In tarot, The Fool is often portrayed as the carefree traveller who is seemingly about to walk over the edge of a cliff.
Pamela Colman Smith’s provocative image in A.E.Waite’s traditional tarot deck captures the paradox at the heart of this archetype:
Something new is calling, but you cannot see exactly where it will lead.
The Fool represents new beginnings. It could be a new phase of life, but oftentimes the card relates to the emergence of unconscious content coming into conscious awareness.
In other words, part of your personality that has been dormant has awakened.
Its deeper meaning can be understood as a call for you to step beyond the comfort zone.
The Fool: The Potential of New Beginnings
The Fool card is typically given the number zero, a symbol to represent potential, Spirit, or the universe.
When this card appears in a reading, take it as the possibility of a new reality coming into your life which, at the time, is unformed, but it is coming.
The young man in the tarot card faces west, suggesting that he has travelled from the east, where the sun rises. The solar imagery reinforces the idea of something awakening in consciousness.
It represents the moment when a new idea, aspiration or direction enters conscious awareness before you necessarily know how to make it real.
This can be exciting — or unsettling.
As the Fool walks perilously close to the edge of a precipice, apparently unaware of the danger, his dog yaps at his feet. In symbolism, dogs are synonymous with the synaptic cleft, which excites or inhibits new information from reaching neural networks.
The precipice represents the abyss: the point at which the conscious mind must move beyond what it already knows.
The conscious mind can be called the ego, which wants certainty and comfort. The ego responds to habitual programs which can more or less predict an outcome.
The Self, by contrast, ushers in new beginnings because it wants you to evolve.
If you are not familiar with the functions of the ego and the Self and how they relate to consciousness, read this article: The Three Voices In Your Head: The Self-ego Axis
When the ego does not have instructions — In-Formation — which enables the brain to predict an outcome, alarm bells are activated in the Emotional Brain. The stress response is activated, and you feel anxious.
This is why new beginnings can feel uncomfortable. You are being asked to move into territory for which the ego has no existing programme.
However, if you feel excitement when the idea, aspiration or desire initially pops into your head, you are experiencing the Self.
And the Self knows what you are supposed to do with your life.
Therefore, when you feel excited by a prospect or purpose in your life, go for it.
Trust Your Inner Guide
The Fool’s apparent lack of concern is not necessarily foolish. It can represent a willingness to trust something deeper than the rational mind.
The black staff symbolises the unknown of the Superconscious Mind, while the white rose represents the Self.
Another way to look at the Self is purity, innocence and a higher expression of passion.
The baggage carried by The Fool in his right hand represents the ego, while the white rose is held in his left hand, is again, associated with the Self.
When the Self attempts to impress an ignored part of your personality on the conscious mind, it creates tension.
This tension is symbolised by warring brothers and battles between gods and demons.
Thus, the Fool card can help to explain the discomfort you’re feeling is because there is a potential for transformation.
But you have to allow it to happen. You have to trust your inner guide.
It can often be the case that fear, anxiety and doubt are the result of your conditioning. Either because of something you were told as a child and held it as a concrete belief, or due to previous mistakes that now hold you back.
There is also a strong likelihood that an underlying emotional wound is blocking your path. Therefore, you have to adopt the carefree attitude of the Fool and walk over the precipice and fall into the Abyss.
In symbolism, the Abyss is seen as a space in which consciousness withdraws into itself. It is a space that has to be entered so that life-giving energy can emerge.
That is to say, you have to expose yourself to specific experiences that help the ego to learn how to manage life.
Ordinarily, the ego dictates behaviour. When that happens, you’re too afraid to let go of ego attachments (i.e. fixed beliefs, anxiety) and trust the Self to guide you.
When the Fool card appears in a tarot reading, ask this simple but challenging question:
Are you listening to your inner wisdom, or are you allowing fear to make your decisions for you?
Fear is conditioning.
Ancient wisdom says:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
~ Matthew 7:7-8
So don’t let ego hold you back. Allow the Self to drive you forward.
Beyond the Comfort Zone
In the Libera Mente archetypes model, The Fool is closely associated with the Divine Child archetype: curious, open-minded, and a willingness to explore.
Like a child, the Divine Child is full of potential, but cannot make choices for itself.
YOU have to do that; the third voice in your head, which is stuck between the Self and the ego saying: I don’t know what to do.
The positive meaning of the Fool Trump understands that growth requires action. So step beyond your comfort zone and give yourself the opportunity to grow.
You may not know exactly where you’re going, but you recognise that remaining exactly where you are will not produce a different life.
The Fool Reversed
When the Fool makes an appearance in a reversed position, it can represent the opposite problem: you’re allowing fear, over-caution or excessive reliance to stop you from making the jump.
Maybe you’re listening to the advice of others. Perhaps they are cautionary, negative or jealous. Bad advice can prevent you from acting when the time is right.
The reversed Fool can also be a warning to not act recklessly or naively. Jumping in at the proverbial deep end is not always the best option.
Whilst this card is still telling you to go for it, in its upside-down position, like the Hangman, it’s telling you to hold off for now until you have taken some time to think things through and prepare a plan of action.
The reversed Fool is associated with the Hero archetype which aligns with Aries in astrology. Aries is also a symbol of new beginnings, and the Hero gives you the courage, the impetus and the motivation to take action.
However, when the Hero is undeveloped, there is a tendency to jump into situations before you are ready.
And then you make mistakes which become the self-fulfilling prophecy your self-doubt whispered in your ear.
In the Fool’s knapsack, P. D. Ouspensky observed, are the three magical symbols of the tarot — the cup, sword and pentacle. In his right hand is the fourth, the wand.
The Fool has to understand the powers that these tarot trumps hold — and the answers can be found in the alchemical meaning of the four elements.
Are You Ready To Step Beyond The Comfort Zone?
The Fool Trump in tarot reminds you that life is a continuous process of experience. But to overcome the conditioning of fear, anxiety and doubt, you have to confront new experiences.
When you confront new experiences, you have the potential to integrate archetypal qualities that enrich your life.
Personal evolution begins when you are willing to explore beyond what is familiar, question what you think you know, and act on the wisdom emerging from within.
You do not need to know exactly where the path leads.
You simply need the courage to take the next step.
If you’re ready to take the next step but not sure what the next step looks like, contact Rich by completing the form below and requesting a tarot reading.
Tarot cards open the gateway to a new way of being.