Tarot Art Nouveau - The Fool

Ok let's dig right in.

This is really my least favorite card in the deck. The thing that stands out the most to me is that he's actually being bitten by a snake. Now, I take this as being bitten by an idea or a passion. There is an expression of "being bitten by the bug" which results in one plunging themselves into something that was formerly not an interest. Could this be the meaning behind the bite from that snake?

I find it strange that our Fool is in the act of being bitten. In other rws clones, we often see the Fool about to come to a cliff, or about to do something. But the picture of this card is simply him receiving this bite. This doesn't seem to herald any type of warning. Is it important that his left leg is the one being bit?

His pose is also a bit confusing. His legs look like he may be running or simply taking big steps. But his arms are flung behind him. It looks almost as if he were jumping and landed on his left foot. His face almost looks pained, but I only say this because his mouth is open. I guess it's because he's shown in profile that I can't get more from his expression.

In the distance, I can see the outline of a house, actually it looks like a farmhouse and a silo. So right off, I get the feel he is wandering away from home and perhaps getting into a bit of trouble or simply exploring what is out of his comfort zone.

I'd hate to view this card in a negative way, so I'm taking the snake bite to be a good thing. I'm not sure how I'm able to do this though. I can find nothing about the snake to define the type of snake it is. It's just green. It could be a non-poisonous snake. But why is he biting?

In reality, snake bites from non-venomous snakes are not especially harmful. In fact, it's safer than a bee sting. And snakes are not apt to bite humans unless they are startled or trying to retreat. Snakes know humans are not food, esp the size of the one in this card. Perhaps he startled the snake? This would certainly fit with the image I have of the Fool as a card. Be careful where you tread. Watch where you're going so you don't get bit?

Snakes also can symbolize wisdom, knowledge, and healing. Satan appears as a snake to tempt Eve to bite the apple, but I'm no bible expert. Throughout history and the world, snakes are heralded as creatures of wisdom.

Perhaps this bite is a bite containing wisdom for our Fool. Maybe this is the moment he realizes his own power?

Behind the fool, is this called a mandala, or something? It looks almost like they might be daffodils, but I really can't tell. I hope someone who's more experienced with this style and this deck can come in and shed some light.

I have no idea what the rest of the flowers are either.

Does the act of biting bother you as well? What does it mean to you?

I have to admit, this poor fool looks like he was caught mid-flailing. He looks reluctant to move, and the snake is providing a little bit of motivation.

The snake looks quite calm, and I love your point about snakes and wisdom, Sinduction.

I take this card as leaving your comfort zone, some fools get to trot off with a packed lunch and their loving pooch, this guy really doesnt wanna go, but find himself going anyway.

It'd be easy to put him at the begining of the majors as 0, but I'd hate to come back to him like this at 22.

Come full circle, and you're still flailing and being pushed along. That's kinda true to life though. It never slows down for you.

Studying the card, I noted the season appears to be late-summer and time is Daybreak/Sunset.

I'm pretty sure all the flowers are summer ones, but I need to consult the Plant Loving Mother first. Unless anyone is really into botanicals.

I also noticed he has the Sun on his belt. It makes a good icon for him, starting out with a bang.

I'll remark more later, getting my work done today! *whew*

I'm working off of an Internet picture here, because I went to my local Borders to get the deck today since they usually have it. They didn't. Bear with me here, kids...

The pose is, as other people have said, rather odd. He does look like he has jumped down and landed in the snake's general direction. I also had the thought that maybe he is about to fall forward flat on his face. (Then again, his arms aren't pinwheeling around or thrown out in front of him to break his fall. So I don't know.) I have learned through watching way too much Animal Planet that snakes generally don't bite unless they are hunting or feel threatened. Looks to me like this Fool got too close for the snake's comfort and the snake is imparting some wisdom the very hard way.

Ok, now that I have an actual deck in hand...

I revise my last statement about him falling forward-now that I really look at it, to me he is more likely to fall on his butt then falling forward. He looks like he was jumping around (doing what I don't know) and landed near a snake with the obvious result.

I was looking at those flowers, and they do look like daffodils to a point. But the more I look at them, the more I think they look like coneflowers or asters or daisies with the last petal sort of shoved up to make it look three dimensional. I'm not sure, though. Hard to describe.

