The Fool marks the beginning of the tarot – the blank page before the story begins. In the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith in 1909, a young traveller stands at the edge of a cliff. The sun shines above, a white rose rests in his hand, and a small dog dances at his feet. His eyes are lifted, unaware or unconcerned about the step ahead. It’s a scene alive with both innocence and possibility.

Earlier decks, such as the Visconti–Sforza and Tarot de Marseille, portrayed the Fool as a vagabond or jester – a wanderer outside society’s order. He often carried a stick and bundle, sometimes followed by an animal tugging at his clothes. When Waite numbered the card zero, he placed the Fool outside the linear progression of the Major Arcana. Zero is everything and nothing – the circle that contains all potential, yet has no defined shape.

In the Thoth Tarot, designed by Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris, the Fool becomes a burst of creative energy: colour, movement, and chaos. He is the spark before structure – the living principle of possibility.