DAILY TAROT: THE FOOL.
Pure Possibility. Infinite Potential.
0. THE FOOL.
This card represents Pure Possibility & Infinite Potential. The necessity of ignorance.
The number is 0, the 1st Card in the Major Arcana. In one sense, the Major Arcana depicts the arc of the Fool’s Journey.
HOW TO CONSIDER THE TAROT
For an introduction to this series and an outline of how to appreciate Tarot, in a very different paradigm to what one may be used to, the reader is encouraged to familiarise themself with the following post: How to Appreciate Tarot—a Hermetic guide to Semiotics & Allegory
INTRODUCTION TO THE FOOL
THE FOOL is the true beginning.
The Hero’s Journey is itself an adolescent project—a naive fantasy that the juvenile psyche enshrines as the pathway of initiation and attainment of accomplishment, renown and purpose or meaning.
It is a story born of youthful aspiration, where courage is untested, wisdom is unearned, and the road ahead is imagined as a line path towards triumph.
The irony is that THE FOOL will step forward over the precipice and fall out of the fantasy and into the unglamourous crucible of reality, but that equally it is precisely the adolescent naivety and the ignorance which empowers THE FOOL to take that first necessary and very difficult leap into the unknown. THE FOOL is the stowaway to its own uncertain future, that arrives without a ticket and a passport, no map and a compass it cannot yet trust. Only through trial and disillusionment can it every become clear that this is not a journey of certainty or linear progression but one of discovery, trial, and transformation, where the path unfolds only as it is walked.
THE FOOL represents the seed of potential, carried by innocence, curiosity, and the audacity to begin, even in the face of the unknown.
What wonders could possibly await along the road if the journey matched the ambition we set off?
NUMEROLOGY & NUMBERS
Numerology is the study of numbers. If mathematics is the language and the grammar, geometry is the syntax and poetry, and numbers are the base letters.
NUMEROLOGY
Numerology comes from two Latin words, numerus meaning number or count and -logia derived from logos, meaning “word, reason” or “the study of”.
Numerology literally translates to “the study of numbers,” but in its esoteric sense, it pertains to the symbolic, mystical, and archetypal meanings ascribed to numbers and their relationships.
In numerology, every number has an inherent meaning, a certain archetypal essence.
In modern mathematics Zero(0) underpins modern concepts like limits, set theory, and calculus, illustrating its centrality in describing both the infinitesimal and the infinite. Zero is both a non-negative and non-positive integer.
In numerology, zero or the number 0 is a symbol of nothingness or that which exists beyond or even prior to limitations. In this tradition it is referred to as the void, as it represents both potential and choice. The zero given its relationship to other numbers is the great enhancer, the multiplier and the gateway to infinity and eternity.
ZERO AND ONE
THE FOOL is assigned Zero(0) and is the 1st card in the Major Arcana.
One of the counter-intuitive facts of Mathematics is that you can have infinities of different sizes.
Zero (0) is the unformed Infinity.
One (1) is the Formed Infinity.
The two primary infinities have a correspondent relationship, in how in each infinity there can be an infinite series of numbers that can be paired with each other. More accurate to say there is a congruence between two infinities. The congruence implies Correspondence.
0 is the first Infinity, the first Whole. A perfect Whole being the essence and culmination of emergence.
Zero (0) is the unformed Infinity. The Hebrew letter is Aleph (א). Aleph means “the pregnant silence that came before”, “the silence of God.”
PYTHAGORAS
For Pythagoras and his school, numbers were the essence of all things, the fundamental principles underlying existence.
The Monad is the indivisible unity, the source of all numbers, and a metaphysical “beginning” outside of multiplicity.
The Pythagoreans viewed the circle as a symbol of divine perfection and wholeness. Zero represents the circle: infinite, boundless, and encompassing all potential.
NEOPLATONISTS
In this tradition the One (Hen) was the ineffable source of all being, beyond existence itself. The One is beyond numbers, transcending even the concept of zero, but zero can metaphorically represent the unmanifest aspect of The One.
The Neoplatonic cosmology describes a process of emanation where all existence flows outward from The One. Zero, as the potential before manifestation, echoes the groundless ground from which being emanates.
INDIAN MATHEMATICS
While Western philosophy wrestled with the abstract concept of nothingness, other traditions embraced zero in practical and mystical terms.
The concept of zero originated in ancient India, where it was used as a placeholder in the decimal system, a placeholder seminal to any infinity large positive or negative number.
