The Fool is the beginning and the ending of the entire Tarot journey. We start as the Fool and we end as the Fool. It is the card in the deck that “trumps all others”. Tarot decks have exploded in numbers since the 1980s, with numerous new decks being published each year by traditional publishers as well as custom decks being developed by individuals and self-published. This new series will look at the cards of the Tarot deck and their many different visual representations, starting with the Fool.
The Fool, the Meaning of the Card
The Fool is the protagonist of the narrative that is the journey through the Major Arcana and the four suits of the Minor Arcana. Think of each card as a chapter in a story. The main story is the Fool’s journey through the Major Arcana, beginning with the Magician and ending with the World. The Magician represents paths and choices, the intersection of fate (paths) and free will (crossroads, where choices can be made).
Each subsequent card is a karmic, moral, or archetypical lesson for the Fool until he or she arrives at the World, which is the culmination of a significant learning cycle. Think of each grade of primary school and each division of segments of education. The primary school in the United States begins with 1st grade and ends with 6th grade. The World “moment” arrives when a child ends a grade level and moves to the next grade. The larger World “moment” occurs when the child leaves primary school for middle school (grades 7 to 9), and then high school (10 to 12).
A World 1st grader becomes a Fool 2nd grader, and so on with each major life transition. A World single person becomes a Fool married person, just as a World parent becomes a Fool grandparent. Each layer of development is supposed to teach wisdom and knowledge by the time you get to each World moment.
The Fool’s journey through the Minor Arcana represents lessons based on specific aspects of human nature: Swords/Air/Intellect, Wands/Fire/Creativity, Pentacles/Earth/Money and Career, and Cups/Water/Emotions. As the journey from the Magician to the World, the Fool takes 1 to 10 steps, coming back to the 1st step at the end of the 10 steps.
The court cards, traditionally the Page, Knight, Queen, and King represent different personality types and roles the Fool can learn or identify within his/her life journey, either as someone like one of these types or by encounters with other “Fools” who clearly represent a court card type.
Essentially the Fool represents many aspects of the necessity of “throwing ourselves foolishly” into life. Trust, fearlessness, curiosity, and the joy of living are energies the Fool brings into the world and should use to navigate it. The basis for the original card is the court jester, who was considered the most powerful and least powerful person in the realm. He was the most powerful because he could challenge the king and queen, and the most powerless because he held no station or title.
Traditional Images
Rider-Waite (1910)
Source: Wikimedia
Bembo-Visconti Tarot (15th Century)
Source: Wikimedia
Modern Images
Same Meaning but Renamed
As you can see, many of the cards consistently show an image of someone leaping, dancing, or “walking jolly”. Other cards choose to keep the essence of the card but show the visual in a completely different way (Crow’s Magic, Lover’s Path, and Sacred Circle).
If You Draw This Card in a Reading
If you happen to draw the card in a reading, regardless of the question and subject, you will be “asked” to behave the way the Fool would act. Perhaps your question is, “should I stay in my marriage?” You draw the Fool. Each circumstance will be different, and the Fool may be telling you that you are Fool to stay or a Fool to consider leaving, but you are not and should not be afraid to ask the question. The Fool often encourages us to do the unexpected because that helps us grow.
In asking the marriage question, which would be more unexpected of you, staying or leaving. Which would teach you the “newest” lesson. If you know the pattern in staying, the Fool will encourage you to look for a way out as a lesson. If you know you need to stay, but you need to do something “foolish” to shift the energy and complacency of the marriage, then what crazy thing could you do?
Tarot cards rarely give a single answer because people asking the question are radically different, as are their circumstances. Often hidden in the simplicity of the question is an important context, such as, “should I leave my verbally abusive marriage and take my 2 young children with me?” or “should I finally leave my marriage of 20 years now that my last child is off to college?” or “should I leave my marriage to become a monk or nun and shun the carnal pleasures of human intimacy for spiritual purity?”
And in each of those cases the Fool may be saying, “yes, leave” or “no, you would be foolish to leave”. Karmically and spiritual speaking there may be a FOOL (all capital letters) reason for staying in the abusive relationship; plenty of people do, and for reasons, painfully, not foolish and sadly practical. Whatever the question and interpretation of the answer, the Fool does tap into one consistent energy, faith, shown in several cards above as a “leap” forward without looking down.
I am a spiritual adviser based in Cumming, Georgia, serving clients both locally and worldwide. With a background in academics and a Ph.D. in English from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, I bring a unique blend of knowledge and intuition to my practice. After a fulfilling career in academia, I transitioned into the role of a stay-at-home father in 2007. In 2013, I established Black Unykorn Enterprises, LLC, offering spiritual guidance and support to individuals seeking insight and clarity on their life's journey. My services encompass various tools, including astrology, tarot/oracle cards, numerology, and past life regression utilizing muscle testing. I am dedicated to providing personalized sessions that empower and guide my clients towards their highest potential.
Conveniently equipped with a home office and utilizing platforms like Zoom and WhatsApp, I offer virtual sessions for local clients and for those around the world. Distance is not a barrier to the transformative experiences and guidance I provide. To learn more about my practice and explore how I can assist you on your spiritual path, I invite you to visit my website at https://www.blackunykorn.com. There, you will find detailed information about my services and a contact form to initiate a conversation.
By clicking "Allow All" you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookie Notice
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__cfduid
1 year
Used by the content network, Cloudflare, to identify trusted web traffic.
_ga
2 years
This cookie is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. It is included in each page request in a site and used to calculate visitor, session and campaign data for the sites analytics reports (Google analytics)
_gat_UA-#
1m
Used to throttle request rate
_gid
1 day
It appears to store and update a unique value for each page visited. (Google analytics)
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_icl_current_language
1 day
Stores the current language
_leadup_js_detail_storage
Session
used to store timezone and locale information from client device.
catAccCookies
1 year
cookie consent plugin to record that you accept the fact that the site uses cookies
PHPSESSID
Session
used to store and identify a users” unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
store_notice[notice id]
Session
Allows customers to dismiss the Store Notice.
wc_cart_created
Session
Necessary for the shopping cart functionality on the website.
wc_cart_hash_#
Persistent
Helps WooCommerce determine when cart contents/data changes.
wc_fragments_#
Session
Necessary for the shopping cart functionality on the website.
wfwaf-authcookie-#
30 minutes
Identification of the visitor by a security plugin to prevent attacks on the web.
woocommerce_cart_hash
Session
Helps WooCommerce determine when cart contents/data changes.
woocommerce_items_in_cart
Session
Helps WooCommerce determine when cart contents/data changes.
woocommerce_recently_viewed
Session
Powers the Recent Viewed Products widget.
wordpress_logged_in_#
Session
After login, wordpress sets this cookie, which indicates when you’re logged in, and who you are, for most interface use.
wordpress_sec_#
14 days
This cookie is used to store your authentication details
wordpressuser_#
1 hour
This cookie is used to store your authentication details
wp_woocommerce_session_#
2 days
Contains a unique code for each customer so that it knows where to find the cart data in the database for each customer.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.