Is a Fool an Idiot?

Perhaps, part of the retirement stage can be called the pathway of the Fool: the stepping out of the “work for payment” process; the focus being more and more on the grand children and other little ones of this world; seeing the silliness and hilarity of it all; the gradually letting go of the seriousness about ourselves and the world around us, as well as our material and immaterial possessions.

The Fool is sometimes called the Idiot. The Latin word for Fool is Follis, meaning windbag or bellows; a source of air (Lat. spiritus). Being the Fool is like exempting yourself from the rules of the standard game played by everyone else.

Perhaps, the Idiot or Fool was intended to show the most simple human being: an individual without money, power, or intellect living in a private world until he is given the chance to be the hilarious “Carnival” King for a short time.

However, in Shakespeare, it is the Fool who speaks the most profound truths. And the man in poverty represents the Franciscan ideal of godliness.

Of the card trumps, only 3 are worth points in the game: The Fool, Magician, and the World. These are the most valuable cards in the game and equal to the King’s in point value.

Whereas the #21 World card beats every other card in the deck, the Fool card, sometimes called card #22, beats none; #22 is the most powerful card. It means the Master Builder. It is the card that brings the holder a great reward, but does so by losing! The card is exempt from the usual rules.

You cannot lose it to another player. Each player hopes that one of their competitive cards will “triumph” over the others. Much distress results if a valuable card is beaten and taken.

The Fool card is not in competition. In every game it appears once, somewhere, unpredictably, never taking anything and never being taken. His total humility bestows invulnerability.

The Fool’s # 0 means that this card stands outside of the domain of the rest of the cards. The # 0 was the last number introduced to the human species. Its principles are:

0 + anything = anything.
0 x anything = zero.

The Fool, as # 0, can thus add itself unobtrusively.

The card symbolizes realities and experiences that transcend their physical images. It has spiritual power because this card is full of symbolism, pointing to a reality far beyond our imagination and our normal serious experiences.