What The Fool's Journey Has Taught Me About Life

Sometimes I forget just how much of an impact Tarot has had on my life. I know that can be kinda hard to believe since I talk about it, teach it, write about it and read it professionally.

But on a personal level, the tarot has brought me so much about my spiritual growth and evolution.

Particularly as it is contextualized to my meditation practice of The Fools Journey.

Now, don't worry, I'm not talking about the kind of meditation where one sits trying to clear their mind of all thought clutter. Rather instead the kind of meditation where one purposefully allows the stream of thought consciousness to envelop the mind in an effort to distill some sort of meaning. That meaning can show up through the guidance, a lesson learned, catharsis or even epiphany.

One of the reasons I love The Hermit is because that specific card is the archetype of the exact thing I am describing. The purposeful isolation that a person chooses so that they may study the secrets of the universe... uninterrupted. This study yields the one thing all people wish to achieve, and that is UNDERSTANDING.

At first glance, many believe Tarot is only a pack of cards you use for fortune telling. Many people mistakenly believe that they are only for divination and that they hold some sort of each Tarot card containing an entire story. Archetypes are metaphors that are universally relatable. These metaphors can be used to help us understand ourselves and the world around us, and they often appear in our dreams. It's a bit like Jungian psychology on steroids.

The Tarot and its illustrations are such a fascinating way to view the story of our lives in so many ways.

The Major Arcana represents the larger life events. It’s stacked with archetypes such as The Lovers, The Hanged Man and Death. You may have heard of these cards before, but how can they relate to you? How do they correlate to the path you are on or to the direction you are going? Well, my dear Mystic, that is where the magic in Tarot truly lies! The more you study the Major Arcana, the more you will see yourself reflected in the archetypes depicted in each card. The trick is understanding tarot is to understand that all of the images, no matter how seemingly unrelated to you personally, are actually meant to relate to your personal lived experiences. The images are intended to evoke a sense of familiarity or resonance. You just have to learn how to see yourself in the images on the cards.

What Is The Fools Journey Anyway?

The Fool's Journey is a symbolic metaphor for the human soul as it experiences physical manifestation. Each step of the Journey from birth to death is described in each of the cards of the major arcana. However, that doesn't mean that the journey always happens sequentially in real life. As I often tell my students, because of its symbolic nature, The Fools Journey can be full of paradoxes and mysteries. In other words, it isn't necessarily something that happens in any particular order... but it also follows a pattern of progression. One step leads to the next.

As you know, life has a funny way of aligning us with experiences as opportunities for growth; these can happen at any time or age. As you know, your life is full of events, people, relationships, and conditions of personal perspective that take you through a gambit of emotions which provide a medium for spiritual and personal growth.

However, sometimes the situations and conditions of life you find yourself in can confuse you, leaving you hesitant to make decisions that will ultimately change your life. Things like beginning or ending a relationship, changing your career focus, relocating, having a child, investing money, beginning a new creative project, and or attempting to draw meaning and or purpose for the direction of your life, any of these circumstances create a need for loving guidance. Tarot can become an indispensable guidance tool once you understand how to integrate its wisdom into the narrative of your life.

The Fools Journey is a story that takes you deep inside yourself by using the archetypal energies of the 22 cards in the Major Arcana. Each card is a metaphor filled with symbols and a deeper kind of wisdom which can serve as that loving guide to help direct your steps toward personal development, intuitive clarity and spiritual enlightenment.

• The Fool is a metaphor for the human condition. He represents totally potential. He is not yet defined and is newly born. At the beginning of his journey, he is unaware of dangers and hardships; he is in a pose that indicates an openness to all potential. 

• The Fool starts his journey with no knowledge or experience, so he has to learn everything along the way. This can be compared to being born into this world without lessons from our parents or grandparents before us—we must learn everything for ourselves!

