Messing about in boats

Today's draw from Roxi Sim's Pearls of Wisdom Tarot (7th House, 2008) is The Fool. Dressed as a court jester and in a boat called 'Serendipity', the Fool here is doing the impossible: floating upstream while going downhill. Heading right toward a rock, the Fool is oblivious, although the dog at least seems to be paying attention. The Fool carries a sack printed with the alchemical symbols for earth, air, fire and water, a detail that can be seen in the close-up of the sack featured in the frame of the card.








Roxi's usual personification of nature can be seen in the card: the tree seems to have a face (although it looks more like the scrunched up faces of the trees in 'The Wizard of Oz' than the sort of happy tree one might expect to find on the Fool card. But then, trees are wise, so maybe he knows something the Fool doesn't know.). In the background, to me, the hill looks like a woman asleep on her side, facing away from us. The water is her hair, then you can see her green shoulder, dip of her waist, and then her hip. Nature is often depicted as a sleeping woman in these cards. Perhaps it is meant to speak to the benign presence of Gaia. She's always there in the background, no matter what action-packed adventures may be going on in our lives, and she knows none of it is anything to get too over-excited about.

So there's certainly an element of danger and in the card, but it is outshone by the positivity of the imagery. Yes, the Fool does seem quite ridiculous and foolish! But she is trusting that no matter what things work out for the best. That's why her boat is called Serendipity. The full blazing sun and the rainbow are very positive and full of promise. The bumblebee is a nice touch. There is a myth that 'science has proved the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly', while of course the bumblebee can fly. And this has come to take on special meaning to people, the idea of doing the impossible because you don't know it's impossible. (For more on the bumblebee myth, try Flight of the Bumblebee, Lasers Illuminate Flight of the Bumblebee, or Is it aerodynamically impossible for bumblebees to fly?) Wherever I see bumblebees on Roxi's Pearls of Wisdom cards, I take this message. Things that seem impossible may not be impossible. You don't know until you try. Then of course, there are the more familiar butterflies standing for transformation and growth.

All cards in the Pearls of Wisdom deck contain runes.  On The Fool, she uses Wunjo (left side) and Berkano (right side--she calls it Berkana in the companion book). Wunjo is the symbol of joy and Berkano is the symbol of rebirth and renewal. To be honest, I ignore the runes when I use these cards. I haven't been able to get into runes yet, but it's something I'm interested in, vaguely.

The card carries the usual message of the Fool, throwing oneself out into the world without overthinking or worrying, enjoying the moment and the journey, and trusting that all will be well.

May all be well for me and all beings today.