The Fool may therefore be regarded as both inside and outside the circle. If we bring the Fool into our worldly view of the circle of life, our circle must become a sacred spiral leading us to higher levels and a higher rate of vibration. By the very fact of bringing the Fool into our circle and appreciating his nature, we have changed the nature of the circle itself.
The Fool is the kingpin, for this trump takes us out of our comfortable world-circle of 21/7 into the realms of sacred geometry, thus adding a three-dimensional element: the lift-off pad. It is the jumping-off point from worldly affairs onto a higher plane of existence and in my picture the Fool steps unhesitatingly into the void. In my view he is not the Ain Soph of the Qabalists (as Court de Gebelin suggested)1 but the void into which he steps extends to it. Without the Fool the cards form a circle but with the inclusion of that naught-y joker our circle becomes a spiral, spiralling into infinity. The Fool represents the Pythagorean comma, that glitch in vibratory language which transforms the music of the world into what Pythagoras called the Music of the Spheres: the harmonious interplay of the vibrations put out by everything in nature and the cosmos when all are in harmony with each other. And it would seem that all would naturally be in harmony; the only problem factor is mankind, who has gone against the laws of nature and upset the balance.
The Fool is often thought of as the jester at the king's court, and there is much in that for only one who cared nothing for himself would jest with a king. Yet it became an institution and developed into the idea of the wise man who whispered in the king's ear, guiding his thoughts and actions. This was the nearest the medieval Tarot came to describing something that was a-feared to talk about, for - as with the ancient mystery schools – the real concept of the Fool was only for those with ears to hear. In Bembo's day he would have had his ears cut off for even thinking of it, for the power-politics of church affairs did not allow room for the contemplation of such higher matters - it was too close to God!
The Exhortation: make the journey of life as an Elite Traveller!
The Fool is twinned with:
Hexagram 25 Wu Wang: Integrity, Innocence, Unexpected
Upper Trigram: Ch’ien: heaven, male, creative (sky, cold, light). Father; Larger Yang.
Lower Trigram: Chên: thunder, to arouse, shock. Eldest Son; Lesser Yin. Spring.
SYMBOL This hexagram symbolizes thunder rolling across the whole earth; from it, all things receive their integrity. The ancient rulers gave abundant and timely nourishment to all.
For a long time I did not think there was a hexagram in the I Ching that related to the Tarot card for the Fool, and I put this down to the fact that the I Ching is concerned with the world, as it is made up of 64 hexagrams (8 x 8), eight being the number of the world rather than anything to do with spheres beyond it. I had at first written: “although I do not think there is a single hexagram in the I Ching to equate with the Fool, the whole underlying idea of being in tune with the Tao as the main objective in life equals the concept of the Fool.” I therefore pretty much put it out of my mind whilst concentrating on the other cards and the hexagrams relating to them. But as I did so, Hexagram 25 kept popping up just like a joker! I would be looking for something else and the pages would fall open at Hexagram 25, yet there seemed to be nothing to associate it with any of the Tarot cards and at the very end of my work I was still left with Hexagram 25. John Blofeld entitles it Integrity, The Unexpected and in a note he tells us that it has these two widely differing meanings, both of which occur in the text. I had read his rather beautiful translation and had taken the point that it was one of those special hexagrams that I had first picked out, but I could find no place for it in the scheme of things, especially as its prognosis was neither entirely good nor bad – from the worldly point of view.
The Text reads:
Integrity. Sublime success! Righteous persistence brings reward. Those opposed to righteousness meet with injury. It is not favourable to have in view any goal (or destination).
Blofeld’s note on the title reads:
Wu Wang has two widely different meanings, [Integrity and the Unexpected] both of which occur in what follows.
The commentary on the text describes the component trigrams:
those who do what is right win great success … those opposed to righteousness will suffer and have nowhere to go …
Well, fair enough, but it did not seem to be telling us anything particular in connection with such an important card as the Fool. At the very end of my work, when this hexagram seemed to be putting itself forward even more urgently, I turned to Richard Wilhelm’s translation for a fuller explanation. Immediately, I knew the connection with the Fool really was there, for Wilhelm entitles this hexagram: Innocence (The Unexpected). Straight away my connection of Innocence with this card was confirmed.
The Unexpected had already connected in my mind with the joker-aspect of the card, for a joker turns up unexpectedly and can be put to good use. But why had Blofeld and Wilhelm each made a quite different translation of the title: Integrity for Blofeld and Innocence for Wilhelm? Both had, no doubt after much thought, given it their best interpretation and each would have seen his translation as being correct - so, why the difference? The answer could only lie in the underlying meaning of the Chinese symbol being both integrity and innocence too. Integrity means doing the right thing, holding true to one’s ideals, so it is something that one does with the conscious mind. It is something one either chooses, or not. Innocence, on the other hand, is something that just happens. One cannot choose to be of an innocent nature; you either are or are not. So the first translation of Wu Wang belongs to a left-brain conscious function, a Yang function, but the second translation belongs to a right-brain function, a Yin intuitive function. To me this was the key to realising that this hexagram really did belong to the Fool, for it is both in one. It is the Innocent who - because of his nature - is inevitably endowed with Integrity.
