0. The Wanderer

[Wanderer]

 

The Wanderer is The Fool in standard R-W-type decks. In many ways this is the same figure: a carefree youngster about to step over the edge of a cliff, beginning the path to wisdom. However, there are some aspects that are different, and feel different, and which gives this card, to me, a subtly different set of implications...

 

 

To start with, this isn't someone toppling accidentally over the edge. This figure is deliberately stepping onto a rainbow that stretches away over the clouds. The bottom of the ravine is masked, but just visible: a barren stony canyon with rivers flowing through it. This isn't something we can imagine as a benign unknown to fall into... it's a brutal, hard reality, and any hope of survival rests on the rainbow holding the figure's weight. This is a deliberate leap of faith.

 

We also have a glimpse of the destination in this card, although we see little of the sunlit land that the Wanderer stands in. We know nothing of what is being left, although I have a feeling that it is a pleasant and safe place... but that may be my impressions built from other decks and other stories. The Wanderer is, however, well clothed and looked after; it must, therefore, have been a real home where peopole can grow up in safety. Across the canyon, though, is the Wildwood, in all its tangled glory. It is dark, chaotic, and even menacing; it seems, at first glance, impenetrable. It is the world before it is tamed. From the branches there is more than a hint of an inhuman face staring out towards us, expressionless. This is not a place that one goes to for comfort or ease. The whole wall of trees speaks of challenge and mystery. I could see it as hostile also, but somehow I don't; it is more alien than hostile. It is a different world, but it is not necessarily averse to us.

 

So, this card shows the Wanderer freely making a leap of faith, stepping onto a rainbow to reach for a frightening and potentially dangerous destination. This Wanderer isn't falling into the journey of discovery by accident, or by fate; it is a choice, to leave the old land of comfort and familiarity behind. How else does one grow, and become wise? Whoever learned wisdom through a life in which everything was easy, and nothing went wrong? That is a naive hope, and the figure here already has enough wisdom to recognise this truth, and is searching out hardship and challenge in order to grow. This Wanderer, in short, is no Fool.

 

And from this beginning, starts the whole cycle of discovery, learning and eventually enlightenment. It is a gamble that pays off, or a path deliberately walked to completion. To me, there is a sense of inevitability about it all; if not this Wanderer, then another would make the leap, and the cycle would repeat once more.

 

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As ever, additions, alternative interpretations, contradictions or examples of its application to readings are actively encouraged!  :)

[Wanderer]

Another couple of thoughts about this card (I'm sure there'll be more!)...

 

Most decks show the Fool carrying a knapsack that is said to contain his skills and knowledge. There is nothing here like that; the Wanderer is empty-handed, with no bag, and not even shoes. This is the start of a whole new way of living and seeing, where the previous life is of no relevance. Forget what has come before; it is all illusion. All you have is what you are, and you must learn everything anew.

 

There is no companion here, either; no dog, or other animal. The Wanderer's companions will come from the Wildwood, and be natives. I know from experience that it is far easier to settle in a foreign country when you are not alone; but it is far harder to envelop yourself in it, because your companion anchors your thoughts to the place you came from. Without a companion, you have a better chance of really learning the language, customs and wisdom of a new place.

 

Finally for now, my wife's pointed out that the Wanderer's clothes are partly ragged, and partly not. Is this a vagabond, or a noble? Are they abandoning riches, or fleeing from war? I suspect it doesn't matter. Once they step onto that rainbow, then all that baggage is forgotten.

[Wanderer]

Just wanted to cross-link after I spotted some brief comments about the Wanderer by Page of Ghosts[/member] over on this thread (bottom of first page):

https://www.thetarotforum.com/card-studies/22favs-the-fool/

 

I like the point about being already on their journey, since we see him/her from the back.

[ilweran]

To start with, this isn't someone toppling accidentally over the edge.

 

While obviously having many differences, The Fool in the Shadowscapes and in the Llewellyn are both also not accidentally falling off the edge, though they are both trusting that they won't fall/will make it across. Might be interesting for comparison purposes, as you say it makes a difference to the feel of the card.

 

The forest is a proper 'fairytale' forest - Hansel & Gretel could be in there, Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf is prowling. It is untamed, full of monsters that our fear has created as well as genuine dangers. The Wanderer feels like they have lost some of the naivety of The Fool, they know they're going into the forest, they know there are dangers. I like this change of title from both the RWS and the Greenwood.

 

And talking of the Greenwood (GW), The Fool there does have a bag - though it's on the ground, a choice as to whether to carry your past forward with you. The Wanderer has perhaps already made that choice - either that or they're traveling light through necessity, fleeing or abandoning their past/home (or, going back to the fairytales, being abandoned). The Wanderer also feels more grounded, the feeling, to me at least, is that they are setting out on a physical journey (albeit one that requires them to use a rainbow as a bridge and therefore must have spiritual elements) the Fool from the GW looks like they could fly above the forest, for a short while at least, and is setting off on a purely internal or spiritual journey.

