The Fool - I Flashcards
What number is The Fool in the tarot deck?
I (one)
What does the card portray?
A wild youth, dressed in ragged animal skins of different colours, dancing in ecstatic abandonment at the edge of a precipice.
What does the Fool wear?
A wreath of vine leaves in his chestnut hair - bearing little horns, like those of a goat, on his brow.
Where are his eyes raised to?
The dawn that’s breaking in the distance, where the sun can just be seen above the horizon.
What lies around him?
A formidable barren landscape of brown and grey rocks.
What is to his left?
To his left, hidden in the shadows of the receding night, is the mouth of the cave from which he has emerged.
What is above the cave?
Above it, on a bare branch, perches an eagle.
What is the representation of the eagle?
The eagle is the bird of Zeus, king of the gods, who watches over the Fool as he prepares to plunge into the unknown.
What is the representation of the cave?
The cave from which the Fool emerges is the past, the dark and undifferentiated mass from which the beginning of a true sense of individuality is about to take form.
What is the representation of the goat’s horns?
The goat’s horns on the Fool’s brow suggest, like the animal skins he wears, that he is like a young animal, driven into life by instinct, not yet conscious or possessed of understanding.
Who is the hero of our journey?
The mysterious god Dionysus, the Twice-Born.
Who are the parents of Dionysus?
Zeus, King of the gods, and Semele - a mortal woman and a princess of Thebes.
Why was Hera furious and how did she get revenge?
Hera, Zeus’ wife, was furious at his infidelity and disguised herself as a nurdemaid, whispering into Semele’s ear that she must test her lover’s devotion by demanding that he appear before her in all his divine glory.
Why did Zeus reveal himself to Semele?
Having promised her anything that her heart might desire, the god was bound by his vow when she insisted that he reveal his divinity to her.
What did Zeus manifest as and what happened to Semele?
Reluctantly, he manifested as thunder and lightning, and Semele was consumed in flame.
Who manages to rescue the unborn child and who helped?
Zeus managed to rescue the unborn child, and Hermes, messenger of the gods and patron of magic, sewed up the foetus in Zeus’ thigh; thus, Dionysus was born.
Who continued to pursue Dionysus and what did they do?
Hera continued to pursue the horned child, and sent the Titans, the earth-gods, to tear Dionysus to pieces.
Who was able to save part of Dionysus?
Zeus, he rescued the child’s, still beating, heart.
What did Zeus transform Dionysus’ heart into? Who then fed this to Persephone?
The heart was transformed into a potion of pomegranate seeds, and the magical drink was fed to the maiden Persephone by Hades, the dark god of the underworld, when he abducted her.
Persephone then became…
Pregnant - Dionysus was then reborn in the underworld.
He was then called what?
He was then called Dionysus-Iacchos, the Twice-Born, god of light and ecstasy.
Ordained by who, Dionysus was then sent to…
Ordained by his father Zeus to live among men and share their suffering.
Who was Dionysus stricken with madness by?
He was stricken with madness by Hera.
Who did Dionysus wandering all over the world with?
He was followed by wild satyrs, madwomen, and animals.
What gift did he give to mankind?
He gave the gift of wine to mankind, and brought drunken ecstasy and spiritual redemption to those who were willing to relinquish their attachment to worldly power and wealth.
Who eventually bade Dionysus up to Olympus?
Eventually, his father Zeus bade him rise to Olympus, where he took his place at the right hand of the king of the gods.
