Our lives are full of potential and opportunity and each of us chooses how to express ourselves through the life choices we make. Whether determined and focused, or fancy-free and going with the flow, there are times in our lives when we feel urged to do something different. To make a change, or act on an impulse. Yet our rational mind says ‘Wait, should I? What will others think? What if I fail?’ These thoughts can stop us in our tracks. Uncertainty about the future and a comfort in the present can lead us to not make a change, to not get uncomfortable.
What if that urge for change keeps nagging, pushing and tugging at us to move toward that something different. What if that tug is our intuition calling, urging us to do and be more. Here we find ourselves as The Fool, at a crossroads for change, contemplating a leap of faith off of a precipice; from the known into the unknown.
When The Fool card shows up in a Tarot spread for a Querent I think ‘Oh goody, where are you going?’ This card offers the opportunity to look into those urges and impulses that a person is feeling or sensing about change. There are many possibilities having to do with taking that new job, moving to a new location, or committing to a relationship. Important aspects of our physical lives, indeed.
The Fool in Tarot represents every human’s journey forward and the free will to choose between good and evil, right and wrong, happy and sullen. The Fool represents the dreamer, the mystic and our childlike, spontaneous nature. It can be called our Inner Child, where we find our trust, innocence, and lightheartedness. The Fool reminds us that without curiosity and a sense of adventure we may miss out on life’s magic and our own potentiality. It also reminds us that without calculated risk-taking we can put ourselves in danger, or perhaps, miss important opportunities. Wisdom can be gained when we realize how much we don’t know. This is the paradoxical nature of wisdom and foolishness and what, to me, encompasses the meaning of The Fool.
In the picture on the card we have a youth about to step off the edge of a precipice. The Fool faces northwest-the direction of the unknown. The sun behind them is still rising, for the spiritual sun never reaches its zenith; always ascending and never decreasing its power. The wand over the youth’s shoulder is a symbol of their free will and tied to it is a satchel that is thought to carry Universal memory and instinct. The satchel also carries the four magical symbols The Fool will use as they journey through life; the four suits of the Tarot (Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles). Four elements, four seasons, four points of the compass also represent ‘tools’ to be used while navigating the physical experience.
The sign of the eagle on the satchel betokens strength and transformation. The white rose the youth carries is a symbol of innocence, again referring to our innocence and our Inner Child. The little white dog at the youth’s heels has multiple possible meanings. One is the dog has been evolved from the wolf, implying that human will can impact and shape wild ‘things’ including our own inner wild-self. As the youth looks up to the heavens, seemingly without a care for what comes next, the dog reminds them that while in the physical realm it is wise to stay tethered to the earth.
When The Fool shows up and is not related to a physical decision or change, it is inviting us to go within. To investigate our urges and impulses by exploring our inner landscape. Checking in with ourselves not only with our rational mind, but with an open heart and our own inner knowing. If we could turn off the mind and stop listening to the ‘what ifs’ that come from fear of change, what messages would we hear from our hearts, from our inner knowing? May we be self-aware while in this space for this is where our intuition lies.
I am reminded of a quote a wise man said in the not so distant past:
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
Albert Einstein
When we open ourselves to realizing and embracing our sacred gift, life begins to unfold in synchronistic and magical ways. May your journey within be filled with light and liberation.
