The Mind of the Fool

The Fool’s archetypal energies present new beginnings, a change of direction, or a journey into the unknown that will be exciting, challenging, and painfully hilarious.

These challenges develop confidence, strength and wisdom. Their influences will have a dramatic affect on any decisions made. The Fool has faith in his/her abilities, no matter what others might say.

The dog in the Fool card seems to warn against irresponsible behavior and suggests foolhardiness, exercising caution, and research all facts before making a decision.

The butterfly seems to reflect the Fool’s mind, truly open to new ideas, and as such “reborn into innocence”.

Another analogy of the Fool and the # 0 is a musician who has studied and trained his/her musical skills well enough to develop a sort of ‘auto-pilot’ state. Very difficult passages have to be played from memory in order to be properly executed in the Here and Now, because a worrying, analyzing and judging mind operating through the left hemisphere can slow down or mess up the playing.

However, spontaneity from hours of practice appears not to be enough to “set the music free”. A state of being that is often called “in the zone” or “center” is required as well. It is a type of withdrawal from the ego-self so as to create a space for the music that will come to life through the action of the player. The ego-self vanishes into the zero and re-manifests itself in the flourishing music.

The feeling of rapture happens when the musician-fool abandoned its creation, and becomes acutely aware of Being in the Present within and feels like a radiant Star.

This is the same state that the Zen archer uses to perfectly guide arrows. Also dancers or athletes experience this state when the performer is perfectly aligned with the archetypal energies of the Fool, and brought to a perfection via the faith in it. This faith is much like a silent, yet ongoing prayer. It is a connection with the Divine through the # 0.

Look at children. They give themselves to live in faith, and that abandonment is their freedom, and that freedom is their joyful bliss. In this state of Here & Now they open the portal to their star, resulting in endless imagination, curious exploration, rapid learning, and Starry performances. Their desire to repeat their joyful play creates the momentum that leads to evermore new and hilarious discoveries.

If you are searching for the Fool’s own heart, then all you have to do is observe the children’s kinesthetic experiences, for they seem to know the Fool’s essence well, embraced through their abandonment. It is within that wellspring of their wonderfully free imagination and innocence that the fertile seed of the Fool is born. Hidden within that seed, one may find the true worldview and philosopher’s stone.

The hilarious position of the legs in an inverted figure 4 -as shown above & below- is similar to an Egyptian hieroglyph meaning “to dance” as verb and “heart-soul” as noun.