Not So Foolish

Posted by Len Wallick

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Len Wallick looks at April Fools’ Day, and several astrological cycles that are coming to a close, through the lens of The Fool card in tarot. Starting over might require you to reclaim and embrace your own fool: the state of being a laughable initiate that signals the beginning of a new cycle of growth.

“Who’s the more foolish…the fool, or the fool who follows him?”
— Obi Wan Kenobi

It would be easy to conclude that April Fools’ Day is not the same anymore. Not when so many politicians and others of cultural authority are seemingly doing their best to outperform even the most creative satire with the conduct of both their public and private lives.

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All, is not lost, however. April Fools’ Day can still be saved. Referring to Obi Wan once again (this time in paraphrase), the nature of foolishness depends greatly on one’s point of view.

There is, for example, a point of view that cannot lighten up. Perhaps the most perfect current case of taking things too seriously is represented by the official news agency of China’s communist party. Earlier today the Xinhua News Agency admonished its readers to ignore April Fools’ Day because it “does not conform to Chinese cultural tradition or `socialist core values’.”

Oh please. What can be more foolish than the assumption that human beings in China are any different from people anywhere else when it comes to having (or making) fun? Indeed, the tradition of April Fools’ is demonstrably both ancient and pan-cultural. Therein, however, is also the rub. At least some of us have an unpleasant memory of being the butt of an April Fools’ Day joke. There is no joy in being mocked. There is, however, some potential for liberation available to anybody who can shift their point of view and not take themselves quite so seriously, if only for a day.

As a matter of fact, the willingness to laugh at yourself could very well be an important turning point of how you view your life. Consider, for instance, the tarot card that portrays “The Fool.” One way of interpreting “The Fool” is that it represents both the beginning and the end of a symbolic cycle. It is as if to say that being a gullible, laughable initiate is both the prerequisite to and ultimate objective of being part of a life’s continuum.

Astrology also has cycles. The Moon orbits Earth, continuously moving through its phases. The Earth, in turn, circles the Sun, constantly repeating the seasons. Then, from our point of view here on Earth, every other object in the solar system also moves through cycles of their own which, in relation to each other, emulate how the Sun and Moon appear to move in relation to each other. First they come together. Then, they move through a predictable order of separation, then closure. Finally, they come together to begin again.

Find out what the Mars retrograde will mean for you in Eric’s 2016 Spring Reading, which we'll publish in mid-April. You may pre-order all 12 signs here.

Find out what the Mars retrograde will mean for you in Eric’s 2016 Spring Reading, which we’ll publish in mid-April. This is a comprehensive 12-sign reading; you may pre-order all 12 signs here.

From astrology’s point of view, a number of cycles are even now closing towards the point where they must begin again. Since you are undeniably part of the solar system, it stands to reason that your life’s cycles might very well be doing something of the same.

All of which may explain how any situations you are facing now could simply be a sign that you are approaching an appropriate time to initiate some renewal of your own.

If there is anything to the tarot’s representation of cycle, starting over might well require you to reclaim and embrace your own fool. Doing so might include recognizing the part of you that clings to what no longer serves to continue your life productively. One could certainly also make a case for how being defensive and taking offense merely serve to burden you unnecessarily, preventing you from moving on.

Hence, if you are fortunate enough to be the object of a harmless prank today, laugh and be grateful for being able to experience it. If no such good luck should befall you, take it upon yourself to lighten up, and not just for today. Endeavor to catch yourself when you are at your most serious and consider whether there might be another point of view that will refresh your perspective, and even set you free.

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Len Wallick

About Len Wallick

Besides endeavoring to be of service to all of you here at Planet Waves, Len strives to live in Seattle while working as a professional astrologer. To contact him for an astrology reading you can send an e-mail to: lenwallick@gmail.com. His telephone number is 206-356-5467. In addition to his profession, Len contributes to the Seattle community without monetary compensation by serving as a Reiki practitioner and teacher through classes and outreach offered by the Seattle Reiki Mastery Series modality.

7 thoughts on “Not So Foolish

  1. Mary

    Ah, Len … what a great idea, embracing April Fool’s as part of our life’s journey. I’ve gotten this knee-jerk reaction to aging in which I’m constantly (inwardly defending) bumping up against things that others do with ease and things that challenge me. How different would be the experience for me if I saw this experience as a great cosmic joke and then moved on toward the next thing. I like this, Len. I shall adopt this for as long as my ego will stand for it …

    Blessings to ya’ll.
    m.

  2. Barbara Koehler

    About the Fool in the Tarot being the beginning and the end of a symbolic cycle Len, (and thank you for noting that) here is something I wish you would read (see link below) and comment on if you have any thoughts.

    Astrologer (or as my neighbor calls me, her “astrologist”) Lynn Woodland, writing for Daykeeper Journal, where Maya Del Mar provided us with years of her wisdom, has found a gem for understanding what’s going on right now. In 1987 the Harmonic Convergence was a big deal in astrology and she’s discovered that Saturn, which at that time was at 14+ Sagittarius, will be in that same degree on November’s U.S. Election Day. A full Saturn return. There are several other interesting synchronicities in the astrology of then and now but Saturn is the bigee. Read what she has gleaned from that cycle . . .

    http://www.daykeeperjournal.com/2016/04/harmonic-convergence-revisited/
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  3. Barbara Koehler

    Actually, Saturn on Election Day will have moved into the next degree of 15+ Sagittarius, but the week before the elections it will be at 14+ Sagittarius, as well as during its retrograde in May for more than 2 weeks. Profound in that May is also when Jupiter and Saturn make the 3rd of their 3 squares, the 1st being last August.
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  4. aWord

    Embrace my own fool – I like it, Len. It suggests a rather large armload of pucky, but there was/is a time and place to entertain the value of piles of puck. I suppose any walking fool might not even notice when stepping into a warm pile of pucky, but then if I consider other “myths” I can recall the lucky-ness of scarabs that might run out from under-a-foot. This of course bring all back around to a pucky-is-lucky sort of theme or cycle of the fool. I don’t know about any of this really, but I’ll leave it as my contribution to a little harmless foolery. shake it off and continue on my Fool’s Journey.

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