MAJOR ARCANA
The Fool Tarot Meanings
The Fool tarot meanings are some of the easiest to remember. This is because it is the first card you tend to learn when getting started with Tarot, and symbolises the very first step on all of life’s journeys. With this in mind, there’s no surprise that this card most commonly refers to a new beginning and taking the first step on a brand new adventure. Something we all have personal experience of in some way.
There is a naivety to The Fool, but it’s important that we don’t underestimate what it is truly capable of. For us, it can be a freeing and motivational card, that symbolises a new chapter of our lives, one that we feel excited about and ready to face head-on. It is a space of complete expansion and the ability to enjoy a wealth of possibility that lies ahead.
The Fool Tarot Meanings - Upright
When you draw The Fool in an upright position, it is most often a positive sign. Some of the positive meanings of The Fool in the upright position are:
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New Beginnings
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Leap of faith
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Enthusiasm
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Innocence
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Spontaneity
In the upright position, The Fool is often a sign that you are about to set off on an exciting adventure, one that you were destined to go on. It can also encourage you to take that first step, put worries and doubts aside and take a leap of faith into the unknown. As the illustration shows, you are excited about this new event in your life, you are riding high on the adrenaline of it all, so keep that energy up and jump without fear.
The Fool Tarot Meanings - Reversed
When The Fool is in the reversed position, it most commonly comes as a warning for the person having the reading. Even though in the upright position, The Fool is encouraging you to jump and have faith that everything will be ok, reversed, this can become something of a warning to take care and to not take unnecessary risks. Some of the more negative connotations for The Fool in the reversed position are:
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Naivety
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Risk-taking
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Distraction
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Stupidity
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Recklessness
To help me remember the meanings of The Fool both upright and reversed, I often think about the advice I would give to a child or someone who is a complete beginner at something. What positive advice would you give, what warnings would you offer, those are usually the main meanings of The Fool tarot card.
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Reading The Fool in a Tarot Spread
When it comes to The Fool, there are a few different ways we can approach it. Of course, we need to keep in mind the context within which the card has shown itself, which means paying close attention to the question asked in the reading and its position within the spread.
The best place to begin is to place yourself in the role of The Fool and ask yourself how the other energies being offered by surrounding cards, will influence you. This will help to give you a better idea of what The Fool is telling you to do or not do. If you’re interested in reading more about how The Fool works in practice, I recently wrote all about it on my personal Substack blog here!
The Fool as an Invitation
Instead of viewing The Fool as a flat sign that you’re going to start a new life cycle or start a new beginning, how can you realign that and read it as an invitation? What could The Fool be inviting you to do in context to the question you’ve asked the cards?
For The Fool, this invitation could be the following:
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An invitation to explore new avenues or new ways of doing something
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An invitation to explore fear and the current risks of your situation
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An invitation to connect with your inner child and explore how that would change the situation
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An invitation to look at any reckless behaviour you may have experienced
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An invitation to explore the possibilities of a situation and how they would feel
The Fool as Sage Advice
Sometimes the Tarot can be acting the same way as our best friend would, giving us advice and guidance from a place of deep love and respect. That advice may not always be what we want to hear, but I guarantee it’s what we need to hear at that moment. The Fool may be appearing to offer you this advice in order to help you solve your problem or overcome your current challenge.
Some advice The Fool may offer is:
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It may be time for a fresh start that puts you first
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Your reluctance to see the reality of a situation is causing a blockage (especially if it’s a question around finances!)
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Figure out what it is that you want to achieve and go for it, ignore others that may try and bring you down on your way
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Embrace the passion and enthusiasm you have right now and allow it to take you where you need to be
The Fool as a Lesson
Tarot can also deliver harsh lessons to us that may be hard to swallow or a welcome addition to our current situation. When we view Tarot as a lesson, it’s important to remember that it’s up to us to decide whether we want to be taught that lesson, or if we’re going to ignore it and carry on regardless. Again, Tarot is not absolute, so nothing is set in stone. The lessons that Tarot offers require inspired action and that can only come from you and your desire to evolve.
Some lessons that The Fool may offer you are:
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A lesson on growth and becoming a responsible adult with commitments
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A lesson on caring for your inner child
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A lesson on when and how to take a leap of faith
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A lesson around reality and fantasy
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A lesson around endings and beginnings, especially the lesson of letting something go in order to attract something better
The Fool as a Redirection
Finally, we have the card as a redirection. The Fool is especially aligned with this framing due to its meanings of new beginnings and fresh cycles. Sometimes we will get The Fool in one of the future cards or in a space that suggests a possible block or outcome. When this happens, it can often symbolise a need to redirect your energy or focus.
As a redirection, The Fool could symbolise a need to:
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Let go of something that is no longer serving you in order to pursue something that you feel more aligned with
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Focus on a new area or priority within your life
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Stop focusing on what others think or taking the advice of others that may be leading you down the wrong path
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Let go of control and allow yourself to be led by your intuition, rather than your logical brain
The Fool - Number 0
The Fool Tarot card is intangible and so it makes sense that it is allocated the non-number of zero. The simple circular structure of the zero perfectly hints at the unending nature of The Fool within all of us. We are forever The Fool and will always return to this foundational state as we move through the world.
The number zero contains with in it absolutely nothing and yet endless possibility, just like The Fool Tarot card.
The Fool - Uranus
The Fool’s astrological sign is the planet Uranus. This planet rules over areas such as change, revolution and the unexpected. It has a very slow cycle and so mirrors the slow unraveling that The Fool experiences throughout the Tarot journey.
Uranus was named for the Greek god of the sky. It may result in a slow burn but when it does come around, it strikes quickly and sharply.
The Fool - The Hero
The Fool is our innocent hero, right at the beginning of his character building and life changing journey. Within the 12 archetypes, it could easily fall into the category of ‘The Hero’ or ‘The Innocent’.
Within the Tarot there is a concept known as The Fool’s Journey, which follows The Fool on a hero quest, watching and observing as he interacts with the 20 other archetypes within the Major Arcana.
