The Fool represents your soul. His journey through the Major Arcana is your journey through life. This Fool’s Journey is also known as the Hero’s Journey. The other Major Arcana cards represent all the major life lessons the fool has to navigate and master.
The Fool card has the number zero to signify that the soul arrives on Earth (a hologram) from the zero-point of Source energy. We come here to experience and learn. We also come here to remember that we are the light we seek and to awaken from the illusion. Before we get to know the Fool up close and personal, let’s take a look at some of the common Tarot card meanings.
Positive Tarot Card Meanings for The Fool
- New Beginnings: The Fool represents the start of a new journey or chapter in your life. It signifies fresh opportunities, unexplored paths, and the excitement of venturing into the unknown.
- Fearlessness and Courage: The Fool inspires you to embrace your fears and take bold leaps of faith. It encourages you to trust in yourself and the universe, knowing that you have the power to overcome obstacles and navigate through challenges.
- Adventure and Spontaneity: The Fool embodies a spirit of adventure and spontaneity. It urges you to embrace the present moment, release expectations, and immerse yourself fully in the joy and wonder of life’s experiences.
- Innocence and Joy: The Fool reminds you to reconnect with your childlike innocence and embrace a sense of wonder. It encourages you to approach life with a light-hearted and joyful attitude, finding delight in the simple pleasures and embracing the magic that surrounds you.
Negative Tarot Card Meanings for The Fool
- Recklessness and Foolishness: In its negative aspect, The Fool can represent recklessness or impulsive behaviour. It advises caution and reminds you to consider the consequences of your actions before leaping into the unknown.
- Lack of Direction or Purpose: The Fool can symbolise a lack of direction or confusion in your life. It signifies a need to ground yourself and find clarity before proceeding further on your journey.
- Immaturity and Naivety: When reversed, The Fool can indicate a tendency to act immaturely or naively. It serves as a reminder to approach situations with wisdom and discernment and to not be easily swayed or deceived by others.
Remember, the interpretation of tarot cards can vary depending on the context of the reading and the surrounding cards. Trust your intuition and use these meanings as a guide to further explore the messages of The Fool in your specific situation.
Getting to Know The Fool
The immediate gift of The Fool is an infusion of Source energy. He playfully reminds us that we are eternal spirits having a human experience. He grants us emotional freedom and innocence because he knows that the soul can never be destroyed, nor can Source be harmed by our experiences. Physically, he gives us buoyancy and the ability to leap, as well as quick reaction times and clear eyesight. His spiritual gifts are purity, presence, innocence and trust.
A Fool dream
Last night, invoking The Fool before falling asleep, I had a dream in which I leapt up in the air, time and time again. Not only did I leap but at the height of each leap there was a Nureyevesque moment of suspension (ballon for those of you who know ballet speak) and it felt absolutely fantastic… exhilarating. That was all. No words, no other profound symbols or events.
This dream taught me that the soul chooses to return to earth over and over again simply to experience the many exhilarating facets of life.
Pure Fool energy is accessed constantly by children but by adults only in states of flow, i.e. when we are so absorbed in what we are experiencing that time ceases to exist.
The Fool’s Journey is a journey of love
The Fool is a soul on a journey of empowerment and this journey will continue for many lifetimes until she learns that true empowerment comes from love and love alone.
When she knows herself as love, life begins and–quite ironically–just as soon as this happens, she is no longer required to return for more experiences. But sometimes she chooses to anyway. And then she returns, not as a Fool but as a Master.
The Master’s main task is to empower others to know themselves as love too. This is what brings freedom from suffering.
Not the observer
The Fool does not observe himself. He is not mindful because his mind is empty. He just is and becomes within the no-mind. This is why we associate his energy with freedom. Mindfulness is the spiritual state of being achieved in The World archetypal space when we transcend those ideas and concepts that have not yet formed in The Fool but that are present in this third-dimensional reality.
Blocked Fool energy results in immature and irresponsible behaviour, recklessness, risk adversity, madness, lack of trust, stuckness and poor timing (leaping too soon or too late). Physically, we experience lethargy, blurred vision, heavy legs and slow reaction times.
Ungrounded Fool energy leads to anxiety, insomnia and madness.
Correspondences
Angelic Correspondence: Archangel Uriel
Element: Air
Planet: Uranus
Chakra: Crown/Soul Chakra
Colour: White light
Crystal: Clear Quartz, Amber, Smoky Quartz
Body: Calves, ankles, eyesight and nervous system
Exercise: Yogic breath and eye exercises, leaping, skipping, jumping, dance improvisation
Stance: Arms forming a V, head tilted back to embrace the sky as a sign of trust in divine providence on the journey
Associated Major Arcana Cards: The Emperor and XIII Death in spreads where The Fool is counted as card number 22
Associated Minor Arcana Cards: All/none. For the Healing Key Spread, there is no need to pull an additional advice card if this card shows up in the ‘action/focus’ position.
