TAROTThe Fool
Upright
Breaking the shackles of the old world to enter a new world. Birth and rebirth.
The start of a new journey or adventure. New beginnings.
Moving in a new direction.
Purity of thought. The infinite initial potential of youth and new ideas.
Intuition
The Fool in the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot does not see the cliff edge. In the Torch deck, the Fool sees the precipice and intentionally leaps from it. The jump is potentially dangerous - not because of the fall but lack of readiness or belief when leaping.
The Fool is starting to form the pose seen in The World card.
Reversed
Foolhardiness or unreadiness that will result in a fall. Gullibility or lack of skill.
Unpreparedness that will result in a fall from grace. Child-like and lack of growth. No commitment.
Re-assessment required for a badly planned or naïve venture.
Astrologia
Independent, non-conforming. A strong sense of freedom and social justice. Transformation and advancement. Can be impulsive, childish or rebellious, causing them to become isolated.
The Fool
The Fool card represents someone embarking on a new journey in life or acquiring new knowledge. It may also symbolize unplanned events that cause inner growth and self-actualization. Reversed, it denotes someone seeking transformation, but held back by lack of skill, belief or perseverance. Depending on other cards, the Fool's success may be helped or hindered by other people or external events.
The Fool card takes its design from two popular literary motifs:
The Hero in the Hero’s Journey or Monomyth
The Monomyth suggests many stories follow a well-defined story arc. The first act of this arc is illustrated in the Fool card - the start of the real adventure or Crossing the Threshold.
The Fool has so far lived in a safe but unremarkable environment called the Ordinary World. He receives a Call to Adventure (an inciting incident, magical artefact, or previously secret knowledge, possibly via a mentor) causing a leap out of the Ordinary World into the threshold of new world of risk, adventure, growth/rebirth, and eventual reward.
Upon crossing the threshold, the Fool embarks on a descent that involves overcoming challenges and tests, meeting new allies and adversaries, and ultimately leading to his transformation into the story's Hero. This process of descent and rebirth is symbolized by the leap and associated fall depicted in the Fool card.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
In the allegory the Fool is an inmate in a cave, chained to a wall such that he cannot see outside the cave nor perceive himself or other inmates. He is only aware of shadows cast on the cave wall from the real world outside. He believes that this cave and its shadows are all there is; his Ordinary World.
If the Fool were to escape into the daylight beyond the cave, he would initially experience pain as his eyes adjusted to the brightness, causing blindness and a desire to retreat back to the familiar surroundings of the cave. Upon returning he might convince other inmates that the world outside was evil, full of pain and blindness, reinforcing the belief in the Ordinary World of the cave as more desirable.
To embrace the truth and make the leap into the real world, the Fool must ignore any initial discomfort and maintain a firm inner belief despite his fear. This leap will result in a fundamental change that might be seen as madness if he returned to the cave, telling stories of things that were unimaginable to the other inmates. For real growth, the Fool can never go back.
The broken chains in the card symbolize this freedom from previous confinement and the torch symbol above the Fool represents the light from the real world that illuminated the shadows within the cave.
Description and Symbology
In the card we see a high cliff facing out to sea. It is early morning. We see the Fool dressed only in a red loincloth with his broken chains trailing from his wrists as evidence of newly gained freedom. He has just leapt from the cliff towards the symbol of the Torch, displaying his courage and determination to embrace the new and unknown world. His arms and legs are in almost the same position we see in the Hanged man and The World. Behind him, a wolf and raven lurk. Their allegiance is ambiguous.
This scene represents the Fool's transition from the confinement of the Ordinary World into a new world of enlightenment.
Fool Symbol
The Fool is denoted by a circle representing zero or ‘start’.
The circle has far deeper meanings. It can represent the self, the soul, or the infinite circle of life. In this deck, the circle represents the Major Arcana. The cards from The Fool to the World represent a continuously repeating inner journey of the self as it moved towards greater knowledge and self awareness.
Early Morning
The card is set in early morning; a fresh start.
Significant Task with infinite possibility
The cliff edge is much higher than the cloud cover around the sea, meaning that when he takes his leap, he hangs midpoint between the heavens and the earth below. The Fool's task may test his resolve to the limit, but the gains may be massive.
The Fool's Pose
The Fool starts to take the pose of The World card. He is already learning the path towards enlightenment. His pose resembles the Hanged Man, alluding to sacrifice and seeing differing perspectives. He faces away from us, making him anonymous yet capable of representing all or any of us.
The Fool's clothes
The Fool wears red, signifying his passion and intent. Apart from the red loincloth, the Fool is naked, denoting his innocence, idealism, honesty and rebirth into a new world.
Broken Chains
The Fool wears broken chains on his wrists. To get to the cliff, he has had to first break from the Ordinary World.
