0 — The Fool (Le Mat)

Essence: freedom; pure energy setting out, with no number to hold it. Meaning: Le Mat has no number because he stands outside the order of the arcana. He's the original energy that comes before every form, and the force that carries the journey beyond Le Monde once the World is complete. He can go anywhere and become anything. His paradox is that the same freedom that liberates him can also scatter him, since energy without a direction can turn into flight. In the card: He strides toward the right, the side of action and the future, with his gaze lifted toward the sky. The bundle on his shoulder holds everything he has lived, a galaxy turning around a black hole, and his red staff burns with a single star. The animal at his heel is instinct pushing him forward, and the lone flower at his feet shows that life opens where he steps. Every arrow on the chart points the way he walks, and some run off the edge of the page. Then Le Bateleur can begin, giving his energy its first form. Light / shadow: freedom, liberation, journey, boundless energy, a new beginning · escape, recklessness, chaos, aimless wandering, losing oneself.