In Indian metaphysics, shunyata (emptiness) resonates with zero as the fertile void, the womb of creation.
GEOMETRY & SEMIOTICS
Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation, the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning.
THE EGG & PARTHENOGENESIS
The egg-shape of Zero is the symbol of Parthenogenesis, the ‘Infinity’ from which all is ‘born’.
The Egg is the symbol of the emergence of Life through a source that is not within Life, namely Parthenogenesis. Parthenogenesis is the phenomenon observed by Science and Mythology (including Cosmogenesis), being the maturation of an egg without fertilisation. This is depicted as 0 giving birth to 1. Zero is an Infinity, One is an Infinity but not equal to Zero.
Mathematically, Infinities are congruent.
The Egg is the unknowable infinity that births itself.
OUROBOROS
The ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail which represents:
Eternal return— the cycle of birth, death, and renewal.
The unity of all things, which are constantly changing form in an eternal cycle of destruction and re-creation.
Cosmic harmony or the Cosmos itself.
TABULA RASA
Tabula Rasa is a Latin phrase often translated as “blank slate”, originating from the Roman tabula, a wax tablet used for scribing accounts and determinations. The wax was returned to a virgin, unformed, or “blank slate”, so that some new account could be scribed, so that some new determination may engraved onto its surface. This is not meant to intimate that people arrive totally blank in life, and therefore able to pursue any goal or destination, but that the Destiny, the relationship with possibility, remains to be written. The Slate is still finite.
EMERGENT SYNOPSIS
Together, these symbols suggest a state or moment before emergence, the latent energy of existence prior to formation, and the paradoxical relationship between the boundless and the bounded. They capture the raw, unshaped essence of life as it emerges from infinity into form, poised on the threshold of possibility.
ARCHETYPE & FORM
Several instructive archetypes are encountered in THE FOOL card, one of the most obvious and common associations is The Trickster archetype.
THE TRICKSTER
The Trickster archetype is the wild card of myth and psyche — a boundary-crosser, rule-breaker, and disruptor of fixed systems. Neither good nor evil, the Trickster serves a vital function: exposing hypocrisy, breaking stagnation, and creating space for renewal. This figure thrives in paradox, humor, and reversal — teaching through mischief, error, and surprise. The Trickster is not merely chaos for its own sake but a sacred force that unsettles what has become rigid, forcing growth, adaptation, and deeper self-awareness.
The Trickster shows up in stories always when order becomes stagnant, we the people believe everything is as it should be, when they think they are the main character. The Trickster delights in the small interventions of chance that sow chaos and confusion at such moments, when the sense of the other world is numbed, and when we forget that we are not the main character in a predictable world.
The Trickster is always playing a game outside the game.
PUER AETERNUS
The eternal youth is an archetype called Puer Aeternus. There are three expressions of Puer Aeternus. The first expression is the Novitiate, the Hero with a Thousand Faces as they are before their beginning, prior to receiving the real call to their own archetypal Hero’s Journey. At first, the young hero wanders the world, believing that their sense of exuberance and adventure is the call. Later the true call comes in the form of adversity and trial. The novitiate always has eagerness—willingness—which eclipses the reach of their readiness, carrying the ideal of the journey, but unprepared for any of its rigours and demands.
A false sense of security turns out to be the only kind there is.
Michael Meade
THE PRODIGAL SON
The lavish attire and carefree body language of the character in the card invoke the Prodigal Son archetype from the Christian mythos. This archetype represents the journey from unearned privilege and recklessness to humility, redemption, and wisdom. It symbolizes the naive squandering of potential or resources, followed by the hard lessons of loss and hardship. The Prodigal Son sets out on a journey with the optimism and entitlement of youth, untested by hardship, and untempered by the realities of the world. His folly leads him to squander his inheritance—be it material wealth, innate talents, or spiritual gifts—on transient pleasures or reckless pursuits. In doing so, he confronts the harsh consequences of his naivety and impulsivity. Stripped of his illusions and comforts, he finds himself destitute and adrift, forced to reckon with his own limitations.
Through adversity and inevitable misfortune, he gains self-awareness and transforms entitlement into gratitude and responsibility. This archetype reflects the necessity of failure and return as a path to maturity and integration.
KAIROS
The second expression is the Greek sprite Kairos, the symbol of the eternal wellspring of opportunity and possibility that is always arriving and always unfolding. Kairos is regarded as the counterpoint to Kronos. Kronos represents the linear, hardened, cutting nature of time. Kairos represents the non-linear nature of potential, possibility and surprise, which if harnessed yields enormous opportunity that meticulous repetition alone does not.
