Thursday 31 March 2011

Tarot: The Fool

Tomorrow being April Fool's Day, it seems the right time to look at The Fool card in tarot.

The picture shows The Fool from Robin Wood Tarot Deck,which is one of my favourite decks.

And I've always particularly liked Robin Wood's depiction of The Fool - a carefree young person in colourful clothing enjoying a sunny walk along the clifftops, playing their own music and travelling light with just a rucksack on their back and with a cute little white dog at their heels.

Maybe it just has something to do with the fact that I've always fancied owning a little white terrier, like Tintin's Snowy, but I can identify with that image and I really don't mind if others call me a fool for doing so. The card offers the lure of adventure and freedom from responsibilities. It is a card of new beginnings - about setting out on a journey and not quite knowing where that journey will end or what people or places one will meet along the way. Some of those places might be dangerous and some of those people might be rogues and tricksters, but that's life.

Of course, the traditional interpretation for the card is that the fool is just about to take a fall and tumble right off the edge of that cliff. The message is that one should look where one is going and pay more attention to potential dangers ahead. That is, of course, sensible advice. But, sometimes, it is good to take a risk.

I was half way through writing this post about The Fool when I got an email from someone researching a series of features on Paganism for a religious radio programme. They asked if I wouldn't mind being interviewed.

Perhaps the flattering offer of the opportunity for a brief moment of fame went to my head. Like The Fool, without hesitation, I said "Yes!"

I don't know whether the interview will actually go ahead. But, if it does, I'm not sure it will be the wisest course of action. Pagans have often been made to look like fools in the media in the past.

Oh well. I've hit the reply button and my email's gone. Maybe I'll hear the bark of warning from my inner Snowy dog before I say anything to send my credibility plunging over that cliff...

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3 comments:

Unknown said...

Of course, if one doesn't have a bit of The Fool in their life, they never get far enough out of the "ordinary" to let the magic happen =)

Good luck with the interview! Keep an eye on that RX Merc.

Badwitch said...

Thanks! I'll try to avoid those communications problems RX Merc can bring :)

Jorg said...

Perhaps the flattering offer of the opportunity for a brief moment of fame went to my head. Like The Fool, without hesitation, I said "Yes!"