The Fool's Other Journey

[chaosbloom]

Ever since I've read Eden Grey's theory of the Fool's Journey, it just never sat right with me. It seemed like a very straightforward rationalization of the order of the Trumps with no inherent truth in it. I considered it a harmless allegory which was useful as a mnemonic device than anything more.

Eventually, after some of the latest threads here I pinpointed what bothered me about the Journey. It treats the Fool as a moron as if that's any sort of self-evident concrete truth. But what exactly is the Fool in the first place?

I'm not really trying to create some "historically correct" theory of the Journey. But some historical elements of what Fools and Jesters are, will be useful. So, what is the Fool? The Fool is a storyteller, an entertainer, sometimes a mime and a trickster as well. But what distinguishes him from other entertainers is his permission to mock everything because he is specially affected by nature or the divine. When he is not specially affected, he must be wise not to overstep his boundaries and end up a dead Fool.

So the Fool is above all else a critic. You need to be a Fool to scream that the King is naked but it requires logic and wisdom to see beyond the crowd's and the King's delusion of his invisible garments. In the end the Fool is the one who brings all of them back on track and only a Fool would be allowed to say what he says because his "Foolishness" protects him. (Yes yes I know I'm hijacking Andersen's tale and that in the original it's a child and not a Jester who screams that the Emperor is naked but the child in this particular case, is clearly a small fool.)

This is how I see the Fool's journey:

(poem removed)

 

[delinfrey]

Well, if you want to go -really- historical, it must be be mentioned that originally, the Fool was not a part of the trumps. There were 21 trumps + the Fool, which later became Joker in the playing card decks (i.e a suitless card).

I agree that the Fool is not a "fool" in the modern sense, but the one who is allowed to speak the truth. To me, Fool is the glue between the World and the Magician. Everything and nothing.
I think the Fool would be best presented as a supernova, or perhaps a supermassive black hole.

 

[Lucas Prince of Cats]

The fool is thee experienced traveler. The child without innocence. The joker. The unborn soul. He is greater than a moron. He's an adventurer, and often this is so close to fool. Perhaps part of what brought him on this journey was foolishness.

 

[lightsofblue]

*****

 

[chaosbloom]

I could rephrase the Empress' quatrain but I don't want to be mean. Guys and gals, this thread isn't about asking what the Fool is. That can be done in other threads. In this thread, I'm suggesting how I see the Fool in a very specific way (The Fool's Other Journey). Agree or disagree but I'm mainly interested in feedback on that, not the Fool in general. I'll edit the first post to make that clearer.

 

[Lucas Prince of Cats]

I could rephrase the Empress' quatrain but I don't want to be mean. Guys and gals, this thread isn't about asking what the Fool is. That can be done in other threads. In this thread, I'm suggesting how I see the Fool in a very specific way (The Fool's Other Journey). Agree or disagree but I'm mainly interested in feedback on that, not the Fool in general. I'll edit the first post to make that clearer.

I like it. It's saying that humans are the fools, right? It's a nice poem and story, and yes, definitely, I think of humans as the fools.

 

[chaosbloom]

I like it. It's saying that humans are the fools, right? It's a nice poem and story, and yes, definitely, I think of humans as the fools.

Instead of the Fool going through the Major Arcana and learning lessons, he points out their follies instead.

(interpretation removed)

Might work for some and not for others. Glad you like it though.

 

[devilkitty]

Interesting. I've never bought the "Fool's Journey" as it's generally described, and this is an intriguing way to think about the sequence of the greater trumps.

It also dovetails quite well with the pre-RWS Fool card being unnumbered: he exists separate from the trump sequence, observing from the outside.

 

[lightsofblue]

*****

 

[chaosbloom]

Interesting. I've never bought the "Fool's Journey" as it's generally described, and this is an intriguing way to think about the sequence of the greater trumps.

It also dovetails quite well with the pre-RWS Fool card being unnumbered: he exists separate from the trump sequence, observing from the outside.

And in Tarot games, he can usually "trump" them. But that's a superficial element anyway. I'm not convinced at all that the Trumps contain all that is to be said about human life. Either as lessons or follies to avoid. At least what I did here shows a different way to think about a "journey" through the major arcana. It would be interesting to see more takes competing with the dominant model (Grey's Journey).

Actually I forgot to mention in the first post that this is only one of the Journeys I was thinking of. I was considering a version with Hermes as the Fool in his trickster-thief aspect and one with the largely unsung Thersites as the Fool, the imperfect being who always speaks the bitter truth. The last one is probably unnecessary as Momus serves as the highest archetype for that function.

I can understand that you don't want to go off topic and open up a larger discussion, but I don't see a like/dislike option...you are certainly interesting but the way we're going you're going to get me kicked off the forums .

I'm not afraid of criticism, I just want to contain the thread to this particular Journey I'm suggesting. I also do want to inspire others to come up with more Journeys independent from the traditional one. I'm suspecting that your chart is full of Air, am I wrong?

First was my own version of The Fool's "Other" Journey. Next my criticism for Momus.

I think it's best if we have one Journey per thread. What form is yours in? And why would you want to criticise the primordial God of criticism? He might take it personally.

I don't mind if people criticise my little tale or the concepts it contains, that's the whole point of posting it on a forum. But I'm pleading no contest to all charges of bad metre and rhyme, I'm aware of the flaws already.