(Tarot Prompts for Writers)
What I See in the Card:
The Fool is journeying alone, young and healthy and optimistic. He’s colourful and walks tall, boldly, neither hurrying nor hiding. He carries things in a pack, casually, over his shoulder – trinkets or food or burdens; you can’t take much with you on this trip. He has a walking stick, a potential weapon, also carried casually. It’s not the beginning of his journey, nor is it anywhere near the end. (This is not a time or place one starts out or stops at.) His step is light and he’s not tired. He might walk all night.
Many decks show the Fool about to step off a cliff. Will he fall or fly? I’m thinking he’ll fall. But my deck, like the Marseilles, is more ambiguous. The going will get rough, but it’s not necessarily downward. Either way, though, this Fool will have to wise up soon.
There’s always an animal with the Fool. In some decks, it’s a little dog that might even be a companion. Not so much with my Fool. He’s attacked from behind by an obviously dangerous beast, but he seems not to notice. He can’t be unaware of it – the tiger has ripped his shorts – but he doesn’t hit it with his stick or flee. It’s possible he knows, or thinks, that it can’t hurt him. His carriage is casual but he must be focused on something or you’d think he’d notice a tiger and a bare bum and a step into the unknown. Maybe he’s a classic mad Fool? Or maybe he’s grown so used to this enemy that he doesn’t even notice anymore.
There’s a path in this landscape but he’s not on it. He’s about to step into unknown territory. It’s happening right now; he’s not going to correct course. It’s unclear if he knows that he’s leaving the safe way. He’s looking into the distance rather than looking down, and it’s dark, so it’s possible he doesn’t intend to leave the path at all. Then again, it’s not even clear that he was ever walking on a path. He might be merely crossing it.
He’s very intent, this Fool. He’s headed somewhere, maybe looking for adventure. He has dreams. His expectations of what he’ll discover on this journey may be high – he seems careless of trials or dangers ahead – but perhaps that’s what allows him to go. If he knew what was out there, how hard it would be, he’d never do it. And that wouldn’t do. This Fool may not know where he’s going, but at least he’s not staying still.
I like the Fool. I hope nothing bad happens to him.
Read will take you to notes suggesting how to tell a fortune with the Fool — traditional interpretations; what the card might mean in different positions; keywords to help memorize meanings; and questions to ponder or ask the querent.
Write will take you to a few simple writing prompts for launching from the Fool into a story. A first line, a setting, an object, a character, a point of view, and a theme — six possible ways to turn the Fool into fiction.
And Tarot will take you to a central Tarot-Prompts page.
Go ahead, step off the path.
Images on this page are by the following artists:
Banner (and top box), left to right: Marseilles deck engraved by Nicolas Conver; Dragon Tarot illustrated by Roger and Linda Garland: Tarot Balbi by Domenico Balbi; Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti; Radiant Rider-Waite deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith; Druid Craft deck illustrated by Will Worthington.
Mid-page boxes: Tarot Balbi; the Midnight Magic tarot deck of mushrooms by Sara Richard.
Catherine Austen 