Stories often start with “In the Beginning” or “Once upon a Time”. The Tarot begins with the Fool. Who is this figure? What does he represent? Most importantly, where is he going?
In traditional depictions, the Fool is stepping off the edge of a cliff. In my card (right) you’ll see him walking the plank to oblivion. The point that most artists are making when they depict the Fool is that he’s stepping into the unknown with no thought to the consequences. He is immaturity, he is absolute innocence. He is where we all are - in the beginning.
Although modern decks show him in a variety of guises, the Fool was originally shown as a Court Jester or a mad man . The Jester is found in traditional “Marseilles” decks and even more specifically in the 19th Century Swiss 1JJ Tarot, re-published by A G Muller and US Games in 1970. Both of these figures are important as they represent impulsiveness and unpredictability.
Special allowances were made for both the Jester and the mad man in medieval society. The mad man could say anything from the ridiculous to the obscene. It was tolerated and taken for granted because he was mad. Similarly, the Jester was a special kind of outrageous social commentator within the Court. Unlike any other subject, he could criticise the King. Humour and entertainment were the vehicle for uncomfortable truths or criticisms of the status quo to be discharged in a ‘safe’ manner.
As anyone having dealt with children will know, innocence brings unpredictable and shocking honesty. The Fool is a volatile figure and his presence in a situation means that potential chaos is never far away. Is this such a bad thing? After all, most new beginnings are born from upheaval and chaos.
When Kay Stopforth devised the Quantum Tarot she chose the ultimate expression of beginning and chaos, the Big Bang, to represent the Fool. This is the hypothetical explosion that created the Universe from nothing. Initially, the Universe consisted of nothing but opaque gas that even prevented the passage of light. Eventually, over countless millions of years, this great mass of chaos clarified itself into the beautiful and intricate cosmos that we know today.
In a strange kind of way, the Fool is the raw material that will be shaped by the other Major Arcana cards. We are the Fool and as we encounter the different archetypal forces depicted on the cards, we grow, mature and change.
I’ve depicted the Fool in many different guises over the last few years. The card displayed above is the new version from the Quantum Tarot 2.0. The the card displayed at the top of this post is one of my earliest attempts and is still one of my favourites. He’s both the Jester and a body builder; almost like one of those circus performers who flexes his muscles for the audience. He’s walking the plank without noticing he’s about to plunge into an unfathomable abyss. He’s too self-conscious to realise the danger, looking back rather than forward. He’s so fixated on posturing for whoever may be looking at him that he’s about to step off the edge.
For me, narcissism has always been a part of what the Fool represents. Think of your teenage years; very much the Fool’s journey to adulthood but one that mixes bravado with self-consciousness and doubt. This is the paradox of the Fool. His naivety doesn’t span from an absence of awareness but from an inability to be aware of what really matters.
There’s a Fool in us all, regardless of our age. The older I get, the more I realise my adolescence was a metaphor for the rest of my lifespan. You walk the plank. You fall off the edge. You dare to risk. You risk to live.
Chris Butler.
www.butlerart.co.uk
www.quantumtarot.co.uk
Quantum Tarot 2.0 is published by Lo Scarabeo.
