The Fool in the Natural Array




 * Alchemical Correspondence: The Principle of Mercury
 * Astrological Correspondence: The Modality of Mutability
 * Hebrew Correspondence: The Mother Letter Alef
 * Philosophical Correspondence: Synthesis

In A Reading
The Fool is an archetypal nonbinary person about to make the leap of faith into the abyss of possibility. Upright, this card represents someone who is well-prepared for the adventure that is about to happen. For them, the journey is going to be exciting and the destination doesn't really matter so much. They are about to live an "interesting life" with navigable successes and failures. A lot of self-discovery is going to commence and it will often be fun or at least funny in retrospect.

Reversed, this card warns that the Querent needs to look before they leap. They should not be impulsive and its important to do some fact-checking, to learn more about the situation at hand before taking immediate actions. Figure out why circumstances are bad and what can be done to change them. Once that is sorted out and The Fool is upright, it will be time to continue forward.

In The Natural Array
The three modalities are represented by the three horizontal paths in the Olam Mandala. As the synthesizing principle, The Fool can be the central path with Cardinality above and Fixedness below. This causes it to be the bridge between Chesed and Geburah. More generally, the synthesizing and balancing principle represented by the Fool can be psychologically drawn on whenever there is too much Yang or Yin being applied or activated in any life circumstance.

In Daily Life
Without a polarity to synthesize, the Fool archetype is very unstable and mercurial. Questions of "Who am I?", "What do I want?",  "What does any of this even mean?" start taking control and there's anxiety, confusion, and chaos. This often happens when we are forced into a situation we don't want to be in but and feel trapped there. The best solution is to simply pause, symbolically take a few breaths and then ask three questions. (This can be done with a three card tarot spread)

1. What is the biggest problem? (The thesis) 2. What would be the best possible solution? (The antithesis) 3. What is the most immediate thing I can do to start fixing the problem or at least feel better?

The invoking the Fool within, we let our perspective shift. We let the change be a work-in-progress, but we do work; we do progress. We find something to laugh over, something to smile about, something to feel good about and let ourselves become our own instrument of change.