Personal Archetypes: The Jester (The Fool)
Unburdened by social expectations, The Jester strives for the moment, for light-heartedness, and can remain trapped in their own lack of purpose
The Jester may quite well be described as the antithesis of modern society. Also known as The Fool, and sometimes as The Joker, this archetype is very much unlike the deterministic, efficient, masculine, rules-based society we have been building for millennia. The jester is simply interested in the playfulness of the moment and the journey ahead, without meaningful concern for the certainty of the outcome. However, behind this curtain of lightness and naivety lies meaningful depth, which largely unbeknownst to the jester himself, has the power to affect society in an inward way - in a way that many individuals desperately need, from kings and courtiers in medieval times, to a modern populace drowning in anxiety and lost in the hyper-speed of daily life.
Character Traits
The jester flaunts and taunts us with shadow, playfully bringing to light often uncomfortable truths about cultural norms and human complexity both pointed and palatable.
There is more to the jester than being a simple comedian, however. In his positive manifestation, he approaches life in a fresh and innocent way - trusting, uplifting, and completely in the moment. The jester does not tend to struggle between the opposing forces of life, because he rather likes to exist in between them, in a place somewhere akin to what Buddhists refer to as the bardo state. They can be a paradox.
In fact, for all their outwardly jest, the jester or fool can have profoundly healing capabilities precisely because of their reluctance to maintain the rigid social norms, and rather bring to light the unconscious - which is where the revelation and healing can happen - while doing so in a light and playful way - which again is often the smoothest way to make change. They have the innate capacity to come from a place more present and ordinary, being able to bring us back down to earth.
It is in this world of contrasts that the fool often thrives. Traditionally, the jester has been depicted as a complement to the upper classes of the social hierarchy, serving as a counterbalance to the “rarefied” air where they make their existence. However, this not need be so. For it is in every class of persons where imbalances exist, and the fool is uniquely adept at picking out these incongruences in the balance of a man and poking at them silently or vociferously, whatever the circumstances may atone, in order to provide the stimulus for personal change.
In many ways, the jester himself is a representation of the natural personality without the mask of persona most people tend to put on as they evolve into their identities within society. There is a felt humility there when this finds the right audience. It can be said that the natural fool lives through the heart, while the professional fool through the mind.
“...and ask what conscious situation is compensated by such a myth (of the fool). Then you see clearly that such a story compensates the conscious attitude of the society in which patriarchal schemes and oughts and shoulds dominate. It is ruled by rigid principles because irrational, spontaneous adaptation to events is lost. It is typical that stories of the fool are statistically more frequent in the white man's society than in others, and it is obvious why that is so. We are the people who, by an overdevelopment of consciousness, have lost the flexibility of taking life as it is. We have also an overwhelming number of stories for their hero excelling through just plain laziness. He simply sits on a stove and scratches himself and then everything falls into his lap. These stories also compensate for the collective attitude which puts too much emphasis on efficiency. Then those lazy hero stories are told and retold with great delight and with a healing meaning in them”
— Marie von Franz, Interpretation of Fairy Tales
The jester’s self esteem does not emerge from holding onto his outward possessions and achievements, for he typically has none. Nor does he feel a sense of inward grandeur or entitlement. He is almost transparent of the ego, existing somewhat in the space between the conscious and unconscious. Therefore his confidence, or lack thereof, can be felt by others socially conditioned to look for it. And this contributes to his role as the one not to be taken too seriously.
This archetype’s ability to remain present can be a shadow to their inability or reluctance to assume responsibility. They can become perpetually stuck on the journey, without any fixed goal or outcome being sought. If they do happen to fit into the role within society as a jester, harmony can be found. However, the willingness of their contemporaries to hear out their pointed criticism and unspoken truths, stems from the point of view of the jester as an innocent, vulnerable fool. This fine thread being walked can turn against them if this perception shifts, where the positive traits which they were looked upon suddenly evaporate, and the sheer crudity of their weak position in society comes front and center.
If another archetype, such as the king archetype which represents a position of power in society, were to assume the jester into their character, perhaps in a bid to speak against the tides of society, it can go indeed horribly wrong. This is in no small part because of the paradox the jester symbolises, a paradox of contrasts most character profiles are not comfortable existing in. For instance, the king’s role is strengthened by the fact that they serve to solidify society, rather than take apart its inconsistencies like a jester, and the inconsistency this creates would mean the chameleon would have to tread water very carefully in their attempt to channel the jester archetype.
