The Fool

The beginning of an exploration of the Tarot

In my last post, the Warrior of Cups, I mentioned I have invigorated my spiritual practice. Part of that has been a much deeper dive into the Tarot. I have worked with various sets of cards much of my adult life, but I have never really studied the cards, to get a better understanding of each card’s meaning. The tarot has been described as a map of the Self, the path humans take on their journey through life. That the cards have been demonized by many says more about them than the cards, that such folk should think a detailed look at human nature could be so threatening. Regardless what you might think about any kind of magic behind/within the cards, they are valuable in understanding the self. As I am spending so much time with the cards, I thought I would start a discussion about them, starting with The Fool.

The Fool is numbered zero, one of 22 major trump¹ cards. The trump cards are sometimes called the Major Arcana. There are 78 total cards, with 40 numbered cards and 16 Court cards, 56 Minor Arcana. Because The Fool is the zero it is said to be able to fit anywhere in the list of trump cards, though I typically think of it as the first. It has come to be believed generally, the card is an amalgam of all the cards. It is in some sense the most important card in the deck to understand. It is also perhaps the most challenging.

Tools of divination have been around as long as humans have had a spiritual sense. The Tarot did not really begin as a tool of divination, designed originally in the 15th century for Italian nobility, likely for the Medici family, as a card game. It did not take long however, for Magi of the Renaissance to begin to use it as a divination tool. It has evolved ever since. Modern playing cards are a secular version of the Minor Arcana. If you have a thorough understanding of the Tarot you can use regular playing cards as a divination tool.

Early cards depict The Fool as a wandering vagabond, generally not very well kept, often with a sack attached to a pole he carried over his shoulder. He was often being nipped at by a dog or sometimes an alligator. The sense was carefree, letting the universe lead you where it will, the dog or alligator representing nature constantly dragging you back down into the material. That has come to mean more, our own animal nature constantly reasserting itself, on our spiritual journey. Occasionally The Fool was prancing near a precipice; life as a vagabond on the road being somewhat precarious.

There is really nothing of spiritual symbolism in this original Visconti-Sforza Tarot card, it really is just a negative depiction of a mentally ill vagabond

Knapp/Hall, in this case blindfolded (faith in universal processes) wandering into a crocodile as opposed to a precipice.

The fool early on was also depicted as a court jester, often wearing motley. The Jester had a special place in court, he was a check on inflation, a reminder to be humble and not take oneself too seriously, even able to mock the King. Surely there were limits to how far the Jester could go with his mockery, but he generally had extraordinary leeway to test those boundaries.

Arthur Edward Waite early in the 20th century introduced The Fool as a beautiful youth, dancing near the precipice carelessly. The dog is not nipping at him, but dancing with him, symbolizing the card as being at one with nature. He carries the White Rose of Innocence, the laurel “crown” of success and a red feather of desire. The satchel is said to carry the four primary elements: earth, air, fire and water. This has become more the modern standard, though varied in the post-modern proliferation of cards.

Esoterically The Fool is the beginning, pure being born into manifestation, just begun the journey of life, the soul returning in search of experience, the Word made flesh. In the ninth card we see The Hermit, the Fool still wandering but now wiser, a teacher. In the final trump card, The World, The Fool has become the Adept, the Master of the Great Work, extreme innocence gradually becoming extraordinarily productive and fertile. In that sense the whole spread of trump cards can be said to be every stage of the journey of The Fool.

In the Cabala Tree of Life, he is Kether, pure being before the beginning of manifestation in masculine force, Chokmah.

The Fool is like the madness of creative inspiration. The wandering lunatic messenger of the Most High in primitive cultures. The madman who peers into the abyss to return with prophecy and healing. The precipice is a danger, but so are all risks that are worth the effort, without risk there is no creative achievement.

This is the beginning of a journey, of a path, of a plan.² It is embarking on a vision, some skill or knowledge sought, without knowing necessarily how you are going to arrive at your destination - willing to take a leap into the unknown - trusting in the universe and yourself that you will work it out as long as you remain focused on and diligent about the goal. To have faith in the universe, that the universe will provide as long as you put the effort in, maintaining a measure of innocence and openness of spirit in every endeavor.

1. When you saw the title The Fool, did you think maybe I was going to discuss the behavior of Democrats, freaking out about no longer being able to loot the Treasury? It has long been humorous to me, that Trump has the same name as the major cards of the Tarot. And of course the Joker (fool) in playing cards is sometimes used as a “trump” card, to overshadow or mirror any other card. Trump has been throwing card after card on the table, playing games with liberals. I find the universe to have an exceedingly hilarious sense of humor.

2. A journey, path or plan not at all dissimilar to the dismantling of America’s deep state, in the remaking/rebirth/restoration of America in a way that can’t yet be truly known.