The Fool

Please read Chapter 3 on the Fool. Start filling out your sheets of information (first post gave the categories- feel free to add your own). I'll next post what Waite has to say about the Fool, then my own call.

Also, Pull the Fool from your deck. Each day this week look at it before you begin your day. Try and see what situations make you feel like a Fool character, or where you see people who give you that impression. Maybe, if you are feeling adventuresome, do something this week which is the equivalent of walking off the cliff for you!

Each card I'm going to quote for you what Waite has said about each card. I'm always amazed at how few folks look at what the creators have to say about their deck...instead using more modern authors. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with that, and during the week I'll be using those authors for your lesson--after all the tarot evolves, and what was pertinent for Waites era and time may have changed, or maybe not.....! Just start by this: Think about what Waite says, then read the others.

One thing to keep in mind is that Waite, as a true blue member of the Golden Dawn was sworn to secrecy about many of the lessons and truths he had learned therein, and there is various and sundry discussions on ways he attempted to "trick" the rest of us by switching certain things, etcetera. This subject is probably something best left for another, more advanced course or a sidebar thread in tarot-l, but I did want to point it out to you.

O,Zero, THE FOOL (note, Waite in his book, unlike most modern writers, puts the fool at the END of the major arcana sequence just before the World)

This is from The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, A.E. Waite:

" With light step, as if earth and its trammels had little power to restrain him, a young man in gorgeous vestments pauses at the brink of a precipice among the great heights of the world; he surveys the blue distance before him--its expanse of sky rather than the prospect below. His act of eager walking is still indicated, though he is stationary at the given moment; his dog is still bounding. The edge which opens on the depth has no terror; it is as if angels were waiting to uphold him, if it came about that he leaped from the height. His countenance is full of intelligence and expectant dream. he has a rose in one hand and in the other a costly wand, from which depends over his right shoulder a wallet curiously embroidered. He is a prince of the other world on his travels through this one--all amidst the morning glory, in the keen air. The sun, which shines behind him knows whence he came, whither he is going, and how he will return by another path after many days. He is the spirit in search of experience. Many symbols of the Institude Mysteries are summarized in this card, which reverses, under high warrants, all the confusions that have preceded it.

In his Manual of Cartomancy, Grand Orient has a curious suggestion oft he office of Mystic Fool, as a part of his process in higher divination; but it might call for more than ordinary gifts to put it into operation. We shall see how the card fares according to the common arts of fortune-telling, and it will be an example, to those who can discern, of the fact, otherwise so evident, that the Trumps Major had no place originally in the arts of psychic gambling, when cards are used as the counters and pretexts. Of the circumstances under which this art arose we know, however, very little. The conventional explanations say that the Fool signifies the flesh, the sensitive life, and by a peculiar satire its subsidiary name was at one time the alchemist, as depicting folly at the most insensate stage."


NOTES:

This is rather interesting note...that Waite believes that the major arcana was indeed separate from the regular playing cards used traditionally by gypsies and fortune tellers. For many the major arcana is more the path of enlightenment, but over time it has become a major part of the divination process. This thought is echoed in Crowley's Book of Thoth where much attention is given to the minor cards.

EXERCISE:

Pick something out of the Waite Fool card that strikes you and write about it. You can submit it to the class if you want, or keep it in your notebook. For example you could pick the rose or the sun or the dog or... Let the class know what you picked out and what you've come up with.

ShadowWolf

By the way have you read about the FOOL in your book? If not, please do so.

The second part of the assignment:

Pull the Fool card out and stick it where you can see it daily. Try and focus on a different aspect of the card each day- one day the roses, the next day his wallet, the dog, the cliff, the mountains, and so on. Try and do this twice- at the beginning of your day and then the end. This helps you focus on a detail in the card. A skill that is quite useful is to learn to look at the details...if you can, try and copy the card as you would a painting. I can't draw worth a darn, but I remember being forced to copy paintings at galleries when younger and while my rendition was worse than chalk on the blackboard- I truly entered into the painting in a way that surpassed any superficial viewing.

shadow

LECTURE ON THE FOOL

Many authors, whether writing about using the tarot for divination, or for meditation, will often use the story of the Fool’s Journey to help us learn the meanings of each card as it relates to the Fool. I find this most interesting, as by its very nature, this places the Fool as a most important card, in that every other major arcana has a relationship to it. The card numbers zero in our deck although it is unnumbered in other decks, and can be at the beginning or end of the deck, sometimes you’ll find the Fool in the middle. In the RW deck it is at the beginning, where most of us find zero comfortable. Do you find that is so? Or do you see zero at the end of the cycle?