His pose is so strange. I can't figure it out either.

I know nothing of flowers but if they look to be summer flowers, that is enough of a detail for me.

Glad to see you made it.

We need a flower expert in here.

I get the impression that the fool has not been watching where he was going and has accidentally trod on a snake. Definitely a "foolish" thing to do!

To me the snake in the card could either be a warning to look before you leap, or, the snake being a symbol of transformation, he has been "bitten" by an idea, an impulse, and is now ready to "take the leap", to transform himself, bringing about new options and change.
People have mentioned here that he looks as though he is "landing". To me it looks just the opposite, as though he is about to leap, almost like the pose swimmers use before "diving in at the deep end".

The first thing that come to my mind about the snaking biting him is that something he has done has come back to bit him. Being the fool, he probably did something that he shouldn't have and now he's facing the results of his actions. The saying " it will bite you in the butt" comes to mind, even though the snake is bitting him on the leg. LOL

I found the fool's stance just a bit awkward, I've never seen anybody run with both arms thrown back. Then I started thinking, maybe the Fool is just about to throw himself forward, trying to escape. For some reason, I don't find this fool as happy go lucky as many others. He's putting way to much energy in his actions, where as other fools are more lackadaisical.

I've been thinking a lot about this card and I wanted to add my two cents. To me, he looks as if he's desperately trying not to fall, but he doesn't know where to put his balance. He's not falling backwards, but maybe tripping forward, and his weird hand position is the beginning of a flailing, trying not to fall, but for his face we know that he knows that he'll probably fail. But that doesn't stop him from trying.
Also, snakes represent rebirth and renewal. So maybe he's being bitten because it's a sign that it's time to start a new cycle, to 'grow up', to accept consequences and learn from them. Or at least, that's what it seems to me.
Regarding the background, I found it very interesting that we can see four stages of the flowers life: there are ten seeds, nine buds, eleven flowers, and two twigs with reddish leaves, a cycle, but an uncertain one, as it's not regular from one step to the other. Yes, we know that one seed usually gives out one plant, but sometimes, life can surprise us (I have a friend who once planted grass and ended up with clovers) and thus, uncertainty is always part of our cycle.
Also, I love the colors of the background. It's dawn. A beginning of a new day, and thus, a new adventure and a new lesson to be learnt.

**NOTE: here is what i've written in my journal, so even though this thread has already had replies, i started at the beginning of my deck, so it sounds like a first post.

here we see a young man in full jester outfit, no stick with bag attatched like the traditional RW. he's been walking, but now sees something in front of him (out of our view) he has a completely surprised and shocked look on his face and it seems like he's either trying to back up or is falling backwards (away from whatever is surprising him) because both arms are going behind him, as if to brace himself for a backwards stumble/fall. at the same time, a green snake is biting his leg (instead of a dog) and he does one foot raised, as if not to step on the snake, but he's not *looking* at the snake, suggesting he isn't even aware of it.

there is what looks like a farm in background of the card, perhaps suggesting our happy and unaware fool is traveling away from home for the first time. there is no cliff in this card for the fool to fall off, but i suspect the snake that's striking at him is trying to deliver a dose of reality to this fool (snake= knowledge, like in the story of adam and eve).

perhaps our fool has stumbled unwittingly upon the magician in the next card. the snake may even be an ally of the magician- coiled in hiding and ready to strike, waiting for the fool to fall into their trap, so he can push him towards the magician (put the magician card on the left, and the fool on the right. now look at the scene, but starting from the right and moving left. we have the snake striking at the fool, then the fool, utterly shocked and trying to save himself from a fall, and we see the magician, all cool and collected, looking at the scene playing out in front of him). maybe it's not such a surprise that our fool seems so startled....

*numerological associations- Zero: nothingness, infinity, vacuum, black hole. at zero, our fool could be a blank slate, just waiting to be filled by life's experiences and lessons- like a baby.

*LWB: strangeness, infantilism, detachment from earthly worries.

*reversed: playing it safe, unwilling to take chances, uptight, caught up in worries, afraid to try new things, not adventurous.