Walk-About Notice (part 1)

The Fool or The Jester is titled Le Mat in the Tarot of Marseilles, and Il Matto in most Italian language tarot decks. These archaic words mean “the madman” or “the beggar”, and may be related to the word for ‘checkmate’ in relation to the original use of tarot cards for gaming purposes.

I don’t read tea leaves, cast chicken bones, examine the entrails of goats, star gaze to know what I’ll have for lunch the next day or divine portents. Neither do I put stock in runes or tarot cards. Fellow blogger, Wo Fat and I, have a friend who claims to talk to crows. All well and good, I guess.

I once knew a Vietnamese witchdoctor in Little Saigon (Westminster/Garden Grove, California) who caught feral cats and they told him secrets. Cats are eaten in Little Saigon and are at risk as an entree, but this made matters worse for felines. Gang members began to kill them on sight once the word got out that they were speaking rumors to the witch doctor and free ranging house cats all but vanished from the area.

But I don’t believe that house cats speak to Viet witchdoctors. So this blog post has nothing to do with tarot cards.

However, the Fool is a vagabond on walk-about. He carries a bundle of his belongings on a stick slung over his back (waltzing matilda) and is being chased by a local dog…that looks a lot like a Jack Russell Terrier.

This song is worth listening to. Maybe twice. It’s on my playlist. 

I remember that terrible day when our blood stained the sand and the water…
And as year follows year, the old men disappear…
And the band played Waltzing Matilda…

The Fool is usually interpreted as the protagonist of a story, and the major arcana is the path the Fool takes through the great mysteries of life and the main human archetypes. This path is known traditionally as the Fool’s Journey. The Fool is the spirit in each of us, in search of experience. He represents the mystical cleverness bereft of reason within us, the childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world.

He is seemingly unconcerned that he is standing on a precipice, apparently about to step off. (more balls than brains)

Since I’ve been accused more than once of that failing, I thought it appropriate.

I don’t know how often I’ll be checking my blog over the next couple of weeks as I come and go. So if I’m slow in responding, you know why. And there is always e-mail, isn’t there?

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18 COMMENTS

  1. I've spent many hours listening to The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. Very good, with a bit of the raw edited out.

    Our friend has been known to put the Voo-Doo on more than one person. It works better if it's done one person at a time.

  2. Our friend has clearly put Voo-Doo on people. And some (thinking of Ping) put the Voo-Doo on him.

    The Clancy Brothers & Tommy rock.

  7. I'm working, not just on vacation, but it's still walk-about. Next month work in Norway with a different style of walk-about.

  8. It's not always that bad. I had it pretty good all things considered. But there are the absent friends and that's what gets to you.

  13. Every time I have these done ( I have witchy friend who does them for fun on Jan 1st to tell you your year) I always get the fool. And guess what….I own a Jack Russell. Maybe I should eat him.
    Happy travels, stay in touch 🙂

  18. Our luck is simply NOT that good.

    And Obama thrives because if he fell, Biden would pick up the torch and nobody wants that to happen either….Slow Joe with the launch codes (shudder).

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