(6) The Fool
This will probably turn into something with exerts from different books, and how the Fool is an archetype blah blah blah, who knows if I'll ever finish it. I'll also blah blah blah about the Fool's journey eventually, and how the Fool moves into the World. I almost forgot I had all this awesome information. Possible spoilers.
First I'm going to explain some things about the tarot that need to be touched upon before I delve into any sort of intense explanations of tarot symbolism. There are seventy-eight cards in a tarot deck consisting off twenty-one major arcana (or trumphs), and four suits of fourteen cards each (wands, coins [also disks], cups, and swords for those curious) known as the minor arcana. The four suits of fourteen cards consist of ten pip and four face cards (pages, knights, queens and kings, again, for those curious). Each deck also has one Fool, or Joker. The major arcana is numbered one through twenty-one, why I refer to the Fool as a separate part of the deck is because the Fool is represented by a 0, a number of infinite possibilities. Also, there's that wonderful saying "Jokers are wild," which means the Joker can be just about anything. We have our zero, a clean slate or new beginning, OR TWELVE RANDOM PERSONAE. Hint hint wildcard hint hint.
Traditionally the Fool can be used at either the beginning of the deck or the end of the deck, representing the optimistic outlook on a new journey, and the nativity, as well as wisdom (don't ask meee), of living in the moment. The Fool is the one that goes through the journey of life, or the tarot (Kabbalah-sob, it all corresponds), and it seems to be that way in the game. The Fool is also one of the only major arcana that is an archetype (also, if you're a Persona fan, totally check out Jungian archetypes if you haven't already :|b). The other one being the Magician. NOT SURPRISINGLY they are both pathways on either side of Kether.
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.
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from The Illustrated Guide to the Tarot by Naomi Ozaniec
Key symbols: The mountain top, the river, the journey, the seed of new beginnings, the eye of truth
Hi guys! My name is Souji, I just transferred from the city and I'm totally getting thrown into this crazy journey to find the truth! ...I hope I don't need to say anything else here. The journey, the seed of new beginnings, and the truth are three very prominent reoccurring themes in Persona 4, especially pertaining to Souji.
The Nature of the Fool
The Fool is a universal figure. He conceals a deep knowing that comes from standing outside the conventions of society and is often able to bring unexpected solutions to situations. The Fool displays the qualities found in children. He is playful, trusting, spontaneous, and joyful; the child who laughs at the pretensions of the adult world and shows up the absurdities and shallowness of social conventions. The Fool is a great liberator who will expose pomposity whether great and small.
Archetypal Traveler
The Fool is the archetypal traveler who stays just long enough to break old patterns and set new ones. What do you think the Fool carries? What qualities of being have been packed away ready to be unfolded? If you stand poised to take a new step in life, examine the qualities that you possess that have brought you to this point. Like the Fool, you may find that you have everything you need.
The Fool is often accompanied by an animal, commonly a dog, which is a descendant of the wilder wolf. The animal represents the instinctive life that accompanies us wherever we go.
Being the one that moves from city to city because of his parents [traveling] occupations, Souji's continually cycling through new places, and looking at them from an outside-on-the-inside point of view. He usually keeps his distance, but unlike most places he goes, he really makes himself a home in Inaba, but still realizes that in the end, he has to leave. Just like the Fool, his journey doesn't end, instead, it just begins again.
Divinatory Significance
This is a time for change. Step forward with faith in the future and in yourself. Trust in the unfolding direction of your life. More into the future with child-like simplicity. Build no great expectations either as hopes or fears. Accept what comes as it unfolds. Remain focused only on the moment.
Reversed
When reversed, this trump indicates a delay or setback to plans. Perhaps you are contemplating a course of action that is not in accord with your true wishes. Look at everyone's motives in the situation. A poor choice. Look before you leap.
.
.
.
from The Tarot Handbook by Angeles Arrien
NOTE: the Thoth deck has its miniscule differences from a traditional deck. See wikipedia.
Fear Not,
What is not real never was and never will be.
What is real, always was and cannot be destroyed.
-Bhagavad Gita
The Fool "one who walks without fear" is the universal principle of what is associated with the state of consciousness that we experience before birth and after death. In life's experience, this state of consciousness is often labeled or experienced as being mystical, transcendent, ecstatic, and transpersonal in its nature.