I have Bob O’Neill’s permission to quote his book, “Tarot Symbolism” and I’d like to give you some of his prose about the Fool: “A man in gay motley prances across the landscape, all his possessions in a hobo’s bag on his shoulder. His incredible naiveté is indicated by his ignorance of imminent danger. He is about to walk over a cliff or into the jaws of an alligator. He is being harried, perhaps warned, by a small animal that leaps upon him from behind and rips his pants. He is represented in some decks as chasing a will-of -the-wisp in the form of a butterfly, imprudently ignoring the physical dangers which surround him. He is not even watching where he is going. This is the symbol of the birth of awareness in man. Man first realizing his plight and too dumb to notice that his pants are falling off. This is the card of spiritual childhood of birth into awareness, of the naiveté of the beginner. His gaze is upwards because his journey is of the spirit. He is spirit in search of experience. This is a man starting on the spiritual journey, gay and optimistic, not yet aware of the length of the journey or the dangers in entails.”

The Fool, the adventurer, the one who embarks on some path, spiritual or mundane, is often looked at by others askance, as if to ask “what do you think you are doing?” Yet we all play the fool at some point in our daily lives, sometimes more than once in a day. How often has someone started off a new romantic relationship--despite failure after dismal failure in prior liaisons--ever hopeful and optimistic that this time, things will be better, things will be different? We feel that way about a new project, a new idea, a new spiritual path. Yet as we progress on the path, we do find obstacles, joys, sorrows, growth. It is the Fool part of us all that lets us keep trying, keep going, finding pure happiness just in the beginning of something, in the newness. We may even have warning signs of what’s to come, but our moment as the Fool keeps us looking forward and up, ever seeking the positive.

Think about where in art, plays, myths, fairytales, holidays, do you see the character of the Fool? Some countries still follow traditions of much older cultures that allowed the Fool in all to reign-- days of no inhibitions and actions without consequences. Think about Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The Fool in Waite’s deck is rather temperate, but some Fools are modeled more after the traditional Court Jester, a bit lewd, lecherous, bawdy and fun. Does the Fool tempt us to be something other than what we are? And does the Fool show up when least expected, sometimes when least wanted? Which may account for the no number on many decks...his very capriciousness keeps him from being tied into one spot. Or is he tied into zero appropriately--the essence of nothingness, from which all is born? Is the Fool friendly, or dangerous? Who do we call Fools- the insane? Or are they Fools only because we do not understand? Perhaps in Waite’s time Fools were a bit feared as possibly being in touch with God. William Blake quote: “If a man would persist in his folly, he would become wise.” In the tarot card, the Fool doesn’t look where he’s leaping, he acts purely on instinct; it is this energy in us that urges us to do that which our intellect right indeed talk of out of, and leaving us one dimensional, albeit “safe”. In fact the Waite Fool is almost complacent, not “Il Matto” (the Crazy One) of the Italian decks. It would seem that Waite wanted to recognize the Fool as more our savior, the guide to the self. We each are born with the Fool in place, our ego exists, it is chiseled by life’s experiences. The Fool allows us to take that leap of faith, and let go into life’s experience. In a way, doesn’t the Fool stand there, saying, I don’t care what’s below this cliff, I want to live life, so I’m stepping forward. When you draw the Fool what adventure, change in life experience or relationship, stands ready for you to make the move into its excitement? Or are you holding back, waiting until it is safe? or has disappeared entirely? In the Qabala, the Fool is the path of Aleph, connecting Kether, the Source of All, with Chokmah, the first activity toward manifestation. Aleph stands for the Divine Breath, and if you think of it, we breathe each second. It is in a sense our spiritual core. I would refer those of you who want more qabalistic information to “The Qabalistic Tarot” by Robert Wang. Given that this is a beginners class I’m reluctant to do more than give the basic connection. However, if any of you qabalistic experts want to tackle providing a very basic explanation of each card from that viewpoint--please do!

Keep in mind that this card was created by Waite, an occultist, who has admittedly put several things in the tarot deck to fool the unknowing. For the Golden Dawn members, the tarot was used primarily as a path of growth for its members...so what role does this card then play for them? Do you think that Waite deliberately has put some things in to mislead you, if you are not an initiated Golden Dawn member? Perhaps the Fool really isn’t the Fool, but the God force behind all the world and all humans? What about the symbolism of the card? What do we have? Let’s look at colors first, and see what is in a certain color?

