Learn the Tarot series part 1: The Fool

The Tarot cards are very old. Some say between 1430 and 1450 in Italy in the courts of Milan, Ferrara and Bologna when additional trump cards with allegorical illustrations were added to the common four-suit pack. You dont need to know the history of the Tarot to learn and work with the cards.

The attributes that ARE needed are: Imagination, an open mind, a good memory at first{to learn the basic meanings},a belief in your intuition,and a willingness to help others. This applies to all oracle decks too. I am going to use the Universal Rider Waite deck as a template because it is a good starter deck with a rich heritage of symbolic meaning to the symbolism. Once you learn the meanings of the symbology of this deck, you can find and work with other decks of your liking. I was gifted my first tarot deck. It was the Rider Waite deck. I have been learning the tarot since I was 18 years old. It is a lifelong process, I think. I always find new meanings are making themselves known.

You can use the trump cards as meditation devices to learn the universal archetypes, to look at various paths to take in your life, so that you can change things that may not be to your liking, to answer questions and gather information that may locked away in the subconscious.

I am going to start with the Trump cards meanings one by one.

The Fool: The Jester,The Divine Madman, zero

Keywords: Freedom, faith, inexperience,innocence, purity, trust in the Universe, no worry, no fear, mania, naive, unmanifest, unlimited potential, the essence, the soul, the beginning, raw material, risk taking, eternal youth, unlimited possibilities, thoughtlessness, folly, wanderlust, creative potential, a place of no time or space, not bound by time or space, the unknown.

Range of Meaning:

Light~~ Freeing yourself from limitation, expressing youthful joy and vigor, being open minded, taking a leap of faith, attuning yourself to your instincts,exploring your potential, embracing change, the self’s complete surrender to the Divine Source.

Shadow: Being gullible and naive, not listening to your soul,intuition,instincts, being silly or distracted,behaving inappropriately, acting manic and fanatical, not honoring wisdom.

The Symbolism on the card:

The symbolism of the Fool is best explained by first considering the meaning of the Hebrew letter Aleph attributed this Key. Aleph means Ox. Oxen symbolize the motive power in agriculture, because they were used to pull plows, etc. Agriculture is the basic form of civilization. Thus the letter Aleph symbolizes Cultural Power, Creative Energy, Life-Power, the vital principle of plants, animals, and Men which comes to us in physical form as the energy of the Sun. This principle is also called Life-Breath. It is the Greek Pneuma, the Sanskrit Prana, the Hebrew Ruach, the Latin Spiritus. Literally these words mean “breath.” Secondarily, they refer to the Spirit, or allpervading Life-energy.

This meaning is substantiated by the title, for Fool is derived from the Latin follismeaning a “bag of wind.” Thus the Fool symbolizes that which contains air, or Breath. The number 0 carries this idea a step farther. It is a symbol of the limitless, unconditioned Life-Power. The 0 is shaped like an egg, hence it symbolizes that which contains all of the potencies of growth and development. Occultists will understand that we refer to the Cosmic Egg, and to the Ring-Pass-Not.

In the picture the Sun refers to the ONE FORCE. It is white to indicate that it is the Universal Radiant Energy which is concentrated by and radiated from all of the suns in the universe.

The mountains represent the abstract mathematical conceptions which are behind all knowledge of Nature. As such, they are cold and uninteresting to many. But the melting of the snow upon the peaks feeds the streams that make fertile the valleys below. So will the principles of Ageless Wisdom feed your consciousness and make fertile your mental imagery, thus transforming your life.

The Fool is Eternal Youth. He shows that the ONE FORCE never ages, is always at the height of its power. His attitude expresses confidence and joyful aspiration.

The wreath around the Fool’s head symbolizes the vegetable kingdom; also Victory. The wand is Will, the wallet Memory. The white rose represents purified desire. The Fool’s garments consist of a white undergarment and a black outer one which is lined with red. White is purity, truth and wisdom. It is covered with the black of ignorance and delusion, which is lined with passion, action and desire. It is held with a girdle having twelve ornaments, seven of which are showing. This girdle represents time, and astrologers will find the contemplation of this symbology of much interest. The wheels which ornament the outer garment are eight-spoked. They symbolize the whirling motion by which the ONE FORCE manifests itself. The little dog symbolizes the intellect, the merely reasoning mind. He is a faithful companion, but must have a master.