May this dog be crying: " jump, jump, there is no problem "?. May be advertising about some body near us that want we do something without see correctly ( like the fool that is not seeing to the front ) a very dangerous thing? Which're your thoughts?
 

PlatinumDove

I've always seen it as an animal instinct of warning....you know, the one that keeps yelling at you not to do something, and when you go ahead and do it with bad results, you think to yourself..."Damn, I shoulda listened to my inner voice."
 

Imagemaker

How about seeing it as a companion on the path ahead? Some images show the dog biting the Fool, but as a (former) dog owner, I'd not keep a dog like that! My dogs were always loving companions, and one would be a great comfort to take on the trip into the unknown.
 

sunflowr

I have always seen the dog as a companion. :) The faithful friend seeing you through your journey. Maybe the "earth angel" who guides you. I also pick up that the Fool takes nothing but a few things he needs, and his dog. That is all he/she really wants and needs. Enough to survive on, and a friend. :)
 

ArcanoMáximo

inner voice

Maybe that one of the way in wath Waite have changed another clasical sense? Because in other decks it isn't ever a dog, have you noted that it is a cat o tiger,not a dog. The dogs are generaly more asociated with loyalty. Yes, I am thinking i must be with you in that the reference is about the " inner voice" but may be also that all depend of the dignity or relation with the others cards. I feel some shame i never figure that about the " inner voice", but we never stop to learn :)
 

PlatinumDove

Going to the old cards with the cat/tiger on them instead of the dog....I've got two cats of my own, one of them is 20 years old, the other is 15 years old, so I've been around them the majority of my life. I've also had a dog for 12 years. These are some of the things I've noticed about cats vs dogs, which sort of presses the impression that I've had about the dog/cat/tiger in this card:

--cats are more aloof. They don't get involved in human affairs. So what is so bad that is forcing this cat/tiger to become involved in stopping this guy from taking a leap (of faith perhaps?)?
--cats seem to be more intuitive than dogs. I've got a puppy right now that is completely in love with her own mirror reflection, because she thinks its another puppy to play with. My cats however, don't give the mirror a second glance, they trust their senses when their smell, and hearing doesn't include a second cat over their sight which shows another cat. So perhaps this cat/tiger/dog senses something that the human doesn't. After all, note all the animals that fled before the tsunami in December, all the animals that sense earthquakes before they happen, the animals used for epileptic patients, etc. Overall, animals are more intuitive than humans, perhaps because we've lost touch with that part of ourselves.
 

wandking

"some call it a tiger" is a quote is from both Waite and Mathers writings. I believe they were referring to Levi, who called it a "tiger" In Marseille decks it certainly appears cat-like. Indeed Waite (or Smith) portrays a small white dog but he wasn't the first. In fact, the Mantegna image of the lowly beggar bears a striking resemblance to early images of the fool and shows a small dog nipping at his heels. I like the notion of equating the animal with instinct and inner voice, it sounds like something Waite might conceive.
 

ArcanoMáximo

Totem?

have you noted then how this change all our notions about the superiority of
the human race? WE ARE THE FOOL, seeing to the vacuum when the "inferiors" animals are trying to say us about the danger?.In this way the Tarotist is an example of a human connected with his animal part? This is'nt the definition of a TOTEM? This dog is The Fool's Totem?. I've one black cat and two dogs too(doberman and german sheeperd ), and always feel a very special connection with them, and don't really believe in that about the cats like traitors. I love them so much!!!
PlatinumDove, you have let me " open mouth" with that about the animals that fled before the Tsunami. I didn't know it. It's so graphic! G@D!...
 

PlatinumDove

You're welcome Arcano, I remember reading an article about the animals right after the tsunami, and it was so amazing, it was just one of those little things that stuck in my head.
 

gilded goat

I often see the dog as a luna animal,wolves howl at the moon and so does my jack russel,pehaps the dog reflects the subconscious part of us that wants to remain hidden but all the fool wants to do is get everything out into the light whether he realises it or not!