One of the symbols of Kairos, is a depiction of the youthful sprite tugging on the scales of Logos and balance—an ability that the spirit of opportunity has to influence remarkable outcomes. In the card, we see the youth is himself a depiction of the scales. The youth’s shoulder is the fulcrum, and their vague grasp of the staff is the one weight, set against the counterweight of the eagle knapsack, reminiscent of Kairos tipping the scales. Both figures are shown with the rampant feather in the cap. (See the earlier article exploring the notion of Kairos: Solstice: A Brief Soliloquay on a Brief Hanging Moment and Our Relationship with Time.)
The third expression is the prodigal son, the prince dressed up as a traveller, with none of the wits or experience of a traveller, fated to squander their fortune and destined to return home to learn the first powerful lesson.
THE HOUND
The Dog is dual in nature too. In one sense, it represents the exuberance aspect of the lower nature, which looks with giddy devotion into the face of its master, with no ability to discern good leadership from poor. In another sense, it also represents the tamed animal that does not have the edge of the wolf but does not have the wit of a human either. This indicates an aspect of The Fool, of Puer Aeternus, of naivety and immaturity, of being grown out of his heritage, but not yet into his fullness of legacy. The dog is four-legged but capers on its two hind legs trying to mimic its master.
THE PILGRIM
Another archetype implied is The Pilgrim, the wanderer that is aimless in one sense, but purposeful in another. The sacred journey of the Pilgrimage is always an uncertain or unknown destination, so there is no fixed point to define aim, but the sacred journey by definition requires a level of devotion, not just to following the way, but following it to its end.
EMERGENT SYNOPSIS
The archetypes embodied in THE FOOL reveal the essential paradox at the heart of wisdom: the journey does not begin in mastery but in naivety, not in certainty but in risk. The Novitiate’s eagerness outpaces readiness; the Prodigal Son’s squandering invites the stern hand of consequence; Kairos arrives only to those unguarded enough to move with it. But veiled beneath these is the presence of The Trickster—the great boundary-crosser, the force that unsettles what has become calcified, exposing vanity, hypocrisy, or false certainty.
The Trickster waits precisely at the threshold where we mistake the world for predictable, where we crown ourselves the protagonist in a stable narrative. It is here that the Trickster intervenes — not merely to mock or destroy, but to loosen what has grown rigid, to unmake false order so that true growth becomes possible. The Trickster plays the game outside the game.
Thus it is not only folly or youth that sends The Fool into the world — it is necessity. It is the universal law that there is no maturation without rupture, no wisdom without first the ordeal of unguarded living. The Fool does not fall by accident — they are compelled to fall, compelled to lose, to wander, to squander—so that what survives the crucible is no longer illusion, but substance.
It is the Fool’s untempered naïveté that thrusts them into the crucible of transformation, where wisdom and experience are forged. There is no other way to gain the scars and substance of maturity except by venturing, unguarded, into the unknown.
ETYMOLOGY & LANGUAGE
Vertical shallow Etymology finds the nearest root words and leaves it at that. By contrast, Deep and Wide Etymology, reaches down and laterally—to explore the full essence of meaning that is related to the word.
Fool comes from the Latin follis, meaning “bellows, leather bag”. A bellows is an empty leather bag that breathes life into the Furnace, to power the Forge.
The Fool was considered a wind-bag, a joker who earned their supper by entertaining the court, extended permission by the crown, to make a fool of other archetypes at court, by mimicking them in caricature. The fool, or jester, was someone who “played” the fool, counterfeiting mental weakness as a defence against reprisal, meaning that all their missteps were ascribed to being mentally addled, rather than intended sleight. In this way, the fool could walk where others could not and could say and do things that would normally fall outside the Law and the king’s Justice.
The Fool is titled Le Mat and Il Matto in the earlier French and Italian Tarot decks respectively. These words mean “The Madman” and “The Beggar”. These archetypes capture an aspect of The Pilgrim, mad wandering towards an unseen destination, and having to rely on the blessings and succour the world and people provide them along the way.
PRODIGAL
The word prodigal originates from the Latin term prodigus, meaning “wasteful” or “lavish.” This, in turn, derives from the verb prodigere, which combines pro- (forward, forth) and agere (to drive or act). The literal sense of prodigere is “to drive forth” or “to spend freely,” but it carries a connotation of excess or recklessness.
