This is the tarot trump card “the fool”. The fact that he is using the axe incorrectly is part of the point. He just bumbles forwards blindly, driven along by the cat who swipes at his balls, unburdened by any intention whatsoever.

The fool is an incredibly important card in that it is the genesis of all action. As card 0, he sort of stands outside the path of the major arcana and can be seen as the beginning of any line of progression. Without the fool, nothing would or could ever begin.

Source: I am a woo woo individual who has spent a lot of time with the cards.

You're in luck!

Why would you carry an Axe over the should opposite the hand you're holding it with?

That's not an axe, it's a bindle - exactly what a fool (in french, le fou) would carry.

What is up with his pants

He's wearing medieval trousers - that is in fact two 'hose'

These trousers, which we would today call tights but which were still called hose or sometimes joined hose at the time, emerged late in the fifteenth century and were conspicuous by their open crotch which was covered by an independently fastening front panel, the codpiece.

And again le fou is so stupid, his junk is out and all over the place.

See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trousers

i can answer the last one with something i learned the other week: the reason it's "a pair of pants", is that they used to consist of only the leg bits. you'd put on underwear, then leggy bits, then your jacket, then you'd tie the legs to the jacket.

I'm not sure what that context of this picture is but it's a common sword guard position depicted in medieval fighting manuals

I'm thinking the artist was simply not good enough to draw pants correctly

I'm thinking the artist was simply not good enough to draw pants correctly

Wasn't as cute in the 1500's.

Felis catus

Look at the color, that's a Felis silvestris.