 

I've been studying The Fool this week (sounds very formal, but really just looking at different versions and the differences between them as I start to get back into the swing of things after a long break from tarot ;D), so thought I would turn my attention to the Fool/Wanderer in the GW and WW and throw some initial thoughts together.

 

 

[Wanderer]

Nice. This is really interesting stuff, and it seems we get basically the same feeling from the Wanderer. The possibility of abandonment and the hinting at fairy tale stories is something I hadn't really felt, but I agree that option is there.

 

The way it comes across to me, though, is that the fairy tales are the simplifications and rationalisations that have come out of trying to understand the Wildwood, rather than literal elements of it. The characters in the deck are older and somehow deeper. The wolf might well be there, but it's not the caricature of the one in Little Red Riding Hood; it's something much more complex, with aspects that could give rise to those stories, but also aspects that could give rise to many very different tales as well.

 

I hadn't picked up on the 'progression' from a Greenwood decision in progress (bag on ground) to the Wildwood's decision made (no bag), but I like that a lot. I notice that the GW Fool still has a companion animal as well; perhaps that was also lost when discarding the baggage of their past life. In contrast, the GW butterfly wings also make me think of emergence - a sense that this beginning is the culmination of a process, and the future seems optimistic and light - rather than initiation of a dark and perilous (but ultimately rewarding) road as in WW. This type of contrast is one of the reasons why I see the decks so differently; although they share a lot, they also seem to have a very different perspective and attitude to what may be the same processes.

 

Out of curiosity, have you generally felt a sense of optimism from this card in GW? And does that differ from the feeling associated with drawing the Wanderer?

[ilweran]

Yes, the GW Fool does feel more optimistic. The WW on the other hand could be optimistic (the rainbow), but the overall feeling is less so.

 

On the fairy tales, I think the reason people connect with these two decks may be similar to why those fairy tales are still being told, and why we keep writing new stories about forests). As far as I'm aware there are no true wild woods left in the UK, yet still 'a mouse takes a stroll in the deep dark wood' in The Gruffalo, in Doctor Who forest covers the whole planet overnight (and does surprisingly little damage, there's a book called 'The Trees' by Ali Shaw that shows more realistic consequences). Personally I find it hard to separate either deck completely from the series 'Robin or Sherwood' partly because of Mark Ryan's role in it and partly because that was my first exposure to the Horned God and any sort of British paganism.

 

To go back, Mesopotamian mythology has the hero Gilgamesh travel to a great forest to be the first to fell trees.

 

I hope that makes some kind of sense, I'm writing it on my phone with many interruptions from cats and my five year old, so if it's disjointed that's why!

[Wanderer]

I think I've only once been in a true wildwood in the UK, and will never forget it. I was doing an insect survey in the northern Highlands, in a remote stream valley at the back end of a large estate with no significant mountains to attract the walkers. The whole estate is well known for Caledonian Forest remnants, but this was something else: several acres of ancient birchwood, interspersed with a few pines, oak and aspen. It was alive in a way I can't really explain. Bilberry thickets you had  to climb over, smothering generations of fallen, moss-pillowed trunks. The air buzzing with clouds of insects. A green light somehow blending with the muffled music of the water. Deer tracks, bird calls and rustlings everywhere. It all sounds nice, but mundane, when you write it down... but it feels utterly different when you're there. It felt sacred.

 

I came out of there (fast; I should perhaps have mentioned the midges...) with a completely new understanding of what ancient really means when it comes to woodland. England's "ancient" woodland is anything but the Wildwood, alas. There was a presence there that I still can't define or really recognise, except that it makes sense of the forest mythology. That sense of the forest having its own laws, and a personality of its own (as in the background of this card) is something we're always looking for, but (at least until then) never really find. That Dr. Who episode was memorable, but really didn't 'get' the Wildwood at all, I thought. (Will look up the Ali Shaw book - that sounds intriguing!)

 

I wonder whether other pristine forests around the world have a similar sense of otherness... but I suspect their personalities are all their own. How much of the mythos of the northern European forest is based on how these places make us feel? How much is half-forgotten history somehow embedded into the fabric of the place, returning to haunt (or teach) us? How much, instead, is that there really are 'entities' that live in hidden realms, to which the ancient woods open pathways?

