The history and origins of The Fool

The Fool throughout history — as far back as the 14th century, that is! — has come to us under the guise of many names. Amongst them are the Vice of Folly, Il Matto, Il Pazzo, Le Mat and Le Fou, with them all meaning the same thing - the crazy one! At first, our beloved Fool was portrayed first and foremost as the deranged and mentally ill outcast of society. Then, a vagabond entertainer - a jester, if you will. To the present day’s self actualising free spirit at the start of his path of individuation. What a rollercoaster, huh?

The Vice of Folly (painted by Giotto in c.1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua)

The Visconti-Sforza Tarot is a term used to describe the incomplete sets, of which there are estimated to be as many as 15 different decks, from the 15th century.

To this day it is believed that no complete deck has survived - with their remnants dotted between a variety of museums and libraries as well as in the ownership of private collectors.

The word ‘trionfi’ translates in Italian to ‘triumphs’ and are how the allegorical 15th century playing cards were referred to during their use in tarocchi games in the 15th century of Italy.

We can thank Italians and their “trionfi” - along with Germans and their "trumpfen" - for why we now use the term “trump card” with general playing card games as well as the reference to the major arcana in tarot as being the deck’s trump cards.

At the time, beggars wandering around Europe were a common sight indeed and, because of that, featured prominently within the infamous renaissance art of that era. The wandering wayfarer, also known as ‘the pedlar’, is still known today for perhaps his most famous appearance in art thanks to Hieronymus Bosch (1453 - 1516), a Dutch painter from Brabant. The Wayfarer, painted 1510, currently in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam is one of the fragments of a partially lost triptych or diptych, which also included the Allegory of Gluttony and Lust, the Ship of Fools and Death and the Miser. The character has been interpreted by art historians as choosing between the path of virtue at the gate on the right or debauchery in the house on the left, or as the prodigal son returning home from the world. An interpretation befitting The Fool.

The Wayfarer here from the early 16th century has many attributes of our modern day Fool. Similar to The Fool in the Tarot de Marseille, our man is an older fellow donning his rags and wielding his long stick to fend off any pecking foes. An important feature that begins with The Wayfarer and carries through to the Tarot de Marseille is the long-handled spoon that you can see sticking to his backpack, clearly utilised when scooping up grub from communal porridge pots. Researcher Franco Pratesi discovered a Bolognese manuscript from 1750 that includes a direct reference to how cartomancers of that era interpreted and worked with The Fool. The keyword? “Madness”. Inferring that the main meaning from the earliest Fool cards still rings true.

Which, unfortunately for our much loved Fool, does not change until the late 16th century when The Fool begins to evolve (a PR upgrade!) with the appearance of a court jester or travelling entertainer. The last thing to note about The Fool from the “dark ages”, and perhaps even the key thing, is that despite all the dangerous, dismissive and often even creepy attributes and keywords that were primarily associated with The Fool - he still maintained his radical freedom and detachment from society (thus, it’s restrictions) which paved his way for the breakthrough that madness allows - spontaneous genius.

Some of the earliest Tarot de Marseille decks like the Jean Noblet art shown here in “Le Fov” (The Fool) tarot retain the idea that The Fool is unable and unaware of his inappropriate behaviour and public indecency with the exposed genitals and shredded clothing on his bottom half that’s being harassed and clawed at by a dog. His top draped like a jester with colourful stripes and bells around his waist along with the bells on the ear tips of his Fool’s cap. The long spoon and knapsack reminding us like The Fool has for hundreds of years by now that he spends his life as an outcast, wandering the roads.

Though, with the Tarot de Marseille, the aforementioned breakthrough of genius that lay dormant within The Fool for oh so long starts to sprout and show a hint of hope. This comes through in the questions that can begun to be asked about The Fool. Is he a dangerous and debaucherous mad men that should be avoided at all costs? Does he even like what the dog’s doing? Okay, ignore that question. Is The Fool so disorderly and delusional that, due to his inability to fit in, he’s destined to wander the road for hand outs? Or, is he a pure spirit that occupies his time with the vocation of a street entertainer and jester that takes his performances to different towns on the great adventure of his life? Does he actually, in a drastic turn of events, look down upon those who stick to conventional society, like those have to him since his character’s conception? Does he revel in the fresh air of the open road because of his love of freedom?

By then, French occultists had begun to associate two pieces of ancient wisdom into the tarot - the Hebrew alphabet and the Qabalistic Tree of Life. How did that tectonic shift in tarot reflect in The Fool?

In this new development of The Fool’s art work by Oswald Wirth, a Swiss artist and occultist (1860 - 1943) in 1889, we can understand much of Le Fou by the interpretations of a French physician named Gérard Encausse (1865 - 1916), also known by his esoteric pseudonyms of Papus and Tau Vincent, in his book Tarot de Los Bohemios (Tarot of the Bohemians). Brandished with the keywords “madness” (again) and “inconsiderate actions”, The Fool wanders aimlessly as an outcast to society all the while a crocodile waits excitedly with open jaws.

