The Fool painting

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sweetsunray
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The Fool painting

Post by sweetsunray » Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:20 pm

After my in-depth study on Crowley's Fool I was inspired to paint him on a canvas... in fact I'm making a Tarot Fool card on canvas.

The basic idea is that of a baby upside down (head down, feet up) in a cosmic egg. His eyes are closed and so he is dreaming, but make-up pupils are painted on his eyelids, with small baby horns, but also a crown of enlightenment. The umbelical cord attached to the egg circles into a heart form in front of the baby's chest, implying the mother watching over him. The yoke of the egg is a golden triangle (supernal Golden Dawn triangle), pointing down just like the baby. At the bottom of the painting is a primal ocean, the upper rim of the painting are clouds forming: the separation of sky from world.

Now I'm deciding on which attributes to use, and I would like attributes from several religions frm the world.

I will be using a dove (spirit and message) and grapes (dyonisus). I'm considering a butterfly (and perhaps a pop) for transformation, with a wing design of the Mayan Galactic Butterfly on it (although I fear I will drop this galactic butterfly idea as it seems to be a new age invention rather than supported by actual connection to Mayan religion).

I'm not sure yet which attributes I will use for the "instincts", and I'm considering a chtonic symbol (life, death)

What I'm looking for on advice is on Hindu symbols. Vishnu creates the universe via his dreams, while sleeping on his snakebed. But then he is the all creator and I'm not sure whether I want to or even can equal the Fool to Vishnu. I've been thinking of Brahma who is tempted (dualistic), and thus a lotus flower on which the cosmic egg is balanced, a purple lotus flower at the top of the head of this yet unborn baby.

I know there are people on the site who would have a clearer perception on this, and who could advize me... What symbols would you advize from the Hindu tradition for a combination of "transformation", "unborn", "divine", "dreaming/illusion", "outside time and space", "able to see all possibilities"?
Life is like a rose. The most beautiful ones have large thorns. You only need the courage to grab for them.

sweetsunray
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Post by sweetsunray » Tue Mar 02, 2010 1:57 am

Here's an upload of my painting so far. This is still a work in progress, and right now only the lotus petals are at a near-finished stage.

I will be getting rid of the rainbow under the Lotus flower, and make it ocean again, but with a white glow around the Lotus and stem. Instead I'll use the rainbow colours for the inside of the Lotus, closer to the baby's head. The baby is mostly filled in with background paint, and needs much more defining. Its smile needs more defining too. And though originally I didn't want it, I'm now thinking of letting it suckle its thumb. The heart coil of hte umbelical cord needs enlargement. An Egyptian winged sun will be painted under the Root Chakra symbol. The dove is sketched on so far in the right corner. A black crow opposite of the dove is missing in the right top corner. On the left bottom corner, a crocodile will emerge out of the water. Haven't decided yet which animal I'll have in the right bottom corner. But there are a few candidates. The blue parts within the womb-egg will acquire stars.

I'm thinking of including a hummingbird, but not sure yet. And I have to work in two serpents, but not sure yet where or how. Nor am I sure yet how I will work in a cup and wand with fire.

Any constructive comments or ideas are welcome.
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SaturninLibra
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Post by SaturninLibra » Sun Mar 14, 2010 4:31 pm

i like this.  i agree to take out the rainbow.   maybe the seperants could be bottom corners?

sweetsunray
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Post by sweetsunray » Sun Mar 14, 2010 9:22 pm

Thank you

It's nearly finished, except for the baby itself, the umbelical cord, the grapes, and the rainbow lotus heart
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Life is like a rose. The most beautiful ones have large thorns. You only need the courage to grab for them.

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Payewacker
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Post by Payewacker » Tue Mar 23, 2010 8:09 pm

Hi girl,

Mmm, very nice indeed!! I would want to consider that we may be able to place the Fool at the beginning or at the end of the deck. In your painting, I gather you place him at the beginning as being an unborn child.

The embulical cord amy have a connotation to the white dog, denoting fedility and a link to the stability in the environment he comes from?

Blessed be.
Do as you want, Harm none!

sweetsunray
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Post by sweetsunray » Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:07 am

Thanks Payewacker :)

The symbol explanation:

unborn baby -> beginnings, everything is possible, everything is perceivable, but not really there yet
when the painting is finished there will be painted on eyes on the closed eyelids -> asleep (potential), dreaming and yet seeing
green horns -> nature, non-enlightened
lotus -> crown, faith, towards enlightenment (dualism with the horns)
root chakra symbol at the feet -> dualism with the lotus
however lotus and root are upside down, thereby no true rooting yet, nor real enlightenment yet
golden egg -> before the world as we know of it, of another realm, number zero (so yeah, I place him in the beginning, not the end)
the golden egg on the lotus is a reference to vishnu's dream and brahma being born out of the dream
the sun disk (ego) is rising from the feet but not at the solar plexus -> there might be ideas of desires, but no real will present yet, no decision power
it is also part of the Egyptian winged sun disk
the umbelical cord (which needs a lot of improvement, I need to repaint its colour as well the shape): connection to the mother, who is protecting the unborn possibility, feeding and nurturing it... so yeah, it's like Waite's dog. A mother guards her child from coming to real harm, and it is the sole connection of the fool in the painting to actual life
crocodile: instincts, mind of a crocodile (all the automatic subconscious workings of our body), agression, and linked to the life giving waters of the nile, but also patience, as well as a very protective motherhood sign... crocodile mothers are extremely protective of their young... hence another symbol equal to Waite's dog
phoenix: rebirth, new start of a life cycle, and seemingly rising out of the mouth of the crocodile... suggesting the crocodile being like the luck bringing dragon
white dove: peace, heavenly sign/message, pureness, innocense
blawk raven (dualistic with the white dove): another messenger, and one who can travel in between two worlds (dead and alive)... a chtonic symbol
sits on grapes: reference to dyonisus (as are the green horns)... wine is a type of drug, altering how the mind sees the world, and in this way enables visions (which may be hallucinations)
salmon: another cycle symbol... fertility, new life after death, and symbol of creative originality because they move upstream (like the Fool stepping over the cliff)

