Introduction

There's a lot about the FWT that I wanted to discuss before I jump into the Fool. I hope you don't mind.

We've been running an online class on the FWT at Dracona since the first of the year and are about half way through the suits. I didn't even attempt to use this deck until I had given it quite a bit of study -- that's not to say it's not unusable without a FW background. Each card has a traditional meaning, along with a meaning that makes sense in the context of the FW trad.

What I love about this deck is the Irish mythology and stories. The courts and majors are Irish heroes and gods. Kisma (I call her Kisma not because we are on a first name basis, but because her last name, Stepanich, is pretty long -- lol) supplies a good bit of the mythology and lore in her book. This is the major reason I got this deck. I wanted to learn about the Tuatha De Danann, the tribe of the goddess Danu who came to Ireland from the four great magickal cities.

What I'm not crazy about in this deck is the minors. They illustrate Kisma's meditational journeys to the four magickal cities -- each corresponding to a suit, a direction, a treasure, etc. The suits make much more sense if you take your own meditational journeys to the cities. Sometimes her cards are good representations of the traditional cards, sometimes it's a stretch. At any rate, each suit is designed to take you to each of the cities in order to learn their mysteries.

To me, the art is not as good as on the suits as on the courts and majors (I understand Renee Yates was on a pretty short leash, though.) I really wanted to see some of the faeries on these cards. You know, gnomes for the suit of pentacles, etc. But the courts are some of the most beautiful I've seen. Most of the majors too. And the deck has certainly served its purpose for me -- it's helped me learn the Irish pantheon and heroes and immersed me in the lore.

So, with just a little background in FW, I think the average reader can sort it all out. This deck "is" accessible to people who aren't familiar with FW. Traditional meanings are supplied throughout the book.

Alright, now that that's said, I'm ready to jump into the Fool card.

Faery Wicca Tarot Fool

The Fool in the Faery Wicca Tarot is actually not the first major arcana card. Number 00 is the Tree of Life Card which is the first doorway into the Faery Realm. The majors in this deck are known as the Ancient Ones cards and they are located on and around the Otherworld Tree of Life.

If you are familiar with shamanism, you know there is a tree in the center of the universe. Traveling up and down this tree takes the shaman into the three realms: the Plains (this reality or earth wisdom), the Underworld, and the Heavenly Realm. The Plains is in the middle of the tree and is where the Tree of Life card is located. This is the doorway that leads the Fool (the next card) into initiation in this realm of existance. If you're interested in knowing more about the shaman's cosmos, you can go here:

http://www.dracona.com/PaganWeb/faerie/lesson1.html

The majors are broken up into three groups to correspond with these three realms. I've also uploaded the Tree of Life card with the Fool (The Seeker in this deck) so you can have a look.

Now on to the Fool/Seeker. In this deck, the Seeker has three faces: one female, one male, and one male/female which is the face of spirit. Three-headed images have a deep significance in Celtic mythology. The head has long been a profound symbol (remember the story of Bran's severed head?) and the number 3 is sacred. Such heads can look in three directions at once and represent normal reasoning/ intelligence/power times three. It also represents the triune nature of God/dess.

The four elements are represented in this card. The standing stones in the background represent the East, or the ancient city of Gorias. This is the realm of air, reasoning, intellect. Fire is symbolized by the male/female head of spirit. Water is symbolized by the Seeker's blue clothes and a stone with a water symbol. Earth is symbolized by a wooden staff and gnomes.

The most important message of the Seeker card is that it is his first step into initiation. The Seeker represents the magickal neophyte who will journey into the three realms toward enlightenment. He carries a magick bag (representative of the shaman's "magick bag of tricks") with the magickal tools he will need on his journey.

Oghams in the four corners of the cards represent the four Celtic sabbats: the Winter Solstice, the Spring Equinox, the Summer Solstice, and the Autumn Equinox.

There's a lot more that can be said for these two cards, but I'll stop here.

Yvonne
greenwood@geocities.com

Earth Witchery
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/1956/