The Fool

A fresh start taken with open eyes and little baggage. The Fool stands for trust in the journey and a willingness to begin before everything is known.

Upright

• beginnings
• innocence
• a leap of faith
• spontaneity

A fresh start taken with open eyes and little baggage. The Fool stands for trust in the journey and a willingness to begin before everything is known.

Reversed

• recklessness
• hesitation
• naivety
• holding back

Rushing in without looking, or the opposite: refusing to take a step because the outcome cannot be guaranteed. Reversed, the card asks where trust has turned into carelessness, or fear into stalling.

Not every reader uses reversals. Many treat a reversed card as the same theme, blocked, delayed or turned inward.

In the picture

A young traveller steps toward the edge of a cliff with a small bag on a stick, a white rose in one hand and a little dog at his heels, under a bright sun.

Astrology and numerology

The Golden Dawn, the Victorian magical order whose scheme most modern decks follow, linked The Fool with Uranus, a planet discovered after the original scheme was drawn up and added by later writers. Read about Uranus and the element air, which the card shares.

0

The Fool is numbered 0, which is outside the nine digits of numerology, and is often set apart as the start of the major arcana, and sometimes also as 22, the end.

Yes or no

In yes or no tarot, The Fool counts as a yes when upright, and as a no when reversed. This follows a common convention and not a rule from the deck's makers.

Tarot is a tradition of symbolism. This page says what readers traditionally associate with the card. It does not predict anything and it is not advice.