The Madman, The Fool: Interpretations in Tarot

Traditionally called the Madman in French Tarot cards, the Fool was represented as a vagrant, a beggar a person without purpose. But modern Tarot renditions, from the classic Rider-Waite deck to Spirit Science’s Patch Tarot show a young man ready to go on a journey.

Most Tarot card readers agree that the Fool represents Innocence, Spontaneity, Liberation, Impulsiveness, Possibilities, Hopefulness and Creativity. It’s a mix of the positive and negative attributes of a young traveller open to the road ahead. These are general ideas usually from intuition or written guides that suggest ideas to the Tarot reader but let’s look at the most common symbols on Tarot decks to gain a better understanding what the makers of the cards want you to see.

The Sun

The sun represents Divine guidance and grace. It showers its rays upon the Fool to purify, to edify and to bless. Yellow or gold usually represents abundance and happiness.

The Travelling Bag

The bag contains all the Fool needs in his travels. His past experiences and the lessons he’s learned from them. It may also contain pains and struggles that he needs to let go eventually. For the best.

The White Rose

The rose is the flower of passion, the most beautiful of all flowers. The white rose shows the purity of his passion and the readiness to be hurt when needed.

The Cliff

This could represent a vantage point, a beginner’s stop. It opens the eyes of the Fool to the dangers he needs to face to complete his hero’s journey. Behind the Fool, mountain ranges peak and valley as if mapping out the victories and struggles that the fool will face.

The Dog

Loyalty at its best. It seems that the dog stops the Fool from stepping off of the cliff but older versions claw up his pants. The more positive view of the dog became more common representing a constant companion: real or not, physical or spiritual.

Other additions

My new favourite deck: Patch Tarot, Thoth Tarot, among others has some other symbols added to the usual mix.

The Butterfly

It foretells the changes the fool will undergo but can also be a guide, a person from the past who shares the story of the Fool.

The Dove

Another symbol of Divine guidance, the dove represents the true peace the Fool gets once he embarks on his journey. His heart will be filled with a joy only fulfilled by following the call of the Beloved, the Hidden God.

Rays of Thought (Patch Tarot)

Mindfulness. The first lesson I’ve actually learned from the Patchman of Spirit Science is mindfulness. It begins all meditations, prayers and mantras and keeps you from getting out of focus. The rays of thought represent all the possibilities of the journey the Patchman has in store for him.

The Fool is also connected to the Hebrew letter Aleph, the Bull. The Holy Letter. It was the first letter of creation. Even the name of the first man, Adam, starts with Aleph. This shows the innate holiness that people has in their hearts. We are children of Adam, holiness runs in our blood. Aleph also represents unity: the unity of the Jewish nation under One God. Finally, Aleph is the Infinite God reaching out to the man. The Fool then could mean that God is reaching out to the Divinity within us to lead us to the heights of the Spirit.

This is conventional intuition and divination practices combined with a few notes from me but my reflections will follow on the next post.

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