Atu 0 - The Fool

The Fool

 0 - The Fool.
The fool brings the deck and our experiences full circle.  He is unbounded, having passed the portal of The Universe, and is poised to create anew.  The circle of life which surrounds him opens as a new threshold of experience to be entered into with perfect trust. He recalls nothing of previous experience, therefore fear, shown in the tiger, has no affect.  From the crown, or superconscious, to the crocodile, the unconscious, he stands at the precipice of conscious experience, with all possibilities awaiting his awareness, and thus, their manifestation.  He is the unobserving observer, in that nothing exists without awareness of it.  An untapped force, waiting in newness for awareness, coming as the Magus, to comprehend and wield it.  This card always represents a beginning, a sign that the passage of transition has been completed and a new experience now waits in readiness to be explored.

From the original website:


"The Fool is the ultimate expression of freedom. He is unbound by conventions and unscarred by the opinions and cliches of the world. He is delighted by simplicity and capable of great and private depths. When entranced by an object, being, emotion or idea he will remain in rapt attention through storms and tempests (and mauling tigers) such is his simple fascination with the world. As a card the fool represents the freedom of the heart and mind, an idea, person or situation that stands alone, unique and free from the boundaries of the social world. However, in this freedom there is a disconnection from others thath can lead to isolation from the world, being set apart and labled 'different'. There is also the possibility that such unshakeable focus can become madness, and all clarity can be lost to the whorls of life. In this the fool is un-numbered because he is everything and he is nothing. He is the human self before birth when it is unlearned and unaffected by the world."
Madeleine Parsons

"Okay, The Fool for me basically resides in the number, or in this case the non-number of zero. In numerology zero indicates the 'nothingness' which has all the numbers latent inside it. The Fool is only a 'fool' because others can't comprehend what he knows, or why he behaves the way he does. He is God before God asked himself the divine question 'Who am I?' Classically, I would assume the card meant being careful of what lies ahead, playing it conservatively, the 'look before you leap' approach. Yet, Crowley has shown him in all his true colors. He is afraid of nothing, he is hindered by nothing, he is 'charmed' as it where. He can do anything he wishes. If this card comes up in a reading it says to me that the situation is unhindered. Anyway, keep in mind the numerology connection here, because the numbers correspond with the cards. 78 cards - 78 numbers. "Who's the more foolish; the 'fool' or the fool that follows him?" - Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Joall Taeuber


"Zero is the starting place for the fullest potential. Innocence which protects. Going forward, living in the moment, trusting in a higher faith. Unique, individuallity. Original."
Kaira

"The fool is a wonderful representation of Adam/Eve before biting the apple and becoming self aware. All and nothing existing for the joy and beauty of it. Not a care, worry, no modesty or shame. An unconscious trot down the path, regardless of the circumstances, trials, etc. Following an unknown because it feels right, exciting, and good too. Letting the unknown higher power take control, make corrections, take care of business, and not realizing that you're doing it. Relying on the 'gut' to lead."
mrs gilreath

"Universal Messenger carrying the genetic codes of Ever Present Life in his little bag of tricks. What sort of Life will he/she be sent to conjure up yet another reality adventure? Not exactly always sure where our next step will drop us into, it doesn't matter: where ever we fall, we contain all we need to begin again and again and again..."
Doris Patton

"aleph, beginnings. no-thing, as opposed to nothing. no thing that we can be aware of. order, as opposed to chaos. the orphic egg, the universe before the big bang. the transendence of duality. the prophet, holy, or wise person. benefactor of humanity, the "watchers of god." the beginning and the end of the cycle, in which all things begin and to which all things return. the base of the three alchemical elements (mercury, sulphur, salt), the abyss in which all things must first manifest to manifest in the physical. 0, 00, 000- the kabalistic veils of "negative" existence. note that negative is not used here in the traditional sense, but a term indicating the profound lack of human understanding on this principle. the alpha AND the omega. you start your life cycle as the fool and work your way through the subsequent atu's just to become the fool once again."
 - pugsly

          The Fool
          /  wild  \
         /  learn   \
        /            \
       /    grow      \
      /     feel       \          
     /     control      \
    /    illumination    \
   Alpha --------------- Omega

