GETTING READY FOR THE FOOL’S BIG ADVENTURE ON APRIL 1ST

This Sunday, April 1^st, I’ll be holding my first magical chat of the year at the Triple Goddess Bookstore in Okemos, Michigan.  This is a special day for honoring THE FOOL WITHIN—and we all have one—so for Sunday’s readings and exercises, we will play up our positive Fool qualities so that we can see and experience life as a journey, rather than a destination.  Themes for the day include “The Magical Fool,” “Magical Surprises," “The Magic of Opening," and “The Magic of Resurrection.”

If you can’t be with us, but would like to do something special for April Fool’s day, here is a tarot exercise we’ll be doing, with a card search based on The Fool:  As you shuffle and cut your deck, pose a request like, “Please show me the next episode in my Fool’s Big Adventure.”  Then, place the card deck face up, and go through your stack of cards until you find The Fool, as well as the cards flanking The Fool.  Take note of any significant images in your Fool card, as well as the flanking cards.

In considering the themes that tie April Fool’s Day to Spring Equinox and the month of April:  April is thought to take its name from “aperio,” “I open,” because it formerly “opened up” the new year.  However, April may also take its name from an epithet of Aphrodite, “Aphrilis,” associated with the potency of life in Spring.  Aphrodite also bestows “golden gifts” that help us open to love and pleasure.  Does the imagery in your reading connect The Fool with the magic of opening?

Another theme for Spring and April is Resurrection and Renewal, as new life bursts forth from the seemingly dead earth.  The Fool has many juven-ile qualities, so, does the imagery in your reading connect The Fool with re-juven-ation?

Sometimes it may feel like the Universe is playing a cosmic joke on you, yet, such situations can also bring you new psychic life, creative fertility, and access to knowledge.  Does the imagery in your reading connect The Fool with cosmic jokes and magical surprises?

Note that in addition to the above exercise, as well as various other spells and reading techniques that we’ll play around with, I think it would be a good idea to do the “Tarot Round Robin,” (which we experimented with last fall), as a regular thing, both to take advantage of group energies as well as the opportunity to work with a larger number of card decks.  To do this, we go around the circle, focusing on one person at a time, while everybody else draws a card for him or her from their chosen decks.   While doing this, we try to take note of whether there are any special themes or recurring images that emerge, or any special relationships between different cards.  We also try to share any thoughts or impressions that came to mind as we were drawing each person's card.