0 · The Fool

There is a new journey afoot. Be brave. Be curious. Curiosity is the sine qua non double-edged sword. Without it, we cannot intelligently move forward. But moving forward, intelligently or not, always poses new risks and challenges. What might these be? Look around. Be cautiously optimistic.

You are the Fool. This might be confusing since aren't all these cards supposed to be about you? Isn't everything really just about you? Would the world even exist if you suddenly disappeared? As far as the Tarot goes, it is definitely all about you, so wouldn't having a specific card that's supposed to be you be a little redundant? Well, young grasshopper, if the Tarot is like an arcane mirror held up to your narcissistic soul, then the Fool is a double mirror. Having the Fool in your reading means that perhaps it is time to reflect upon your own reflection. Of all the chimera and doppelgangers that populate a Tarot deck, the Fool may be the most sensible one of them all, because unlike the rest of the gang, she is perfectly ready to admit her ignorance. She is a ray of light breaking through the musty cavern of that cave that will live in philosophical infamy. If you get this card, take this as an opportunity to reflect upon the lies and misconceptions you perpetrate upon yourself on a minute by minute, day to day, birth to death basis. Not that this will somehow make you magically aware of them all or even give you the power to change your devious behavior, but that by recognizing your own malarky you will think a little less highly of yourself and in consequence be a little more forgiving, a little more practical about your expectations and potential, and look at the universe with just a little humility—condemning neither your own failures nor those of others, for the World is a cruel angel that neither loves nor cares about anything you do. You are but a traveler, but it is up to you whether you are the obnoxious, self-entitled tourist or the curious mendicant, whose only desire is to wonder at the day that God has wrought and to respect his fellow travelers—be they vegetable, animal, or mineral. Although today the Fool is commonly considered to be the first card of the Major Arcana (as in the Rider-Waite deck), in the older versions (such as the Marseille deck) she is placed at the end. Thus, the Fool is the link between The Magician of all beginnings and possibilities and the World of ultimate enlightenment and fulfillment. She is the immutable cycle of reproduction and destruction. She's okay with the entropy that makes time possible. She is the passerby of whom Jesus speaks in the Gospel according to Thomas. She is the holy fool of Slavic folklore. She is the prince of India who sat under a tree. She is the ancient Greek who asked the unconquerable youth to please "Get out of my light."