In English, prodigal has come to signify someone who is extravagantly wasteful, often with resources, opportunities, or responsibilities, as famously depicted in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Over time, the term has also acquired a sense of eventual return or redemption, tied to the moral and spiritual lessons of that narrative.
ADOLESCENT
The word adolescence originates from the Latin word adolescentia, meaning “the process of growing up” or “youth,” derived from the verb adolescere, which means “to grow up, to grow towards maturity.” Ad- is the Latin prefix meaning “toward” and Olescere is derived from the root olere, meaning “to nourish” or “to grow,” with a connotation of gradual development, the PIE root of which is ol-/al- carrying meanings of “to grow towards strength”, strength in this context relates to a form of resolution that can withhold integrity against the rigours of change and adversity, it implies a firmness, a integrity of selfhood and identity.
Interestingly the word adult is derived from the same root word but implying a ripeness arrived at via the necessary adolescent process.
Adolescent therefore implies a state that is as yet unresolved, as yet not concluded and still mutable.
EMERGENT SYNOPSIS
Both words evoke a tension between ignorance and potential, folly and purpose, but then also the necessity of the folly as a crucial rite of passage towards maturity and wisdom. The Fool’s sanctioned madness and the Prodigal’s wasteful abandon are veils through which the archetypal journey begins—each misstep, seemingly aimless, serving as the necessary path toward greater insight. These etymologies imply that wisdom and purpose emerge not despite folly but because of it.
APPEARANCE & ARRANGEMENT
The card has a yellow background. A radiant pure white sun shines from the top right corner, lighting a scene of a young man in bright clothes walking with a knapsack, eyes cast upwards, almost whimsically, that is walking towards a precipice at his feet and a dog skipping at his ankles.
EGREGORE & ESSENCE
Egregore is an esoteric concept representing an emergent archetypal thought-form that arises from collective thoughts.
THE FOOL card represents Possibility & Infinite Potential, the nature of the divine source of creation, which we can observe, experience, and participate in via, as Emergence.
Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.
Francis Bacon
The Fool, embodying pure possibility and the nascent beginnings of a journey, becomes a mirror reflecting the infinite potential inherent in the void, the Aleph, and the unvoiced beginnings of creation itself.
See the article on THE WORLD (XXI) to further explore the idea of Emergence in more depth and breadth.
THE UNFOLDING
A closer look at the unfolding symbolism of that card reveals an eternal youth, the sun at his back, in a short tunic of flame and flora, with a feather in his laurel crown, rampant. The fool is undaunted by the precarious cliff. Carrying a knapsack in the right hand, and a white rose in the left. A white dog capers beside him, equally unaware of the precipice.
The white rose represents idealism. The essence of the character of the Fool is The Dreamer.
The knapsack has an eagle head. The eagle is repeated throughout the Tarot as the Symbol of the element of Air, which is associated with the suit of Swords.
The Far Mountains, are a succession of endless peaks, that gradually climb from left to right towards the sun.
The Precipice is the Consequence of Choice, beyond which anything remains possible, if not probable.
The Youth moves from Right to Left, towards their Fate.
The white rose is a paradox because it symbolises purity and idealism, but it is oblivious of the thorns, which draw blood, whereby the red rose would be the full integrated truth compared with the idealistic truth. This indicates the youth does not have experience in life, from which true wisdom is earned.
The tunic he wears is princely and bright, bearing a repeated motif of fruit or flower as an 8-segment inner wheel of the Wheel of Fortune.
The Wheel of 8 spokes always represents a Calendar of seasonal, cyclic and contained time. His princely attire is symbolic of a distinguished heritage.
The repetition of this wheel motif represents that his Fortune remains undecided until he takes that inevitable Fateful step over the looming precipice, to crash out of the heady delusions of youth through the troubling adolescence of life, the only door by which he may yet become THE MAGICIAN and THE HERMIT.
The inside of his wide sleeves look like flames, suggesting that in time the clothes—his current identity—will burn away.
The red feather in the fool’s laurel wreath is rampant, as opposed to how we see it again later in the DEATH card, where the feather is deflated.
SYMMETRY & SEQUENCE
Within the deck, there are symmetries and connections between the cards, defined by their appearance in sequence, their numerical allocation and/or thematically by the relationship of their symbols, archetypes and other essentialities.
THE FOOL card, with its number Zero (0), its position as the first card, lives in symmetry with other cards within the Major Arcana deck. The first is THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE (X) and THE WORLD (XXI).