“A man in the garb of a fool, wandering without aim, burdened with a wallet, which is doubtless full of his follies and vices; his disordered clothes discover his shame; he is being bitten by a tiger and does not know how to escape or defend himself.”

— The Doctrine of Transcendental Magic, by the French occultist, poet and writer Eliphas Levi (1810 - 1875). Whom, after originally pursuing an ecclesiastical career in the Catholic Church, abandoned it and became a ceremonial magician - a hell of a twist for one’s CV!

To answer my prior question regarding The Fool’s ‘upgrade’ since the introduction of the Qabalah and Hebrew alphabet - it’s clear that there was not really one to speak of. In fact, instead of maintaining the original Fool’s innocence in his mentalism, The Fool now seems to be nothing more than a victim of his low consciousness and lack of ability to sort himself out. He wasn’t even given his number, yet! I know what you’re thinking - Bless him, the poor little Fool, he’s probably stood in a field somewhere with his big spoon wondering if he’ll ever change…

He will. He does.

As, in steps a secret society - the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Founded in the United Kingdom in 1888 and headquartered in the capital of London - its three founders William Robert Woodman, William Wynn Westcott, and Samuel Liddell Mathers were Freemasons and initiatory members of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, a Rosicrucian esoteric Christian order. The Golden Dawn was a society that saw themselves as a ‘magical order’ (organisation) devoted to the practices of occultism and hermeticism, practising theurgy (divine magic) and spiritual development.

Luckily for The Fool — and all modern day tarot, divination or occultism enthusiasts, for that matter — the Golden Dawn took a liking to tarot and made it central to their teachings. One could say that, yes - the French occultists introduced the Qabalah and the Hebrew alphabet to tarot, but the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn actually integrated it. It’s the Golden Dawn’s integration of Qabalistic, Hebrew and astrological esoteric symbolism that has had the most impact and influence on tarot in the modern western world.

Assigning The Fool as the first in a list of major arcana and attaching him with his numerological counterpart zero - we can start to see The Fool that we know today be birthed. Along with this, The Fool was associated with the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, Aleph, and also with the element of air. With these evolutions, The Fool found his new page of interpretations and keywords - beginnings, potential, breath of life, initiation, innocence, purity. A young babe holding a wolf behind him in restraint while he plucks roses unbothered by thorns. The inexperienced innocent — with the infinite potential that potential itself implies — starting his journey to enlightenment, begins here.

How do we build the final bridge in our understanding of The Fool between then and now? Easily. As, the ‘makers’ of The Fool as we know him today, Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith, were both members of the Golden Dawn and have already built that bridge for us.

A bright sun beams in the top right of the horizon radiating the background with the yellow glow of the solar plexus chakra that remains responsible for energising and illuminating all in our universe since time immemorial. The Fool carries himself with an immediately obvious essence of increased grace and splendour as he holds out a rose which is clearly a demonstration of the ancient wisdom that lies within the rose that has been carried through the orders of the ages such as hermeticism and Rosicrucianism. With, luckily, no more flailing genitalia that’s been replaced with a flowing flowery outfit.

The undoubtable dawn of the spiritual and otherworldly Fool that has graciously shaken off the shackles of his ancestor’s defects and dogma. The mountains on the horizon over his shoulder indicating the mystical ascent and leaving no misunderstandings behind The Fool so that we don’t forget that, despite The Fool being at the start of his path, he’s still come far. Pureness emerging from the void and entering manifestation. His innocence no longer the root of his ostracization and is now the impulse that, from it, sprouts the present-ness and willingness to stride onwards that still leave onlookers aghast at The Fool’s craziness but due to the new form of divine madness that can only be seen in the eyes of one who holds the unshakeable inner gnosis of guidance and care from a higher power.

“With light step, as if earth and its trammels had little power to restrain him, a young man in gorgeous vestments pauses at the brink of a precipice among the great heights of the world; he surveys the blue distance before him-its expanse of sky rather than the prospect below. His act of eager walking is still indicated, though he is stationary at the given moment; his dog is still bounding. The edge which opens on the depth has no terror; it is as if angels were waiting to uphold him, if it came about that he leaped from the height. His countenance is full of intelligence and expectant dream. He has a rose in one hand and in the other a costly wand, from which depends over his right shoulder a wallet curiously embroidered. He is a prince of the other world on his travels through this one-all amidst the morning glory, in the keen air. The sun, which shines behind him, knows whence he came, whither he is going, and how he will return by another path after many days. He is the spirit in search of experience. Many symbols of the Instituted Mysteries are summarized in this card, which reverses, under high warrants, all the confusions that have preceded it.”

— The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Arthur Edward Waite.