The Fool is in a unique position to take full advantage of life. Either he is like a youth, starting out on an adventure with no clue, needing his dog to warn him of danger, or he is a seasoned traveler, well-versed in the rules of the road, and only annoyed by the dig’s persistent irritation.
Whichever sort of fool you believe you are, you have the world in front of you, available to be explored. Unencumbered by rigid beliefs, you can explore new places and new ideas with an open mind and heart.
Failure is a possibility. So is astounding success. The Fool is capable of attracting either. If you choose to pursue spiritual endeavors, you will aid others as much as you aid your personal growth, and you will spread joy wherever you go. If you pursue a material path, you will eventually end up in the same place of joy and spiritual fulfillment. The paths differ but the destination is the same.
The Fool is a wanderer, energetic, ubiquitous, and immortal. He is free to travel at will, often upsetting the established order with his pranks. His vigor has propelled him across the centuries where he survives in our modern playing cards as the Joker.
- Sallie Nichols
The Fool represents one of two things: it may represent the failure of the soul to gain self-conscious immortality and the obstacles he is sure to attract. On the other hand, The Fool indicates that the soul through its earthly experience has developed far enough that it will not need to tarry in the astral or other realms.
The Fool represents the law of affinity.
- C. C. Zain
I Am,
Without beginning, without end,
Older than night or day,
Younger than the babe new-born,
Brighter than light;
Darker than darkness,
Beyond all things and creatures,
Yet fixed in the heart of every one.
- Paul Foster Case
Sources
Zain, C. C., The Sacred Tarot. Los Angeles, The Church of
Light, 1936.
Nichols, Sallie, Jung and Tarot:
An Archetypal Journey. York Beach, Maine, Samuel Weiser, 1980.
Case, Paul Foster, The Book of Tokens: 22 Meditations on the Ageless Wisdom. Los Angeles, Builder of the Adytum, 1968. Quoted with permission from Builders of the Adytum, 5101 North Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA. 90042; http://www.bota.org/. Permission to use Builders of the Adytum images in no way constitutes endorsement of the material on this site.
De Angelis, Roberto, Universal Tarot Deck. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2003. Lo Scarabeo has graciously granted permission for the use of the Tarot images on this site. Copying the images without their permission wuld be a violation of copyright law.
