DESCRIPTION

The medium that the artist uses is watercolor. His images are simple and at times verge on the abstract.

The fool is facing right, his left foot is on the edge of a cliff, his right foot is over the void. He wears a striped poncho in dark pink and blue stripes over a green shirt. His legs are bare, but his feet are sandaled. The sandals have spurs on the back, and brightly colored feathers around his ankles. He has a walking stick in his left hand, and a knapsack on a stick held in his right hand. The fool's face is a red-orange spiral with a triangle sticking out of the center. He has flames or feathers emerging from the top of his head. The sun is in the upper left hand corner, the sky is light blue with puffy clouds, and there is a symbol of Uranus in a box is in the upper right hand corner. The void below the cliff is deep pink. There, waiting with open mouth for the fool's false step, is an alligator. He holds onto the lower border with his claws. The title on the top border is in English, on the bottom is in Spanish with the number in the middle: EL L[0]OCO.

The LWB says that the fool wears the typical clothing of the gaucho from the pampas, and that the alligator is the typical amphibian of the Argentinian rivers.

COMMENTS:

Of note is that the Fool has no eyes (or mouth for that matter). He truly is walking blindly. The heel of his left foot is raised and his right foot is over the alligator's head: he is in mid-stride and if we were to see the next frame, it seems he must fall.

Although the card seems cheerful enough in design, I can't see how this Fool can avoid danger, unless he decides to whirl around in the opposite direction. And the animal in the card cannot be interpreted as warning him of danger, as the little dog in RWS. The alligator is actually part of the danger. So it's not really surprising that the meaning given for this card in the LWB focusses on the negative aspects of the Fool.

SYMBOLISM (Per LWB):

Head and face - "a whirlwind of ideas"

Knapsack - "in which keeps his inner values, although he does not use them" Walking stick - "brief wealth of practical knowledge that he possesses in life"

MEANING:

Incoherence, nervousness, inability to connect and focus ideas in a solid, conscious way. Confusion, irrationality, uncontrollable passions.

SITUATION:

Difficulties, dangers, lack of clarity

RELATED MEANINGS:

With positive cards, the Fool can indicate creativity, freedom and independence, joy of life and spontaneity.