Tarot Of the III MIllennium: The Fool

[blashamma]

Okay, I feel it right to start with the quote from the pamphlet that was included with the pack.
"I began to stop caring for man and I looked at you with veiled eyes. I scanned your soul, even if I could't see your face."- The irrational side
Well, I find a bit of this quote confusing. The beginning- "I began to stop caring for man..."- makes sense because The fool is a card where someone is leaving, and I know from my experiences as well as from other people I know is that sometimes we want to leave when man alone is not enough for us anymore and we need to journey on to find... whatever.
The fool card is obviously very important in this deck because it is on the back of every card.
The man in this deck though looks as if he has seen the harder side of man. He's been through alot and there is nothing left to help him. He must move on. His face is puzzling. Is he anrgy? Is he sad? Is is stupid and confused? Who knows? But for whatever reason, he is leaving... perhaps not as care free as the fool in other decks.
He is in a way like the philosopher Diogenes- who thought he could learn better from the world by ridding himself of worldly possessions. IN this case, the fool seems to take on the persona more commonly held by the Hermit. Therefore connecting our story elsewhere.

 

[FantasyWorld]

Hum...it looks like the dog is trying to pull off the Fool's toga.
He seems skinny, even the dog seems a bit skinny. His neck stretches way out. He is wearing a headband type thing with feathers.
He is about to step on the dog's tail, ouch
He holds his walking stick with his right hand and the bag stick in the left hand.
He's a scary looking dude, like he just escaped prison or something!
Look at the way his fingers are holding the walking stick... sort of like a mudra.
His arse must be hanging out of the toga on that one side HEHE
The dog's tail goes up in a curl. This guy has had a rough life, he needs to get away!!!

 

[April]

I agree with you FantasyWorld. He IS a scary looking dude! That makes me wonder if he's leaving by choice or if he's been forced out of his community. It also explains for me, "I began to stop caring for man", because I beleive that we have stopped caring for him. We would probably cross the street if we saw him heading toward us.

I was reading something recently about how back in the day that the Fool was sometimes depicted as a madman rather than the whimsical dreamer or even the clown we're used to today. I think Ghiuselev is playing up this aspect. The Spanish title for this card is "el Loco" which does not mean fool exactly but "crazy person".

On the other hand, crazy is a relative term. It's often just something we call people when they won't obey society's rules or when they are eccentric enough to make us nervous.

The back design depicts the Fool in a slightly different light. His stance is the same and the dog is still pulling him back, but he's still got all his clothes on and he looks a little bit like a jester. Perhaps the back design represents his first steps on his journey and later he sheds his clothes to rebel. I think this repeats the question posed by the deck as a whole. Can we take a spiritual journey while still inhabiting our modern society? Can we still grow if we are weighed down by the accoutrements of the technological age or do we have to renounce our cell phones and DVD players to start the path to enlightenment?

All in all, I really like the intensity of this Fool. It makes his journey seem that much more important.

Peace,
April

 

[blashamma]

Has anyone done a reading with this deck in which the fool comes up? How did he fit into the reading? How did you interpret him? Did you interpret him differently than you have when the fool card came up in another deck? I have not had the fool come up in a reading yet... think... think... think... Now that I think about it, I have NEVER had the fool card come up in any reading!

 

[April]

Has anyone done a reading with this deck in which the fool comes up? How did he fit into the reading? How did you interpret him? Did you interpret him differently than you have when the fool card came up in another deck? I have not had the fool come up in a reading yet... think... think... think... Now that I think about it, I have NEVER had the fool card come up in any reading!

Never ever? Not with any deck?

I was thinking about your question all day yesterday but I don't know if I came up with a suitable answer. Although I've had it come up in other decks, I've never had the Fool come up with this deck. Of course, I've only done one reading with this deck so far.

Anyway, I think that I would interperet this one differently than one from another deck. Most of the Fool cards I've seen seem reckless and innocent. But this one seems very deliberate like he's got a plan and he knows where he's going. That might be contradictory to what the Fool is all about, but I don't think this guy became a Fool under the same circumstances that the others did. The others made a concious choice to become foolish, but I get the feeling the the III Millennium Fool was forced into this position.

Sooooo... they're similar and different at the same time??? The goal is the same, the "Fool's Journey", but the way each fool begins that journey or or the reason he decides to begin varies from deck to deck.

Of course, this is all just theory as I haven't had the Fool come up either. I thought about doing an imaginary reading putting the Fool in on purpose. I'll give it a go and report back.

Peace,
April

 

[FantasyWorld]

Has anyone done a reading with this deck in which the fool comes up? How did he fit into the reading? How did you interpret him? Did you interpret him differently than you have when the fool card came up in another deck? I have not had the fool come up in a reading yet... think... think... think... Now that I think about it, I have NEVER had the fool card come up in any reading!

I had The Fool come up in readings I did for myself when I 1st started reading (go figure) but not lately. In those readings I interpreted it as doing things "foolishly" not looking before leaping and now that I think about it, it may have also been saying leave the old behind look for the new.
I have not done a reading with this deck yet.

 

[blashamma]

well, I feel bad. I seemed like we didn't get much accomplished. But I think we should move on anyway. Sorry it took me so long, I've been really busy and really tired lately. So I'll start a thread about the next card.