What is your opinion about the Fool of the Tarot?

[Why Syzygy]

http://www.amazon.com/Tarot-Your-Self-Workbook-Transformation/dp/1564145883/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303234126&sr=1-1

I'm using the workbook linked above. Based on Greer's formula, my "Personality" card is the 0 Fool.

I think a lot of people like the Tarot Fool. I'm not one of them. I am currently doing some work on why I resist it so strongly.
If some of y'all can tell me what you think of the Fool, that might help me come to terms.

thanks in advance

[Howler]

1. I think the The fool is

Innocence He has just begun his journey towards enlightenment.
He is yet unaware of any pit falls and untainted by any corruption .

[Why Syzygy]

8. Innocence ...

It used to drive me crazy when I was younger and co-workers and whatnot would comment on how "sweet" I was. That was a curse! No! I am not SWEET! lol dunno

But now. I have a friend who told me I am the sweetest person he knows. And it's okay. Because, he also knows about my weaknesses.

Thank you for your reply, Howler :)

[Howler]

12. Sweet and innocent

Is a GOOD thing Syzygy.:hug:
It means your open and receptive.

[BlueIris]

2. I think the Fool is about new beginnings.

Sometimes I get frustrated when I see it in a reading because it makes me go, "Ack! Starting over?" and brings up my anxieties about any new endeavors. But overall I think it is a hopeful card of newness, openness and possibility.

[Why Syzygy]

7. Me too...

ditto. Funny, when doing a reading for someone else, I tend to portray it in a good light. Think of it as a positive card. For someone else. Not for me. But working on it!

[MorningGlow]

3. When I see the Fool card

I think of "following the Fool's path"--seeming to do something foolish according to the status quo, but in actuality forging your own path, which is the way to divinity. Sounds like you're a true original and spiritually oriented, WS! :hi:

[Why Syzygy]

5. awww

Sweet of you to say that. I do eschew the status quo. Thanks, MG :D

eta
I love that word, "original".

[davsand]

4. The entire major tells the tale of The Fool's journey.

We ALL are the Fool in one form or another. The Fool is everyman in all our glory and silliness. From the self imposed stagnation of the Hanged Man to the beauty of the World, we all carry the potential for those different aspects and we express that in different ways every day.

Is it possible that your negative response is more a reaction to the title rather than the actual figure? Is it possible that you are wary of all the possibilities that you carry? I have to admit that it scares me to think I might face a life in The Tower one day, or that I am capable of embracing some of the darker aspects of my soul--but it is there in ALL of us, and our free will is what allows us to bypass some of the less attractive aspects of ourselves.

To me, the Fool is rather like a malleable clay on a potter's wheel. We ARE that clay, and we shape ourselves with our life choices.

Best of luck in your seeking.



Laura

[Why Syzygy]

6. Thank you, Laura

I always love your take on Tarot. I can feel the 'life' of it when you describe cards and readings.

The title isn't very flattering. But what I really object to is the way she/he is about to walk over a cliff! WHAAA? Now that I've typed that, maybe not so far afield of stuff I've pulled. Cliff? No problem! Bottom of the cliff? oops . or something. I guess things work out sometimes.

I am studying the journey. I cannot get enough of it.

and, btw - I had the Tower. I saw it in my readings for weeks and knew exactly where the strike would be. Still didn't stop it. Learned a great deal, however.

I appreciate everyone sharing their perspectives. I love the insights...

[bigmonkey]

9. I know the traditional title is the Fool, so this may be wrong...

But, isn't the Fool identical with the Harlequin, the sacred Fool who's the only one who can tell the King the truth with impunity? In that way, the new beginnings can also be seen as taking the situation as it is, and beginning to see it anew. Maybe the Fool also sees again the context for the unconscious next step he/she was going to take.

[Why Syzygy]

10. Interesting ..

Another piece. This may be true. Can you elaborate on the last sentence? Not sure what that means? Thank you!

[bigmonkey]

13. I'm mostly familiar with an unusual deck, the Merlin Tarot.

That Fool image is a little elaborated from the Rider deck. The image I was working off of in my mind when I wrote my previous reply was a mixture of the Merlin and the Ryder deck. In that mixture, the Fool has climbed up in the hills to the cliff edge, and is not paying much attention right now to where he/she is going. The impression is that the next step will be off the cliff edge. It's not certain, but it seems likely. Yet, the place that the Fool is standing is a point that gives a very wide view, of the heavens, of the mountains, of omens, and of the civilized world below. In that moment before the step, the whole world, everything, is present. It's like all of that is supporting, is the context, for the Fool's consciousness at that point in time, yet the Fool is not paying attention to where he/she is going (i.e. is not paying attention to that context), and may step off into space next. We don't actually know what will happen.

We may try to be here now, but the Fool is there then, "between" everything.

That's what the image conjures up for me. The Merlin deck gives a little more of an impression that the next step isn't inevitable, that there's a moment of reflection that could be taken.

