firemaiden
Translation of Article: Le Mat (the fool) as Bel-Gargan
The following is my (hurried) translation of Tarot de Marseille: Le Mat article on the lycos site.
LE MAT
Where is this strange character going who seems too big for the card. Apparently he does not belong anymore to this universe which is too little for him.
And besides he is the only one of the twenty two major arcane to not have a number. So the temptation is strong to make him the zero or the 22, and many have succumbed to this temptation.
But the card game specifies forcefully, the Mat does not play like the others. He must have no number, because he remains indifferent to all the other cards who oppose him.
And look closely, count the blades of grass, there are twenty-one and correspond to the twenty-one numbered cards.
Obviously, he has nothing more to learn from this world. The dog barks, the caravan passes. The dog, carrier of souls, guardian of the Styx (river in the Underworld) does not stop Le Mat. Would le Mat then be the initiator, and therefore an accomplished initiate himself?
Le Mat and the Gaulois myth of the giant Bel Gargan.
In a time so long ago that it is difficult to give a date, towards the Neolithic period, there began to exist in the minds of mankind, the image of a giant, who came from polar regions, the last person from a vanished continent. White of skin, of whiskers and hair, with a great beard with ice-cubes stuck to it, a bright body covered with the frost of great empty spaces where the glacial wind blows.
In France he came from the north-west, in spring he traveled distances in a great hurry, only stopping for a moment in a stream. He would float his giant body in the water to get rid of the ice cubes which covered him. Then at sunset, he would come out and again travel vast distances with huge paces. A single step was enough to go from Brittany to the Rhône. He loved the banks of the Rhône, the land of the Parisii (tribe that founded Paris) the current Ile de France, and especially Mont Tombelaine, where Mont Saint Michel is. Then he would disappear towards the south after having drunk a last throat-ful of water from the Rhône.
He always came back towards the end of summer, and went back up with huge paces toward the north, only to reappear six months later, at the beginning of spring. Little by little, the inhabitants who encountered him in his long walks, or who saw him during his rest in the river, got used to seeing him, grew bold enough to approach him and offered him gifts. The members of certain castes, the shepherds, and bateliers, traveled with him.
At the end of summer, they gathered together near a river, sacrificed an animal, dried its pelt, which they wore, they blackened their faces and took off on the shoulders of the giant towards the cold and mountainous regions of the north. When they returned in the spring, they had acquired wisdom, and a light which emanated from them made the other inhabitants of their villages respect them. Others, fewer people, who accompanied him on his journey toward the south did not return.
Little by little, this giant became familiar, and was given a name: Bel. (handsome). He came and went now on a golden horse. In France numerous tombs have been found where a knight is burried seated on a horse in areas called “Bois-de-Bel” (Bel’s woods), Mont de Bel (Bel’s mountain), Combe-Belin etc. Bel only carried men once in their life, and for the return trip, they walked, following their initiator.
This giant, without representation, gave way progressively to other gods, but the shepherds and bateliers remained faithful to him, and every year, they celebrated ceremonies in his honor. They came to the banks of a river, sacrificed an animal, a deer, or a wolf. A man would be chosen to wear the dried pelt of the animal, then his face would be blackened with mud. He symbolized the giant. The future initiate was not to put his feet in the water, so as not to soil it before the time of solitude and learning was over. The man representing the giant carried on his shoulders the "mystes" (initiates?), et carried them across the water to the place where their initiation would take place, in general an island in the middle of a river. In the spring, the men would return, led by their carrier, and following on foot. Those who desired to deepen their knowledge would remain on the island and became instructors the following year.
The Christian religion quickly attacked the myth of the good giant who carries people on his shoulders and initiates them. Around the year 1155, a monk Wace spoke of a giant “Gargan who makes Christianity tremble, crowns himself with (aubepine) and (eglantine) [plant names] and has commerce with the devil” The processions and the ceremonies at the banks of rivers seemed like wolf-packs “who carried the souls of the dead and prevented them from being saved”. But for Bel-Gargan, the idea of salvation was impossible and perpetual hell did not exist; the purety came as a matter of course, one obtained it by initiation, and the search for knowledge/wisdom. His disciples continued to give presents to the river and honor Mont Tombelaine. So the church borrowed from the east a knight of light who rode a shining horse, and fought with a dragon, a kind of sea monster. He became the luminous archangel teacher and healer, Saint Michel. Tombelaine and the giant who carries people on their shoulders Bel-Gargan were neutralized this way.
SAINT CHRISTOPHE
Soon thereafter, we see a giant appearing in Christian mythology who was a river-passer (one who carries people across the river), coming from the Chaldée. One night, while he was sleeping by the river, he was awoken by the voice of an child asking him to carry him to the other bank. The giant answerd the little boy who was about five or six years old, that at this hour, he didn’t carry anyone across. The child insisted and promised such a reward, that Christopher got up, took his walking stick and put the child on his shoulders. Little by little as the giant advanced, the little boy became heavier and heavier, to the point where Christopher thought he would never reach the other bank. He collapsed on the ground when he arrived. “Who are you to weigh so much?” “I am your god, answered the child, and became all luminous; by carrying me, you carried the world, and now you will be the carrier to paradise. “
Saint Christopher from Mont Athos in Greece was a giant with the head of a dog. He did not speak and guided travelers toward churches. Pagan at first, Jesus converted him and gave him speech, and the head of a man. Since then he guards doors of churches, leaning on a walking stick. But since he cannot remain still for long, he goes before travelers in need, in the passages of deep rivers. The animal head evokes the Egyptian god Anubis, also a carrier of the dead and of initiates.
