January & The Fool
Let’s take our first deep dive into the world of The Fool as he dances through January.
As we begin to settle into the New Year of 2023, preparing for the Tarot journey we’re about to embark on, I figured it would be best if we were to bring our “game piece” into focus. If we think of the Major Arcana as a gameboard, complete with shoots, ladders, strategy, and, on occasion, dumb luck, The Fool is our shiny gamepiece the progress forward. Regardless if it’s his “turn” within this game, The Fool has the ability to seemingly hop around to wherever his smiling heart desires. It’s this ease of movement that he has that makes him revered within the Tarot. He is not the beginning of the Tarot, or the end for that matter, rather The Fool is an omnipresent force within the cards. From a historical standpoint, his spirit embodies itself in The Jester (or The Joker) of Medieval times. According to some accounts, the Jester always had the King’s ear, able to perform for the courts and bring laughter to the constituents, but also act as a royal spy. The same principle stands for The Fool. If we consider ourselves the “ruler” of our intuition, we should also surrender to the information our own Jester can deliver to us
A selection of Fool’s from my deck collection. Clockwise from left: Tarot of the Drowning World (Kahn + Selesnick), Pagan Other Worlds Tarot (Uusi), Aquarian Tarot (David Palladini), and Morgan-Greer Tarot (Bill F. Greer)
In our first exploration of the visual nuances seen within The Fool, I have selected the Pagan Otherworlds (P.O.) Tarot by Uusi, Morgan-Greer (M.G.) Tarot by Bill F. Greer, Tarot of the Drowning World (T.D.W.) by Kahn & Selesnick, and the Aquarian (AQ) Tarot by David Palladini.
The first and probably most obvious element shared within these 4 expressions of our Jester is the white rose (or flower). Prominent in most, subtle in some, the white rose/flower has been a symbol of purity for ages. As we place this icon into the context of The Fool, we’re led to think of this character as a free-spirited, pure soul, reborn into the world and ready to dance his way through both its pleasures and its pains. In some cases, it’s as if this flower has been bequeathed to him, a gift for the journey ahead and a reminder to retain a sense of innocence.
The Fool also carries one other item with him on his bouncy journey: a small valise or bag. In conjunction with this sense of purity and innocence the character exudes, his small parcel is just that: small! Upon reflection, the phrase “packing light” is incredibly appropriate here. What better way to keep light on the toes than to have nothing weighing your soul down?
Finally, what better way to protect oneself from the elements on a journey than with a hat? Not only is this accessory extremely practical in nature, it also serves as a way to express oneself. Are we feeling more practical with a wide-brim hat seen on our friend in the Pagan Otherworlds or are we feeling more frivolous, less concerned with actual protection, with a crown of leaves and a plume seen in the Morgan-Greer?
In contrast, these 4 Fool’s all take very different approaches to their journey. Sure, they share similar accessories, but if we step back and regard each individual, we see that the same sentiment might not be shared. In T.D.W. and the AQ Tarot, our Fools are without the traditional companions of a little dog, or cat. Instead, TDW’s hands have been replaced with tentacles, suggesting that when he arrives at a destination, he latches onto the moment. Alternatively, the Aquarian Tarot’s Fool prefers to be a lone wolf of sorts, companionless so as to not feel responsible for another being.
Lastly, let’s take a closer look at the environment all of these gentlemen live in. Typically, we see The Fool as one who is blissfully unaware of their “edgy” surroundings, fully disengaged from the cliff he’s about to fall from, as seen in the P.O. But, in T.D.W., as the title suggests, our court jester is half submerged in water. The artists who brought this deck into the world noted that the entirety of the deck is a collective comment on the state of our environment, calling out the disastrous effects of climate change. Perhaps the tentacle fingers not only allow for him to grab onto his reality, but also signify the character’s evolution, growing them out of survival rather than desire. Our young fellow in the M.G. lives in a world of direct contrast: sunny, bright, prismatic. This card over indexes on the positivity The Fool is known for, focusing on the lighter sides of a journey rather than the dangers. And finally, our cooler, more bundled-up boy in the AQ. Where on this Earth is he? Since we left without any real sense of place, This Fool allows for us to construct our own surroundings, painting the reality in which we actually live and plopping him into it for a more graspable interpretation.
In celebrating the beginning of a new calendar year, let’s take The Fool’s white flower, lift it to the sky and say, “I’m ready for the journey of 2023!”.