TAROT - THE FOOL

 

Hello All!

As promised, (see link below) I am going to be discussing the Major Arcana Deck from a very philosophical viewpoint. This is bearing in mind that to me the Major Arcana is 'The Journey Of Life'. In every card a persons life can so easily be tracked. Aleister Crowley always remarked that you could tell a persons 'whole life' in one card. I too believe this. 

Here is the link to my introductory post to this series which I hope you will come back and follow as I talk about each card. 

TAROT - THE JOURNEY OF LIFE

So! above is the card of THE FOOL. Is this person really a fool or not? What is he doing in the picture? and did you know that as the card is numbered '0' (zero) it can sit at the END of the Major Arcana or at the beginning? Why is he on the edge of a cliff with a hanky packed and why does he have a dog biting his ankle? what expression is on his face? Is it yellow in the top half of the card because its a sunshiny day ? why is he wearing boots instead of shoes and why is he holding a rose?  Do you ever look at the Tarot carefully and wonder why certain things are depicted there? 

There are MANY Tarot decks however. Pictorially they will all reflect differently according to the designers view /ideas of how that card feels to them. The deck I am working with for this series is RIDER WAITE. It is the deck I use the most and feel comfortable with. There are many details on the internet as to the origin of the Tarot and that is not part of my series to go into. I want to show you what I feel philosophically about each card, not so much focused on the precise meanings that are text written.

To me, in the Journey of Life, we begin life as a baby that learns and grows through to Adulthood. We pass by many lessons which we learn or have to keep learning. When we are old, we become a child again.  The Fool to me is the innocence of life. Even when we are old, we regress to children where old memories of the past and thoughts of our childhood become part of our thoughts. Sometimes we even find as older people that simple joys please us the most. This is often because it keeps alive times that meant so much to us and allows us to experience childish things once again which we might always have felt were long gone experiences.  You may notice that about your elderly parents who if you give them a special treat really do relish it or if you take them somewhere that they used to love or like, they are in their element. Its because when they are older they give themselves permission to relive some of the moments of their youth.  The FOOL card always reminds me of both the old and the young. When it appears at the front of the Arcana I know that some new experience is going to be had. When it appears at the end of the Arcana I know the person has lived a full journey and though they do not know what the future holds they continue to look forward but embrace that innocence where they once began. 

These are my own thoughts on the matter. The Fool lets you know he is inexperienced. He does not know what is ahead. It could be fraught with danger, it could be a rocky road, it could be dangerous or it could be magical and wonderful. The only true thought is - LETS DO IT!  FOR GOOD OR FOR BAD. So the beginning of life is the Fool. He steps out, he is ready (bag packed which is very symbolic in the Journey of Life) and the future is one big new Oyster where he will seek the pearls of wisdom. 

Some general readings will tell you that the Fool is at a Crossroads of life. Indeed the Fool has a kind of choice because you can set out on a journey with no experience or just inquisitiveness and a sense of adventure, OR you can hesitate BEFORE you choose your path. However, Im not looking into all those possibilities. I want to show you the FOOL as the beginning of your life, your choices, your adventures. His steps start your walk along the Major Arcana of life.   We know from looking at this card that he has no idea where life is going to take him. He has abandoned all concerns even if we know that Life is not going to be plain sailing. For some it is, for others it is not hence the dog is nipping at his ankle to warn him that.   So we see this person at the beginning. A carefree, innocent being. This is where we all are at the start of life. We know nothing of our journey or how we will shape up. We have no idea what we will become, what we will be like, how we will prosper, we simply just exist and move forward with the whole world out there in front of us. 

It is sunshine because its innocent. When we think of sunshine it simply dispels everything negative. The journey of life does not begin negatively for a baby. They only know what they learn, they only become what they are taught and as they grow they shape their beliefs for themselves. The FOOL is a ZERO. He therefore begins and if he is at the start of the Major Arcana he knows NOTHING just like the Zero that is placed on this card. It is an expanse of many possibilities ahead. A new being fresh in the world, the new life.  Moving forward, new location. Horizons ahead, the rose opening up to bloom in the flush of youth completely unaware and unconcerned about anything except the moment that is being experienced. This card represents to me the freshness of the new born child. The limitless options in life, the roads with all their unforseen pitfalls or straight paths. The beauty of the human being as they enter the world. This to me is the Fool. 

The Fool is 'beginning' . Beginning can mean any enterprise though also at any point of life. If you were any age and drew the Fool you would know that something fresh and beackoning was in front of you. Perhaps a new town with fresh vistas. Perhaps a holiday to somewhere you have never been. Perhaps a new career, a new home, new friends, new experiences of some kind. This can all be taken into account with this card. As for the Journey of Life however, my point is to show you how the FOOL is represented to me personally.   Its new life, the road ahead, the human being in its innocence, its purity and its willingness to abandon all concepts, all pre-conceived ideas and notions. As a baby, there simply arnt any. We can see from the card that life is going to be a lot more outside of this 'bubble' with our little dog there, with the cliff there too.  So we have to move to the next card to see what the next phase of life will be. How the Journey of Life can be seen through the cards in a very philosophical form. This card says to me. I AM A NEW BEING. I KNOW NOTHING BUT I DO NOT HAVE ANY CARES OR WOES. I DO NOT SEE DANGERS. I DO NOT SEE WARNINGS. I DO NOT SEE ANYTHING. I AM JUST ME AND I EXIST WITH ALL THINGS AHEAD OF ME.

I am BORN FREE. I have no number, I have no responsibility, I have no plans, I am just READY for the Journey. 

The FOOL is a fool? in some cases yes. We are all fools in innocence or inability to look ahead IF this card appears at different periods of life or pertaining to any particular issue that is enquired about..  A new being  however is not a fool, they simply do not know the journey nor understand the experience until they grow and their mind is formed to understanding.  

We therefore begin LIFE as a FOOL but I prefer to call this card THE INNOCENT. He is not looking around him at all at the landscape. He looks UP. The baby looks UP, not at anything in particular in this picture, but one could consider perhaps to his mother or carer. All is 'what it is' and the world around him is of little concern nor what is in it. The baby is simply ' in the moment'.

I will be adding more elements to the Fool so always check back to see more thoughts/projections and I will also add the GENERAL MEANINGS for those who are learning. All coming up so please come back and visit!

Please join me for my next card which will be THE MAGICIAN.

Empathy.