Fool's Gold, True Gold
and a Little Bit about Tarot

by Peter Fortunato, MFA, CHT

You fool -- how foolish to think of
Tarot cards at a time like this!

Get serious about your future, there’s too much to do today, and anyway aren’t we rational creatures the agents of our own destinies? Tarot is an historical curiosity, and though the painted cards might have a certain beauty, their “magic” is only superstition, right? Why, they might even pose a danger to the gullible, the needy, or those who are, to put it politely, un peu fou, a little bit mad. And if this isn’t implied by a card that’s actually called the Fool, then the one that’s sometimes called the Mountebank ought to be a warning.

All the more incredible then to claim that this Fool, the number O card, has the highest value in the deck and is a key to ancient wisdom: in fact it embodies the very spirit of Tarot, a rather playful spirit, sometimes mischievous, and definitely hard to pin down, but all the same a teacher to be respected. I can only suggest a little bit about this wisdom in a short piece of writing, and this is because the Tarot has correspondences to numerology, alchemy, astrology, and the archetypal symbolism of the Collective Unconscious.

For those who’ve never looked into the traditional 78 card deck, it’s easy to find basic information on the World Wide Web. One thing you’ll notice is that over the centuries occultists and artists have been inspired to create many various designs for the individual cards. This speaks to the archetypal fascination the Tarot exerts. If you’re looking for a Tarot reading, the Internet also offers many possibilities, and as with all things promising to be “wondrous strange” beware of hype. Beware of fortune tellers and those promising you good luck for a fee: fortune telling is literally against the law in New York among other places. Be as specific as possible in phrasing any questions that you have: this way you can recognize any answers you receive. Don’t let someone try to sell you fool’s gold!

A card reader might be relatively naïve about the deeper meanings in the deck, yet nonetheless be of assistance to a seeker. This is because the wisdom is in the cards themselves, and a reader or diviner only interprets their import. That said, those readers with genuine abilities need only refer to the cards as a starting point for a consultation. Trust yourself to recognize what’s meaningful for you, and if you’re serious about learning from the Tarot, the best way is by spending time yourself with the deck.

So why is a card numbered Zero regarded so importantly? Quite simply, it signifies the All and Everything: the Beginning without a beginning in time: the Void, or Sunyata, as the Buddhists say. This is a condition without limitation or end, and it is experienced as a state of consciousness prior to the realm of subjects and objects.

To grasp it truly requires intuitive knowledge, or gnosis, because this Void, this Zero, is beyond the range of intellect even as it also gives rise to it. From a rational point of view this sounds nonsensical, perhaps the very height of foolishness, since gnosis calls into question the limitations of rational thinking.

Fundamental to the various designs for the Fool is a figure wandering on a mountainside, evidently unaware that he – or she, or he/she – is near the edge of a precipice. It seems that the Fool is enjoying a carefree state, imbibing the high, clear atmosphere, but distracted at a critical moment. Alongside this figure a little dog is usually shown, in some depictions nipping at the Fool’s legs. But is it a warning that the animal brings, or conversely, does it represent some force that is hastening the human figure onward? Maybe the little doggy is going to innocently follow this idiot right over the cliff? The symbolism is intentionally ambiguous.

In a specific reading, the card’s meaning would need to be considered in relation to the other cards around it and interpreted according to the seeker’s level of awareness; however, archetypally speaking, the Fool is unconcerned with whatever befalls him or her, because whatever happens is meant to happen and therefore to be accepted. For such a Holy Fool – for one who has truly integrated the blessed state of gnosis -- no matter how wonderful or difficult the circumstances, they are equivalent because they are essentially “empty.” A corollary to this teaching is that the meaning of our individual journeys as incarnate souls is relative to our states of consciousness. The card also implies that a soul learns its life lessons primarily through experiences of trial and error.

“Universe” means the totality of Being: all of which we are currently aware and also everything awaiting discovery, which, by definition, will “turn into the One.” At the high altitude where the Fool carelessly treads, time is only of relative importance; from the perspective of Zero, everything already exists in potential and will manifest harmoniously when conditions are ripe.

Synchronicities are therefore to be expected – the “right” Tarot card turns up at the “right” moment, for example -- because everything already is happening co-incidentally. This is the Tarot’s true gold, though how foolish such wisdom appears to the uninitiated!

Peter Fortunato, MFA, CHT, is a poet, painter and Certified Hypnotherapist in private practice in Ithaca. A Buddhist for most of his life, he began his Tarot studies more than 30 years ago after the death of his father, a stage magician. Peter occasionally reads the cards for others: inquire at www.peterfortunato.wordpress.com