The Fool is the Initiate on the Mystical, Mythical & Magical Journey of Evolution.
The Fool is the first card in a Tarot deck. It sets the Hero into place for the adventure that lay ahead, and within.
The Fool is you. The Fool is me. The Fool is the ever-present innocence that resides in all of us. The Fool represents center-present being. It is the fullness of this now, in all its newness & mystery.
This blog highlights aspects of The Fool, the first card in a Tarot deck. Tarot represents an archetypal journey all humans take on their pathway of evolution. It's a great roadmap to use to navigate your Hero's Journey and the Fool is the energy that gets us started.
Featured here as well, is art I’ve created around The Fool (something I love to do and am excited to share with you). May this blog inspire your journey in WONDER-filled ways and may the Fool be ever present in your being.
The Fool is card Zero in a Tarot deck. It is nothing & everything. No beginning & no end.
The Fool represents a happy wanderer on the journey of life; innocent & pure, unblemished & unspoiled by experience. The Fool is curious & alight with wonder, living spontaneously & gratefully, alive with innocent fullness in the world.
The Fool celebrates the constant newness of Now. The Fool does not ruminate on the past, nor fret about the future. The Fool lives in the moment, in complete trust & faith, and is always present, alive in the journey.
Working with The Fool is a reminder that we are always experiencing. Each breath & each step starts us over again and again. This Now is always fresh & new. The Fool encourages us to remember this.
The Fool "Double Dog Dares You" to:
Start Something New; Begin a New Adventure
Live in the Moment
Approach Life with Beginners Mind
Let Go of Expectations
Engage Life with Curiosity & Wonder
Celebrate Life for its Own Sake
Create Opportunities to Play & Laugh
Take a Leap of Faith
A common image found on a Fool card is a young person perched on the edge of a cliff. They are walking towards an imminent leap or a deep plunge into the depths....we won’t know which it will be until the next step is taken. This is how we all live the journey of our lives. We never know where the next step will lead. The Way only forms by walking it.
Another common trait of the Fool is that the person on the card is holding a stick with a bag on it. This represents that we have the tools needed for the journey. We may not know how to use them yet, but we have them. As we travel through living the archetypal forces of Tarot, we'll learn how to use our tools & refine our living model along the way.
Below is one of my favorite Fool cards from "The Eclectic Tarot deck". I appreciate the crystal & crocodile perched at the edge of the cliff, indicating that there will be both light & dark times ahead.
The Fool represents the Call to Adventure, the first step on the The Hero’s Journey.
Below is a video link to a 10-minute speech I gave at Toastmasters about The Hero's Journey. The Fool (YOU) is the main character of this adventure.
The Fool is completely open to the world as it is. They plunge themself into the Now, offering themself completely to the moment, unattached to outcome. Some may question if the Fool is wise or naive? The circle holds the fullness of both these truths to be present at the same time.
The Fool’s task is to expiernace & understand everything as they live through all the major archetypes of Tarot. They start out the Fool & come full circle, back to the beginning. In this way they become the Wise Sage.
My teacher Bill Plotkin states in his book “Wild Mind”, “The Fool encourages us to be in the fullness of our psyche; both innocent & wise, joyous & serene, goofy & insightful.” These are tools you need for the journey through life, and working with the Fool can help you cultivate these traits in a live & vital ways.
In many indigenous teachings, the Fool is associated with Trickster energy, often represented by Coyote or Raven medicine. Sometimes our new beginnings are a result of things being shaken up, often times in ways we would not prefer. Coyote & Raven are known to cause a raucous to stir things up & set us off onto new adventures and that is often what the Fool energy will do too.
In many ways the pandemic activated a lot of Trickster energy in my life. I was just getting my bearings in my MiddleWorld Apprenticeship & with my new job in New York City. Then Covid forced me into solitude and I sank rather deeply & comfortably into old isolation patterns.
When things started to open back up, I thought I’d be able to emerge from my covid cave and live the dreams I used to have. But age has caught up with me; I feel I am no longer capable of living the dreams of my youth. I’m not even sure they are my dreams anymore? With this realization comes sadness & a knowing that it’s time for me to work with The Fool again as I step into this next stage of my life.
I recently returned from a 10-day Vision Quest in Utah, where I took the Fool along with me as my main companion…and wowee…did Coyote energy show up big time to cause a raucous along the way!
In all the chaos & challenges that I experienced, I was called back again & again into finding the simple wonder & joy of each moment. It was not easy, however, I am grateful for the chance to cultivate the essence of the Fool in my life, it is needed.
I am calling forth & cultivating Fool energy to activate aliveness, expanded gratitude and increased joy in my life. These past several years have stripped me of so much, in so many ways. I am calling on the Fool to reawaken wonder & possibility in my life. It’s always been there, I just lost my way.
The Fool is connected with the direction of East on the Medicine Wheel, and is connected with the season of Spring, the time of awakening into newness. The Fool is fresh with aliveness. They live in this state.
The Fool is also connected with the element of Air, the breath that infuses vitality; the inspiration of life. Air is the element that activates imagination & thought. Working with the Fool calls for you to bring awareness to your thoughts. Are they light or heavy? Are they expansive or contractive? With this mental awareness, you can then call on the Fool to invite aliveness into the moment and let that addition of energy guide & inspire your way.
With this activation of Fool energy in my life, I am self-initiating myself on a journey through the 22 major arcana cards of Tarot. As I explore & embody each of these teachers in this new stage of my life, I will be writing blogs & making art around them. Maybe you’ll join me in the journey?
We all embody the essence of the Fool, although sometimes our lives gets heavy & too serious and we forget this along the way. Here are some ponderings for you to journal or make art around to explore the Fool in your life:
How is the Fool present in your life?
What is beginning in your life now?
What attitude or spirit do you need to go forth?
What fears might you have of being the Fool?
Where have you shrunk from life?
What leap of faith is beaconing you forward?
How has Coyote medicine stirred things up in your life lately?
Below is a page from my art journal about the Fool that I created on my recent Vision Quest. Click image below to read the poem that goes with it.
Here's one of my favorite songs on my Fool playlist: "New Horizons" by David Gray.
My prayer is that this blog activated some inspiration for you to be more present & alive in this now, with gratitude, innocence & wonder. Follow me on my Wild Soul Wanderings facebook page for inspirations about the Fool & other Tarot archetypes. See you soon.