• The Fool's goal is self-discovery which leads to maturity and spiritual expansion. Throughout his journey, he encounters many obstacles which represent challenges we are faced with faced in life—from work stressors that make you feel like quitting your job; relationship problems that make you want nothing more than to forget about love; money issues that leave you wondering if there will ever be enough cash flow coming in so you don't starve while paying off debts...the list goes on!

Each card in the Major Arcana represents a step in The Fool's Journey.

Let's dive a little deeper!

The Magician is a creator, a manipulator of the elements

The Magician is a creator, a manipulator of the elements. The Magician is a symbol of power and influence. The Magician is also a symbol of creativity and inspiration, which equates to intelligence and wisdom. He’s the guy who can make things happen—and he usually does it effortlessly!

This card speaks to me about my own journey as an entrepreneur in many ways. When I was starting out on my path to entrepreneurship, I knew nothing about business or entrepreneurship; I barely even knew what those words meant! And yet somehow, despite not having any formal training or education on how to be an entrepreneur or business owner (at least not at first), I managed to build up my business from scratch into something that has now grown into a successful and thriving brand!

The High Priestess guards the mysteries of life and death

The High Priestess is a keeper of secrets. She represents intuition, inner wisdom and the mysteries of life and death. She is the thin veil between the physical and non-physical worlds. She represents the gateway between that which is known and that which remains mysterious and unseen. In many ways she reminds me that I am connected to something greater than myself. I am part of a larger whole.

The High Priestess is also a symbol of the divine feminine; she represents the wisdom that tells us when it's time for them to step back and let other people take over (because she knows that faith is the key to intuitive actions). This card reminds us that we are all connected to a source of knowledge and wisdom greater than ourselves, and if we allow ourselves to feel our feelings without getting caught up in them too much, perhaps we can have better control over our lives. She reminds us to have faith and trust the process of life despite not knowing everything, as even some things are meant to remain hidden until the timing is right for them to be revealed.

The Hierophant is the teacher who finds more profound meaning in life through religion, tradition and ceremony.

The Hierophant often represents the wise old man or woman. They are a spiritual

leader, and their role is to help others find their way through life. They show us the "right" path to follow in order to achieve our spiritual goals. However, sometimes the Hierophant can represent people in our lives or thought processes that are dogmatic and rigid. He can also show you where you are being inflexible and unduly conservative or which areas of your life need structure and order.

Strength deals with harmonizing strength and power with softness and gentility.

More times than I can count, I have heard people say that the Strength card represents - strength. Whether mental or emotional, the thought is that strength represents the side of you with endurance and resistance. To a greater or lesser degree, this is actually true. But that is just a surface understanding of this archetype. As mentioned before, Tarot is illustrated in the language of symbols. What you see on the surface of the card is only the beginning! Strength is the perfect example of this. Where it is easy to look at the card and see the apparent strength of the maiden or the lion, you may be surprised to learn that this card is really about harmonizing the strength and power of your instinctual nature with your reason and logic so that you can overcome your baser urges. In Tarot, one of the many things Strength represents is restraint and self-awareness.

In this stage of The Fool's Journey, he is learning about self-regulation and controlling the urges that arrive when faced with events or situations that spur strong reactions from him. Instead of barreling into the fray of life guns a blazin' he has to confront his challenges and obstacles with grace and gentility. This is no easy task, as his instincts are strong!

I'm sure you, like me, have had lots of things happen that you've wanted to react to with dragon fire and worse, only to discover that you can't. You've had to restrain that very powerful urge to yell at someone who has done something rotten enough to deserve your ire. Those are the moments that require STRENGTH! This is the meaning of the card. This archetype isn't just about holding back; it's also about finding a better way... more diplomatic way!

"The best way to find out how strong we are...is by seeing how much we can endure." - Charles Dickens.

Justice represents fairness, impartial truth and equal treatment for all people.

