 
typical
symbols of
THE FOOL card
- The 8 Spoked
Wheel - is a symbol of Spirit, thought
of as a fifth element.
- Blowing
Hair and Tunic - This card is assigned to
the element Air in the Golden Dawn system.
- Dog -
evolution of the lower to the higher nature, the
dog evolved from the wolf. Can also indicate
that nature is happy to follow in the footsteps
of man.
- Facing
Left - feminine, yin, the direction of the
unconscious or unknown.
- Feather
- wind, air and freedom.
- Laurel
Wreath - a symbol of Victory. The Fool’s
journey is circular, the Fool begins again after
completing a previous cycle.
- Mountains
- Attainment, realization, path leading to the heights, abstract thought,
the long mystical journey is through the stark
mountains. When snow capped: the cold abstract
principles of math which govern all earthly phenomena.
- Precipice
- Stepping down from spiritual heights to
physical manifestation.
- Wand
- Slung over the youth's shoulder, it is a
symbol of will.
- Wallet
- Tied to the wand, this carries universal
instinct and memory, or the four magical symbols
the Fool must learn to use.
- The
symbol often found on the Fool’s wallet is
not clear, some opinions include:
- A
Shell - representing the 'good luck'
scallops that were carried on
pilgrimages.
- A
Bird - referring to the Golden
Dawn attribution of the Fool to the
element of air.
- An
Eagle - Virile strength. “To dream
of an eagle in a high place ...is good
for those who are starting on some great
undertaking.” (The Book of Destiny, p
249)
- White
Rose - The Fool is still free from animal
desires.
- May also
refer to Fool setting off on a Rosicrucian
journey.
- W. B
Yeats also used the symbol of the rose in
his writings, and this may also be a
reference to the Variorum Editions of the
Poems (Allt and Alspach, eds., Macmillan,
1987) # 811:
He saw the garden of Eden...and...came to a
tall, dark tree.. and told to go up...near
the top of tree a beautiful woman, like the
Goddess of Life...gave him a rose. The
reference is to the Shekinah of the QBLH
Tree of Life, and the Fool is positioned at
the top of the tree in the Golden Dawn
system.
- White Sun
or Sun - The spiritual sun, still rising
behind the Fool. The spiritual sun does not
reach it's zenith, lest it diminish in power. Kether,
the Crown. In the Golden Dawn system, the Fool
corresponds to a path leading downward from Kether.
|
Textbook
of the Tarot by Janet Berres of the International
Tarot Society
A Complete Guide to the Tarot by Eden Gray
Sources of the Waite/Smith Tarot Symbols
info
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