Discover the Wisdom of Folly with Bob Prophette’s Tarot for Fools.
Uncover life’s timeless absurdities with Tarot for Fools, a unique tarot deck inspired by Sebastian Brant’s Ship of Fools (1497). In this deck, the journey of self-awareness isn’t led by mystical guides but by the raw truth of human folly. Each card captures a modern take on Brant’s satire, reminding us of life’s enduring foolishness and inviting a humbling reflection on our limitations. Illustrated with poetic couplets and vibrant names for the “fools” among us, this deck offers a humorous, introspective twist on classic tarot.
A selection of cards from the deck.
Bob Prophette’s Tarot for Fools is based on the Book Narrenshiff by Sebastian Brant. A book first published in 1497, capturing the many ways we can display our foolishness. In Bob’s Tarot for Fools you are not led on a fool’s journey. You will not meet a Magician or a High Priestess, you will not emerge from the Hermit’s cave to feel you have understood the balance of life. You will not delude yourself by thinking you have understood anything or can really know anything. Instead, you will remain with the humility you were born with.
You will face life with equanimity. You will be humbled by the spectacle and be conscious of your limitations as life continuously reveals itself to you as if you were watching a movie. The greatest movie you will ever see.
You will not credit yourself as the director, the writer or even being the main character. You will simply watch and enjoy.
Brant’s Book does an excellent job of reminding us to be humble. To realize how fragile is our understanding of the world and how to approach life in any other way is simply pride and folly.
Written 500 years ago it is comforting to realize that all of the fools are still with us. We didn’t lose a single one. The numbering in the Edwin H Zeydel version of the book (1944) has been retained to allow comparison.
Brant’s book contained woodcut illustrations, some by Albrecht Dürer or inspired by his genius, together with titles, short summaries and longer descriptions of the foolishness in the form of a poem. For Bob’s Tarot for fools, this has been approximated by giving the entries a more modern spin, drawing on the wealth of English words we seem to have available to describe fools – which I believe is one of the richest of any language. These names are accompanied by a rhyming couplet which describes the behavior identified.
Brant was a typical medieval man and hence many of his original descriptions were religious in nature. In most cases it’s been possible to replace these types of foolishness with non-religious equivalents to give them a more modern appeal.
A MODERN TAKE ON SEBASTIAN BRANDT’S SHIP OF FOOLS IN THE FORM OF A TAROT DECK – DISCOVER YOUR FOOLISHNESS.
GUIDE AVAILABLE AT BOOKSTORES.
ACCOMPANYING TAROT DECK AVAILABLE AT PRINTER STUDIO.