The Fool in Tarot
In the modern 78-deck, tarot cards are split into the first 22 major arcana and the remaining 56 minor arcana. From their Italian roots in the 15th century as a card game, analogous to what bridge or poker may be today, these cards began to take on a more esoteric meaning from the 18th century. They can be considered as psychological images, symbols with which one plays, as the unconscious seems to play with its contents. The cards combine in particular ways, and the different combinations correspond to the playful development of the individual as they undergo self-realisation.
The fool has the number zero and in most decks can be optioned as either first or the last card of the 22 major arcana, the 21st, and last number card, of which is the world. In the world card, there is a large laurel wreath symbolising wholeness, where the fool, who is androgynous, becomes the cosmic dancer and the anima mundi (world soul). However, just as the journey toward wholeness ends, it begins anew, for it is a lifelong process. We understand the fool is both the beginning and the end of the journey.
Inventors and men of genius have almost always been regarded as fools at the beginning (and very often at the end) of their careers.
— Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The fool is typically depicted as a young man holding a white rose symbolising innocence and purity, and a small bundle of possessions in the other. He is willing to sacrifice everything for the journey. Tarot itself is also called the “fool’s journey,” and the fool is paradoxically a symbol of the heroic because he jumps off the place of comfort into the place of the unknown. Here, he must defeat his inner dragon (worst fears, persons, events or memories long avoided) and gather the gold. The journey is a psychological and spiritual death and rebirth, in which an old aspect of oneself dies, giving birth to a new and more capable self.
The major arcana tarot cards can be viewed as the typical experiences along the age-old path of self-realisation, and in this sense, the fool is the most powerful of all tarot trumps, always in the process of becoming.
The Evolution of The Fool
The jester or fool is a unique archetype as may be evident from much of what has been written thus far. It does not pair effortlessly with too many other personality types, and as a result there are only so few paths the fool ends up moving through in their lives.
In the positive realisation, the jester will often end up somewhere behind the scenes, yet in a position able to exert meaningful influence over the fabric of society. They may become a trusted courtier to the upper reaches of society and gradually evolve from a character who attracts attention through comedy and superlatives, into a level-headed confidant and source of balance. In this way, they make a harmonious transition from one aspect of their character, the inner child, and into another, the wise old man. Can you observe this archetype in some prominent members of society today: individuals who don’t actually produce anything of value themselves such as art or products, yet are always close to others which do? Another form of positive evolution emerges out of the jester’s ability to see life from a unique point of view. If they can pair with the ability to execute and take action, they may launch a venture such as a business or social project, all the while leveraging their connection to those with influence to seed their work. It is not uncommon for modern day founders or entrepreneurs to exhibit a lot of the fool archetype, especially behind the scenes.
In the negative realisation, the jester will be squashed into a position similarly behind the scenes, yet of lowly means, largely because their ability to weave into the fabric of society has been rejected over and over again. Some of these characters have been depicted over the course of time. In one of the oldest tarot decks (Visconti-Sforza Tarocchi) The Fool of the Tarot was a homeless beggar, stumbling around village streets in a daze. Back in the 15th century, in the Mantegna Tarocchi, this image was known as il Misero, which means ‘the beggar’. In the Steele Manuscript (a sermon written by a Franciscan monk) it was listed as El matto sine nulla (nisi velint), which can be roughly translated as ‘the fool with nothing’. Both represent a person trapped in the lowest of human conditions. It was a life without money, skills or education. Fools and beggars were a common sight in Renaissance Italy where tarot cards were created. The madman is also a typical path for the fool who fails to adapt to the world. The Joker comic book and movie series is an example, where the urge toward the superlative has been rejected by society and suppressed by the individual for many years, and without a healthy avenue to step into, takes a negative turn.
The Tale of Parsifal & the Holy Grail
The story of Parsifal is part of the medieval legend of King Arthur and the Quest for the Holy Grail. The Grail myth dates back to at least the twelfth century in Europe, and was transmitted in various versions, including French (from the poet Chretien de Troyes), English (Le Morte Darther, by Thomas Malory), German (Wolfram von Eschenbach’s version, which became the basis for Richard Wagner’s “Parsifal” opera) and others. The Grail myth speaks directly to our psyche, and in particular to the development of the psychology of the masculine, in both men and women – and it is as relevant now as it has ever been.
