Every journey begins with a step into the unknown. Over the next five weeks, we will follow one of Tarot’s most fascinating stories—the Fool’s Journey. Through the 22 Major Arcana cards, the Fool experiences life itself: beginnings and endings, love and loss, choices and challenges, destruction and transformation. And like every one of us, he begins knowing very little about the road ahead.
The journey starts with The Fool. He stands at the beginning of a new adventure, excited, inspired, and completely free. His energy is high, his intentions are good, and he believes that anything is possible. What he does not yet possess is experience. In fact, he is so absorbed in the excitement of what lies ahead that he may not even notice the cliff’s edge beneath his feet. But perhaps that innocence is necessary. If we knew every risk before beginning something new, would we ever begin at all?
The Fool soon discovers The Magician, and with him comes a powerful realisation: he already has what he needs. The cup, pentacle, sword and wand represent the resources available to him—the heart, the material world, the mind and the power to act. The Magician teaches the Fool that he is not merely a spectator in his own life. He has the ability to create, shape, and participate in his own reality. But creation requires more than action.
The Fool then encounters The High Priestess, the guardian of intuition and hidden wisdom. She teaches him that not everything real can be seen and that some answers cannot be found through logic alone. There are moments in life when we must become still enough to listen to what we already know within.
And just as the Fool begins to question his path, The Empress appears—the great mother of the Tarot. She reconnects him with nature, nurturing, fertility, and abundance. She reminds him that every dream, like every seed, needs time, care and patience to grow.
My dear readers, every beginning asks us to do four things: take the leap, recognise our potential, trust our intuition and nurture what we hope to create.
“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” — Plato
Written by Maanya Kohli, one of India’s most trusted Tarot readers and founder of Lady of Tarot.
