The Fool

I Am The Fool

The Fool is the card of infinite possibilities.The Fool card is the zero card of the Tarot deck, and as such it represents the beginning and the end. It is almost impossible to predict exactly what will happen, since it is invariably something new, and not based upon what has gone before. The Fool defies rationality or logic. This creates an excitable sensation, a frisson or shock to the system. Zero also represents consciousness, and, in this regard, it is the conscious state of being present without the influence of the ego.

The Fool can represent the desire for rebirth, or making a new start to life, but with the proviso that the future path is not mapped out. The Fool is Nothing and Everything. It is the Empty set that contains all within it. The Fool is associated with fertility and the primal energy of Spring with the connotations of birth, rebirth, and transformation.

As a strategy, the Fool is all about avoiding the common path that everyone treads. It is finding new viewpoints, new ideas, shocking concepts, beliefs, or views. For hints as to where the Fool might be going, look to the cards around it, but remember that we may also be seeing nascent energies emanating from these cards. The Fool is something different, a fresh start.

The Fool represents crazy wisdom that shocks the listener into new states of consciousness. You can never retread an old tire when the Fool is around.

The Fool is an indescribable state of consciousness that works on impulse. It can never allow an external influence - everything is from within.

When the Fool struggles, there are problems getting out of a rut - nothing new seems possible. In the past, there are regrets over a new start that never materialized.

The white rose the fool holds aloft represents purity. This is the childlike innocence of the Fool, in which there is an organic wholesomeness. The ego has not tainted the Fool’s perspective of the world. The Fool reminds us to constantly treasure the child within us and to see the world through his eyes: with purity, excitement and a carefree attitude.

Another important symbol of the Fool Tarot card is the dog that remains by the Fool’s side. The dog is the Fool’s trusted ally, constantly reminding the Fool of the dangers that lie ahead. Symbolically, the dog represents our instincts. The dog's presence is a symbol of our internal gut reactions to situations that can be harmful or dangerous. The dog also reminds us to pay attention to our instinct, for that is what protects us before we even realize the danger.

The Fool turns to take that final step along his final path, and finds, to his bemusement that he is right back where he started, at the edge of that very same cliff he almost stepped over when he was young and too foolish to look where he was going. But now he sees his position very differently. He thought he could separate body and mind, learn all about one, then leave it to learn about the other. But in the end, it is all about self, mind and body, past and future, the individual, and the world. All one. As above, so below, and all opposites are each other, including the Fool and the Mystic who are both doorways to the secrets of the universe. With a knowing smile, the Fool takes that final step right off the cliff...and soars. Higher and higher, until the whole of the world is his to see. And there he dances, surrounded by a yoni of stars, at one with the universe. Ending, in a sense, where he began, beginning again at the end. The world turns, and the Fool's journey is complete.

In spiritual matters, the Fool means idea, thought, spirituality, that which endeavors to transcend earth. In material matters, the essential of this card is that it represents an original, subtle, sudden impulse or impact, coming from a completely strange quarter. All such impulses are right, if rightly received; and the good or ill interpretation of the card depends entirely on the right attitude of the Querent.

The Fool bears also the meaning of that which cannot be helped and which we do best to leave altogether aside; or that which will come right of itself and need not be heeded by us: that to which we are subject, as to the Earth's course in its orbit. It does not need our personal assistance. Realizing this, the 'fool' might after all appear to be wiser than a good many other people, who in their human vanity imagine they are greatly needed for carrying out the intentions of their Destiny, of Which they claim a sort of personal knowledge.

A proverb says, that children and fools tell the truth. Taken as a whole, The Fool signifies that which will prove to contain more truth than appears; that which cannot be helped; those who are unconscious of certain things, disregarding logical propositions and actions. Also that part of our surroundings over which we have no control or which we do not master; that which we have to obey or which we ignore.

"What has he in the bag?" I inquired, not knowing why I asked. And after a long silence the voice replied: "The four magic symbols, the sceptre, the cup, the sword and the pentacle. The Fool always carries them." The bag also carries the Fool’s early memories of pre-verbal experiences and unused knowledge. As well, as the Fool journeys through life, he places everything he learns into his bag. This bag of knowledge will, ultimately, form the Fool's identity and unique perspective of the world. In effect, the bag holds every meaning of every card of the Tarot deck, which the Fool can use at any time.

The Fool is everyone, and is no one.