Justice is more than just following the rule of law; it means that every person should be treated equally under the law with fairness. The idea of justice also implies inherent freedom from oppression or persecution. This can refer to a government protecting its citizens from harm or failure; it may also mean that people have access to food, shelter and other necessities for them to survive comfortably.

Justice is one of many virtues which are essential aspects of human behaviour; when someone has acted justly, then they have demonstrated good morals towards others through their actions towards others' needs as well as their own personal needs, such as being able to eat something nutritious rather than just eating junk food all day long because you don't want anyone else eating it either!

The other side to Justice is its dispassionate nature. Justice is only concerned with facts. It is not about the subjective perspective that is rooted in emotion. The reason for this is that emotion creates bias, whereas facts are immutable truths. For the fool, the first stage of his journey brings him to a time of soul-searching and self-examination. He takes stock of what motivates his choices and who he is as a person. This is a necessary step towards understanding that life can be both complex and simple simultaneously. He is made to look at what qualifies as objective truth versus what can be categorized as subjective bias. He is made to recognize the falsity of his beliefs and made aware that, for him to move forward on his journey, he must look within himself for objective truth.

I know in my own life, I have had to take a long hard look at the facts more than once. It can be really hard to be objective, especially when your feelings are intense. Nonetheless, Justice signifies the need to remain objective and fact-oriented. If you can, think back to a time when you had to put aside your feelings and focus on the facts only. This will help you to understand the meaning of the Justice card.

Life is full of change, sometimes painful change, but there are always lessons to learn from it.

Life is full of change, sometimes painful change, but there are always lessons to learn from it. We all go through the process of learning and growing in our own way. The Fool's journey, which, as you've learned, is a metaphor for life's stages, can reflect how we move forward and what we want out of life. The journey we are on is one of discovery and growth, and knowing how to navigate it keeps us moving forward. The Fool's Journey helps you to understand who you are and what you need to reach your goals.

You are the greatest mystery you will ever solve.

The greatest mystery you will ever solve is yourself. In this world of uncertainty, Fool's Journey reminds us that life is a journey. It's a journey of discovery and growth. We're all on it together as we discover our true selves through the cards and archetypes of life. The only way to uncover your true nature is by examining every aspect of yourself with complete openness and honesty; just like The Fool, you have joined life with total potential, and every step you take that progresses you further into life's experiences can be described in any of the Major Arcana cards.

If you ever find yourself in the midst of changes that you need some guidance or insight on, try this exercise.

1. Separate the Major Arcana from your favourite Tarot deck

2. Think about the life situation you need guidance on.

2. Lay out Three cards

Card 1 represents the stage of The Fool's Journey you are on as it concerns this situation.

Card 2 Represents what you need to recognize about the situation to help you move ahead more smoothly.

Card 3 represents the outcome if you take the advice of card 2. *** Even if this card is reversed or a card that represents more difficulty try and think about how you can use the energy that the card represents to your advantage.

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Hope you have enjoyed this blog, and THANK YOU for reading!

If you would like to know more about Tarot Reading, check out my book Essential Tarot Mastery

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Hope to see you soon!

In my career, I am what you might call a professional mystic. I teach and work with spiritual seekers from all over the world. My love and passion for the mystic arts are what drive me to keep creating, sharing and educating others. I love to bring my diverse knowledge of metaphysical knowledge and depth of experience to my clients and students through providing intuitive and spiritual services. I'm Known for my ability to blend fun with professionalism, and I'm proud to offer nearly three decades of esoteric experience, which includes the co-creation of the Sirian Starseed Tarot, several books, classes, manuals & the Seekers Oracle.

In my professional practice, I am a master tarot reader & teacher, second-generation traditional western astrologer, numerologist, certified professional past-life regressionist, Reiki Grand Master Teacher, Certified Life coach, author, artist, and founder of North Star Mystic Academy, which opened in 2019.

I live and work in Ontario, Canada.

Email: hello@northstarmystic.com

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