The Fool

Depictions of The Fool from various Tarot decks

The Fool is an unnumbered card in the Major Arcana in most traditional Tarot decks. Some systems place the card, labeled "0" as either the first card, the last card, or the second-to-last card in the trumps.

It is associated with the qlippoth of Belial ("Worthless") on the Kabbalistic Tree of Death.

The Fool's elemental correspondence is air.

Depiction

In the earliest tarot decks, the Fool is usually depicted as a beggar or a vagabond. In the Visconti-Sforza Tarot deck, the Fool wears ragged clothes and stockings without shoes, and carries a stick on his back. He has what appear to be feathers in his hair. His unruly beard and feathers may relate to the tradition of the woodwose or wild man. The Tarot of Marseilles and related decks similarly depict a bearded person wearing what may be a jester's hat; he always carries a bundle of his belongings on a stick (called a bindle) slung over his back. He appears to be getting chased away by an animal, either a dog or a cat. The animal has torn his pants.

In the Rider–Waite Tarot deck and other esoteric decks made for cartomancy, the Fool is shown as a young man, walking unknowingly toward the brink of a precipice. In the Rider–Waite deck, he is also portrayed as having with him a small dog. The Fool holds a white rose (a symbol of freedom from baser desires) in one hand, and in the other a small bundle of possessions, representing untapped collective knowledge.

In French suited tarot decks that do not use the traditional emblematic images of Italian suited decks for the suit of trumps, the Fool is typically made up as a jester or bard, reminiscent of the Joker often included with the standard 52-card deck.

Alternate names

The Fool is titled Le Mat in the Tarot of Marseilles, and Il Matto in most Italian language tarot decks. These archaic words mean "the madman" or "the beggar", and may be related to the word for 'checkmate' in relation to the original use of tarot cards for gaming purposes.

In the Hieronymus Bosch Tarot by Travis McHenry, this card is called The Wayfarer, and uses Hieronymus Bosch's painting of the same name to provide a depiction nearly identical to that found in traditional Tarot decks.

Divinatory meaning

In divination, this card usually indicates folly, mania, extravagance, and new beginnings.

In reversed position, it means: negligence, absence, and carelessness.

In popular culture

The Fool card has been integrated into various forms of art.

• The hero in The Holy Mountain (1973) is a thief whose journey is compared with that of the Fool.
• The lead character in the horror film The People Under the Stairs (1991) is called "Fool" as his nickname. It was derived from his sister's tarot reading for him.
• The 2007 variant of the Marvel Comics character Foolkiller, Mike Trace, leaves a tarot card of the Fool at the scene of his murders.
• The 2009 musical project Teargarden by Kaleidyscope by The Smashing Pumpkins is a series of songs representing the Fool's journey through the tarot.