Chico

"The Fool is the starting point in life. As we progress, we change from the Fool to the other cards in the Major Arcana. When we die before we get all the way through, we start over again as the Fool in a new life, to get another chance at achieving perfection. The cycle continues until then, whenever that may be.
As the Fool is innocent thoughout his/her life, so are babies (at first, before they grow up. :-). The Fool knows neither Right from Wrong nor Good from Evil. He/she is neutral until he/she evolves."
Firebird

"Just a commentary on the graphics on this card: Why the big bag of ecstacy tablets? - whatever were they thinking of, Fred and Alick? PS - If you know much about Crowley and his various pursuits then I trust you'll take this submission seriously...."
adam

"I feel this card represents the free spirit forever going forward no matter the cost or dramas along the way, that of being hounded by the figure of a dog. Ready for anything and capable of doing without a lot of material possessions. Adaptable, to others the fool but within the innocence of youth, wonderlust or showing no fear."
eStar

"The Fool yes, he begins the journey, but is present at every step. He is a Paradox. He appears as the Fool, but the Fool is wise. As he has no number, he is part of the infinite journey and reminds us in his folly of the hope of lessons learned, the needed wisdom to carry on.
He is the Court Jester; the One who entertained Kings and Queens at court in the great Middle Ages. His Comedy could be fun and lighthearted, but just as often confounded and confused, because Comedy is the sweet and sour mask of intelligence and wisdom. Many playwrights have used him from the great Greek Comedics to Shakespeare and even modern times. The Emcee in the play and movie "Caberet" is a modern example of the archetype of the Fool.
The ultimate Storyteller, the Comedian, wearing the mask of ignorance and folly, (for that is how we begin a journey) helps us to think well before we act, and reveals to us the hidden wisdom of a situation... if we keep our own eyes open and stay awake and aware in all the life that is around us."
C. March

"The Fool is a holl.
Nothing : the subject.
All : nothing : chaos
The point of view : Universe"
unmani

"The Fool doesn't make bad decisions; he doesn't make any at all. He strives on instinct, doing whatever the hell he wants. He has no fear--like the child in all of us. When you pull the fool in a reading, know that nothing will be the same again. The "cause/effect" rationale that you usually use will subvert to your instinctual reactions. Surrender to this exciting new path!"
Joshua

"Taoist "wu wei"; path of least resistance.
Uncarved block without preconceptions; blank page.
Absolute faith in Life.
Winnie the Pooh..."
Dina

"The start of a new phase in life The beginning of a journey Moving to a new residence Homosexuality, Bisexuality Innocence, Fearless, trusting in a higher power Supposedly, this card remains the closest to God. Zero has endless potential."
Lisa Lovejoy

"The fool card represents all that man has the potential to be intellectually and spiritually, however there are two types of fools. Fools who dare to, and have the courage to explore deeper into the realms of known and unknown existance to produce more information from information that has been deemed unnescessary, evil or even superfluous. This type of fool proves that the act of foolishness may be nescessary in order to get results. The second type of fool is that which endeavors to succeed without thought of consequence, those people who rush headlong into lifes circumstance without forsight, which may lead to disillusionment, loss and hopelessness. The fool is the initiate, who should always be cautious of what lies ahead, fools should always be prepared for the worst, but have the confidence in attaining the best."
Eleanor Eskie

"There is a universal force called the Will by some. We are all aspects of this force but being so far from the center we lose the inspiration by holding onto objects, goals, relationships, etc. "Pure will unasuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result is in every way perfect." The Fool has no goals. He lives in absolute accordance with the will. He is the ballance between pure existance and the explosion of energy into life. He has no experience to base life on and so each experience is equal to the next. All is equal. All is necessary. All is perfect. All is new. And to embrace life as a child is to complete this period of the great work. "Except you be as a little child you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. Love is the law. Love under will."
Wilhelm Picaco

"The Fool sees things as they really are. He travels along the path of clarity, but he's ofraid to leave his divine path. He's not engaged in all the life of ordinary people, he'll rather be on the sideline instead of being part of the battle. He understands but he doesn't feel, to open his eyes completely he must take his part of the battle and choose side. Beware, of he gets emotionally engaged he risks to loose his insight.
All though he understands what's going on, he's often misunderstood and he's often the lone wolf."
Jeppe