The first card is 0, the last card is XXI(21), making a deck of 22 in total. 0 represents Aleph (א), the first letter of the Hebrew alefbet, and the last card XXI(21), is the 22nd card and represents the 22nd letter of the Hebrew Tav (ת).
Together they form the Alpha and the Omega.
In this framing, THE WORLD can be taken to represent the Yin expression of the Divine Logos and the THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE card depicting the Yang aspect of the Axle and the Wheel, which all Life is subject to—The Dharma and Rota of Fate.
THE FOOL(0) is the Soul of the individual, itself infinite, undergoing the alchemy of the soul that is The Fool’s Journey.
The circular motif embroidered on the tunic of THE FOOL is the inner core of THE WHEEL of FORTUNE, the raw unresolved elements from which the Philosopher’s Stone may yet be alchemised, without the constraint of the outer wheel and rim which separate potential and possibility from what is realised or actualised.
ALCHEMY
Alchemy explores the transformative and mystical processes that turn the base into the sublime, symbolizing the journey from raw essence to spiritual enlightenment. In the context of Tarot, it offers a complimentary framework for interpreting the profound alchemical symbolism embedded within the cards, revealing deeper layers of meaning through the interplay of elemental and metaphysical transformations.
THE FOOL represents the prima materia of the soul—the raw, unformed potential from which all transformation arises. In alchemy, the prima materia is the chaotic, undifferentiated essence that must undergo the processes of dissolution and refinement to achieve the Great Work.
Very tellingly, the circular emblem which covers THE FOOL’s outer garments is the inner wheel of The WHEEL of FORTUNE, the raw unresolved elements from which the Philosopher’s Stone may yet be alchemised: Sulphur, Mercury and Salt, and the universal solvent of Water.
THE FOOL stands at the threshold of this alchemical journey, not yet entering the stage of nigredo, but embodying the infinite possibilities inherent in their unformed state.
Unlike the nigredo, which marks the beginning of dissolution, THE FOOL is untouched by the forces that will deconstruct and reassemble them. They are the pure potentiality, free of constraint, expectation, or identity, yet they carry within them the seeds of all that they may become. Just as the prima materia must endure the trials of dissolution to reveal its latent divinity, so too must THE FOOL leap into the unknown, trusting the transformative power of life’s alchemical process.
THE FOUR ELEMENTS
All four elements appear in their nascent, unformed states within The Fool card, symbolizing the latent potential that awaits activation through the journey of transformation:
Earth is absent yet implied—the ground that will inevitably receive the youth after their fall. It represents the foundation that must be reached, the grounding force of experience and maturation.
Air is represented by the eagle insignia on the unpacked knapsack, a symbol of freedom, vision, and the breath of life. Very particularly depicted is the eagle’s head only—not its wings with which it can master the Air, nor its tail feathers to steer its course, nor its talons to find purchase on the peaks or the upper branches. Air is the element of thought, ideas, and the vast, unbounded potential of the unseen.
Fire burns on the sleeves of the youth, foreshadowing the purification and trial that will consume their unformed identity. Fire is the force of transformation, stripping away what is base to reveal the essential.
Water lies dormant in the snowcapped peaks of the distant mountains. These frozen waters, unmelted, have yet to flow through the long journey from rivulet to streams and finally the river that will meander along a pilgrimage of many miles to reach the vast, unifying ocean. Water symbolizes the emotional and spiritual journey, one of flow, surrender, and eventual unity.
The 5th element is depicted in two ways:
The Sacred 5th or quintessence of potential which is the young wanderer themself—the spark of divine potential that activates and integrates the four elements.
The Aether: The unseen, boundless expanse in which the journey unfolds. It is the subtle, unifying force that connects and contains all elements, the infinite medium of existence through which the wanderer moves.
THE RED FEATHER
The rampant red feather worn in the laurel wreath of THE FOOL represents the untamed Kundalini.
THE PRECIPICE IS THE CRUCIBLE
In alchemy, the crucible is a container used to melt metals and other substances during the purification process. It is the most important tool in alchemy because of its ability to withstand extreme heat.
THE FOOL’s step over the edge of the cliff, seemingly reckless, is the first gesture of alchemical courage—symbolic of the surrender required to begin the alchemical process. This act of faith mirrors the prima materia’s submission to the forces of dissolution that break down its chaos into discernible elements.
It is not the fall that defines THE FOOL, but the courage to leap, trusting that the furnace of life will forge them into something greater.
