The Fool Tarot Card Meaning
The Fool is the card of a fresh start taken with an open heart. Upright it says begin — step towards the new thing — but keep one eye on where your feet land. Reversed it warns that carelessness, not courage, is now doing the steering.
Card 0 of the
Upright keywords:
Reversed keywords:
The Fool upright
Waite pictures a young traveller in fine clothes pausing at the edge of a cliff, eyes on the open sky rather than the drop. He describes him as a spirit travelling through this world in search of experience. In a reading the card asks you to say yes to something unfamiliar — a move, a course, a new idea — with the lightness of someone who is not weighed down by old fears.
The Fool reversed
Reversed, Waite lists carelessness, vanity and emptiness. In plain terms: the same leap, but without attention. Check the facts, the money and the timing before you jump; enthusiasm is good, but it is not a plan.
A is one drawn upside-down.
The Fool in love
A light, playful new chapter — a first date, or a relationship rediscovering fun. Enjoy it, and still ask the simple questions you would usually ask.
The Fool in career
Good for starting something: a new job, a side project, a change of field. Learn as you go, and keep a small safety net.
The Fool in money
Fine for small, curious experiments; not a sign to stake savings on a hunch. Read the terms before you sign.
Is The Fool a yes or no?
Upright: Leans yes. The Fool leans yes — especially to anything new, as long as you look where you are stepping.
Reversed: Reversed, The Fool reads as a gentle no: carelessness, apathy, empty promises.
The yes/no lean is BornClock’s reading convention drawn from the card’s meaning — Waite himself did not assign one.
Ask your own question — draw one card →Symbolism in the The Fool card
What appears in the 1909 Rider–Waite–Smith picture, as Waite describes it:
- The cliff edge — the unknown ahead; Waite says it holds no terror for the traveller
- Eyes on the sky — trust and vision rather than worry
- A rose in one hand — part of his carefree bearing (Waite gives it no separate meaning)
- A small wallet hung from a costly staff — all he carries — he travels light
- The bounding dog — movement and companionship; the journey keeps going
- The sun behind him — Waite: it knows where he came from and that he will return by another path
In Waite’s own words (paraphrased)
Upright: folly, frenzy, extravagance, delirium (the old fortune-telling sense: reckless enthusiasm).
Reversed: negligence, absence, carelessness, apathy, vanity.
Source: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910, public domain). Some of Waite’s 1910 fortune-telling meanings are old-fashioned; the plain-English reading above is ours.
Related cards
Frequently Asked Questions
Draw your own card — a daily card, a yes/no answer or a love spread.
Free tarot reading →