The Fool Through The Elements
Being aware of your own Elemental balance is key to working with the archetypal energies of the Tarot.
This is a system for calculating the elemental balance that I learned from Astrologer Helen Tremeer during a workshop in Richmond earlier this year.
Go to Astro.com for your free birth chart and locate the planets.
3 points each for the Sun, the Moon, the Ascendant and the MC
2 points each for Mercury, Venus and Mars
1 point each for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Chiron, Neptune, Pluto and the North Node
There is plenty of space to enter the sign along with the points.
You may also want to colour code the signs according to modality, for instance, pink for Cardinal (Capricorn, Aries, Cancer and Libra), brown for fixed (Aquarius, Taurus, Leo and Scorpio) and blue for mutable signs (Pisces, Gemini, Virgo and Sagittarius).
Elemental Points Table
| Planets | Fire | Water | Air | Earth |
| Sun 3 p | ||||
| Moon 3 p | ||||
| Ascendant 3 p | ||||
| Medium Coeli 3 p | ||||
| Mercury 2 p | ||||
| Venus 2 p | ||||
| Mars 2 p | ||||
| Jupiter 1 p | ||||
| Saturn 1 p | ||||
| Neptune 1 p | ||||
| Uranus 1 p | ||||
| Pluto 1 p | ||||
| Chiron 1 p | ||||
| North Node 1 p | ||||
| SUM |
Corresponding to Air (but actually containing all Elements), The Fool archetype energies flow more freely through Air and Fire where the emphasis is on endless creative possibilities, brilliant ideas and the ability to ‘just do it.’
A Water-logged Fool might struggle with a lack of trust due to past experiences or caring too much about how others feel about him.
An Earth-bound Fool might be stuck in the mud, fearing chaos and lack of structure if he leaps into the unknown.
Remedies to help increase and balance the energy of the Fool in your life:
- You can make a tarot essence to increase The Fool energy, using the Fool card of your choice and a clear quartz crystal.
- Hang crystals in sunny windows to catch the light and spread rainbows in the room for creative inspiration.
- Turn on the radio and improvise a dance to a random piece of music.
- Wear white and bright colours; yellow for intellectual stimulation and innovation.
- Carry a clear quartz crystal, programmed for exhilaration and flow.
- Amber increases trust.
- Smoky quartz clears stuck energy.
Angelic Tarot Affirmation: “From the zero-point, all this was made. The same creative power dwells in me also.”
Angelic Tarot Invocation to Archangel Uriel
Dear Archangel Uriel, help me to be here, fully present in the now, to breathe freely, and to truly appreciate what a great adventure life is! So be it and so it is!
Grounding/Transmuting
The Fool energy cannot be banished. ‘Foolishness’ does not result from too much Fool energy as there is no such thing as too much of Source. However, you may need to ground your energy if you feel yourself going bonkers or are getting overwhelmed with ideas.
- Go for a walk in the fresh air and clear your head. Notice the stability of the ground.
- Sit with your back leaning against a tree for a while.
- Grow roots from your base chakra in meditation if seated and from the soles of your feet if standing up.
- Do some weeding in the garden.
- Bake bread.
- Create a Water Element Tarot essence if you find yourself ‘too detached’ (Queen of Cups) or an Earth Element Tarot essence if you struggle with being realistic (4 of Pentacles).
- Count your breath if you find it difficult to ground your energy before sleeping. As you lie in bed, slowly count to 6 on the exhale and to 4 as you breathe in.
- Earth colours can help ground excess energy. Beware of wearing too much black and navy as these colours are inhibitors for the Fool energy.
- Young mothers, having just given birth may suffer from rampant Fool energy in need of grounding due to the release of creative energy through the birthing process and the presence of the soul of the child itself. Too much may have come unstuck too quickly. Making a Queen of Pentacles tarot essence may be helpful.
Love and Relationships
When the Fool shows up in a love and relationship reading you know that it is OK to take a risk. Don’t be afraid to date someone new or try something new on a first date. The correspondence with the Air Element and the Planet Uranus could also indicate that Online Dating is the way forward for meeting someone new.
However, if The Fool shows up reversed or ill-dignified it might be a good idea to really consider the consequences before you take that leap.
If The Fool symbolises your love interest in a relationship reading, it’s a sign that this person is a free spirit. In other words, they may not be looking for commitment at this point and could even come across as immature.
The Fool is not someone who strings people along but rather someone who attracts people with their innocent spirit and ability to be present in the now, much like a child.
As advice for activities to try out as a couple, this card is a reminder to do silly, playful stuff together and to not take yourselves too seriously.
Sexually, The Fool advises you to free your mind from any inhibitions. Go with the flow and don’t be afraid to experiment. Be completely in the moment.
Take me to the Angelic Tarot Card Meanings Index