"The Fool is our inner-yet outer most soul, waiting to be uncoverd. For the Fool, there are no boundries, the world is a Limitless adventure. The Fool is a persons inner-most child, the lovable one and the bliss one. It is couragous and does not know the meaning of limitation. When we are put down or frustrated the fool is the part of us that makes us want to laugh and have a good time. The opptimism only grows, for this simple, carless creature."
Samantha Sage Lyn

"I am walking with my two year old in Fun City where she is playing on slides and jumping in balls. She leads my hand toward the back of the arcade..."
Sor. Hoor Amentii

"The No-Mind. True Cosmic Consciousness. The returning to Robert Anton Wilson & Timothy Leary's neuro-atomic circuit. The final step in the journey that started at Universe. The Fool holds the powers of the four elements, but unlike the Magus, he does not use them. The Fool truly understands that nothing matters, he merely observes quite passively and knowingly, his eyes wide to Universe before him. He is in free-fall, blissfully oblivious to the lion biting at his leg. They call him the Fool because they do not understand him. He truly understands his place in Universe, and floats with great awareness in the river of Infinite Flux, the Tao."
 - The Fool

"The fool is the invisible, what is going to be and what lies behind it all. In us it is the divine folly of the soul. In general it is the mystical spirit which lies behind everything. It essentialy is the unmanifest, hence value 0, Also it is the begining, it is Aleph in the hebrew alphabet which gives rise to all other things. Again here we come back to the spirit which lies behind all things. The fool does not see good and evil, he sees only one thing. He does not create change through his will unlike the magus which is the link between kether and binah, he flows with the change allowing it to work for him. Both the magus and the fool have the virtus, the fool is just the path of the elightened spirit. New changes coming in to being, necessary. Neither good nor bad, just a part of the flow. These coming changes are already present within either us or our environment."
Jim

"Daft but loveable.
Drunken laughter.
The sage who sits down in the eye of a hurricane and calmly tells you that nothing matters.
Just be."
Micheal

"I believe this card represents our inner soul...our Soul that was born with all knowlegde. When we are placed into a human shell, our Soul hides/ or our physical shell covers/ that knowledge. it is too great for us to know at once. And it defeats the "Love is the Law, Love under Will" principal. We know deeply what the truth is and we view it with eyes anticipating great sudden "knowing". Instead, look at the" 0 Trumph" with your conscience "eyes" open...for only then can you begin to see what the Soul already "knows"."
 -a friend

"Although the card means something different every time, I once read it as an expression of the querent's life cycles: spiralling out and back into the open fool were all these strange forms and permutations of his or her life and Mind. I saw that the Queen was calling the querent, the Lover, the Self, and the querent was swimming through the lives in confusion, hearing the call and full of longing. There is much more, but alas the information does not come easily in words. However, it was such an unusual reading for me that I thought I would mention it here."
Sasha

"The fool personifies freedom in its extreem. For the fool anything is possible. There are no boundries or rules for this being. The fool just is, and is pure in just being. When we are opposed by outside forces often we get hurt or frustrated. The fool is the part of us that can not be hurt or devoured and will always be there. It is our eternal soul. It is couragous and does not acknowlege limitation. It is our very purpose of being."
Stephen Jacob Martin

"You do not list the card I wish to speak of, except that in the FAQ someone has asked about "the black card with the red sigil." I call this card DAATH, for I assign it to Daath on the Tree. In your FAQ you treat it as an altar piece. But I have successfully incorporated it into my readings. I interpret it as the abilityto make one's own path. Having imbibed and grokked the lessons of life's Teachers, the person receiving this symbol is now strong enough, able enough, wise enough, to forge their way thru the many dangers and obstacles, and clear the road so they can gain entry to the new country. I often equate it with being able to navigate the asteroid belt on the way to exploration of greater space. It is a very timely symbol, the Daath card, for this Uranus/Pluto aspected time of the millenium."
Georgelle

"The fool is courage. This courage comes from knowing that the body is not the self. The body is temporary whereas the soul is the eternal part and parcel of the Supreme Lord."
Szander Starr

"A situation or person is not being judged clearly. The querent is not seeing the truth about the problem he's facing. Basically not doing the right thing."
Katie

"The fool may be viewed as a revolving door, an opening and a mirror between our physical world and the world of spirit. Many choose to view the fool symbolically as the idea, or the initial seed of the idea, but perhaps the fool is the membrane through which the idea must pass in order to assume form. In other words the fool IS serendipity.

