Introducing The Fool 0
The Fool is the very first card in the Tarot Deck, and is a fascinating archetype of daring, risk, and trust.
Let’s look at the picture below of The Fool, from the Rider Waite Tarot deck, published in 1909. It’s a good deck for beginners, as every card has a picture describing its meaning.
Today the majority of Tarot decks are based on the Rider Waite deck. It’s also a ‘deep’ deck, as its creators gave each card multiple meanings.
We see a young person walking, gazing upwards. He seems cheerful and optimistic. He carries a staff with a bag on the end in one hand, and a white rose in the other; a dog accompanies him. His clothing is colorful and patterned/“pied”. The sun is shining. He appears to be walking toward the edge of a cliff. Is there actually a cliff? Perhaps it’s our perception.
The figure is travelling, moving, doing something; he’s not standing still or stagnant: He chooses to move, to act. Yet he’s not looking where he’s going. Is he stupid? Or is he trusting?
Symbols & Systems
White Rose
The innocence of trusting.
Staff
A sense of power.
Bag on the staff
Bringing his past experiences (“baggage”) with him. Notice how small the bag is. He brings only what is essential and meaningful to him. Ornamenting the bag is an eagle, indicating release from bondage, victory, longevity, speed, pride, father, royalty, and seeing things from a higher perspective, or a “bird’s-eye view”.
Feather in Cap
Freedom. The feather also represents the feather of MAAT, the Egyptian goddess of truth.
Dog
The dog is trying to get its master’s attention. The dog is an animal. All animals have instincts, but a dog has been domesticated, so its instincts are not as strong as its ancestors, the wolves. The dog is a good companion who tries to speak reason and perhaps warn, but The Fool’s instincts may be right.
Mountains
Journeys; the ups and downs of life’s experience. The Fool is choosing to take a journey (wherever it may lead him), and not remain stagnant.
Number
The number assigned to The Fool card is 0. Zero. Nothing. Zero has unlimited potential. From nothing comes everything. The Fool represents the energy prior to actual manifestation, or as Paul Foster Case likes to say, ‘…the cosmic life breath about to descend into the abyss of manifestation…’
Astrology
The planet Uranus is associated with The Fool. Uranus represents the trans-personal and its energy, and is about breaking free of society’s strictures.
Kabbalah
The creators of the Rider Waite Tarot deck were members of the Golden Dawn, a group that followed teachings based on the Kabbalah. Kabbalists are mystics who believe that God is neither male nor female, and has many aspects. Kabbalah is all about learning why we’re here, the mystery of the universe, and what the big plan is.
The Rider Waite deck contains a multitude of Kabbalistic meanings, a few of which I’ll briefly explain within The Fool card. You could study Tarot and Kabbalah for the rest of your life and still only scratch the surface. I’m deliberately keeping it superficial yet easy to understand. I’m also deliberately using the spelling Kabbalah, denoting the Jewish spiritual discipline, rather than Cabala, which is used to denote its Christian offshoot.
The Fool wears יהוה, the Hebrew name for ‘God’ on his shirt. In Kabbalah, God is neither male nor female. This name is never pronounced aloud, as it is too holy, and means, ‘I AM THAT I AM’. If The Fool wearing this name indicates that he is God inspired, or that God is always with him.
There are 10 spheres on The Fool’s garment, indicating the 10 Kabbalistic Sephiroth. We might call them various levels of consciousness on the Tree of Life, an image that is used to describe how God (immaterial) brings creation into being (material).
The message from The Fool 0
Is there something in your life that you really want to do? Is there a decision you want to make where your heart says “Yes!”? Then leap! Do it! Try! You’ll never live life fully if you act (or don’t act) from a place of fear. If you fear the consequences of your decisions, how can you ever live fully?
We often worry about what other people will think about our decisions. It would be a shame if on the day you die, you realized that you lived your life for others, and not according to your soul’s wisdom.
The Fool 0 reversed
When I see a reversed card, I simply see the energy blocked or inhibited in some way. How would The Fool be inhibited?
Perhaps lack of spontaneity or risk taking. The inability to move forward. The belief that one has no choice. A sense of constraint and lack of freedom. Difficulty in trusting what is to come.
If you get The Fool card Reversed, go ahead and ask the cards, ‘What can I do to make this card positive?’ and pull three more cards. Those cards will be your answer. You can then choose to take that guidance, or not. It is after all, your choice!
