0 The Fool : Reinvent yourself
A person is walking on the edge of a rocky outcrop, and it appears as though they are about to step off the edge of the cliff. Their gaze is upward, and their posture open. They’re wearing a vibrant smock with wide sleeves and multi-coloured floral designs, a beaded belt, yellow boots, and a green cap with a long red feather in it. They hold a staff with a small bundle on the end in their right hand, resting it on their right shoulder. In their left hand they hold a white flower. A small white dog accompanies them, and is standing on hind legs. In the background are snow covered rocky mountains, a bright yellow sky and a white sun in the left corner.
0 The Fool from the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot
What a gorgeous card to end the year on. Apparently there are no definitive good or bad cards but when this one turns up, it’s always a little exciting for me.
Aside from the beauty of the person and scene - I mean the movement, the vitality, the fashion! - what I love about the fool is that it inspires hope.
As - zero - nothing - nobody - it’s archetypal energy holds all potentials. A reminder that there are new possibilities. That as nobody you don’t have the pressure of being a particular way. It’s a reminder that you can let go of the burdens of should-s, must-s and ought-s, and begin again.
Start off fresh, be a free spirit, be adventurous, take a risk, take a leap of faith.
If you didn’t hold back, what might be an area of your life that could use a fresh start or new approach? What emotions / thoughts or beliefs / memories / body sensations are connected to imagining this new approach to your situation?
However, I’m fully aware that taking risks might not ignite everyone with the warm fuzzies.
You could look at the person on the card, and see immaturity and child-like naivety - someone walking obliviously on the edge of a crumbling cliff and instead feel anxiety, apprehension, even loathing… and think, “Be careful!” or ”Watch where you’re going, ding-dong!”, or “You look ridiculous!”
What would be so bad about acting a fool? What do you imagine happening?
My sense is underlying any fear-frustration of doing something new, is shame. No one wants to look like an idiot and be subject to ridicule. Shame stops us short, shuts us up, and shuts us down. But, behind anyone who’s ever taken a risk, and tried something new, is either the willingness to look silly, or not caring that much if they come off looking awkward.
Recall a recent time you felt awkward doing something unfamiliar (choose a low level experience - not the worst one!); How did that feel in your body? Where is the discomfort? Stay with these sensations now and follow it through, and skirt the edge. What happens?
Who or what shamed you? How might you begin to unpack and sort through this? Does it still fit? Will this fit into your little bundle?
In older tarot decks like the Marseille, The Fool isn’t numbered at all (it has no mark, no ‘zero’). As an unnumbered wild card, it’s not part of the numerical, linear order - which means it can slot in anywhere, where ever you are on your journey.
Unlike other cards in the tarot that signify change as part of an organic cyclic process (e.g. Wheel of Fortune, Death), I feel like The Fool shows up when we’re a little sick of ourselves and our bullshit and want to change but unsure how. Rather than chaotic and reactive impulsivity, this Fool encourages conscious reinvention.
With this in mind I’m suggesting a re-evaluation of naivety as being the complete absence of experience and awareness. Instead, I’m proposing that the inner child quality is less about emulating a child and devolving into immaturity, but rather accessing it as an energy that’s anchored in your mature, healthy, adult self that has gained some wisdom over time.
For example, a person who immediately comes to mind is Louis Theroux. I’m mesmerised by his capacity to address and enter awkward, even dangerous situations. His openness and curiosity is present in his posture, facial expression, tone of voice. He asks ‘silly’ questions and as a result accesses hidden worlds. Even though he looks and sounds it, he’s clearly not naive, or an idiot. He’s smart and steady.
What would that child-like spontaneous quality - as creative reinvention - look like within you? in the knowledge that you’re being overseen by a mature aspect of you.
This maturity is about having trust in yourself, that you know enough (not everything) and have the resources to deal with mistakes and the unknown. At the same time, you’ve sorted through the dusty storage boxes and bags and know versions of self that were hooked into old stories of fear and shame won’t fit inside the little bundle on your staff.
This kind of reinvention and transformation doesn’t happen inside your window of tolerance - you have to choose to skirt the edge. You have to be willing to walk on the edge of the cliff, in the full sun ….
What would it mean to be ‘safe-but-not-too-safe’? What would that look like in that area of life ‘that could use a fresh start or new approach’?
So what if you got a little sunburnt, got your yellow boots dirty, or twisted your ankle on the unfamiliar, rubbled terrain. Trust at some point you’ll be able to swap out the turban for broad-brimmed hat, scrub the boots clean later, and tend your ankle with ‘rest-ice-compress-elevate’.
Have faith.
🖤 much love, Mendy 🗝
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