It’s once again time to join The Fool on His Journey through the Major Arcana of the Tarot. We last parted ways with Him as He was following The Star as She guided Him forward on His path. He was feeling pretty secure and content knowing that He had such divine support on His journey.
Night continues to fall while The Fool walks along His road. The sky falls darker and darker around Him. The Moon begins to rise on the horizon - a great incandescent globe making an entrance on the scene as regal as any queen. As She rises like a phoenix from the ashes, the landscape around The Fool begins to shift and change. Shadows appear. They begin to gather together in secretive fraternities, sinister sororities. They lurk behind trees, in branches, near boulders and in ditches along His path. The river that’s been winding along lazily beside the road turns inky and black with oddly shaped reflections dancing on its surface like hobgoblins out for a night of devilry.
The Fool starts to feel strangely, as if He’s not alone. There’s a sense of foreboding following Him beneath this lunar light. He begins to question whether or not He’s even going in the right direction anymore. He looks up, hopefully, for guidance, but His Star has been eclipsed by the light of The Moon. Panic rises up His spine accompanied by a chilly shiver. He feels afraid, confused, and disoriented. Which way was He going, again? Was it this way? Or that way?
He advances warily. The hairs on the back of His neck rising. Goosebumps emerge on His skin. He breaks out into a nervous sweat. His every cell is alert, yet He feels somehow untethered to reality … as if He’s walking in a dreamscape. Out of the corner of His eye, He thinks He glimpses The High Priestess, from the early days of His Journey, but when He turns to greet Her, he finds only shadow.
His consciousness is expanding beyond the limits of anything He’s ever known. Creative urges overwhelm Him and practically drown Him as they try to free themselves through to expression. He mumbles beautiful, yet incoherent poetry as He moves through this curious fantasy world. The contrast of the shadow and light fascinate Him. The haunting melodies of the wolves’ ecstatic howls at The Moon, and the heady scents of the night-blooming jasmine intoxicate Him.
The Fool is suddenly very aware of His emotions. He seems to be feeling ALL of them at once. It is maddening. This whole place is maddening. He understands now the close association of The Moon with the lunatic. He feels the sweetness of succumbing to the lunacy that is rising within Him.
He spies, then, a small dinghy at the water’s edge to the right of the road. He has two choices: He can give in to the delirium, raising His own shriek to The Moon, and losing Himself in the shadows (or wading into the river and drowning); or He can climb aboard the dinghy and ride the waves of insanity while navigating through the night to a new and safer port by morning. He somehow musters the strength of will to choose the latter.
His experience riding through the tumultuous waters is not a comfortable one. He tries to steer the boat, but eventually has to surrender to the force of the tides and trust that He will find safety on the other side of this dark and daunting night. He lies back in the boat in resignation.
Gazing into the kaleidoscopic glow of The Moon, The Fool finally cedes control and gives in to Her power. It is then that The Moon speaks to Him. Her words are melodic and hypnotic and He drifts into a deep and dreamy trance state while She casts her spell on Him. She shares the most ancient secrets and Mysteries with Him. She offers visions of things past, present, and future. She fills His head and heart with Her whispers through the night. And He sleeps the sleep of the enchanted.
What will happen next to our hero? Will He wander through this lunar dreamscape forever? Or will He awaken anew on a new, more solid shore? That’s right … you know what to do … tune in next week and all will be revealed! See you then!