The naive leap of THE FOOL into the crucible of Life is essential to the journey of actualisation without which the alchemy of the soul could not occur.
KABBALAH & JUDAIC MYSTICISM
In Kabbalah, there are 10 stations or Sephirot on the Tree of Life, and 22 branches. Kabbalah itself is referred to as the Language of Roots and Branches.
GEMATRIA & ALEF-BET
In Judaic mysticism, Aleph (א), the first letter of the alef-bet, is a silent letter, unsounded, indicating a pregnant pause.
The numeric assignment of Aleph (א) is 1, according to the traditional system of gematria in Hebrew mysticism. However, Aleph also has profound symbolic associations with 0 (nothingness) and 10,000 (infinity or immense potential), depending on the mystical context.
In Kabbalistic and related mystical traditions, Aleph is associated with 10,000 as a symbolic expression of infinity, vastness, or immeasurable potential.
This is derived from the idea that Aleph, as the divine breath or source of all creation, contains the infinite within its singularity. 10,000 is not a literal number but a representation of boundlessness, capturing Aleph’s role as the infinite spark from which the finite world is born.
1: Aleph as unity, the indivisible origin of creation.
0: Aleph as nothingness, the silence before the word—the void preceding existence.
10,000: Aleph as infinity, the immeasurable potential contained within the divine source.
In Kabbalistic thought, these numeric values of Aleph reflect its role as the bridge between nothingness and everything, embodying the paradox of creation: that the infinite emerges from the void, and all things are unified in their diversity.
Zero represents the Infinite Light, Ein & Ein Sof, Ein meaning “No-Thing” or “Non-Existent” and Ein Sof meaning “the nameless boundless infinite”. This nameless boundless infinite is the Zero of creation, which is made real, through the spiritualising project of emanation, formation, creation and manifestation. The Zero is the egg, the infinity from which everything is as the world.
SEPHIROT
In Kabbalistic tradition, The Fool (0) relates to the Path of Aleph (א), which connects the Sephirot Kether (Crown) and Chokmah (Wisdom) on the Tree of Life. This placement contextualizes the Fool as the carrier of divine will and potential into the realm of primordial wisdom—the movement from the unknowable source to the first step in creation.
HERMETIC LAWS & CONCEPTS
In the Hermetic tradition, Zero (0) is not merely a numeral but a profound symbol of potential, the unmanifest void from which all creation arises. It represents the primordial state before duality, form, or distinction, embodying the principles of Unity and Possibility that underpin all existence. Zero is the source of infinite potential, the space in which all things exist before being brought into manifestation.
THE FOOL, as the card associated with Zero, symbolizes the tabula rasa, the blank slate, the unconditioned essence. It mirrors the Hermetic understanding of creation as an emanation from the void: the point at which formless potential yields to form, setting the great laws of Rhythm, Polarity, Cause and Effect, and Correspondence into motion.
The journey of the soul, of the individual and the soul of creation itself is essentially The Fool's Journey.
ASTROLOGY
The Hellenistic astrological insight cannot be divorced from the mythological context with which it shares archetypal relevance.
Given the essence of possibility and potential that THE FOOL card represents, there are many elements of the zodiac hinted at in this first card.
THE ASCENDANT
More than any other card, THE FOOL represents the Ascendant—the astrological point of emergence, where the self steps into the world at the moment of birth. The Ascendant is the cusp of the first house in a natal chart, symbolizing the meeting of infinite potential with incarnation, and the archetypal journey beginning its course. It is the point where the raw, unformed essence of the soul takes its first breath of air, stepping into the unknown.
Like THE FOOL, the Ascendant embodies possibility rather than form. It represents the mask of personality, the initial expression of self that others perceive, and the starting point of identity’s alchemical unfolding. Both the card and the Ascendant signify initiation, the leap into Experience where the journey through the zodiac and life itself begins. Just as THE FOOL is unshaped by the trials that will refine them, the Ascendant marks a state of potential that must be tempered through the movements of time, experience, and transformation.
This parallel positions THE FOOL not merely as a beginning but as the act of stepping into existence itself—the threshold between the eternal and the temporal, the infinite and the discrete.
PISCES
The typical association of the Fool however is with Pisces, insofar as Pisces is associated with dreaminess and a strong sense of imagination that comes from a whimsical and ungrounded pursuits of a naive sense of the divine, unbound by the form and flow of reality. Pisces is a mutable water sign, relating to Proteus, the shape-shifting water deity of Greek mythology, unable to be pinned down, containing the essence of all potential forms.