The portraiture of the Fool is represented by Dionysus, the Spring-time god who is wrapped with four coils of a large umbilical cord. With his Bacchus horns and grapes, Dionysus represents the creative power of giving birth to new forms from a state of wonder and anticipation, rather than from fear. The Oriental symbol of fear is the tiger. Fear attempts to gnaw at his leg yet Dionysus doesn't give any power to fear. He looks straight ahead; therefore, fear (the tiger) cannot make a dent.
The Fool's rich capacity to give birth to various forms is represented by his green tunic and the difference swirls of the umbilical cord. The first swirl of the umbilical cord goes around the heart as a symbol of the Fool's nature to give birth to new feelings; the second swirl has four symbols resting upon it as ways of giving birth to new ways of health and well-being (the caducei, the winged serpents facing each other); birth to new ways of transforming (the butterfly); birth to new ways of seeing limits to vulture-like people and situations (the vulture); and birth to new ways of being compassionate with one's vulnerabilities and sensitivities (the dove). The third swirl of the umbilical cord reveals two people intertwined in an embrace which represents our capacity to give birth to new forms of relationship; and the last coil of the umbilical reveals the Egyptian Crocodile God, Souchos. At one period in Egypt, crocodiles were thought of as oracles and were embalmed when dead (Leach and Fried). The Crocodile represents the power to give birth to creative vision in our work and creativity.
The Fool is the alchemist who holds fire in one hand and the upside-down cup in the other hand. He unifies feelings (water) with energy and vision (fire) to create original and innovative ideas (steam, the white drops in the background). The Fool uses his multiple talents (the astrological signs on the coins) to generate abundance (the bag full of coins) and fruitfulness (the grapes). With his sun-belt, he commits himself to bringing creativity into solid usable matter. The Fool represents the ecstatic adventure of growing and unfolding in our own journey of the hero and heroine (the flowers between his legs in their different stages of growth and unfoldment).
The Fool As An Outer Mirror
Whenever you are drawn to the Fool or might pull it from the deck, it represents your ability to give birth to new forms from a place of courage, wonder, and anticipation. The Fool indicates that you are operating from the essence of who you are. Somewhere in your life you are experiencing the courage to be who you are without fear. This is also a creative time to implement the creative transcendent energy that is moving through you now.
First I'm going to explain some things about the tarot that need to be touched upon before I delve into any sort of intense explanations of tarot symbolism. There are seventy-eight cards in a tarot deck consisting off twenty-one major arcana (or trumphs), and four suits of fourteen cards each (wands, coins [also disks], cups, and swords for those curious) known as the minor arcana. The four suits of fourteen cards consist of ten pip and four face cards (pages, knights, queens and kings, again, for those curious). Each deck also has one Fool, or Joker. The major arcana is numbered one through twenty-one, why I refer to the Fool as a separate part of the deck is because the Fool is represented by a 0, a number of infinite possibilities. Also, there's that wonderful saying "Jokers are wild," which means the Joker can be just about anything. We have our zero, a clean slate or new beginning, OR TWELVE RANDOM PERSONAE. Hint hint wildcard hint hint.
Traditionally the Fool can be used at either the beginning of the deck or the end of the deck, representing the optimistic outlook on a new journey, and the nativity, as well as wisdom (don't ask meee), of living in the moment. The Fool is the one that goes through the journey of life, or the tarot (Kabbalah-sob, it all corresponds), and it seems to be that way in the game. The Fool is also one of the only major arcana that is an archetype (also, if you're a Persona fan, totally check out Jungian archetypes if you haven't already :|b). The other one being the Magician. NOT SURPRISINGLY they are both pathways on either side of Kether.
.
.
.
from The Illustrated Guide to the Tarot by Naomi Ozaniec
Key symbols: The mountain top, the river, the journey, the seed of new beginnings, the eye of truth
Hi guys! My name is Souji, I just transferred from the city and I'm totally getting thrown into this crazy journey to find the truth! ...I hope I don't need to say anything else here. The journey, the seed of new beginnings, and the truth are three very prominent reoccurring themes in Persona 4, especially pertaining to Souji.
