OSHO Zen Study Group: The Fool

Indigo Rose

fyreflye said:
... The Fool embodies one of the key ideas in the worldview behind the whole deck.

YES!!! I agree. I love all of your responses here. One thing that has emerged is a consensus on the spirit of freedom and liberation expressed in this card; and truly the whole deck.

I am going to start a thread for the next card. I'm not sure how you all feel about it, because I don't want to move too fast...but at the same time, I am eager to explore each card and get it all "on the table". :)

A link to the next card...
I Existence
 

Judith D

Anyone any good at symbolism? I'm never sure whether the author is purposely working on symbols even if they don't say so, or whether the archetypal symbols just pop up given the subject, or whether the author just thought the picture looked good!
Do we read anything into the fact that he is leaping from bare rock, and then downwards comes growth right down to the river which looks quite lush - then through the gap away into the distance (future?). It looks like snowcapped mountains to me. Our fool is in the realm of mists (mystery) between the earth and the sky.
I think it is good to start a new thread quite quickly, otherwise we will grow old together doing this. The only problem may be the time differences, given that we come from all over the planet.
 

fyreflye

Judith D said:
Anyone any good at symbolism? I'm never sure whether the author is purposely working on symbols even if they don't say so, or whether the archetypal symbols just pop up given the subject, or whether the author just thought the picture looked good!

From an intervew with Ma Deva Padma http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/interview_mdpadma.shtml

What were his [Osho's] views on tarot, if any?

As I recall he was never big on esoteric secrecy or practices, his way was to open the mysteries so that humanity could grow into a new species with greater presence, responsibility and intelligence, what he referred to as The New Man. Aquarian vision to the max!


Don't worry too much about what appear to be "symbols." This deck lays everything right out in front of you. It's very easy to read if you're open to what it's saying.
 

Judith D

Now that is a comfort! Now I can concentrate on what I see and not worry about anything that I perhaps should be seeing and don't.
 

pleroma

I wonder if this fool is in some sense actually foolish for keeping his one foot on the ground. He seems to be floating, no weight is actually on that foot which touches the ground, yet he seems to want to keep it there. Does it tie him to the past, to tradition, or worldly concerns? Does he not know that his safety is from a higher place, that the air supports him instead of the ground? I love Osho's interpretation of the fool on this card, but I feel as though he is showing us that all of the potential of the fool is mixed, good and bad, freeing and binding.

-Nick
 

cSpaceDiva

Never saw this before, but the way his collarbones are drawn it looks like his heart has leapt out of his chest. He is filled with so much joy and love that it simply cannot be contained, as he himself can no longer be contained, experiencing the freedom and liberation mentioned earlier. In comparison to other Fools, he does not carry a pouch--no secrets or worldly possesions, no "baggage".
 

paradoxx

siouxj73 said:
I also love the fact that the road he is going to journey down is beneath him fading into the distace (similar to the road on Travelling).

It's as though he's going to float down (eventually) and start walking.

or he could just walk down the cliff and ignore the rules of reality and unreality all together.
 

Judith D

Oh, I do like the idea of ignoring the rules of reality and unreality. He is outside the norm, isn't he, so who says he has to abide by our conventional ideas of space or time.
 

squeakmo9

This Fool totally defies convention and gravity for that matter. The ability to move mountains.
 

paradoxx

in comparison

Becasue this deck is so vivid and unique, and yet so Tarot as inspired by the Rider Waite deck, I would like to directly compare the osho zen tarot to the rider waite imagry, if this is unwelcome then let me know so i can remove my post(s) therof.

starting with the fool, the imagry is very much the same, a man on a high cliff (represnting the mind) holding a flower. Wherea st he RW fool may or may not walk off that cliff, perhaps he is there looking at the view, the Osho Zen tarot has taken it to the next level and has the fool stepping off the cliff. The RW fool is still making the decision, the Osho Zen fool has made the decision.