In relation to the self, the fool may be seen to represent the "child's eye" - our ability to view the world without knowledge or preconditions so that each moment becomes an experience.

Where the fool is personified externally, the intellectual may choose to laugh AT rather than WITH him/her. In doing so they miss the opportunity that the fool provides for reflection. Despite their lack of finesse and social conditioning, such people provide living examples of the patterns and moods of spirit untamed, and hence, extremities of the influences that we all struggle to control in our lives.

By understanding our heart we may understand the fool, and by understanding the fool we may understand our heart. -Leighton McAndrew

The Fool is placed on the Path connecting Kether with Chokmah and he represents the moving force of Atziluth (the achetypical world) before it take any form in Briah (the creative world). Atziluth is the fountain in whose depths we find the sexuality and the symbols of religion. Setting them in movement means informing them with life. The Fool therefore is the very first creative seed in the formation of the Tree of Life. He has not reached Binah as yet. It's supported in the card by the symbol of the Cadeceus Wand flying freely. The Caduceus is the Creative Word or the Logos of the Magus, who's fully in Binah.

The Fool is inspiration striking as ligthening, and of whom this author wrote:-

BACCHANAL DANCING

Forms break up in the Bacchanal dance of life. When I ceased to know right from wrong, I ceased to worry. Then people worried on my behalf, thinking I was mad. But I rejoiced.
Drunk as a sailor on liquor or life. What did it matter? I lived!
And the blaming eyes that followed me, embarrashed on my behalf, were not mine.
They mourned for me, while I rejoiced for myself. Now tell me, which of us was the smartest?

"Hear me, ye people of sighing!
The sorrows of pain and regret
Are left to the dead and the dying,
The folk that not know me as yet."

The Fool is Bacchus (litterallly meaning: "the furious") ... He's the furious aspect of Dionysus and his horns are explained by J.G. Frazer's The Golden Bough, who conclude of Dionysus: "We have seen that he was represented sometimes as a goat and sometimes as a bull .... " As the goat, he's closely assosiated with Pan and the Satyrs - and aspect of his innocent rage and frenzy. The bull is further represented through the Hebrew letter Aleph, which means an Ox. The bull in the Mithras myth symbolise fertility and the symbols seems to support the assumption that he's the Creator Himself, yet set in movement opposed to Kether which only carries the seed of a possible movement. Crowley support my view in The Wake World, where he write of The Fool: "But really it is the man who meant to wake up, and did wake up. So that is his House, he is the old King himself, and so are you. So he wouldn't care what any one thought he was."

The frenzy is the Magical Clarity in which form cease to exist and where there is no right or wrong. It is innocense in its purest form. All the symbols in the card suggest it. The wild beasts can not hurt the innocent of heart. The Fool step on a crocodile, leading the idea toward Hoor-Paar-Kraat (Harpocrates), God of Silence and the innocent Horus child.The Magical Clarity IS the Magical Silence (Tacere), the Fourth Power of the SphinX which balance the three others and absorb them. It seems to be suggested in the balance between Water and Fire (Diamond and Bolt) in The Fool's hands. In that way he has some common symbolism with ATU Art.

Of other symbols we find the Vulture, symbolic of nurturing the Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt and sacred to Isis. The Fool is the King Himself. There's the butterfly,symbolic of the transformation of the soul from one condition to another (for a strong use of this symbol, do see Kieslowsky's "The Double Life of Veronica"). There's the grapes, which is a common allusion to Dionysus. The Dove, symbolic of the informing Holy Ghost ... The Vesica Pisces around him symbolic of the Kteis or Vagina, again a symbol of creation. His breasts suggests his double sex. He's neither man nor woman, but both. His sack contain coins marked with the entire zodiac. He owns the treasure of treasures of the universe. One can go on endlessly about this card, so dear readers, not to tire you anymore I'd better stop here.... :-)"
Bjarne Salling Pedersen

