Wheel of Change Tarot
Created by Alexandra Gennetti
Published by Destiny Books, 1997

We see an androgynous youth straddling a chasm. His arms are raised above his head. From one hand we see a small fire and in the other she holds a chalice that is tilted downward and spilling its contents. Above the Fool’s head we see four white birds fluttering. They each hold one letter – T A R O. The Fool is dressed in a bright green tunic and leggings with one gold leg and one green. His right foot is bare. He wears a gold belt with a closed red pouch dangling from it. The bottom of his tune is adorned with bells and he wears a spotted scarf knotted about his neck and another at his wrist. A stream of cosmic energy seems swirl up from the chasm and encircle the Fool. Red roses seem to be falling from his arms. On his right side we see a guitar resting, on his left we see a fox near the edge of the chasm. Behind the Fool we see the radiant light of the Sun rising to illuminate the sky.

The Book describes the Fool as symbolizing the experience of feeling you are in exactly the right place at the right time. It may be the beginning of a new journey of life but, like the Fool, you may not recognize what it is. You have all you need to make a success of yourself at your fingertips if you would but look for it. Perhaps you must free yourself from convention as the Fool has done, and like him, accept what comes to you. In this way you may try something completely new and discover that you are rather good at it. Because he has no cares, worries or fears the Fool is symbolic of impulsiveness and even irresponsibility and recklessness. He symbolizes freedom from convention and anew creative vitality in this less restrictive world.

TarotBroad’s Buzz:  What I see is a feeling of joy, exuberance and innocence, maybe even ignorance, of what is going on around you. This Fool seems so caught up in the wondrous things swirling around him that he is oblivious to the fact that he is straddling a chasm. There is no fear of the consequences because it doesn’t even occur to him that there are consequences. I see the Fool as representing an attitude and experience that many of us lose as we become more adult. We get so caught up in following the rules and playing nice that we forget to just let go and enjoy ourselves – so what if it’s not politically correct. To me Homer Simpson, the cartoon character, is one representation of the Fool. He just blindly charges ahead with no concern for the outcome and without any worries of failure. It is doesn’t work out – well fine. I am both fascinated and repelled by Homer. I find myself focusing too much on who gets to clean up after this Fool. But of course that isn’t the Fool’s problem is it? And that, to me, is what I need to learn from the Fool. Sometimes you need to stop worrying about how the story ends and just enjoy the ride. To quote Tom Cruise (at least I think it was Tom Cruise) in the movie Risky Business – “sometimes in life you’ve gotta say what the f***”.