The Fool is one of the most iconic cards in the tarot and often the illustration of The Fool in a tarot deck sets the tone for the entire deck of cards. Often, the Fool is considered the main character in the story of the Major Arcana – he (or she!) represents all of us most of the time and has a lot to teach us.
The word “fool” in the English language is typically considered a negative word – nobody wants to ‘play the fool’ or ‘act the fool’ in life – to appear foolish is to seem ignorant, naive, hasty, careless, oblivious, and uneducated, among other things. ‘Fools’ are people who make bad decisions or seem stupid or rash. We don’t want to be fools and The Fool certainly cautions us not to act hastily. The Fool cautions us against leaping without looking and advises us to gather the information before we make any decisions. It also cautions us against fooling ourselves and believing in unwise fairytales (as opposed to the wise ones) that we tell ourselves – we need to see things the way they really are instead of just the way we want to see them.
On the other hand, my favorite interpretation (because I need the most work on this one!) encourages us to let a little fool into our lives. Sometimes we need to loosen up and let go, let our inner child out. Blow bubbles, play with the dog, do a little make believe. Take a chance. Take a leap of faith. Don’t worry about not knowing what’s going to happen, how things will turn out, or all the other little things you might worry about – just take that fateful step because you want to, because it’s calling to you. Now, this may seem counter to our previous interpretation (and it is, a little bit), but really they go hand in hand. After gathering all the information we need in life, there are bound to be things we still don’t know – after all, we can never know everything. In these moments, we need to just let go and trust that whatever happens, we’re going to make it through. And if we can inject a little fun and games into the mix along the way, why wouldn’t we?
So, taking these two points together, what does that give us? Well, it tells us to make the wisest decisions that we can – gather as much information as possible and to be sure we aren’t believing falsehoods, internal or external. But it also teaches that there is a time to let go and relax, and that we shouldn’t forget to play and have fun. We need to live our lives to the fullest but not to go to crazy. Again, it’s about striking a balance and being true to ourselves.
