Games - The Fool

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The Fool is one of the 78 cards in a Tarot deck. It is part of the major arcana section of the deck.

Description

With light step, as if earth and its trammels had little power to restrain him, a young man in gorgeous vestments pauses at the brink of a precipice among the great heights of the world; he surveys the blue distance before him-its expanse of sky rather than the prospect below. His act of eager walking is still indicated, though he is stationary at the given moment; his dog is still bounding. The edge which opens on the depth has no terror; it is as if angels were waiting to uphold him, if it came about that he leaped from the height. His countenance is full of intelligence and expectant dream. He has a rose in one hand and in the other a costly wand, from which depends over his right shoulder a wallet curiously embroidered. He is a prince of the other world on his travels through this one-all amidst the morning glory, in the keen air. The sun, which shines behind him, knows whence he came, whither he is going, and how he will return by another path after many days.

Symbolism

He is the spirit in search of experience. Many symbols of the Instituted Mysteries are summarized in this card, which reverses, under high warrants, all the confusions that have preceded it.

History

The "" from The Hermitage tells us that in the decks before Waite-Smith, the Fool is almost always unnumbered. There are a few exceptions: some old decks (including the 15th-century Sola Busca and the Rider Waite) label the card with a "0", and the Belgian Tarot designs label the Fool as "XXII". The Fool is almost always completely apart from the sequence of trumps in the historic decks. Still there is historic precedent for regarding it as the lowest trump and as the highest trump!

In the game of tarot, the Fool has a unique role. Playing the Fool is like momentarily exempting yourself from the rules of the game.

Interpretation

In his Manual of Cartomancy, Grand Orient has a curious suggestion of the office of Mystic Fool, as apart of his process in higher divination; but it might call for more than ordinary gifts to put it into operation. We shall see how the card fares according to the common arts of fortune-telling, and it will be an example, to those who can discern, of the fact, otherwise so evident, that the Trumps Major had no place originally in the arts of psychic gambling, when cards are used as the counters and pretexts. Of the circumstances under which this art arose we know, however, very little. The conventional explanations say that the Fool signifies the flesh, the sensitive life, and by a peculiar satire its subsidiary name was at one time the alchemist, as depicting folly at the most insensate stage.

Although it cannot be seen in all modern cards, The Fool is often walking off a cliff. This raises the question "Is The Fool making a mistake, or is The Fool making a leap of faith?"

Another issue surrounding the fool is "Who is calling him The Fool?"

Mythopoetic approach

Some authorities suggest The Fool is the Hero of the story, and the Major Arcana is the path the Fool takes through the great mysteries of life.

In stories, the fool is often the youngest son or daughter who accomplishes great feats despite the older siblings apparent better position. Cinderella, Psyche, Cordelia (from King Lear), all the third sons of kings in fairy tales who succeed when their older brothers do not.

The Fool is the Grail Knight who may be destined to locate the Holy Cup, where greater and wiser men have tried and failed.

The Fool is the one teetering at the edge of Nietzsche’s abyss, at the cusp of dreadful knowledge that will pull him or her out of the cave.

He is the one who takes the fateful step into a new world.

The Fool is Hamlet before he decides to embrace his destiny.

He has protectors and advisors. There is a dog who appears in most versions of the card. The dog is the natural world. One path to knowledge, and a valuable ally.

When he appears in a spread, he is a signal to strip down to the irreducible core, and interrogate whether The Querant’s self vision is obscured. It may also be a warning that significant change is coming.

Gandhi said once, “If you would swim on the bosom of the ocean of Truth you must reduce yourself to a zero.” The Fool is that Zero who can swim in the deeper waters.

Alternative decks

The Vikings Tarot portrays Loki as the Fool, with a mistletoe in one hand and a fishing-net in the other.

Links and references

A. E. Waite's 1910 Pictorial Key to the Tarot
Hajo Banzhaf, Tarot and the Journey of the Hero (2000)
Most works by Joseph Campbell
G. Ronald Murphy, S.J., The Owl, The Raven, and The Dove: Religious Meaning of the Grimm's Magic Fairy Tales (2000)
Mohandes Gandhi: Essential Writings (John Dear, ed. 2002)

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