The Fool in 7 decks
The same card as 7 decks draw it, five and a half centuries apart. What stays the same is the card’s core; what changes is where a reading can find something new. The meanings are written for the Rider–Waite–Smith picture; the descriptions here are of each deck’s own.
Side by side
Choose any two decks and read the pictures against each other.
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A young traveller in a flowered tunic steps toward the edge of a cliff, face lifted to the sky, a small bundle on a stick over one shoulder and a white rose in the other hand. A little white dog leaps at their heels, warning or encouraging. Snowy peaks rise behind and the sun shines white above.
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
A bearded man in a red, blue and yellow jester's cap strides to the right, a green bundle slung on a yellow pole over his shoulder and a long red staff in his other hand. A pale grey animal behind him tears at his breeches, baring his buttock. He walks over green tufts; the title reads LE MAT, with no number.
Rider–Waite–Smith
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909
A young traveller in a flowered tunic steps toward the edge of a cliff, face lifted to the sky, a small bundle on a stick over one shoulder and a white rose in the other hand. A little white dog leaps at their heels, warning or encouraging. Snowy peaks rise behind and the sun shines white above.
Tarot de Marseille
Lequart, Paris, 19th century
A bearded man in a red, blue and yellow jester's cap strides to the right, a green bundle slung on a yellow pole over his shoulder and a long red staff in his other hand. A pale grey animal behind him tears at his breeches, baring his buttock. He walks over green tufts; the title reads LE MAT, with no number.
Tarot de Viéville
Jacques Viéville, c. 1650
A bearded man in a yellow cap with pointed ear flaps walks to the left, carrying a red stick over his shoulder with a bundle hung from its end and leaning on a second red staff. A dog leaps at his bare calf from behind. No title or number is printed.
Visconti-Sforza
Bonifacio Bembo, c. 1450
A dishevelled, unshaven man with feathers stuck in his hair carries a long pale club over his shoulder. He wears only a loose open shirt and a cloth at the hips, his hose rolled down to bands at the shins, and he is barefoot. He stands on mottled green ground before dark blue hills and a gold ground tooled with diamonds and rosettes. There is no title or number.
In the Visconti-Sforza deck the number cards show only their suit symbols, and the trumps are unnamed and unnumbered.
Sola Busca
c. 1491
A ragged man in a loose red cloak plays a bagpipe, a dark bird perched on his bare shoulder and a feathered cap on his head. The name MATO is split either side of his head, MA and TO, and the numeral .O. stands by a dead tree. He walks on stony ground in blue boots, a cord of knotted balls trailing behind.
Sola Busca trumps are named figures matched to the standard trumps by number only.
Oswald Wirth
Oswald Wirth, 1889
A bearded traveller in a jester's tunic of blue, green and yellow strides to the right, head thrown back, a bundle on a blue stick over his shoulder and a long red staff in his other hand. A white cat claws at his bare leg, and a crocodile looks out from behind a broken stone column. Below are the title LE FOU, with no number, and the Hebrew letter shin.
Soimoi
Mike Koz, 2025
A woman in a deep red kimono steps along a glass ledge high above a night city, arms spread for balance. A cloth bundle and a small wooden charm hang from the pole over her shoulder, and a small red fox trots at her heel. Red-lit towers, a torii gate and a glowing curved road blur below; no title or number is printed.