Question: Does the Fool know where he's going?

I don't think the Fool knows specifcally where he is going, or what he is looking for. I do think he realizes, on some level, that he is looking for something, and is open to the change, whatever it is, that will take him there.

Sue

Wherever he's going, if he goes off that cliff, I hope he has health insurance!

Here is one view of the Fool that I ascribe to:

"In China, there was a teacher named Dizang who had a student named Fayan. Dizang saw Fayan all dressed in his traveling clothes, with his straw sandals and his staff, and a pack on his back, and Dizang said, 'Where are you going?' Fayan answered, 'Around on pilgrimage.' Dizang said, 'What is the purpose of pilgrimage?' Fayan said, 'I don't know.' Dizang said, 'Not knowing is most intimate.'"

Fayan is the Fool going out on his pilgrimage with no preconceptions and no desires.

Kim

german renaissance fool

hmmm...

Seems to me that the Ship of Fools tarot (Brian Williams) could be a perfect deck as mascot for this thread!

Based on a german text from ages ago, translated as Ship of Fools, this deck is illustrated with 78 fools to satisfy every possible path! By the way, the Fool card in this deck is The Vagabond who's walking away from the cliff edge, on a new journey.

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I think the fool is caught up in the spontaneous moment...unconcerned with what will follow in the next...and that is what keeps him blissful...the unknowing, but knowing that "THIS moment is good."

What a wonderful question which heads this thread... and one which also highlights in some ways where - if anywhere in particular - the card may be positioned in the deck's sequence.

In some ways, I agree and like the succinctness of Mojo's reply: 'Whether he knows or not, I do not believe he cares' - but yet I believe he cares very much - just not about that particular question.

In some ways, to use a different imagery to the one used by ncefafn above, he pilgrimages - to what purpose? not in the knowing, but in the atonement of the act...

The Fool may perhaps also respond by quoting John 3:7-9

• You must be born from above.
  The Spirit [wind] blows where it pleases;
  you can hear its sound,
  but you cannot tell where it comes from nor where it is going.
  So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

By living in-the-moment, being atoned (to paraphrase the 'living 100% in the now' posted by twenty~one), the Fool is open to take whichever direction the Spirit draws him to...

Does he know where he is going? Yes... but perhaps knows not the roads nor physical domains through which his worldly body may carry him.

Hi Guys,

I would venture to guess that the Wizard of Oz is a favorite movie of many/most of us metaphysically-inclined ones. What a perfect depiction of the Fool's journey (not to mention a stunning movie in general).

Dorothy. She first leaped off that cliff when she ran away from home. Did she know where she was going? No, she actually felt she had no choice, she felt she had to leave to protect her precious Toto. I don't think she really wanted to leave home. But, I think deep down she wanted freedom, freedom from the restrictions of home. And she needed change (to save Toto). So, she wanted freedom and change. It wasn't really adventure or unknown change that she sought. She knew what she wanted, but did not know where or how she would get those things she sought. Perhaps she wasn't even sure what she really wanted on a deep level. She wanted to save Toto, but did she know that she really wanted freedom?

I think it's interesting that Dorothy felt she had to leap, because the times I have made that leap, this is always how I felt. People have called me courageous in some of my leaps, and I just laughed and said, "I had about as much courage as the guy at the end of the plank with a sword as his back." Hee, hee. I've always felt I had to leap or face worse consequences. This is how I think Dorothy felt. The Universe kinda put a sword to her back at that cliff (Toto being in danger).

I'm veering a tad off topic here, but I think it's cool how she met the "Magician" right away. I have learned that in a dream, we are all the characters. Dorothy then became the Magician...the scarecrow... And she was Toto too. I think Toto represented her innocence and her heart/loving nature. And she managed to still have those things (Toto) despite growing so much through her journey.

I also find it very interesting that Dorothy's journey was really just a dream. And she discovered in that dream that there's really no place better than "Home"

Blessings,
Dove

Having the Fool as my personality card, and thinking a bit about my life, I'd say that I have not awlays known where I was going when I jumped, the only thing I knew, innocently was that I would always land on my feet.

The Fool ventures (pilgrims) into unknown lands, assuming and knowing nothing can harm him, and that's all that matters. The decisions he takes may be, at first sight, a tad unwise, but he's the one who's going to learn from it, always. The secret is to keep the knowledge that you will always land on your feet...

Love
Simone

..to me...

the fool knows where he is going.. yet has no idea where he will eventually end up - or how he will get there...

he just knows to do anything he must go... FORWARD.. and he must do so without fear..

with a childlike innocence, he trusts that he will be provided for.. to him, there is just no need to worry...

to me, he represents the cliche "life is a journey not a destination"...

What does it mean to know where one is going?

We are all going someplace – but how accurate is our notion of that?

From a spiritual viewpoint, I would say sometimes we are wise: we know our ultimate goal, whether we call it enlightment, God, eternity, etc. And sometimes, we are fool: we walk through life working for the immediate tomorrow, losing today, trying to achieve some kind of mundane success, but not knowing exactly how, or even why. The Fool represents both.

We can receive the Fool’s visit when we act like little children, or like small butterflies: being trustful, making today our only and glorious day. When we KNOW for sure, in the depth of our hearts, we are supported and guided by a superior force. Love is everywhere. We belong wherever there is love. We are on the path, we are the path. That is pilgrimage…

And we get the Fool when we are just lost: where is the light? Where is the goal? What are we doing? What for? We can’t remember. We can’t focus. Shortsighted, blinded by the darkness or by the light, our next step is guided only by chance – and there is no chance, after all.

(In my country, we have an interesting adage – something like “Of Wise and Fool, we all have a little”.)