The Journey of The Fool
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
As the appearance of The Fool card in a Tarot reading usually refers to the querent themself, it is useful to learn about the Journey of the Fool as both a way of better understanding the Tarot and a way of improving your readings.
Because, broadly speaking, The Fool’s story represents the story of everybody’s life, understanding that his path mirrors the path of every seeker makes understanding the Tarot easier on a personal level.
As with most myths and legends, our story begins with the birth of a hero or heroine, usually with a mixture of divine and mortal heritage. In our story the hero is The Fool.
As we follow the Fool’s life, we see the people and situations he encounters along the way and these are reflected in the other cards of the Tarot, especially the Major Arcana.
We are witness to his childhood and education in his interaction with The Magician and his interaction with his mortal parents is expressed in the cards The Empress and The Emperor.
As his path continues he encounters both his divine mother and father, The High Priestess and The Hierophant. His loves and the choices they can force upon us find perfect expression in The Lovers card and his conflicts, both external and - more importantly - internal are displayed in the card The Chariot.
The trials of adulthood when he is more fully in the world, and therefore most involved with it are shown to the seeker through the secrets revealed by the cards Justice, Temperance, Strength and The Hermit.
Around midway through his life, The Fool suffers some great crisis or misfortune. The Wheel of Fortune has turned and where he once was up, now he is down. This evokes in him a need to radically change his life, a state which finds expression with the cards The Hanged Man and Death.
After Death, The Fool journeys for a time in the Underworld while he seeks to discover what is responsible for the current crisis.
After struggling against the darkness, The Fool encounters the celestial bodies The Star, The Moon and The Sun, all of whom offer varying degrees of illumination.
This victory over darkness and his return to the light signify his rebirth (Judgement) and his ultimate triumph, which finds it’s place in the final card of the the Major Trumps, The World.
The Tarot contains archetypal images which can be found in myths and legends from many differing cultures. By learning the meaning of the cards and their corresponding myths, it is possible to gain insight into the energies and influences which are interplaying with the story of your own personal hero, yourself.
In future articles I shall relate how the characters and events portrayed in the Major Arcana affect The Fool on his journey.
Share This
