The FOOL + Your Invitation to Leap
Tarot Magic in Aquarius Season
This month marks a special initiation for Arcana Craft as we expand our monthly Tarot Circle to welcome YOU for an in-person practice at the Healing Temple, starting February 23, 7-9pm.
If you live in the Austin area and would like to participate in this free event, please check out the event page or message me with your questions.
The Fool is our constant companion through the cycles and seasons of the Tarot. Numbered 0 in the Major Arcana deck, we never truly leave him behind. The FOOL is there at the beginning, returns at the end, and carries us through the Tarot’s entire archetypal journey. This card regularly depicts a joyful traveler, rose in hand, sun shining benevolently upon his path, with a lively animal companion to champion his cause. The FOOL is a childlike energy: naive, effervescent, full of optimism for what lies ahead—despite the fact that he is about to walk straight off a cliff!
When, at 18, I left my home in rural Nebraska to pursue my dream of becoming an actress in Southern California—I was replete with FOOL energy. I had no inkling that I would fail. Honestly, I don’t think I even cared if I would fail. Deep in my soul I just knew it was time to GO, win or lose, sink or swim.
In the two-bedroom Anaheim apartment that I shared with three roommates, I hung a small collage print on the wall. It said—
“Faith is believing that one of two things will happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught to fly.”
I knew what I was about: FOOLish faith—
to know that falling is probable.
to be (nonetheless) willing to leap.
Anyway, what really is the difference between falling and flying?
I sing in a blues band at local women’s music school, Girl Guitar. We’re composed of a rotating crew of stay-at-home parents and retirees. Most of us play to make a little noise outside of our quiet lives or because we’ve always had the inkling to play and now we finally find we can make the time. We perform regularly around town in 3-song sets that try our skills and our nervous systems equally. One day a couple of us in the band were lamenting over stage-fright and our teacher, Mandy, told us how she once heard that anxiety and excitement sit in the same place in your brain—neurologically speaking. This, she said, helps her deal with jitters.
When my heart races before a performance, I try to hold space for the idea that it’s joyful anticipation causing my hands to shake, rather than spine-tingling fear. Does that sometimes feel a bit delusional? Sure! But there is no real danger here. Only my own fear of evaluation and shame.
The FOOL knows no shame.
She wanders widely, steadfast in the conviction that ALL of her side-quests hold the potential to benefit, teach, and expand her awareness for the better.
(Also, she’s learned that the adrenaline spike of stepping up to the mic can be pretty addictive.)
Don’t discount your inner Pollyanna.
Cynicism feels protective, but the FOOL’s unfounded optimism is like a secret, magical weapon. We recognize it in pop psychological phenomena like Beginner’s Luck and Placebo Effect.
As Michelle Tea wrote, “whatever mythical deity watches over idiots, drunk people, and children is besties with the Fool; setting out on this new adventure with innocence and purity of heart ensures that you are being cosmically looked out for.”1
Is it foolish to believe that the universe is looking out for you? Certainly, Michelle says, but that’s the invitation of this archetype. What might you try if you were willing to believe that some greater power was there rooting for you?
Try Something New.
FOOL energy favors experiences that fall out of your area of expertise or comfort zone, so if you want to cultivate the kind of trust-in-cosmos that it inspires, experiment with a new hobby or course of study. Something which doesn’t already carry the burden of your expectations around reaching certain levels of mastery or achieving specific outcomes may be easier to practice. Or—conversely—take a stab at that thing that comes with lots of high hopes and emotional baggage! Maybe the FOOL wants you to stop resisting the brave stirrings of your soul and finally do the thing!
The point is that no matter where you set your sights, you don’t have to throw yourself against the rails to tap into the FOOL’s sweet magic.
The Hills are Alive.
The FOOL, with his arms out-stretched and chin up-tilted, puts me in mind of a favorite childhood character, Maria Von Trapp, singing along with the vibrant voices of rocks and trees, hills and streams in the green and glowing Austrian Alps. Can you relate to that mixture of longing and serenity in Maria’s song? Where do you hear something otherworldly calling out to you? In nature? In art? Sharing coffee with friends? Playing with children?
The FOOL can serve as a good reminder to seek out the experiences that make you feel like you’ve got the sun on your face and the wind at your back. That body mind and spirit are all alight with anticipation and appreciation for what is.
The more often we allow ourselves to play in this energy, the more courage we cultivate, so that when the cliff’s edge approaches, we are ready. We know we have the capacity to fly.
Or that if we fall, we will pick ourselves up off the ground laughing, looking for the next hill to climb.
Try this:
Pull cards on these three questions to see how the FOOL is showing up for you right now:
CARD 1 — What new adventure is calling to me?
CARD 2 — How can I release what holds be back?
CARD 3 — What practice will strengthen my wings, should I step from the cliff’s edge?
Thank you for being a part of the Arcana Craft community! Please reach out, share or comment if this post was meaningful to you. Every time you engage with an article it helps other folks find me—encouraging me to keep the magic going for next month, when we will be exploring the courageous offering of the HANGED ONE.
Michelle Tea, Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self Through the Wisdom of the Cards. HarperElixir, 2017.
Wonderful reminder that the consequences of trying something bold are rarely severe and a blissfully naïve perspective can be a welcome gift.