Mary El Tarot - The Fool

Milfoil

I only have the scan to look at right now, but when I peer closely at it, I see a horizontal line around the bottom quarter of the image. Like a distant horizon, maybe. Earth is there, but far away... the Fool is not well grounded, but has taken a leap of faith into uncertainty.

Yes, his feet have left the cliff!
 

Bat Chicken

I think you guys are right. There is a very faded landscape in the background - it looks like a cliff and a waterfall and the Fool is way off in the atmosphere. I can't wait to get the card and look at that more closely.
I love the subtlety of this deck. You HAVE to look closely.

He is very mercurial with those boots for flight....Made from the wings of monarchs
 

Debra

No dog.

What is this under his arm, coming out from where his chin would be?
 

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Laura Borealis

No dog.

What is this under his arm, coming out from where his chin would be?

The bottom of the monarch butterfly mask? With a little black spiral curling on the end?
 

Bat Chicken

No dog.

What is this under his arm, coming out from where his chin would be?

Hi Debra! The dog is sometimes thought to be a cat on some Marseille decks. Marie uses tigers and lions prolifically in this deck but the dragons here are their opposite. This is intriguing, I think! I wonder if there is a reason for this switch or if it is, as you observe, simply an absence. I am going to dig up the booklet she wrote for the majors only deck and see what it says... (I don't like to do that until I have tried to get into the card myself :) )

I think the bit under his arm is a part of the mask, but I wouldn't bet the store on it! :)
 

Bat Chicken

I assumed it was just the proboscis.

Are you maybe suggesting that the face is not a mask but actually a head of a monarch? Interesting.... :)
I kinda thought it curled the wrong way, but still a very cool idea, even if it is a part of the mask to mimic that.
 

Laura Borealis

It's not directly relevant, but I found this photo series showing a monarch turning from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly.

In a couple of photos you can see the proboscis :)
 

Strange2

I noticed that the Mary-El card backs have orange and blue ouroboros serpents intertwined in a lemniscate pattern, stylistically echoing the orange and blue twisting dragons on the Fool card. See attached.

Speaking of the card backs, I counted the red "Yods" on the back of the serpents. One serpents has 38 Yods, the other has 39 Yods. 38 + 39 = 77. The Tarot has 78 cards. 78 - 77 = 1. Suddenly the following phrase beamed into my head: "The Missing One is You!"

The "You" is needed to experience the world. The creator experiencing the play of creation. "I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union." By interacting with the world and tarot, you are actively facilitating and intertwining in the chance of union in unique ways!

I really am going to enjoy and intertwine with this deck!
 

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