Cross-posted from my LJ: scrapophillia.livejournal.com

I decided to create my own version of The Fool card for the cover of my travel sketchbook. The Fool is the first card in a Tarot deck. It symbolizes new beginnings, simplicity, and idealism. It encompasses the feeling of invulnerability at the start of a new journey, and the blind faith it takes to follow a path that could lead to dreams or destruction. The Fool looks blindly to their dreams, trusting in the world to help them along.

Common symbols in The Fool card are the dog, the rose, the bag, and the cliff.
The dog (here a little black gargoyle kritter) is a symbol of loyal friends that keep the Fool from stepping over the edge when chasing their dreams. The dog is usually depicted as white, but it seems to me that the Fool is usually so intent on their dreams, that any distraction seems dark and dangerous. In the heat of the moment, even the best advice can seem cruel and ugly, only to be looked at later as thoughtful and kind.

The white rose is a well known symbol for innocence. It is the purity of the quest, but it is accompanied by thorns of practicality. Together, they remind the Fool that while their dreams are important, they must be tempered with caution and forethought.
The bag carried by the Fool seems rather small for a long journey. It is a reminder that short term planning could run the Fool into hard times, but if the bag is full of seeds, then there is hope for their future.
The cliff is the dangers the Fool doesn't always see, especially when they look only to the sky. Every journey is full of pitfalls, some of them bigger than others.
In my version, I added the bright bird. It's fiery light symbolizes knowledge, which can be warm and friendly, or burn. It is a lofty goal, and eternally just out of reach, we can never know everything. I also like to think of it as the holy spirit of creativity because being touched by creativity is one of my strongest passions.