The Fool's Secret

Leap, and the net will appear.

John Burroughs

I received this quote in my Daily Inspirations from Jonathan Lockwood Huie and was inspired by it. I immediately thought of The Fool. I don't think there is a Tarotist alive who hasn't been through the discussion about the Fool and the leap of faith he sometimes represents. Faith or folly? Joan Bunning uses the phrase "apparent folly." Does this leap require courage or just what we think of as blind faith? After seeing this quote I will never again think of it as either. The "Fool's Secret" is that he knows, something which is very different from blindly believing. He knows the net will appear and the only way to see it is to take the leap. I wonder if John Burroughs was a tarot enthusiast.

I looked through all the decks I have stored in Orphalese to see which image would best fit the quote. I chose the Osho Zen, pictured above, because in that image he's actually taking the leap and appears to be doing it on purpose with joy and with complete abandon.

The Cosmic Tarot has this great image with the Fool dancing playfully on the edge. He doesn't look like he's contemplating a leap, but he also doesn't look like he's worried about a misstep. Tempting fate? Perhaps. But it almost looks as if he is inside the net - inside an invisible bubble which would insure a safe ride down into the ravine below, should he stumble.

 

In this beautiful Shadowscapes card she looks more like she's preparing to take flight than take a leap. Again, perhaps she knows the net will appear if she finds out she cannot fly.

I see this quote as the answer to the question that so many of us ask about the Fool - does he really have any idea what he's doing? We see that he's about to make what appears to be a perilous mistake and wonder if he is just inattentive with his head in the clouds, as he appears in the Rider-Waite version, or if he actually knows something we do not know. When I saw this quote, I felt that I had received the answer to that question.

He does know something we do not know, or perhaps have forgotten. He knows that the net will only appear after we have taken the leap. It cannot be seen while clinging to solid and secure ground. And, since we cannot examine it before we leap, we have no idea what that net will look like once the leap is taken. What if we don't like it?  What are we getting ourselves into? Good reason not to take the risk, I'd say. And there's the catch - reason - a useful tool but a lousy master. We need to balance our reason, which may urge us to play it safe with our willingness to take a risk when it's called for. On the Magician's table there are four tools. The Sword is only one of them. Success comes from using them all with balance, none dominating the others. In some situations reason is the right tool to use. In others, faith and the leap is the only course that makes sense.

So what is the Fool's Secret?  His secret is that he knows.  He knows the net will appear when he takes that leap.

Images are from The Osho Zen Tarot, The Cosmic Tarot and Shadowscapes Tarot. 

My thanks to Jonathan Lockwood Huie who encourages republishing of his material, with only the request that his name and website be credited.  His Daily Inspiration website can be viewed at: http://www.dreamthisday.com/.