Torch
The Torch represents previously hidden knowledge, skills or belief that are the Fool's Call to Action. They begin him on his adventure. On a deeper level, the Torch represents an ancient symbol of immortality, denoting the Fool's mission as one of rebirth to a higher plane.
Animal Companions
The Fool has a Wolf and Raven with him. The wolf traditionally represents natural inner intuition, and the Raven is a messenger from the Gods and intelligence. They are also well known as Tricksters, so it is not clear if they are here to help or hinder.
Tips for Readings
The following table shows the upright and reverse meanings for general questions. The last row ('Yes/No') is useful when you are picking a single card to decide a yes or no decision.
Upright
Reversed
Expect a new romantic connection or a fresh starts in an existing relationship. Be positive even through setbacks; you will have the strength to see them through!
You may be feeling lost in a relationship and/or a fall from a place you once felt secure.
Avoid becoming resistant to change or resistant to growth within a relationship; things must and will change.
Expect a new career or a change in an existing job. Taking risks and embracing change will work out.
You will gain the most success by being open to opportunities and exploring new avenues (or even old avenues – if you look at them with new eyes!).
You are in a rut. You are in this trap because you are resisting opportunities or change. Avoid inertia that is keeping you in an Ordinary World.
Take a leap!
Watch out for injuries caused by a sudden spurt in youthful energy or carelessness whilst trying anything you are not practiced in.
Success will come, but don’t break your back trying!
Lack of focus on yourself is causing poor health. You may be on a new journey and looking to new horizons, yet are ignoring the tired feet carrying you!
Take care to sleep properly, and enjoy the scenery on the way instead of concentrating on the destination.
Expect a spiritual awakening causing a new journey. This may be a new way of thinking that allows you to deal better with past issues, or a new you that moves you forward in a different direction.
You are in danger of losing your way, and may be rooted in a boring, Ordinary world rather than forging ahead.
Avoid inertia, disconnection with what you really want, or accepting boredom by resisting growth.
Expect financial gains by being open to new opportunities, or by looking at old problems in new ways. Calculated risks in new ventures will pay off.
Avoid impulsive behaviour and any failure to consider consequences. A lack of planning for the future (or ignoring obvious pitfalls) may be your undoing.
Do your homework and look carefully before you leap!
Yes, through new potential and youthful energy.
No, through being unprepared or lack of commitment.
Reading the card
Like most Archetypes, the Fool is a sexless archetype. He can refer to either sex.
Animal Archetypes
When looking at card combinations including the Fool, the animals in the images will often give an indication of the relationship between cards and this is especially so when animals (or animal types) match across cards.
For example the Fool and The High Priestess includes wolves and the Torch symbol. With an Upright High Priestess, the double Torch tells is that the Fool’s intuitions are correct. The wolf is there as a helper, bringing animal intuition and inner resourcefulness. Reversed it means that intuition and delusion are often indistinguishable to a fool. The wolf is there in his guise as trickster and will deceive.
Similarly for the Magician, the raven appears in both cards. Upright it means the Fool may not have the learning and resources he needs (or the journey itself may be itself about learning) but the raven as messenger from the Gods will provide the knowledge needed. Reversed, the raven is there as trickster, and will deceive.
The Torch
The Torch serves as both a literal and metaphorical call to action for the Fool embarking on his journey towards enlightenment and self-discovery. It represents previously hidden knowledge, skills, or beliefs that inspire the Fool to take the leap into the unknown world beyond the cave, leading to personal growth and transformation.
On a deeper level, the Torch symbolizes an ancient concept of immortality (and the symbol was used as such in the Eleusinian mysteries), signifying the Fool's mission as one of rebirth to a higher plane. The act of leaping towards the Torch represents his willingness to let go of his old self and embrace transformation. This metaphorical rebirth is essential to begin the path of growth and development.
As the Fool takes his leap of faith we are reminded that we may not be bystanders outside the cave, watching the Fool leap. We may instead be amongst the inmates who remain in Plato's cave, seeing only faint shadows of the Fool's departure from our own Ordinary World. The real fool is the one who does not leap, because he remains the Fool.
The real fool is one who does not leap, because he remains the Fool.
Our path to transformation is not searching for occult secret knowledge, but of recognizing our own chains and then identifying what prevents our own leap of faith. It may be fear, complacency, societal norms, or self-doubt. Our own journey always starts by acknowledging these obstacles and then working towards overcoming them, embracing change as the Fool does.
Card design process
The specification for the Fool card was by far the hardest of the deck. Several mythical/literature characters were needed to fully describe the Fool, creating a weak archetype.
Only after it was realized that the Fool is a philosophical archetype could strong sources be investigated. The visual design proceeded rapidly after this insight.
Final Words
This card encourages embracing change, taking risks, and stepping out of one's comfort zone for the sake of growth and transformation. It reminds us to confront our fears and uncertainties to truly understand ourselves and make the leap to reach higher planes of existence.