Wilhelm’s description1of the hexagram expands the meaning:
When … movement follows the law of heaven, man is innocent and without guile. His mind is natural and true, unshadowed by reflection or ulterior designs. [This is ‘simple man’ like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, in harmony with the rest of nature]. For wherever conscious purpose is to be seen, there the truth and innocence of nature have been lost. Nature that is not directed by the spirit is not true but degenerate nature. [We can see this in today’s sophisticated mankind that does what it will with the rest of the world, using it for its own benefit]. Starting out with the idea of the natural, the train of thought in part goes somewhat further and thus the hexagram includes also the idea of the unintentional or unexpected. [Thus the card becomes the Joker when it enters the pack].
The Judgement continues:
Man has received from heaven a nature innately good, to guide him in all his movements. By devotion to this divine spirit within himself [integrity] he attains an unsullied innocence that leads him to do right with instinctive sureness and without any ulterior thought of reward and personal advantage. This instinctive certainty brings about supreme success …
In a note in the commentaries Wilhelm tells us:
In this hexagram there appear ideas that correspond with the mystical interpretations of the legends of Paradise and the fall of man.2
The First Octave –The Material Sequence
This is the base octave resonating with the material world into which we have been born. If we are to believe we are here for a reason, then we must understand the lessons that this world has to offer. There is no point in pretending we have better things to do or that we are above such mundane matters, for until we have come to terms with the opportunities offered us in this life, we cannot move forward.
The cards in this octave are concerned with the physical interaction between men and women and the mental development that ensues. The first two cards, the Magician and the High Priestess stand at the entrance to the world like signposts showing us
the direction to go. The third and fourth cards, the Empress and Emperor, are the first cards associated with the real world. A glance at Figure 8 will show the gap that lies between the first and second triangles.
As we move through the material sequence of the first octave cards we must keep in mind the Magician and the High Priestess, for they are our source of inner spirituality and harmony.
Card 1: The Magician (Yang)
Standing at the beginning of the Major Arcana of the Tarot pack, the Magician alerts us to the fact that life may not be all that it seems. Perhaps we cannot really trust our eyes. Seeing is not always believing: something may be hidden, or it may change inexplicably into something else. What follows is a riddle – a magical and numinous riddle. We are to be led on an esoteric treasure hunt.
In my image, the Magician holds his wand aloft like a lightening conductor. It is the straight up and down symbol of the number One, 1. It is what it is alone: all-one. It is one half of the ancient symbol of the cross. This part is the active force in its pure essence. Hence the Magician is filled with pure energy, with a feel of the Innocent about him. The force is in him, but it is not made manifest – it just exists within him.
The first card of the Major Arcana, like the first hexagram of the I Ching, represents the creative principle in essence, the pure masculine principle. Like a bolt of lightning, it is seen as bringing down the life force, like electricity, into the world. In this Material Sequence, the Magician also happens to be just what he is: a maker of magic - the magic that is necessary for life to be something more than ordinary. He is dressed in red for his energy and in his left hand he carries a prism with light issuing from the peak, a symbol of his masculine creative spirit. It represents his sublimated sexual prowess for at this stage he is not concerned with his masculinity - that comes later - for now he stands at the entrance to the physical world as we know it.
As the creative force enters into the world, so timing - that element of movement - has to be involved, and the other requisite for any successful magician is timing. Without correct timing he cannot successfully perform his trick. As it is brought into the world the creative force will for the first time be subject to the principles of time and motion.
So what exactly is the trick that this archetypal Magician is performing for us, his worldly audience? The answer is: no less than Life itself - and we are all part of the performance. The magic trick could be described as the turning on of the ignition switch. It is this that makes the difference between a log of wood and a green tree; the difference between a slab of meat and a gambolling lamb. It is the spark that makes a brain become a living, thinking mind. It is the first gasp of the newborn baby and the expiring breath of the dying man. Anything alive emits a continual vibration and the metronome of our heart gives us the beat to which we dance. Some dance fast and some dance slowly, but we all dance to the tune of the molecules that continually move inside our bodies, until the metronome stops and the Magician goes home.
This card also represents the intellect. A magician has to be very clever and it is the correct use of that innate intellectuality that sets us out on our extraordinary journey. A magician - or any street juggler - is not only using his intelligence, he is focusing his mind to the extent that even the effort of what he is doing is annulled. A concert pianist does the same thing when the fingers move impossibly fast and in complete co-ordination with the musical score. He can only perform with complete concentration and equilibrium, so he must be completely in harmony with himself and his surroundings. No daily chores or mundane chatter distract him so there is no impediment to hinder the lightening strike. Through complete concentration he goes beyond the mind and contacts his source, and through all this he performs no more than a successful sleight of hand!
