All Fools: The Alpha & the Omega | An April Writing Prompt
“The heart is like a cup, or a coffer,
or a cave. It holds the image of the
sun within us.”
Image: Getty Images for Unsplash
No fool like an old fool. Fool’s gold. Fooling around. Fool’s paradise. Play the fool. Make a fool of. The village fool. More fool you. A fool and his money are soon parted. Fools rush in. Gooseberry Fool. Fooled me. Nobody’s fool. A fool’s errand. A fol-de-rol. Only fools and horses. Don’t suffer fools gladly…
For such a simple word (derived from the Latin ‘follis’ for bellows, as in wind-bag or empty-headed), it encompasses a world of meaning – from the naïve, the comical, the tricky, the unwise, to the downright frisky! In Shakespeare’s King Lear, the Fool is the only person who can see the King’s actions clearly and has the courage to speak truth to power.
And when we turn the first card of the Rider Waite Tarot’s Major Arcana, we meet The Fool (0) – a blithe, free spirit, arms thrown wide, ready to embrace the world that lies before him. The sky is clear, the sun shines, a white dog leaps joyfully at The Fool’s feet. He carries everything he needs with him. Off in the distance, sharp peaks rise, hinting at difficulties to come, but they are not for today.
The sceptic might say he is impractically dressed for a journey, standing a little too close to the edge of the cliff and a walking stick might be more useful than a rose, but The Fool laughs in the face of such pessimism. Perhaps the weather will stay fine; perhaps he will fashion or discover whatever he needs as he goes. The edge is the threshold of life and the view is glorious!
This is the card of freedom, optimism, spontaneity, innocence, self-trust and new beginnings. But as well as its individual meaning, The Fool is also our guide through the tarot itself and in each of the other cards, we encounter an essential part of the journey.
One of the lovely things about the tarot is its vastness, the many ways the cards are open to interpretation – their individual meaning, the visual depiction, physical and colour symbolism (the ‘white’ dog and flower represent purity of purpose), the card’s place within the larger story of the tarot or just the thoughts and cues it provokes to connect us to different parts of our own stories. But first we must throw away our preconceptions.
The Fool is the alpha and omega of the tarot, represented by the number (0), the circular path – every ending brings a new beginning – and today’s prompt invites you to explore the wisdom or folly of The Fool.
Are you primed for a life of adventure? Do you envy The Fool’s spontaneous nature or other qualities? Was there a time when you heartily relished the open road and the possibilities of the unknown horizon? Or when you simply felt foolish? What does the image of The Fool remind you of? Would you like to give him a good scolding for his lack of planning? Or do you enjoy all things whimsical and comical? What was your best April Fool’s prank? Entertain us with a nonsensical or foolish tale!
Inspiration
Today's inspiration comes from Constance Merritt's slightly saucy villanelle 'Fool's Gold', where the yearned-for horizon of adulthood and its supposed joys rarely satisfy!
I also couldn't resist this updated snarky take on an old song by X.J. Kennedy: 'More Foolish Things Remind Me of You'. If you don't know the original, I recommend checking out either Ella Fitzgerald or Bryan Ferry's rendition on YouTube.
And for something a little quirky and off-beat, here’s Neal Levin’s ‘Baby Ate a Microchip’.
Musical Interlude
The Poetry & Writing Submissions List
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What I’m Reading:
Egg/Shell by Victoria Kennefick
Having and Being Had by Eula Bliss
In Defence of Witches by Mona Chollet
