F is for Fool

If you've ever looked at a deck of tarot cards, you'll notice they usually number the major arcana cards with a Roman numeral. There is one card, however, that's listed as "0", and that card is the Fool.

He's not before or after any other card. He's the 0 for a reason: He can come up anywhere in the tarot.

In many tarot decks, you'll see the Fool walking off a cliff, usually with a dog in tow. How does he know that he's going to be fine? Well, he doesn't. He takes it on faith that no matter what comes his way, he can handle it. And when the Fool comes up in a reading, many times the response is "have faith."

The Fool can also represent new beginnings of all kinds. I'm sure you remember when you were the "new kid"; it can be a nervous and somewhat intimidating feeling. And it happens to us as adults all the time when we join a new group, get a new job, or deal with new or unusual situations. 

Ignorance is often an attribute that comes up with the Fool. But for me there's a huge difference between "ignorance" and "stupidity". The Fool is naive and new to many things, and he just needs to learn them. We're not questioning his intellectual capacity to do so.

By the way, ladies, I keep using "he" in this post mainly because the Rider-Waite-Smith cards have a male Fool. That doesn't mean you can't embody the Fool yourselves. :)

Overall, I like to see the Fool come up, but there are a few situations to be aware of when you see him that may give you pause:

• He can indicate an abrupt, totally unexpected change out of the blue;
• He can tell you that other people think that you are totally out of your mind; and
• He may indicate that you or someone in your reading is engaging in "risky" (read: foolish) behavior. 

You won't be surprised to hear that the fool can also represent a person. I've seen it come up more than once for people's bosses at work. Just sayin'. :)

The Fool's ignorance is endearing, and he reminds us that we've all been "the new kid on the block". So as a more philosophical message, I like to think of the Fool as "the curse of knowledge". If you haven't heard of this, it's the concept that once we know something--anything--we forget what it was like NOT to know it. 

Astrologically, the Fool represents the planet Uranus, which includes Aquarius folks. So if he shows up...think about any Aquarius people--or anyone totally quirky and truly unique--that you may know. 

Thanks for tuning in! Please come back on Monday for my "G" post about the wonderful sign of Gemini and my Gemini sister Amy Lyre Turner. :)