*This is a new artwork series I’ve started called the Cryptid Arcana, which is a spinoff of the Tarot’s Major Arcana, but uses cryptids as subjects.
Unconfirmed cryptids are creatures whose existence has been suggested but are not recognized by scientific consensus. Examples of unconfirmed cryptids include Sasquatch and the Loch Ness Monster. Confirmed cryptids are animals or plants whose existence was once thought to be mythical but have since been confirmed by science. Examples of confirmed cryptids are the okapi, giant squid, and coelacanth.
I have studied and practiced Tarot for over 20 years. I also have a deep love and appreciation for the folklore about cryptids. In this series, I will merge both, combining the classic Tarot archetypes with an accompanying cryptid, and putting my own spin on the card’s label.*
The Wanderer’s Path: Introducing the Jackalope as The Fool in the Cryptid Arcana Tarot
Beneath the twilight sky, where stars prick the veil of the unknown and moss creeps soft over stone, the journey begins.
In traditional tarot, The Fool is the first card in the Major Arcana — yet it bears the number zero, symbolizing infinite potential. The Fool is a sacred traveler: wide-eyed, heart-forward, and unburdened by expectations. It is the card of new beginnings, leaps of faith, and trusting the path even when it twists through shadow.
For the Cryptid Arcana, we’ve renamed The Fool “The Wanderer,” a title that honors both its open-ended spirit and the mythic beings that walk the edges of our known world. To guide us through this liminal threshold, we chose the Jackalope — that elusive creature of American folklore, part jackrabbit, part antelope, and all mischief.
Why the Jackalope?
The Jackalope is a symbol of paradox and play. It hops between reality and myth, teasing the line between what’s true and what’s just too wonderful not to believe. With its wide eyes and proud antlers, it embodies the Fool’s blend of innocence and wild possibility. Much like the Wanderer stepping off the cliff, the Jackalope dares to exist where it “shouldn’t.” It reminds us that the world is stranger — and more magical — than we often allow ourselves to believe. Whether whispered about in cowboy ballads or sketched on motel postcards, the Jackalope survives through story. And that, too, is the way of the Fool.
Scientific substantiation of the Jackalope
The Jackalope itself is thought to be a creature of legend, one that originated in Wyoming in the 1930s when a clever taxidermist added antelope horns to a jackrabbit (hare) carcass and dubbed it a “Jackalope”. However, descriptions of horned hares and rabbits as either real or mythical creatures date back to medieval and early Renaissance times in Europe, even appearing in some early scientific texts. In 2020, a museum collection manager in the United States discovered a eastern cottontail rabbit carcass with horny growths on its head. It turns out this rabbit was infected with the Shope papilloma virus, which causes dry, hornlike growths on rabbits and hares. There is a possibility that creatures infected with this virus were the basis of the horned hare/rabbit legends in Europe, and the sightings of them resurrected the legend in the United States.
Robert Bénard (1734—after 1777.