White:
Sun- white giving its energy in its purest form, not of earth but of divine nature
Shirt- white here symbolizes the purity of the Fool
Dog- perhaps the divine spirit is his friend, reminding him that life will bring impurities, conflict, some writers say the white dog symbolizes god as the fool’s friend.
Mountain snowtops-the top is of a divine and pure nature, symbolizing the lessons that the Fool needs to learn. Count them...there are nine. The number nine is 3 x 3, 3 being an important number in many religions, as is nine for that matter. If you are into numerology, you might look at the meaning of the number nine.
White rose--offers up to the heavens the Fool’s purity of desire and hope.

We see the sky is yellow, signifying clarity and illumination. The Fool wears a black cloak of ignorance (ready to absorb life’s experiences) which has mandalas on it, which can symbolize the self (Jungian) or the wheel of the year (Pagan). Around the mandalas are seven green leaves- symbolizing the seven chakras, as well as the significance of the number seven. I think there are ten mandalas on the Fool’s cloak, as there are ten sepiroth in the qabalah, as there are then numbered cards in the minor Arcana. If you look at the mandala in the lower wheel of the back of the Fools outfit you find the Hebrew letter Shin which represents the spiritual light and energy that brings things into existence. The green (think earth here) in the Fool’s outfit show the life force, with the tights indicating a real grounding of the essential essence of simply living that is the Fool. The yellow boots remind us of him being in the physical plane, not yet in the spiritual, although that is where he is headed but also a bit up in the air. If you look below the cliff you see the mountains with the start of two peaks---these will eventually turn into the two pillars we see in the High Priestess. His hat, also green for natural thought, is topped by a red feather indicating the spirit of air/thought, often thought to be an eagle feather.. And the red, well what does red color mean to you?

The Fool carries in one hand his entire worlds possessions, all in a small bag/wallet- doesn't look heavy in the least, almost makes you wonder if he has anything in it! The wand represents the physical world, with a bag on which is embroidered an eagle. The eagle associates the Fool with the god Zeus of mythology, and represents strength, power over all in the world. Perhaps the Fool is the powerful god Zeus in human form? Or perhaps the power of the spirit over the physical world.

Taking this and your text, what meanings can the Fool card have then? Spontaneity, leaping into the unknown, innocence, naiveté, blissfully ignorant, a new beginning, starting anew. This could be the beginning of a new venture, activity, relationship. Or, it could be something new entering into an ongoing project. The reversals could be viewed as these meanings, but not as strongly, or the opposite--perhaps someone not being willing to ignore the warning signs and not just letting loose and going for it all.

What characters do you see play the fool in our culture? The easiest are comedians, actors. But watch the news, often you’ll see someone who is the head of some new, inspired project or company, who seems almost childlike in their attitude--just having fun, going with things, not worried about reality. If you pull this card, open up your eyes and look forward, see what possibilities await you, take a deep breath and plunge on in... let life take you on the journey it has put in place for you, may not always be easy, but always an adventure! Next time you pull this card, find some music that fits the mood, and have fun that day; looking for opportunities to play the fool, have some fun, take off on a new adventure.

ShadowWolf

OK, I've watched with interest the discussion on the Fool, and it seems you all are spending the time to pay attention to the details- are you doing your notebooks????

This class is concentrating on divination, so here's the exercise:

You wake up and after enough caffeine and cold water are somewhat lucid for the day. You go to your trusty Rider Waite deck that you keep on your nightstand/dresser/top of coffee pot/do I really want to know? and pull a card. Out pops the FOOL. What think ye?

Next exercise. You've had a heck of a day, everyone you've met- either in business or socially has managed to try and take a bit of your soul. You look to see if the YMCA pool has been loaded up with margaritas, (oops, sorry Bob, I mean maitais) and sigh when you realize it is still turn-your-head-green chlorinated H2O. You go home. Your cat has elected to use the ficus for a new litter box, your significant other/parent/child are all royally pissed at you although you've no clue as to why and they refuse to deign to tell you since it should be rather obvious. You stumble into your haven, go to your trusty Rider Waite deck on the nightstand/dresser/etcetera just to find that said cat has used the cards for batting practice. You pick them up, shuffle them distractedly, and pull a card. Guess what comes out...THE FOOL.

What would you say to this scenario?


OK, next please read the chapter on the Magician starting on page 29.

ShadowWolf

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