Tablet of Contents on This Enchanted Page
430 Lifetime Visits for This Realm, 2 Wizards Have Been Here Today
Affirmation: ‘My life is an adventure. I ask for guidance so that the opportunity to follow my true path becomes clear to me.’
Key words: Potential, choices, innocence, new beginnings
Ruling Planet: Uranus – planet of originality, eccentricity and the unpredictable. Previously, the Air element.
Ruling Zodiac: Aquarius
Kabbalistic Letter: Aleph
Path on the Tree of Life: Kether (Crown) to Hokhmah (Wisdom), First Path
Stones: Clear Quartz & Green Tourmaline
Image: Also known as “The Jester,” The Fool card bears the number 0 (zero) or 22. It has no particular place in the card sequence so it can be either put at the start or end of the Major Arcana. A young man meanders along, with a knapsack on his back, holding in one hand a white rose, emblematic of the purity of his intention. He is completely absorbed in his own world and is unaware of the danger in his surroundings. By his side, a small dog scurries, barking at him, trying to warn him of what lies ahead. A few paces ahead, he will come to a cliff edge. Will he waken in time or is his seeming oblivion just a false impression? On the side of his knapsack we see the 12 astrological signs, suggesting that although he travels light, he really carries with him everything he needs.
THE FOOL SPEAKS
‘I am the Fool, so some say! But look at those who criticise me! Stuck in their lives of boredom and monotony, never daring to get in touch with what I represent! All that I am doing is in truth refusing to follow other people; why should we blindly carry out the orders of others and their conventions? Life can be so much more exciting and interesting when you let me loose in your lives and start taking down your own barriers. I am all that is original, inventive and different. Eccentricity is something to be praised. The gypsies knew me, travelling around all over the world, carrying all their belongings wherever they went. They never worried where or how they were going to make money. They trusted life to bring to them all that they needed. The hippies and the travellers of more recent years had something of me also; although they started to establish their own little hierarchies in place of the ones they sought to be free from. Be young, be adventurous! If you stay in your truth, you’ll stay in your youth! Why grow old and die!’
Divination Meaning:
Encounters with other people will become very lively indeed! The kind of people you are meeting are outside the realm of what has gone on before. You will be experiencing them as interesting, exciting, enlivening! You will be having the same effect on them, by the way, just in case you thought it was a one-way street! New relationships may take place which will be totally different from anything you have experienced before! Don’t go into this new world with all your old knowledge – leave your shoes and your mind by the door! It is only by removing the barrier of existing knowledge that you will be able to receive fresh inflows of teaching, which will pave the way for you to go on to the next level of spiritual development. It may well be that under this influence you are attracting people who are very different from your normal circle of friends and associates. These new associations may tend to have an unusual quality which makes your existing friends wonder about the direction in life which you are taking. Let them sit and wonder – maybe one day they may even find out! The whole emphasis is upon freedom, spontaneity, the unusual and that which has the capacity to interest. If it is essential for you to make any important decisions, especially those which might require long-term commitments, then this isn’t the best set of influences. It is far better to postpone these decisions until a time in the future when the correct balance – or at the very least a new balance of the mind’s faculties – can be achieved. In particular, steer clear of business decisions, matters involving finances, property, the drawing up of leases or any legal agreements which would be binding or have long-term effects. This card would certainly point the way towards the development of new skills, new techniques, new abilities. The only problem here is that under this card’s influence, it might be difficult to focus the mind or to concentrate on one thing at a time sufficiently to achieve anything concrete. But this would probably be the crux of the whole matter. It symbolizes a brilliant time for pushing ahead with new plans and projects, although there is in this card a far greater degree of the element of ‘experiment’ than is to be found anywhere else. Let’s not get too disillusioned or upset if some of these experiments don’t necessarily work out or at least yield the kind of tangible results which we had originally anticipated! The Fool is all about the experimental, the original, the eccentric, the different. He is all about not following any pattern at all, just doing his own thing! He is no respecter of outward appearances, but is able to see right to the heart of the other person – or situation – and judge truly. He is a great idealist and by his refusal to compromise himself with the material world he inhabits a rather different dimension. Time, place: neither of these have much effect on him; he is only just in his own body. If he went any higher, he’d slip out of his physical form and go back to the realm of pure spirit. He is a great teacher, but wouldn’t want you around for too long, hanging on his every word. He’s not here to let you slip out of your self-imposed responsibilities and start projecting onto him. He’s not a guru, just his own true self. In the past, he was associated with the element Air, as that was the lightest of all the elements, like the wind, blowing wherever it wanted to blow. More recently, he has been seen in the company of the planet Uranus, which alone out of all the planets in the Solar System rotates horizontally on its axis, going around the Zodiac. So, he is equally eccentric, rotating around the universe in his own original way as well! He is a breath of fresh air, in a world where orthodoxy has gone mad. Others inevitably copy him, which is where the merchandizing comes in, and the fashion designers, starved of fresh ideas, start seeing new possibilities. His is the flash of genius which comes like a bolt of lightning: the invention of the paper clip; the rubber band; the milk carton; these are some of his ideas!
(Short) Upright meaning: Generally, The Fool is taken as a good indication when it appears in the spread as it implies a “new beginning” of a phase or journey in life. It is also associated with innocence, wonder, and spontaneity. The Fool doesn’t strongly imply stupidity per se but signifies idealism or visions. It holds positivity and optimism to do great things, never bothering to calculate if such feat may subject it to difficulties.
Reversed meaning:
On the other hand, it may mean naivety, carelessness, and gullibility. Because it leads to a start of the new phase, risks may be present and along with it is the possibility of making bad choices. It may also suggest being overwhelmed by fears, cynicism, or indecision. Don’t be afraid of change! Don’t let yourself be trapped by routine either! You may be naïve and gullible now, but your awareness of these traits is pivotal knowledge to be able to change them in the future.
WORLDLY ASSOCIATIONS
Gypsies, hippies, travellers. Nomads of all kinds. Aboriginals. University drop-outs. Mystics.
POSITIVE QUALITY
Freedom for the individual.
NEGATIVE QUALITY
Refusal to accept responsibilities. ‘It’s not my problem.’
Numerology with The Fool
The Meaning of 0 (Zero)
Zero is said to represent all that exists as potential in the universe. 0 is the connection we share with everything else through the simple fact that we exist. We are here now, and that means we can be anything. 0 reveals that potential. 0 also demonstrates the concepts of connectedness, understanding, and wholeness.
The Meaning of 22
The Number 22 combines the energies of 2 and 2; it is said to represent accomplishment and acquired power. 22 is also a number representative of successful partnerships, but this could have pertinence for one’s vocational endeavors more so than romantic ones. 22 demonstrates how confidence and hard work pay off and how blessings abound when a harmonious life is achieved.