"Caught between an abyss and a pack of wild beasts. looks like hell to me, in fact to any 'I' it is hell, obstacles, devouring forces, devious traps, the fool is up a well-known creek by any rational assessment. But the fool, whose leg is being eaten by a tiger, does not shout 'agh my leg', does not react', as a self-defending self would 'react'. He fears nothing not because there is nothing to fear, but because fear is the nothing, and he is the nothing, and danger is the nothing, and well-being is the nothing, and nowhere in this whole picture is there a 'self' to endanger, or a self to protect, or a self to adorn. In the words of Yeshe Tsogyal, 'Domiciled in that land where nothing is born or dies, one seeks but can no longer find the extinct name of the death of those who have been born. In the sublime sky of all the Buddhas of the three times, rejoicing that one can consecrate all activity to Awakening, one seeks and can no longer find the extinct name of ill-fortune and misery."
'mammal '

"You have achieved or found the way to liberation that in it self is greater than the magus, a card reflecting true power by its unfetterd / unchained freedom. Sometimes no resistance is the truest of routes, a reed bends in the storm."
mike sword1

"Creation coming from a sate of ethericalness, from nothing .The echo of nothing, the folly existance throught the state of air, i think somone metion the fool as the holy ghost, the shroud of nothing unveiled."
R.Kain

"Usually when I pull the Fool from my Universal Tarot deck,it seems to me, according to the cards around it, that the spread is probably not very accurate, like the deck is not going to respond to my question."
Rebecca Kinman

"A worry free spirit. Don't worry about things you can't change."
Hans

"Simply everything, and yet nothing."
Vanessa

"The new born; falling to the floor and missing it; his yoke is light"
Hilmar

"Stumbling into the right places.""
Deena DeNaro

"It is the Wile E. coyote factor of Creation. This is the card of total Trust in One's ownSelf. Knowing that even if you step off the precipice, only the landing will hurt. BUT like Wile E., another path to creation is started. A quanta of Paths are available to the Fool only because they have never been tod other wise. nor would they accept that propsition. The seedling waiting to grow from the concrete of a City sidewalk."
DayaLi

"This symbol shows us again that infinity and zero are conterminous. In a very real sense, what is expressed "is not".
It is to experience the "Now" which is free from who we are, what we conceive, and our own bias. What we normally experience is memory, re-collection, (High Priestess), colored by our own artistry (Magus). "Now" is free from time, and free from recollection or prediction. To disassociate (or associate?) in this way can most certainly lead to madness in this world of ours. We use the limits of the world, and the discipline of our will to make manifest our intent. The Fool represents that "energy" to existence that is free to assume any form. This free energy is itself "not" in the way that it is not possibility per se, but the potential of possibility. The basis of inspiration...."
Fenderson Phallus Farseid

"Liberation - the real self.
All other cards represent powers or attributes, which are limiting to what is innately free."
John Califf

This androgynous character deserves to be shot. Why even attempt to come into a world so disillusioning and full of strife as this one. But ah, the wonder of innocence; the joy of leaping before you look. Makes one wonder about this guy/girl.:"
Lancast Vangrayond

"With all the knowledge and experience present in our world, it seems that one should be able to easily accrue some sense of foresight and understanding of how events come about. Our Fool has not bothered to pick up on this notion. That, or the world in which he lives changes with such speed and vehemence that he cannot keep track of signs from one moment to the next. Either way, he moves quickly and carelessly, having no knowledge of what mysterious events might next come to pass. Yet, being foolish, he roams about with trinkets he's collected (although he can't quite remember where he got them) and an unceasing curiosity, blindly walking into the next moment."
Clay Fouts

"The Fool represents a begining, and an end to initiation. As we Set forth along the Path to Power, and weave the thread of our Essence through the Matrix that Becomes our initiation, ultimatly we take the Knowledge and Experience that we gain and distill it down to the simplicity that is Truth. At every instance that this occurs we pass through a different Gate, and we have a begining, and an end. All subsequent cards relate back to this essential Key."
Daemon

