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| The Fool, the unnumbered card of the Tarot deck's Major Arcanum - AI generated - by TyliJura. Related images can be found here. |
"the hero receives a call to adventure
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they refuse the call
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they meet an inspiring mentor
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they decide to “cross the threshold” and accept the call
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they leave their home and face obstacles, enemies, and allies
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they fail to achieve the goal
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they try again and succeed
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they come home with a reward"
- A list of the chronological order of events present in an archetypal heroic tale compiled by Joseph Campbell for his 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces found in this Substack article.
"The Fool is not foolish — he is brave. He reminds us to begin again with openness, to trust the journey even when we can’t see the destination, and to listen to our instincts and higher self. He is the hero before the story begins, the spark of curiosity and freedom that initiates transformation.
Whether you’re starting a new venture, moving through change, or seeking deeper wisdom, The Fool invites you to embrace the unknown with a light heart and a willing soul."
- Interpretation of The Fool of the Tarot found here.
"In Europe, the divinatory meanings of the Fool tend to be darker than in the Anglo-American world. These meanings include illusion, confusion, passive drifting, irresponsibility, and impulsive actions leading to chaos. At best, the card symbolizes radical freedom and a detachment from societal restrictions, allowing for a kind of creative genius."
- Another reading of The Fool card (Le Mat), alluding to its negative, or inverted meaning in divination.
"And perhaps most fittingly for our reading of Tarot cards, William Blake says 'If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.'
When dealt this card, we are given a call to adventure, the beginning of a grand new journey, or we are being shown our own silliness, the missteps that we have taken. In truth, these are the same thing, a chance to start again."
- Excerpt from an article featuring Fool archetypes from the classical tarot decks.
For, yet, another (tarot) Fool offering on this blog, see this post.
Interestingly, the Fool is also interpreted as a "madman." Arthur E. Waite, on the other hand, refers the Fool as an alchemist, although in a derogatory way:
"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." (See Sacred Texts.)
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It will be the 12th day of Christmas when this post goes up, and the 5th day of the official New Year. Weirdly enough, at least in my experience, that official juncture - or portal - between 2025 and 2026 which we have so recently experienced has held true. For me, it's as if I walked into a different dimension of reality - and/or human experience - I had never (exactly) visited before; overwhelmingly similar to my general perspective but turned up a notch... like an increment on a dial. Then again, space-time might be (metaphorically) represented by a dial... but, possibly, in ways the Vitruvian dialers (Chapter 8)* could not have foreseen...
(More below the jump...)
