I loved Kevin's thread in the French forum, starting a trend I hope of examining each of the Camoin Majors.
I posted there in the best French I can muster, but I thought it would be nice to have an English equivalent here.
Soooooooooo, any English-speakers are welcome to join the discussion-- and for god's sake your English need not be impeccable (much like my un-impeccable French)!
So, here are some ideas to consider.
Le Bateleur is Mercury (Roman) or Hermes (Greek), who is the god of commerce, the market, and trade.
He has the wand of Hermes, the hat, the purse, and those shoes. His red shoes point both left and right, he is dexterous and flexible, unlike L’Empereur who stops further action in the service of stability.
Le Bateleur takes the purse of Le Mat, opens it, but the contents are in a primitive form; thus, the card may signify “beginnings”.
He stands on Taurus, which we can see when we juxtapose Le Monde with Le Bateleur.
The constellation of Taurus heralds the agricultural year and the fruits of the earth—indeed, agriculture = employment in the modern sense.
His hat forms a symbol of infinity:
The hat’s symbol is completed in Le Monde as the ribbon around the laurel wreath. He holds a tiny Sun in his hand, which is later glorified in Le Soleil
Thus, Le Bateleur is not the completion of anything, but its beginning.
Since I can chatter freely in my native tongue, I might add that the word Mercury also influences the English word "merchandise" and French "marchandises," but the linguistic connection is more obvious in the English.
Le Bateleur gazes in a particular direction, and as was exemplified in the French section, at what Le Bateleur gazes provides information of the type of work or project. It becomes a blueprint for him that he uses to start his project.
I have sometimes pondered the difference between Le Bateleur reversed, or Le Bateleur looking (upright) at a reversed card. For example:
or 
or 
Certainly, too many fundamentalist rules spoil the poetry of the Tarot de Marseille. But, when Le Bateleur is reversed, he seems to encounter problems in implementation. When he gazes at a reversed card, there seems to be a problem with the Idea, the Concept, but implementation is not an issue.
Thoughts from our small and humble tribe of English speakers?
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