"Aw, to live in the world of The Fool....truly a place of unconditional love. The Fool has no preconceived conditions which promote limitations....he is free to Live and explore with no preconditioning that he needs to transcend.....just merely Experience Life. A great example of Living/Loving in the moment!"
Mary

"The Fool represents the one who naturally knows his will. This is a person not blinded by intellectual puzzles, or self-examination. The Fool has the exact same tools as The Magus, completes the same tasks; yet the fool juggles these tools as amusement on the path of his True Will."
leo

"Perfect bliss, Harmony and Balance. The Fool also expresses the idea complete confidence: knowing ones Will. This card also represents the taking of calculated risks, and that it is better to suffer the consequences of ones action, than to not take action at all.
The dog's name is "Because." "
Gerald del Campo

"So many different interpretations. Why do you think?"
ann amos

The Holy Ghost. The Fool, along with the Hanged Man, and the Aeon, is one of three unique Cards among the Major Arcana. Nineteen of the Cards have astrological attributions. These three are attributed to the three volatile elements of alchemy: Fire (The Aeon), Water (The Hanged Man), and Air (The Fool). The Fool is, therefore, Pneuma. His is, in a sense, the Divine Mind. The Airy part of the Ruach. Hence, the association with the Holy Ghost. The Pentecostal Dove descends from the Grail he holds in his right hand. The Aeon, would symbolize the All Father, and the Hanged Man would symbolize the Son. (Christ). Also, the tri-partite structure of the Divine Individuality is implicit here. The Mind (Fool), the Soul (Hanged Man), and the Spirit (Aeon). The color coded Rosy Cross symbol on the backs of the cards shows the Formula Of Interaction of the three volatilia. Goethe's Color Wheel is hidden within the color coding, as is the Unicursal Hexagram. The left arm of the Cross is red and is associated, on one level, with the Aeon, on yet another level, with Binah on the Tree Of Life. The right arm of the cross is blue and is associa- ted with the Hanged Man, or with Chokmah. The upper arm of the Cross is yellow and is associated with the Fool, and with Kether. Together, these three elements, their color correspondences, and their Tarot attributions, contain an alchemical key that unlocks all of the color correspondences in the Deck. What do you get when you mix Fire and Water? Steam. The Fool, then, is the archetype of all manifestation. He is the result of the 0=2 Formula. Duality comes from Nothingness. Hence, life begins."
Vinny Benoit

"This is the base state of man. This is man as he is born. But there is a secret here that each man and woman carries within themself. It is a riddle that each and every man and woman faces in the mirror every day of their life. This is the base metal of the alchemist and forms the foundation that leads towards personal divinity - the Graal. It is the fundamental condition necessary for the walk(Quest)towards personal enlightenment, and it is the condition which remanifests again and again as each new understanding manifests into consciousness revealing anew another question and mystery to be answered."
Roger Whitaker

"The fool is being guided forward but not outward, in other words, he is not looking to where he is leaping. He is being guided by an "inner guidance". Better known as a gut feeling or a hunch. Fools are gifts to the world and give a lot of themselves. The outer world views him as a fool....but inside he's a master!"
Alison

"The fool message is not one of just ignorence but of hope for future knowledge.
If one is to stay in blissful ignorence the whole lesson of life will be lost on the investment of thier birth. One must look before they leap for how may you judge the distance of your jump with out knowledge of the crevice. Sure the fool has not jumped alot and thus lacks experience and training in life's spiritual and physical aspects. It is, though, through being the inexperienced fool that one learns of life in it's physical and spiritual essences. Then useing this knowledge one may pass on to the first card and really start thier journy.
Don't be decieved that this card preaches the happiness of ignorence, rather it cautions against it."
E.Gonzalez

"Not a blind fool, but a blithe one. If you always look before you leap, you'll never leap. The fool may fall--or he may simply continue to walk out onto the thin air. Think of flying in your dreams: the point where you wonder why you never tried that before."
Kristine

"Opening a new chapter in life; naivete, carelessness."
Jaime Kimpton

"Not aware of his own potential. He could do everything if he just tried.
It is the nature of the Universe to protect the fool. As long as he stays a fool, no harm will come to him.
Knowledge means that you have to take responsibility, the fool hasn't done that (yet)."
Hans