The Nature of the Fool
The Fool is a universal figure. He conceals a deep knowing that comes from standing outside the conventions of society and is often able to bring unexpected solutions to situations. The Fool displays the qualities found in children. He is playful, trusting, spontaneous, and joyful; the child who laughs at the pretensions of the adult world and shows up the absurdities and shallowness of social conventions. The Fool is a great liberator who will expose pomposity whether great and small.
Archetypal Traveler
The Fool is the archetypal traveler who stays just long enough to break old patterns and set new ones. What do you think the Fool carries? What qualities of being have been packed away ready to be unfolded? If you stand poised to take a new step in life, examine the qualities that you possess that have brought you to this point. Like the Fool, you may find that you have everything you need.
The Fool is often accompanied by an animal, commonly a dog, which is a descendant of the wilder wolf. The animal represents the instinctive life that accompanies us wherever we go.
Being the one that moves from city to city because of his parents [traveling] occupations, Souji's continually cycling through new places, and looking at them from an outside-on-the-inside point of view. He usually keeps his distance, but unlike most places he goes, he really makes himself a home in Inaba, but still realizes that in the end, he has to leave. Just like the Fool, his journey doesn't end, instead, it just begins again.
Divinatory Significance
This is a time for change. Step forward with faith in the future and in yourself. Trust in the unfolding direction of your life. More into the future with child-like simplicity. Build no great expectations either as hopes or fears. Accept what comes as it unfolds. Remain focused only on the moment.
Reversed
When reversed, this trump indicates a delay or setback to plans. Perhaps you are contemplating a course of action that is not in accord with your true wishes. Look at everyone's motives in the situation. A poor choice. Look before you leap.
.
.
.
from The Tarot Handbook by Angeles Arrien
NOTE: the Thoth deck has its miniscule differences from a traditional deck. See wikipedia.
Fear Not,
What is not real never was and never will be.
What is real, always was and cannot be destroyed.
-Bhagavad Gita
The Fool "one who walks without fear" is the universal principle of what is associated with the state of consciousness that we experience before birth and after death. In life's experience, this state of consciousness is often labeled or experienced as being mystical, transcendent, ecstatic, and transpersonal in its nature.
The portraiture of the Fool is represented by Dionysus, the Spring-time god who is wrapped with four coils of a large umbilical cord. With his Bacchus horns and grapes, Dionysus represents the creative power of giving birth to new forms from a state of wonder and anticipation, rather than from fear. The Oriental symbol of fear is the tiger. Fear attempts to gnaw at his leg yet Dionysus doesn't give any power to fear. He looks straight ahead; therefore, fear (the tiger) cannot make a dent.
The Fool's rich capacity to give birth to various forms is represented by his green tunic and the difference swirls of the umbilical cord. The first swirl of the umbilical cord goes around the heart as a symbol of the Fool's nature to give birth to new feelings; the second swirl has four symbols resting upon it as ways of giving birth to new ways of health and well-being (the caducei, the winged serpents facing each other); birth to new ways of transforming (the butterfly); birth to new ways of seeing limits to vulture-like people and situations (the vulture); and birth to new ways of being compassionate with one's vulnerabilities and sensitivities (the dove). The third swirl of the umbilical cord reveals two people intertwined in an embrace which represents our capacity to give birth to new forms of relationship; and the last coil of the umbilical reveals the Egyptian Crocodile God, Souchos. At one period in Egypt, crocodiles were thought of as oracles and were embalmed when dead (Leach and Fried). The Crocodile represents the power to give birth to creative vision in our work and creativity.
The Fool is the alchemist who holds fire in one hand and the upside-down cup in the other hand. He unifies feelings (water) with energy and vision (fire) to create original and innovative ideas (steam, the white drops in the background). The Fool uses his multiple talents (the astrological signs on the coins) to generate abundance (the bag full of coins) and fruitfulness (the grapes). With his sun-belt, he commits himself to bringing creativity into solid usable matter. The Fool represents the ecstatic adventure of growing and unfolding in our own journey of the hero and heroine (the flowers between his legs in their different stages of growth and unfoldment).
The Fool As An Outer Mirror
Whenever you are drawn to the Fool or might pull it from the deck, it represents your ability to give birth to new forms from a place of courage, wonder, and anticipation. The Fool indicates that you are operating from the essence of who you are. Somewhere in your life you are experiencing the courage to be who you are without fear. This is also a creative time to implement the creative transcendent energy that is moving through you now.