0 THE FOOL

The Fool card is the very first card of the Major Arcana. This card is card #0 in the deck, so it's the beginning of a story, the proverbial "big bang" of the deck.This is a card that represents a fresh start, innocence, new beginnings, naivety. This is one in their youth just as they leave the nest. He is happy-go-lucky without a care in the world. The Fool is on his journey, what will he learn?  There are so many choices to be made, so many possibilities.

The Fool is usually seen on a path looking up, gazing at the sun daydreaming. He holds a white rose in one hand. Also, he has a dog companion. Is the dog there to distract him, or is the dog warning him about dangers ahead? And the flower? To me this symbolizes a new beginning, new life. If you look at the Death card, you will see Death holding a black flag with a white rose on it. The white rose on both cards mean the same thing to me.

I had a dream about this card about a year or two ago. I was The Fool. I was talking to The High Priestess and she told me to go talk to The Magician. She told me that only he could tell me what the contents in my travelers bag could be. So, I went and found him. His message to me was about the contents of my bag. I had all four elements in my bag, and he told me to use all four to the best of my ability. Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.  Earth, the coins, is our wealth, those things we posses. Air, the swords are one's intellect. Fire, the wands are our creativity and the things that we do. Water, the cups represent our emotions. So I took out my chalice, my wand, my coins, and my sword and looked them over. He then told me about another element. Above all was a fifth element, Spirit or ones Will. By using one's will you can bend any and all of the other elements in your favor. The key to success was one's own will.

The fool is the Major Arcana version of all four of the Page cards. He is all four aspects of the Minor Arcana cards combined, and more. Is he closer related to the Page of Cups because they both have flowers sown on their garments?

Right-side-up this card shows genuine innocence, lack of knowledge due to inexperience. It's not that you are foolish, you just have a lot to learn. It is a fresh start on a new journey so choose your path wisely and watch your footing along the way.

Upside down you show you are foolish, ignorant, totally careless, or just not paying attention. Maybe you have just lost your way. You need to watch yourself before you stray too far from your path and fall. Your dog companion may be warning you to wake up and "smell the roses" or just be careful of where you are headed.


So when I think of this card, and I think about archetypes I think of people like Edith from All In The Family, Stimpy from the cartoon Ren and Stimpy, Jeff Bridges from the movie Starman, and even Tom Cullen from Stephen King's novel, THE STAND. Like the fool, Tom too had quite a journey.

Song chosen for this card is The Fool On The Hill by The Beatles