THE FOOL

0. The Foolish Man

Upright: Folly, Expiation, Wavering

Reversed: Hesitation, Instability, Trouble arising herefrom

S.L. MacGregor Mathers

The Tarot, 1888

29. The Fool of the Tarot

Day of miscarriage and failure in all things.

Arthur Edward Waite

The Mysteries of Magic (Eliphas Levi), 1896

ZERO. THE FOOL.

Upright: Folly, mania, extravagance, intoxication, delirium, frenzy, bewrayment.

Reversed: Negligence, absence, distributions, carelessness, apathy, nullity, vanity.

Arthur Edward Waite

The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1910

Card 0. «The Fool»

«Man.» An ordinary man. A separate man. The uninitiate Lower consciousness. The end of a ray not knowing its relation to the centre.

P.D. Ouspensky

The Symbolism of the Tarot, 1913

21. The Foolish Man

Hebrew Letter: Shin
Hieroglyphic: The Arrow
Kabalah: No affinity
Day/Month: No affinity

Papus (Dr. Gerard Encausse)

The Tarot of the Bohemians, 1914

Arcana XXII or Zero

Astrological Sign: Earth

“The Fool as the denial of all sense, nonsense.”

A.E. Thierens, Ph.D.

The General Book of the Tarot, 1930

Key 0 — THE FOOL

Divinitory Meaning: The subject of the reading is a dreamer, a mystic. He has the desire to accomplish a great goal. He must be careful to make the right choice. If he thinks that “when ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise,” then he is indeed the Fool.

Reversed: Folly, indiscretion, thoughtless action. The choice is likely to be faulty.

Eden Gray

A Complete Guide to the Tarot, 1970

The Fool

The legendary meanings imply the value: the Querent, regardless of sex. This seems a little more likely than a reliance on the court cards of the Minor Arcana for “dark-haired people with blue eyes” or whatever. His place in the Tarot would be all of the following: before the Ace of Pentacles, after the King of Swords, before the Magician, and after The World. He relates to every card in the deck.

Bill Butler

Dictionary of the Tarot, 1975