Comparative Tarot: The Fool
Image ID: RWS Fool from Solis Divinity Black w/Keywords deck
The Rider Waite Smith deck begins with the Fool. He stands on the edge of a cliff, seemingly oblivious to the fall they're about to take. It represents the fine line between optimism and naivete, the moments just before Fuck Around turns into Find Out.
The predominant iconography of this card is a figure balanced on an edge, with lots of empty space around them, an openness of possibilities and a departure from the solid and familiar. Often, they are accompanied by a small animal companion and usually carry some sort of pack, indicating someone at the start of a journey.
Image ID: Five Fool cards, from left to right: Shadowscapes, Silhouettes, Nameless One, Children of Litha, and Children of Ostara
The Shadowscapes Fool always felt like freedom to me, a soul about to learn to fly. The movement of the card is very buoyant, and honestly it sets the tone for the rest of the deck very well. Shadowscapes has always been a very positive read for me, even the commonly negative cards. Having a Fool that feels so free and full of promise is very indicative of the kinds of reads I've gotten from this deck. It's tonally light and optimistic. This Fool is not weighed down by a bindle, seeming more content to let the Universe provide, and its animal companion of a fox seems more like a content observer than an active participant. Its "cliff" is more of a pillar, suggesting less an unwitting fall and more a deliberate climb to a great high perch, as children tend to do when presented with anything climbable. It is a very fun card, filled in equal parts with levity and determination that calls to mind the boundless energy and dreams of youth.
The Silhouettes Fool follows the RWS template fairly faithfully with bindle and dog. This was the first deck that made me really examine the RWS "standard" and get curious about what I missing out on by not familiarizing myself with it. This Fool is another pretty good representative of the whole deck; most of the Sil. cards follow the RWS composition with a flourished and fairytail twist. (You might notice as this series goes on places where I've drawn directly on the Sil. cards with sharpie; this is a "defective" deck according to its artist, and so I felt very comfortable adding my own "defects" to really connect with it and make it my own).
The two Children of the Wheel decks (Litha and Ostara) are interesting foils to each other. Both face the same direction, both are poised on a cliff’s edge. But one is reaching out for a bird and the other is being menaced from behind by a snake. Both are oblivious to the imminent threat, though the animal inspired one is actively causing its own peril by over reaching, while the plant based one is simply too absorbed in what it is focused on to notice danger is approaching. They both embody a sort of blissful ignorance, just in different ways. Again, the idea of flight is present, in the form of the bird and the dandelion. The included animals, however, are less companion and more ambient parts of nature that are about to serve as a catalyst for change. In Litha, the Fool longs for the wings of the bird – her journey is a desired one, if not entirely well planned. In Ostara, the Fool is about be forced from the nest, so to speak. Both are about to learn how to turn falling into flying.
Xia’s third deck, The Nameless One, is where we really start to depart from the familiar. Litha and Ostara are about exploring the intersection of humanity with animal and plant energies respectively. In contrast, one of the major focuses of The Nameless One was to remove all human figures entirely. So here we have a Fool with no teetering figure, but a central focus that is still in imminent danger nonetheless. The only visual language this card shares with the RWS is a prominent sun, and the general directionality of the card's motion.
A white butterfly flies above the waiting mouths of a venus flytrap, lit by a distant sun. Once again, Xia evokes flight as a theme for the Fool, but no cliff is to be seen. In fact, The Nameless One deck is completely borderless and without background, highlighting its symbols and sigils on vast, black voids. Intended as a scrying surface, the emptiness of Nameless’s background invites one to wander the shapes of the sigil each carries. The Fool’s sigil evokes wings, a figure with arm’s upraised, and the fletching of an arrow. It is not the easy, straightforward iconography of the RWS, but if one takes the time to translate it, The Nameless One carries all the same ideas of flight, freedom, motion, and the poised moment between cause and effect.
I've been working with the Nameless One for a few years now and it's still one I turn to the guidebook for a lot. I was really surprised to see how VERY different this card is from all the other Fools. It's been reassuring, helping me understand why I still struggle to ID The Nameless One on sight sometimes. The symbolism is there, but the familiar iconography is not. I'm really looking forward to continuing this series and seeing how this trend develops.
Finally, new to this blog, the Shapeshifters Tarot!
Image ID: The “Fool” Card from the Shapeshifters Tarot, named “Initiation”
Like Litha, this deck aims to explore the connections between human and animal energy. But, more like the Nameless, this deck departs wildly from the standard RWS in a lot of places. It has some extra major arcana cards, and riffs on the standard card names. Instead of the Fool, card 0 here is Initiation, and focuses on the idea of deliberate transformation. Where other Fools might suggest caution, looking before you leap, Initiation encourages you to take flight, much like my Shadowscapes Fool. This card is less about the innocence of a traditional Fool and more about transition; an initiate to anything is no ignorant novice, but rather someone simply taking a first formal step into an arena they’ve already had some experience with. If most Fools align with someone more childlike, this Fool resonates with me as more of a teen or young adult-- still new to the lifestage they are entering, but not completely untried. This Fool goes forth already armed with some knowledge (as seen with the staff they hold, which could be likened to the RWS bindle) and a mighty companion in their dragonself (far more fearsome than the diminutive RWS dog). The goal of the Shapeshifters Tarot is to serve both as oracle and teacher, to guide its seekers into new states of consciousness, aligned with the animal allies presented therein. So its no wonder their “Fool” is instead an Initiate, ready to explore the tradition of Celtic shapeshifting as presented through the co-authors and artist.
And now, like all these Fools, we have taken our first steps into exploring the shared iconography of RWS inspired decks. Even on this very first step of the journey, I feel already changed. The intention behind these decks choices feels clearer, and I’m eager to see more trends develop and gain even more insight into my favorite oracle tools. Next up, the master of balance and a card well suited to helping us incorporate these new insights: The Magician.
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