within the golden egg you note a topped off yellow triangle (the rainbow to the Lotus finishes the triangle) with a jaguar print: the jaguar is a reference to the ability to make sense out of chaos, the ability to handle it, beig fearless, the yellow triangle is the golden triangle, but upside down forming the triangle of the womb.

I have been in the golden egg once in a meditation... I ended up traveling to a place outside of time and space... I had a phoetal position, and it was as if I was in a soap bubble in the universe, a 3d zero... and as I looked outside through the bubble, I sensed and saw all the roads my life could take from that point on. It could be anything I wanted it to be... however, I lacked any will to choose which road. I just knew that any step from there on would be the choice. Meanwhile any movement out of there, like a step forward would be like a step backward. Up was the same as down, down was the same as up... I lacked any sense of direction. Without sense of direction, without will, it was not easy to leave the place, to come back to my root. It wasn't that I felt fear of making the wrong choice. I actually felt a lot of hope and faith for the future, but from that non-place in non-time a choice just seemed unimportant in the grand scheme of things because it would all lead back to where I was right there and then. Eventually I blindly stepped outside of the bubble without making any decision and returned to my root and once again grounded came out of the meditation.

The number zero symbolizes this out of time and out of space situation the most. That place was both the start as well as end of space and time. If you for example take a timeline we allot the number zero somewhere in the line... however, you can never really grab that moment. There is no year zero. There is 1 year prior and year 1. The last second of the year prior to the zero-moment still belongs to the year prior, and the first second after that belongs to year 1. Even if you divide seconds into smaller and smaller parts, you can never get to 0. Meanwhile the number zero leads to eternity in mathematics. So, it's the ultimate symbol of infinity as well as strange, you know it's there, but you can't grab it, and from nothing you can get something.

So, it's the 22nd card, but it is not in the 22nd position for me, but with zero standing outside of the series.

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cedars
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Post by cedars » Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:59 am

Without going into numerology (which I do not know anything about) I always take The Fool as number Zero. It is the beginning and the beginning of the unknown......hence it is called The Fool's Journey?

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Payewacker
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Post by Payewacker » Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:06 am

Hi, Sweetsunray.

As you probably have seen, i’m presenting a basic “Tarot – tutorial”, for lack of a better word. The Hebrew Aleph-Beth consist of 22 letters and 5 finals. Each of these have a destinct numeric value, although sharing the same basic “word” meaning.

I do paint a little bit here and there, but i’m truly not an accomlished artist at all. In doing this tutorial and considering the upliftment of the cards from the archetypal, to the existential and then into the cosmic, we find that we have 5 positions not allocated to any card, as there are no cards designed for these positions. Or should I rather say in the RW deck.

I have done the basic design of number 23, which I call The Throne. This is the first card in the five finals.

I’m trying to stick to the designs or art-form of Pamela Coleman Smith, as we see on the RW deck, as I would want these cards to be part of my deck. I’m not inclined to design or create my own deck, why try to re-invent the wheel?

However, I have attached my own interpritations to the cards, which vary from those we see in the LWB or other published works.

Your explanation on the Fool card you did, makes sense and it portrayes the message as how you want your deck to influence those followers purchasing the deck in future.

This is now where I hope we may have a mutual interaction. Would it be possible for you to share some time in doing these 5 paintings?

Please go to this link and see what you make of it:  viewtopic.php?t=68840

The size, wow, we had a problem before as well. Please excuse.

Blessed be.
Do as you want, Harm none!

sweetsunray
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Post by sweetsunray » Sat Mar 27, 2010 1:13 am

I'm still not sure I want to paint my own full deck yet ... 78 or 83 cards is an enormous painting task. I know myself... I have an inspired idea, start creating, but have a hard time finishing off the task.

Like you I felt originally, why invent hot water when there are decks such as the RW or Crowley's Thoth. You will notice of course by this painting of mine why for me Crowley's deck works better for me than RW's. The way Harris painted the symbolism not only fits my own artistry better, but also fits with the way I decipher dreams, visions andother symbolical systems.

As I tried to fully understand Crowley's symbolical attempts in the Fool, and like you did with other cards, criss-crossed him with other similar reoccurring symbols in the rest of the deck, I wrote my analysis and used the phrase "unborn baby". That's when it occurred to me that for me my concept of the Fool took him a step further in relation to life than the adventurer of RW, the prankster of other decks, or Crowley's floating astronaut in a green fool's clothing.

Since I can't be sure that deeper insights will arise similarly as it has with the Fool for other cards I therefore do not commit myself to the idea of making a whole deck of it. For now I want to finish my fool, print him to fit the size of my Crowley deck and replace him with Crowley's fool.

So, right now all I promised myself was to make this painting of the Fool solely, because the idea was there for it. But I am curious after these 5 extras of yours, in understanding them. But it will require some study and time for me to catch up with your goals first. So, I'm sure to read the info you have out there about it.
Life is like a rose. The most beautiful ones have large thorns. You only need the courage to grab for them.

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