10 Thinking New Year? Think Fool!
WHAT DOES THE NEW YEAR MEAN FOR YOU? DO YOU HAVE SPECIFIC GOALS AND OBJECTIVES? THE ARCHETYPAL QUALITIES OF THE FOOL CAN PROVE TO BE VERY HELPFUL IN APPROACHING 2012 IN A POSITIVE AND PRODUCTIVE MANNER.
BY JENI BETHELL “ I
f you’re in need of inspiration or a fresh, positive approach to the year ahead, there is a card in the Tarot deck, ‘The Fool’, whose energy offers pure,
impulsive vigour to help make this year one free of procrastination and self doubt. It is all about having an adventurous spirit and being open to possibilities – rather like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, as she set out to ‘follow the yellow brick road’ in search of the Emerald City.
THE POWER OF ONE Tarot cards have been around for the last 500 years. Originating in Northern Italy, they were first used in a card game called Tarocchi, which is something like Five Hundred. They later became a powerful instrument for divining the future, and are still used in that way to good effect in the hands of a good reader. With or without the predictive aspect, tarot cards are seen by many today as offering us great wisdom of a psychological, if not spiritual nature. This is particularly true of the 22
trump cards, known as the Major Arcana – arcana being Latin for ‘secrets’. The Major Arcana cards are powerful tools which can be used individually in a contemplative or meditative manner to guide us through life’s many tests, trials and adventures. They can help us to better understand ourselves and our motives, thereby becoming more complete and whole individuals. These 22 trump cards represent the many archetypal, or universally familiar, characters and experiences which we all encounter at one time or another on our journeys through life – characters like, for instance, the wise old man (‘The Hermit’ card), or the hero (‘The Chariot’ card); and experiences such as transformation (‘Death’ card), or birth/ rebirth (‘The Sun’ card). In working with these cards, their wisdom and guidance becomes accessible to us. Twenty-one of these cards are numbered
sequentially. The Fool card has no number. He is the zero card. Mathematically speaking, zero represents the absence of quantity, quality and mass and is therefore unlimited. And so, potentially, is The Fool
– unlimited, unencumbered, uninhibited. He represents the innocent setting forth on a new journey, any new journey. So it is The Fool’s energy we should draw upon when about to venture forth into something new – like a new year!
HOW CAN A FOOL BE SO WISE? In the many, many tarot decks now available, The Fool is very often depicted as having the naiveté of the eternal child, and it is indeed out of the mouths of babes that pearls of wisdom frequently flow. Other decks represent him as a court jester, whose jovial antics camouflage great astuteness. In older decks he is portrayed as a vagabond. What is common to all of these depictions is that he is a little unworldly. On the surface this may appear to be a disadvantage; but in reality it ensures he is not constrained by the limiting ways of thinking and being of the rest of us. As William Blake observed, “If a man would persist in his folly, he would become wise”.
TAROT SYMBOLOGY Tarot cards contain a wealth of symbols that guide us to the various meanings of each card. The Fool character, for instance, often carries a white rose in his left hand, hinting at his childlike innocence and inherent purity. Always seen to be on a journey of some sort, he often wears a red feather in his hat, suggesting he has the courage of an individualistic thinker. He carries but a very small travel bag over his shoulder, which infers he is not bogged down by losses, mistakes and regrets from the past. The Fool is often shown walking on a
cliff with the world below him. He appears to be heading towards the cliff’s edge. Yet his gaze is skyward. He seems more intent pondering his ideas or communing with the higher realms than noticing any possible danger ahead. He teeters on the cliff’s edge. Will he leap into the void and be universally guided on some amazing new venture or adventure, or will it be a disastrous free fall to nowhere? Well, he is invariably accompanied by a little dog who is barking furiously. This pup
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