Here's three paragraphs on the Fool from R.J.Stewart's book that accompanied the Merlin Tarot (English spelling):

"The Fool is traditionally regarded as the most important yet least significant of all Tarot images. In some systems of Tarot, he is not given a number, being outside the regular order of Trumps. The Fool partakes of all Images in the entire tarot pack, but particularly the Trumps; thus, there are twenty-two ways of defining the Fool. These definitions are given form by the Trump Images, so when we consider the Trump of the Fool in its own right, we consider an overview of tarot as well as one specific Image.

"When a cosmic pattern of tarot is defined, we are looking at a map which acts as a working definition of the universe on one level of meaning, or of interactions between the inner and outer worlds upon another; both levels are represented by landscapes filled with images or symbols; both levels are reflections of one another. This is such an important, central and obvious role of tarot that it is easy to overlook or take for granted. The Fool is an individual who travels through that landscape, both on a universal and human level...

"Thus, the Fool is an originative divinity or pure being, and expressed humanity; he is a transpersonal androgynous entity; he/she is the root of consciousness becoming self-aware. Such self-awareness may be in the human sphere where the mind begins a long, slow process of reflection, assimilation, and self-examination; it may also be in the supernal or stellar sphere, where the unknown source of existence breathes forth or utters stars as a reflection of itself. These ultimate extremes, and all reflections between them, are The Fool; though in the connecting Images the role becomes very firmly attuned, polarised and specific. This specialisation, of course, gives rise to the Trumps and their sets of relationships."

[BlueIris]

14. Nice. This is another aspect of the Fool's identity I can really relate to--

the "don't give a crap what others think" part of being at the beginning. The Fool isn't encumbered with all the baggage the rest of the Majors have acquired with all their pesky experience. Experience has its price after all--sometimes it's cynicism and corruption.

[Why Syzygy]

19. I know cynicism .

I'm in recovery from it. :)

I forgot .. my current study of Tarot is an effort to learn more about the astrological connections. So, Uranus is The Fool's planet. Unpredictable. I'm using the Hanson-Roberts deck. http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/hanson-roberts/ In looking at it again, she/he does give the distinct impression that she/he is fully equipped to start over. Everything in the bag. And there's another reason I wouldn't like the reference, although true .. always leaving. never arriving .. I think that may even be my obsession with the Journey (of the hero/fool). I'm hoping I can finally arrive?

eta: typing this as I am preparing for another move.

[japple]

11. Go ask Stella. eom

[Matariki]

15. The Fool is the principle actor of the major arcana.

The innocence that people mention isn't the innocence of naivety, but a spiritual state when a person is in a sort of state of grace that allows them to simply *trust*.

I was going to say The Fool is a zen master, but that's not quite right because I think that implies having worked to get to that state - but the flavor of zen master might be right. The story of Percival is a good clue to the nature of The Fool.

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. For me the Tarot depend upon context and proportion.

I sometimes draw a card about the coming day; one time I got a card of superfluity. At a meeting later that day, there were two cakes instead of one. snicker...

A card like the Tower or Death or The Devil can be literal or have metaphoric meaning, and can be a hint depending upon the =current situation= of the querent. All depending upon proportion. Once I gave a three-card reading to someone at a bus stop and The Devil came up as the future card. This time it was fairly serious owing to his lifestyle and then-current batch of friends. If he continued upon his course, he would have ended up getting grabbed, wrong place, wrong time, all tied up. But knowing that, and making a different decision, taking a different direction, could change all of that. Some very good information came about going a better direction and I believe that he took some of it and hopefully continued.

The Fool? It can mean innocence, denial, flightiness, grace, disaster...to proportion...depending upon the current situation and the querent themselves. It can be going through a danger and to be completely protected to the extent of not even knowing of any danger, to getting -into- danger due to a lack of consideration regarding the situation and context.

In proportion.

[Fire Walk With Me]

18. "Personality card"?

I tend to go to psychics who can read incarnational blueprints. :shrug:

[Why Syzygy]

17. I haven't read the new posts yet ...

I read reviews at Amazon. A few reviewers scorned these types of exercises; Personality and Soul cards, etc. Those are just the beginning.
I happen to enjoy numerology; so they are fine for me. Those reviewers were a very small minority.

If y'all want to do this, instructions follow. We're dealing with the Major Arcana only.
*I don't necessarily agree with all her (Mary Greer) interpretations.

Personality card (what you have come into this particular lifetime to learn):
Add together day, month and year of your birth. Add resulting digits to 22 or less. (22 is The Fool)

Soul card (soul purpose through all lifetimes):
Add the two digits from personality to each other to result in numbers between 1 and 9.

There are many more formulas that follow. I've done the counts; but not yet examined the results.

One more ...

The Hidden Factor card. For people over 30, this number functions more obviously as a "Teacher" card. It represents Saturn/Shadow:
Unfortunately, this is a chart which I can't reproduce here. If anyone does their Personality and Soul, and wants to know the Hidden Factor, let me know and I'll look it up for you.

Here is an interesting book review from Aeclectic. This reviewer doesn't think that 22 should be used for The Fool. And the plot thickens. As always :P

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/books/tarot-constellations/