AQUARIUS
THE FOOL is associated with the element of Air as represented by the eagle’s head on the knapsack, in the sense of ungrounded idealism. Note the eagle’s head only—not its wings with which it can master the Air, nor its tail feathers to steer its course, nor its talons to find purchase on the peaks or the upper branches. The eagle, according to Greek mythology, has a relationship to Aquarius, a fixed Air sign.
It was the eagle of Zeus that carried the human Ganymede into Olympus to become the cup-bearer of the gods. This hints at the divine destiny of THE FOOL.
CAPRICORN
The rising mountains in the background speak of the sure-footedness of Capricorn, which is attained precisely by the lesson of the first falling. The precipice is where the element of Earth meets the element of Air, and the imminent lesson is one of gravity and consequences (cause and effect). Capricorn is the cardinal Earth sign.
LIBRA
There is also a small nod to Libra, the cardinal Air sign, where the youth is the fulcrum, their vague grasp of the staff is the one weight, in one sense set against the opposite weight of the eagle knapsack, and in another sense set against the ethereal blossom of the white rose, inviting the inevitable correction by Logos.
SAGITTARIUS
The four-legged hound underfoot, with only two legs grounded, and the stick on the fool’s back are elements that hint at Sagittarius, the centaur. The centaur is both human and bestial, and its wooden bow, a dual nature that represents the paradox of duality in man. The centaur represented the notion of dual possibility in humanity, the centaur when succumbing to its lower debauched nature, spends its time drinking and fornicating. If it becomes devoted to its higher nature it becomes the hunter, and its wooden bow is said never to miss its mark. Sagittarius is a mutable Fire Sign. This is further drawn by the flames on the sleeves of the youth’s garment which represent the element of Fire the alchemical function and essence of which, is Transformation.
EMERGENT SYNOPSIS
THE FOOL serves as a cosmic nexus where the astrological archetypes converge in their raw, unformed essence. The mutable nature of Pisces mirrors THE FOOL’s boundless imagination and potential, a dream-like quality ungrounded in the structure of reality. Aquarius infuses the Fool with unyielding idealism and a latent potential and connection to the divine, hinted at through the knapsack’s eagle—a symbol of soaring possibility, not yet realized. Capricorn, with its disciplined relationship to gravity and earth, introduces the inevitability of consequence, where the lesson of the first fall leads to sure-footed mastery. Libra’s subtle presence balances the Fool on the precipice, the fulcrum of both paradox and balance, poised between naivety, and the impending weight of wisdom. Sagittarius, embodied by the dual-natured hound and fiery sleeves, reflects the paradox of human potential—its raw instincts and the transformative promise of spiritual ascent.
Together, these signs construct a zodiacal map of latent potentiality and paradox, each element awaiting activation within the crucible of experience. THE FOOL, through these associations, reveals a profound archetype: the point where all forms intersect as possibility, but none yet actualized. The Fool is the astrological embodiment of becoming, a vessel of infinite paths, each shaped by the interplay of elemental forces and the alchemical fires of transformation.
MYTHOS & LOGOS
PROTEUS
In Greek mythology, Proteus was a primordial ocean deity who had two special abilities. The first was as a kind of living oracle, being able to reveal truth about one’s hidden fate and destiny. The second was a factor of Proteus’ essential nature, being the embodiment of the elusive nature of the ocean, ever-changing, which contained all forms and into which all rivers flowed—Proteus by containing the essence of all potential forms, could shapeshift into any living form that drank water.
If one wished to press Proteus to utter his revelation, one had to grapple him, upon which Proteus with writhe and shift between many forms. The trial for the hero was to hold on through the rapidly twisting forms until Proteus eventually yielded and settled on a form. The answer Proteus gave together with the form he assumed would provide the hero the answer being sought.
The adjective protean means “versatile”, “mutable”, or “capable of assuming many forms”.
THE PARADOX OF POSSIBILITY
The Fool, being the essence of pure possibility and infinite potential, points to the paradox of possibility. In one sense possibility represents eternal freedom, with all options open, but in another sense, the hero’s journey cannot be completed without choosing one path at the crossroads of life, a choice which itself requires a kind of tenacity. Once a path is chosen, all other paths have to be surrendered, and this is the first initiation into the unavoidable reality of regret. To arrive at one’s destination, one has to devote oneself to a path. When one encounters hardships and obstacles on the way, without proper initiation, the temptation is to believe one has chosen the wrong path and is then faced with the nagging twins of regret on the one shoulder, and the sunk-cost fallacy on the other. Once this is experienced, that is to say, once the novitiate is initiated—ceremonially or unceremonially—they are introduced to ‘the cost of the gift’, the nature of consequence, which is the first law of the Seven Hermetic Principles that needs to be integrated.
