I don’t like this Fool. He makes me want to move straight on towards the Magician, because he looks so irritatingly “Ha-YUK!
” He reminds me strongly of the character of Tom Cullen from The Stand, by Stephen King (“M-O-O-N, that spells illegal!”), but that’s something in his favour. Tom’s faith held out on him, and his very simplicity saved him in the face of horrific evil.
But I digress.
This Fool spreads his limbs as far as he can, to stretch towards the bounds of the great circle around him. Perhaps this indicates an innate longing for differentiation, for realisation and direction. Because as long as one moves around in a circle, there is no sense of direction – but as soon as there is a boundary to use as a marker, a starting point, then one has direction, and therefore progress.
The actual image of the Fool is very complex, drawing together many different symbolic elements. For reasons of simplicity, I want to discuss them in point form:
Doves – innocence
Letters – symbolic of the world of thought and the intellect (Suit of Swords), but suspended above the Fool’s head, he has no understanding of their power.
Fire – burning his hand – unawareness, ability to transcend limitation.
Fox – Trickster, could be seen as a symbol of the Magician, with cunning and a little wildness.
Solar eclipse – the creator says this is a symbol of the Fool always being in the right place at the right time – because that is the only place and time for him. He has no plan, no direction, and so where he is, and when, is always exactly right.
Roses – the abundance and glory of the Earth (Suit of Disks), scattered to the ground by the Fool’s carelessness.
Cup – containment and the realm of emotive and intuitive wisdom. The Fool spills the wine, unaware of the power of the Cup to hold and give shape.
Chasm – bridging the gap between beginning and end, and between up and down. The direction of down symbolises the journey into the dark Self to find awareness – up represents rising from this journey to a new plane of understanding.
Spiralling galaxy – with the directions again, the spiral symbolises endlessness and return, the galaxy itself represents possibility and potential.
Lute – cast aside, it represents the Fool’s personal ability to create and express himself. But he is mute without it, until he can learn to pick it up and make it sound out his thoughts and feelings.
\m/ Kat
