MeeWah said:
I dabbled in runes briefly years ago so am not familiar with them. I fail to see a connection between the rune Elhaz & The Fool. Does it refer to divinity or divine intervention?
The Fool is 0 (zero). If Aleph has a numerical value of 1, why is it not associated with The Magus?
Well firstly the Hebrew. In the days of old people conceived the elements of Air, Water and Fire as pure (as the in the Hindu Gunas of Sattvas, Raja and Tams - Calm, Activity, Slow Calmness for example). These elements are associated with the Hebrew alphabet Sin-Fire, Mem-Water and Aleph-Air. It is not based on a numerical factor of the card (that is 0 or 22). In Kabalistic terms these three letters are known as the Mother Letters. In this, these three elements are spiritual forms of energy, which can be experienced in mundane terms by that of the senses resulting in the fourth element of Earth associated with the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet Tau.
The Fool then, being the number 0, is the source of all things in Kabalistic terms. It is the Kabalistic 0, equation of the Universe, the complete balance of the opposites. The Air association in this case then would represent a vaccuum if you will. You may note also the "Fool" is derived from the word "follis" meaning "windbag". We sometimes represent the idea of foolishness by blowing a "razzberry".
The rune is that of Parsifal. Ah, but not in the same association of the Hanged Man who is in the motion of "self sacrifice" or "seeing the world in a new perspective". Parcival here has now received the runes and is enlightened by the experince. Hence my earlier comment about placing the Fool in various positions amongst your majors to understand his impact upon them.