Invariably, what happens is that the next time one encounters a crossroads, one can become paralysed by too many choices, a paradox of being incarcerated by too much freedom.
In one sense, boundless options seem like freedom, but in this undecided state, true actualisation cannot be pursued. Alternatively, the nature of actualisation is such that it leads to a different kind of freedom, one where infinite possibility is antithetical to becoming, and a sense of absolute devotion to a single path, presents an entirely different sense of liberty from regret or doubt.
INNER REFLECTION
In the realm of Pure Possibility & Infinite Potential, each step we take is both a journey unto itself and a return to our most foundational essence. A leap into the unknown driven by the courage to dream and the willingness to embrace the myriad paths that unfold before us and the reality that meets us along the way.
At the heart of every true beginning lies the promise of a journey not yet taken, a path as yet unwritten and pregnant with potential. This is where we find ourselves, at the threshold of the unknown, where the silence before the first step speaks louder than certainty ever could. In this space, the challenge and the beauty lie not in the destination, but in the courage to embrace the journey itself, to accept the invitation to explore beyond the familiar. It is a call to venture into the vastness of our own potential, armed with nothing but the readiness to learn and the resilience to emerge through different kinds of deaths and rebirths.
Herein lies the essence of our existence: not in the certainties we cling to, but in the perpetual quest for understanding, in reaching out to grasp the unformed and in recognizing ourselves as both the seekers and the sought. Here, we are reminded that the essence of life is not found in the security of knowing, but in the profound simplicity of seeking, in the act of reaching out towards the unformed and the unseen with open hearts and minds ready to receive the wisdom of the journey.
Be the fool, just don’t act the fool.
Beauty is life when life unveils her holy face. But you are life and you are the veil. Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and you are the mirror.
Kahlil Gibran
Wherever a seed falls, there is the beginnings of a tree and thence a forest. Wherever rain lands, there is the beginnings of a river and thence the ocean.
The title image includes a symbol of a pinecone, such as the one we find at the top of the Cadeus. The pinecone’s relationship with Probability, Possibility & Potential is that it can emerge from the tree—it can ripen and open, it can fall from the tree, and it can grow into a new tree.
In the full expanse of that arc is the notion of Emergence, and also the notion of Fate & Destiny—what is probable and what the potential might yet be, according to the limits of what is possible. The pinecone might emerge later than its siblings, but fall earlier. It might fall earlier, but find purchase later, and there is no right or only way, no right or only time, only better and worse, and each has its own costs and gifts. Each has its own destination, its own actualisation journey and its own sense of timing.
If you are interested in joining me for an integrated exploration of your own Archetypes, Symbolism, Mythos, Totems and Astrology via the Hermetic lens, and have an appetite for something deeper and more mature, schedule a call.
Additional notes:
The circle emblem repeated loudly on THE FOOL’s outer layer of clothing, is The WHEEL of FORTUNE, and then tellingly only the inner core.
How profound. Especially given that this outer layer of his ‘outfit’ are precisely what are burned away in the alchemical crucible of life he will endure after his inevitable and necessarily fall over the precipice, so deeply into the channel of a fixed dharma we call a human life.
The many instances present on the textile of his tunic reaffirm, in such simple motif, the same wealth of possibility and potential that I drew out as the archetypal essence of THE FOOL card through the excavation of much more arcane symbols and clues. I noticed this only this morning after staying up all night to complete The WHEEL of FORTUNE card and finally appreciating the full message and implication of its archetypal invitation. The WoF card represents the fundamental duality of dharma/rota. One polarity of that duality is the fixed and immutable laws that uphold existence in dynamic tension with all the form and energy in the cosmos which is in contrast, in vibrant and ceaseless movement. Through this dynamic tensegrity, we better understand the seeming paradox of determined Fate and the infinite possibility of Destiny outlined in such detail in the analysis of the WoF card.
This repeated device on THE FOOL’s tunic are testament to the infinite fields of possibility that are spawned by the interplay of necessary tension and inevitable congress inherent to all fundamental dualities.
Even after the hundreds of hours in earnest dialogue with the Major Arcana, I am occasionally delighted by these kinds of discoveries, like finding new Easter eggs hidden in plain sight.