The Fool

Correspondences in other systems

 * Hebrew letter Shin, meaning 300; this inserts him between Judgement and The World (Eliphas Levi)
 * some count him as card 22 for numerological operations

A Tarot card. Position 0 (sometimes 22) in the Major Arcana.

Sometimes this card is not given a number but considered to have no fixed position.

Rider Waite deck
With light step, as if earth and its trammels had little power to restrain him, a young man in gorgeous vestments pauses at the brink of a precipice among the great heights of the world; he surveys the blue distance before him-its expanse of sky rather than the prospect below. His act of eager walking is still indicated, though he is stationary at the given moment; his dog is still bounding. The edge which opens on the depth has no terror; it is as if angels were waiting to uphold him, if it came about that he leaped from the height. His countenance is full of intelligence and expectant dream. He has a rose in one hand and in the other a costly wand, from which depends over his right shoulder a wallet curiously embroidered. He is a prince of the other world on his travels through this one-all amidst the morning glory, in the keen air. The sun, which shines behind him, knows whence he came, whither he is going, and how he will return by another path after many days. He is the spirit in search of experience. Many symbols of the Instituted Mysteries are summarized in this card, which reverses, under high warrants, all the confusions that have preceded it.

His wallet contains the four magic symbols, the scepter, the cup, the sword and the pentacle. The fool always carries them, although he has long since forgotten what they mean. Nevertheless they belong to him, even though he does not know their use. The symbols have not lost their power, they retain it in themselves.

Meanings

 * Super-consciousness.
 * Cultural power.
 * A bold leap into the unknown.
 * To not be aware of one's actions.
 * To act without thought.
 * Instinct.
 * To make a choice on a whim, or a random & spontaneous idea.
 * primeval life force
 * traditional, in older decks: folly, poverty, madness

Reversed Meaning
Hesitation, carelessness, trouble from ignoring foolishness.

Correspondences (Golden Dawn system)

 * Links Kether to Chokmah as path number 11 of the Tree of Life
 * Yetziratic Intelligence - the Fiery intelligence
 * Organic Time - Nothingness The potential for change and aniticipation of novelty. In Time, Change initiates You.

Correspondences in other systems

 * Hebrew letter Shin, meaning 300; this inserts him between Judgement and The World (Eliphas Levi)
 * some count him as card 22 for numerological operations

Resources

 * Ouspensky, P.D. (1913) The Symbolism of the Tarot: Philosophy of Occultism in Pictures and Numbers. tr. Pagosky, R.L. St. Petersburg: Trood.
 * Waite, A.E. (1911) The Pictoral Key to the Tarot: Being Fragments of a Secret Tradition Under the Veil of Divination. London: Rider.