Although the Magician is close to the Fool, the Innocent and the Source of All, there is an element of trickery about it because he is setting off on the long journey that materialism brings about in the mind. Life is a game of hazard in which juggling is a necessity. This is what is ahead of him, and aeons may pass before he returns to his starting point.
Pythagoras considered the number one to be the prime, masculine number. It relates in musical terms to the Do in the octave, the first note, and becomes Do the first note of the second octave, and so on. One multiplied by one still equals one. Without the addition of anything other than itself it remains simply a pure, potent force with nothing to do. There is no point to it. Life needs the world to live in. Some say that God needs man as much as man needs God and there is something in that. For now, I think the Magician with his magic trick may be about to fall in love with his twin sister the High Priestess who dwells on Earth.
The Exhortation: Look for the magic in life!
The Magician is twinned with:
Hexagram 1 Ch’ien: The Creative Principle
Upper Trigram: Ch'ien: heaven, male, creative; (sky, cold, light). Father; Larger Yang.
Lower Trigram: Ch'ien: heaven, male, creative, (sky, cold, light). Father; Larger Yang.
SYMBOL This hexagram symbolizes the power of the celestial forces in motion, wherewith the Superior Man [Elite Traveller] labours unceasingly to strengthen his own character.
The first card of the Major Arcana of the Tarot parallels the first hexagram of the I Ching. Like most of the important hexagrams, this one is made up of a double trigram. In other words, each trigram is the same, so the hexagram as a whole emphasises the quality of each trigram. In this case the trigram is Chi’en, the heavenly, active principle and here we have double Chi’en, the Creative Principle: the pure aspect of the essence of masculine creativity, procreation and energy.
The Creative Principle is pure intelligence. It is the intellect that sees the potential in ideas, plus the desire to procreate gives it the energy to learn how to benefit from the usefulness of the idea.
Vast indeed is the sublime Creative Principle, the Source of All, co-extensive with the heavens ... Its dazzling brilliance permeates all things from first to last…
A commentary says:
Great indeed is the Creative Principle – firm, filled with power, unbiased, righteous, pure, sublime! Its six component lines [of the hexagram] when properly expounded, lead to an understanding of every aspect of creation. Leaping upon them when the time is ripe, we ride heavenwards upon the backs of six dragons. The clouds come forth; the rain bestows its bounty and the whole world is filled with peace!
Forever outward-looking, it is always seeking to expand and express itself in new ways, like an ever-changing kaleidoscope. It brings life and magic to everything on earth, as the energy of the sun’s rays, shining outward, touches all of life. It is the life-giver.
Just as the Magician’s trick is to perform in the world in harmony with Time, at our first step into the I Ching, timing is of the essence and must not be overlooked.
By acting in accordance with the rhythm of the universe one’s aspirations are fulfilled. Great achievements are only possible when the right time has come. Time is not an enemy to be vanquished, but an ally who must be worked with patiently.
In other words, one must act in accordance with the Tao, or in tune with the flow of time. One can only travel along the way, the Tao, at the predicted pace and in so doing the Elite Traveller may perceive the harmony behind the seemingly uncoordinated events in his life.
Card 2: The High Priestess (Yin)
The second card of the Major Arcana is the High Priestess. She is the counterpart of the Magician, for there is in her too a sense of the magical and the mysterious. She resides in the hidden part of our psyche: the face of a departed loved one glimpsed in a crowd then gone. A mermaid at home in the sea, unknowable and mysterious. Her colour is blue, for she is not the green, fertile Earth Mother goddess, but a Goddess of the Waters; an archetype of the hidden depths of the soul. She is the female principle in essence.
In my image she steps from the ocean, from the unfathomable depths of unknowable waters onto the wa
iting, receptive land where she becomes the Virgin Mother in all her purity. The soil onto which she steps is the virgin earth, a ploughed field waiting to receive the seed and nourishing rain. The seeds will not come forth until the lightening strikes and the rain falls.
The High Priestess is pure but concealed and therefore mysterious. It is essential purity identified with intuition and awareness, but the most important aspect of the concept is that the High Priestess (in contrast to the Magician who is concentrated and yet open) is primarily open and yet concentrated. It is the concept of being open and receptive, waiting and alert.
If the reader is confused by the emphasis on the oceans rather than the land, we must remember that two-thirds of our world is covered with water teaming with life, and the Tarot deals with our concept of our place in the world as a whole, not just as a human being living in a city on the land. Our own bodies are 90% water and just like the tides we are subject to the magnetic pull of the moon and the gravity of the earth. Without water nothing would grow on the earth and humankind would perish. When we reach the end cards we will discover the importance of this concept. We are part of the whole world, of the cosmos, not just the part we see, and we neglect this idea at our peril.
The Tao in the Tarot Page 5