The Fool is the first card of the major arcana. It's number is 0 and it shows the place of potential, before the journey begins. It depicts a carefree being about to walk off a cliff. This is our own inner child eager to embrace all the experiences of life, without expectations or conditions. It is the place of innocence and openness that allows us to take risks. It is a card of faith and trust in spirit, that allows us to step off of the cliff into the unknown. It is the quintessential beginner's mind, open and willing to learn.
In Vedic astrology, the Fool card corresponds to Rahu, the north node. Rahu is a shadow planet, one of the nodes of the Moon. The two nodes are the points in space where the paths of the Sun and the Moon intersect. They are points of potential eclipses, and so they were tracked by ancient cultures as a way to predict these potent astronomical events. Rahu specifically shows energy moving from the spirit realm into the realm of physical manifestation. Rahu is related to maya or illusion. It draws us out into the drama of the world, and intoxicates us with the dream of life.
In Toltec shamanism, the Fool relates to the energy of the nagual. The nagual is the term for the unknowable and unmanifest. The realm of the unmanifest is actually much greater than that of the manifest, which is called the tonal. Everything we know and experience with the senses is the tonal. Toltec practices aim at accessing the energy of the nagual in order to create greater freedom of perception. The Fool card is specifically energy moving from the nagual to the tonal. It shows all the potential of the unknown entering into creation.
In my unique understanding, the Fool is a gateway card leading into the mastery of awareness. In the Eagle Knight lineage of Toltec shamanism taught by don Miguel Ruiz, there are three masteries: awareness, transformation, and intent. I have intuited the major arcana as an outline of these masteries, with each mastery having six cards, leaving four gateway cards. The Fool is the gateway of the east, which corresponds to the element of air. It is an opportunity to clear your perceptions and make a fresh start, like a newborn baby or a crisp new dawn.
With the Fool card, practice being completely open to your experience. See if you can forget everything you know about yourself, your life, and reality. Remember what it was like when you were a child and did not know anything. Instead, you can discover everything each moment from a place of trust and openness. A child's mind is like a ball floating down a creek. As adults, we get stuck in eddies. The Fool invites you to get unstuck and flow freely once again. Cultivate a sense of wonder and awe!
Find the Fool card from the tarot deck of your choice and put it somewhere that you will see it regularly, such as on an altar. Invite the energy of the Fool into your life.
Next: The Magician
(c) 2004 by David Ray
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