0. The Fool

 

The Archetypal Fool’s Journey:

 

The Fool is the Hero of our story.  He is each one of us at the beginning, during, at the end, and after our journey through life.  It is no mistake that The Fool is numbered Zero—for he is both the beginning of existence, the end of existence, and exists outside and throughout all existences.  While the other Major Arcana cards each represent a step (or Path) along the Hero’s Journey, The Fool is always with us.  Each of us must redeem our selves and remember what we have always known.  Most of us begin as Percival (rather than Galahad) on our own Quest for the Holy Grail.  (Alas, there are also those who begin believing themselves to be Galahad only to discover that they resemble Lancelot.)  The Pure Fool is everything, but doesn’t know it—he already has everything he needs, but doesn’t see it.  It is this very lack of seeing that prevents instant success in his quest, for “as a man thinketh, so he is.”  (Or as Robert Anton Wilson states, “As the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves.”)  The Fool has the unadulterated energy and madness of pure Ecstasy, a gift that he must learn to use as he traverses the Path until he becomes the Path Itself.  He must overcome his own obstacles and unmask his own illusions.  He plays the game of existence, but believes his own lies—his journey is to transcend time and space to find the truth of the Kingdom Within the Here and Now.

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