 

This may all seem like off-topic hyperbole (and is probably worth putting into a separate thread!), but whether or not Will Worthington has ever been to one of these ancient realms, he's captured the essence of the place in this card (and many others), for me. Mercifully, I have that memory of the Highlands imprinted over Robin of Sherwood as an anchor... at least, I did until you mentioned it. Now I've got Clannad in my head again...  ::) ;D

 

For the Wanderer, that's perhaps why there is both hopefulness and fear: they know they're going on a long road through somewhere sacred and ancient, with all that that entails.

[sandrang123]

I'll weigh in here, for what it's worth. I've read for many years, but I have not worked with this deck.

 

In many decks I do personally own, though, I get subtle, varying meanings, depending upon imagery & feel. I can't speak to "feel" here, obviously, but the image of the rainbow seems to be a bridge that will support this person, and though in many decks I perceive the Fool as possibly in peril, here I feel as though this new journey or start is being supported by many intangibles that can't necessarily be seen but can nonetheless be discerned and will continue to manifest if the person takes the first step in the journey and continues to follow their intuitive skill set.

 

If I were reading someone and this image came up, I'd likely be inclined to take it as a positive start (though of course surrounding cards and placement would help reinforce that feeling, or possibly detract from that). I am speaking to it as a lone image.

 

Also that the figure's back is completely turned to the viewer is interesting. I'd be inclined to say someone is deliberately having to go their own way, against, perhaps, other advice and people.

[ilweran]

How much is half-forgotten history somehow embedded into the fabric of the place, returning to haunt (or teach) us? How much, instead, is that there really are 'entities' that live in hidden realms, to which the ancient woods open pathways?

 

I like this a lot! And suspect it's both.

 

I do believe the land remembers. That's my feeling from growing up in the South Wales valleys, where so much had changed in such a short space of time, and where, in places, there had been so much loss, and then such sudden change again. And that's just the recent history without peeling the layers of feeling back further. Without knowing the history at all, as a very small child I knew the dead were still down there beneath us, a decade later I found that was the truth.

 

The entities... There are places that definitely have something about them. Many probably were used as places of religious significance in the past, some were adopted and churches built. Whatever it was it's still there, dormant perhaps in some places waiting for someone to come 'knocking'...

 

And yes, that Doctor Who episode had much that was interesting but ultimately failed. Lack of money to do it justice perhaps? I heard also that the script was changed, so perhaps what we got wasn't quite what the writer originally intended.

[Wanderer]

Thanks, sandrang123[/member] - good to have your input!

 

That's a very interesting take on the rainbow bridge. To me, the way it stops half-way seems to suggest that it's anything but reliable, but as I said at the end of the first post, I do get a feeling that the process itself is inevitable: it has happened many times before, and will do again. I think this is what you're picking up on as being the support of many intangibles making the first steps, at least, a foregone conclusion. There's no real peril here, although there may appear to be from the Wanderer's perspective. There almost has to be that fear, because it's a part of the process... but as outsiders we can see that there are forces protecting them.

 

The act of deliberately going their own way, I agree with completely: this isn't an accident, it's a decision. Whether this is against the advice or wishes of others, I'm not so clear on. I agree it certainly could be (and it certainly doesn't feel like a standard rite of passage), but I don't get any sense of acrimony or arguments in the departure. To me, this is someone who has outgrown their old world, and may leave some worry or sadness behind, but not (I feel) bitterness. I also don't believe that they are leaving their old life for good; it's more like a spirit quest, or a modern teenager going to university (to be a bit more banal!).

 

Overall, definitely a positive start; or at least, with some positive potential. But with just that hint of sheer unadulterated terror...  ;)

[Wanderer]

ilweran[/member] : I've just started a thread on the nature of the real Wildwood so that we don't clog this one up too much, and will copy over some of the stuff above. Care to join me over there?  :)

[Purplemystic]

Truly a beautiful card.  On the brink of something amazing. Some transformation. A new awakening. Beginning to face fear in positive way. A new challenge about to be embarked upon.

These some of my interpretation initially...

[Wanderer]

Truly a beautiful card.  On the brink of something amazing. Some transformation. A new awakening. Beginning to face fear in positive way. A new challenge about to be embarked upon.

These some of my interpretation initially...

 

I like that - a nice summary of what I see as well!  :)

[WildWoman71]

For me, I see this part of the journey as a choice as well- the rainbow to me - respresents following a dream - the fact that we are so above the clouds and can't see much is a bit concerning to me - has all things been considered before embarking on this new path (experience)....do we take 'our baggage' with us - or do we leave it in the past and start anew...

 

With one foot off the ground - I wonder if the person embarking on this new journey is grounded - and has thought about the consequences of moving ahead - although - I do believe the decision to forge ahead has already been made at this point...but it is a cliff - and the forest is so thick ahead of him how can see anything - and being that it is a forest - earth - pentacles/stones - is he chasing material worth - and is that material gain worth leaving what he already has