The Fool's Journey: An Archetypal Narrative for Growth

1. Introduction: We All Start as 'The Fool'

The very first card you meet when opening a Tarot deck is number 0, 'The Fool'. This innocent young man laughing while looking at the sky, standing at the edge of a cliff, is the very image of ourselves.

The 22 cards of the Tarot's Major Arcana are not simple fortune-telling tools. Borrowing the concept of 'Collective Unconscious' from psychologist Jung, Tarot is a 'Map of Soul Growth' that visualizes the process of a human being born, finding the ego, and reaching completion. This journey is called "The Fool's Journey". We go through the stages of these cards as if leveling up in the game called life.

2. Departure and Learning: Beyond the Parents' World (0-5)

The Fool sets off on a journey with pure potential.

• 1. Magician & 2. High Priestess: He first meets the archetypes of 'Father (Consciousness/Yang)' and 'Mother (Unconsciousness/Yin)'. He learns the ability to create the world and inner wisdom.
• 3. Empress & 4. Emperor: These are parents in the real world. He learns abundance, love, rules, and order.
• 5. Hierophant: This is the socialization process. He becomes a member of a group by learning social rules and traditions such as schools or religions.

Up to this point, it is the stage of growing up as a 'good child'. However, true growth begins when stepping over this safe fence.

3. Independence and Ordeal: Finding the Ego (6-14)

• 6. Lovers: The moment of the first choice. He leaves his parents' embrace, forms relationships with others, and learns love.
• 7. Chariot: He dashes towards social success. This is the time when the Ego becomes strongest. He gets intoxicated with the sense of victory, "I did it."
• 9. Hermit: However, emptiness comes after success. He enters the inner cave to ask, "Who am I?"
• 13. Death: The most fearful moment. It is a time of transformation where the old self, stubborness, and attachments of the past must be killed. This is not physical death, but a 'Psychological Metamorphosis'.

In this stage, we painfully realize that inner maturity is more important than external achievement.

4. Darkness and Transcendence: Passing the Dark Night of the Soul (15-21)

• 15. Devil: He faces his shadow, addiction, pleasure, and the state of being captivated by material desires. He must realize that he is the prison that confines him.
• 16. Tower: The tower of the false ego is struck by lightning and collapses. It is a forced awakening due to external shock, but through this, the shell breaks.
• 17. Star & 18. Moon & 19. Sun: On the collapsed ruins, he sees hope (Star), endures anxiety (Moon), and finally regains the light of the true self (Sun). Now he recovers the innocence of a mature child, not the naivety of a child.

5. Completion: The World and New Beginning

• 20. Judgment: He integrates all past journeys and resurrects. He realizes his Calling.
• 21. World: Finally, the journey is over. The Fool becomes a complete being and dances. It is a state of perfect integration where all elements are in harmony.

But Tarot is cyclical. The World (21) is not the end. The one who has reached completion becomes The Fool (0) again and starts a new journey of a higher dimension. Life is a process of constantly climbing this spiral staircase.

6. Conclusion: Where Do You Stand Now?

Drawing a Tarot card is an act of checking 'My Soul's GPS'. If your life seems to be collapsing right now, you are passing through the time of the 'Tower'. If there is no hope and it is dark, you are in the cave of the 'Hermit'.

Do not be afraid. Every card is just a process, not the ending. Just like The Fool, carry a backpack and enjoy this journey. Only the courage to jump off the edge of the cliff will take you to the next level.