(two more paraphraphs which follow discuss relation of le Mat to Hermes)
The following is my (hurried) translation of Tarot de Marseille: Le Mat article on the lycos site.
LE MAT
Where is this strange character going who seems too big for the card. Apparently he does not belong anymore to this universe which is too little for him.
And besides he is the only one of the twenty two major arcane to not have a number. So the temptation is strong to make him the zero or the 22, and many have succumbed to this temptation.
But the card game specifies forcefully, the Mat does not play like the others. He must have no number, because he remains indifferent to all the other cards who oppose him.
And look closely, count the blades of grass, there are twenty-one and correspond to the twenty-one numbered cards.
Obviously, he has nothing more to learn from this world. The dog barks, the caravan passes. The dog, carrier of souls, guardian of the Styx (river in the Underworld) does not stop Le Mat. Would le Mat then be the initiator, and therefore an accomplished initiate himself?
Le Mat and the Gaulois myth of the giant Bel Gargan.
In a time so long ago that it is difficult to give a date, towards the Neolithic period, there began to exist in the minds of mankind, the image of a giant, who came from polar regions, the last person from a vanished continent. White of skin, of whiskers and hair, with a great beard with ice-cubes stuck to it, a bright body covered with the frost of great empty spaces where the glacial wind blows.
In France he came from the north-west, in spring he traveled distances in a great hurry, only stopping for a moment in a stream. He would float his giant body in the water to get rid of the ice cubes which covered him. Then at sunset, he would come out and again travel vast distances with huge paces. A single step was enough to go from Brittany to the Rhône. He loved the banks of the Rhône, the land of the Parisii (tribe that founded Paris) the current Ile de France, and especially Mont Tombelaine, where Mont Saint Michel is. Then he would disappear towards the south after having drunk a last throat-ful of water from the Rhône.
He always came back towards the end of summer, and went back up with huge paces toward the north, only to reappear six months later, at the beginning of spring. Little by little, the inhabitants who encountered him in his long walks, or who saw him during his rest in the river, got used to seeing him, grew bold enough to approach him and offered him gifts. The members of certain castes, the shepherds, and bateliers, traveled with him.
At the end of summer, they gathered together near a river, sacrificed an animal, dried its pelt, which they wore, they blackened their faces and took off on the shoulders of the giant towards the cold and mountainous regions of the north. When they returned in the spring, they had acquired wisdom, and a light which emanated from them made the other inhabitants of their villages respect them. Others, fewer people, who accompanied him on his journey toward the south did not return.
Little by little, this giant became familiar, and was given a name: Bel. (handsome). He came and went now on a golden horse. In France numerous tombs have been found where a knight is burried seated on a horse in areas called “Bois-de-Bel” (Bel’s woods), Mont de Bel (Bel’s mountain), Combe-Belin etc. Bel only carried men once in their life, and for the return trip, they walked, following their initiator.
This giant, without representation, gave way progressively to other gods, but the shepherds and bateliers remained faithful to him, and every year, they celebrated ceremonies in his honor. They came to the banks of a river, sacrificed an animal, a deer, or a wolf. A man would be chosen to wear the dried pelt of the animal, then his face would be blackened with mud. He symbolized the giant. The future initiate was not to put his feet in the water, so as not to soil it before the time of solitude and learning was over. The man representing the giant carried on his shoulders the "mystes" (initiates?), et carried them across the water to the place where their initiation would take place, in general an island in the middle of a river. In the spring, the men would return, led by their carrier, and following on foot. Those who desired to deepen their knowledge would remain on the island and became instructors the following year.
The Christian religion quickly attacked the myth of the good giant who carries people on his shoulders and initiates them. Around the year 1155, a monk Wace spoke of a giant “Gargan who makes Christianity tremble, crowns himself with (aubepine) and (eglantine) [plant names] and has commerce with the devil” The processions and the ceremonies at the banks of rivers seemed like wolf-packs “who carried the souls of the dead and prevented them from being saved”. But for Bel-Gargan, the idea of salvation was impossible and perpetual hell did not exist; the purety came as a matter of course, one obtained it by initiation, and the search for knowledge/wisdom. His disciples continued to give presents to the river and honor Mont Tombelaine. So the church borrowed from the east a knight of light who rode a shining horse, and fought with a dragon, a kind of sea monster. He became the luminous archangel teacher and healer, Saint Michel. Tombelaine and the giant who carries people on their shoulders Bel-Gargan were neutralized this way.
SAINT CHRISTOPHE
Soon thereafter, we see a giant appearing in Christian mythology who was a river-passer (one who carries people across the river), coming from the Chaldée. One night, while he was sleeping by the river, he was awoken by the voice of an child asking him to carry him to the other bank. The giant answerd the little boy who was about five or six years old, that at this hour, he didn’t carry anyone across. The child insisted and promised such a reward, that Christopher got up, took his walking stick and put the child on his shoulders. Little by little as the giant advanced, the little boy became heavier and heavier, to the point where Christopher thought he would never reach the other bank. He collapsed on the ground when he arrived. “Who are you to weigh so much?” “I am your god, answered the child, and became all luminous; by carrying me, you carried the world, and now you will be the carrier to paradise. “
Saint Christopher from Mont Athos in Greece was a giant with the head of a dog. He did not speak and guided travelers toward churches. Pagan at first, Jesus converted him and gave him speech, and the head of a man. Since then he guards doors of churches, leaning on a walking stick. But since he cannot remain still for long, he goes before travelers in need, in the passages of deep rivers. The animal head evokes the Egyptian god Anubis, also a carrier of the dead and of initiates.
(two more paraphraphs which follow discuss relation of le Mat to Hermes)