The myth1 surrounds the wounded Fisher King, Amfortas, the king of the Grail castle. He is in agonizing pain, and the kingdom suffers as a result. The Fisher King wound, in psychological terms, is a common condition for Western Man, where every young man “has naively blundered into something that is too big for him. He proceeds halfway through his masculine development and then drops it as being too hot. Often a certain bitterness arises, because, like the Fisher King, he can neither live with the new consciousness he has touched nor can he entirely drop it.” This wound, however, is crucial for the development of consciousness, for its redemption, through the intercession of Parsifal, is what leads to the complete integration of the Self – it is what leads to a life of self awareness, contentment, passion and authenticity.
The court jester explains that the Fisher King could only be healed through the actions of an innocent fool, who would spontaneously need to ask a specific question.
“A man must consent to look to a foolish, innocent, adolescent part of himself for his cure. The inner fool is the only one who can touch his Fisher King wound.”
— Robert Johnson, He
Enter Parsifal, a name which means “pure fool,” an innocent young man raised by his overly-protective mother in poverty, knowing nothing of his dead father (who himself was a knight), without any direction or schooling. He is dazzled one day by the appearance of a group of knights who visit his village and, to his mother’s dismay, decides with all the bluster of youth to seek them out to become a knight himself. She agrees to let him go, but gives him a homespun garment that he elects to wear for much of his life; this garment, represents the “Mother Complex” in psychology, and will prove costly to Parsifal in his development.
Parsifal finds and enters Arthur’s Court but is initially ridiculed and expelled; however, legend held that a damsel in Arthur’s Court who had not smiled for years would burst into laughter at the sight of the greatest knight – which she did at the sight of innocent Parsifal. The Court immediately held Parisfal in high regard and Arthur knighted him on the spot.
Parsifal, naive and not burdened with fear or anxiety, seeks out the most fearsome knight of all, the Red Knight, a warrior so fierce he had never been defeated. Parsifal, in his earnest naivete, confronts him and asks him for his horse and armor. Laughing, he agrees, but only if Parsifal can take it. Predictably, Parsifal is knocked to the ground by the powerful knight but, as he fell, Parsifal throws his dagger into the Red Knight’s eye, killing him. This victory, as Robert Johnson surmises, represents the integration of the “shadow side of masculinity, the negative, potentially destructive power . . . [he] must not repress his aggressiveness since he needs the masculine power of his Red Knight shadow to make his way through the mature world.”
The newly empowered knight goes out seeking battle and adventure, rescuing maidens and defeating opponents, but not killing them; any knight Parsifal overcame he instead instructed to join Arthur’s Court and swear allegiance to him.
One day along his heroic quest, Parsifal sought lodging, but was told there was no place to stay for miles. He then encountered a man fishing in a boat on a lake, and asks if he knows of any place to stay for the night. The fisherman, the Fisher King, tells him to go down the road a little bit and go the left. Parsifal obliges and suddenly finds himself on the grounds of the Grail Castle, windows gleaming, knights and ladies greeting him, the splendor of which he had never dreamed of in his life.
A great ceremony was about to begin, one which occurred every evening. A great feast and celebration was held where maidens brought out to all assembled the Holy Grail, from which all would partake, immediately granting them whatever they desired – everyone, that is, except for the Fisher King. Because of his agonizing wound, he was unable to drink from the Grail, and his affliction continued to wreak havoc across the kingdom.
During his quest, Parsifal had encountered a mentor, Gournamond, who had instructed him in the ways of knighthood. When encountering the Holy Grail, Gournamond instructed Parsifal to ask an important question, “Whom does the Grail serve?” This was the question that would heal the Grail King’s wound. However, his mother had also told him not to ask too many questions and hers was the advice Parsifal heeded this time in the Great Hall. All assembled knew the prophecy that one day an innocent fool would enter the castle and ask the question that would heal the King – all except Parsifal – and very quickly the ceremony ends, with everyone retiring for the night. The next morning, Parsifal rides out and the Grail Castle disappears.
This loss tormented Parsifal, and it would take years of grueling, rigorous battles and quests before Parsifal realized that the homespun garment that he wore beneath his armor – the psychological symbol of the Mother Complex – had to be removed before he could partake of the Grail and heal the Fisher King.
Parsifal spends some twenty years earning his way back to the Grail Castle. They are difficult years, however, and he grows in bitterness and disillusionment; these represent the difficult years of middle age, where one begins to question one’s very existence and the choices made. After twenty years of searching in vain for what was lost in his first encounter at the Grail Castle, Parsifal has had his arrogance and pride beaten and humbled. One day, along his latest quest, he is introduced to a forest hermit.
At first, the hermit scolds him for his failures – especially for not asking the question when he first encountered the Fisher King. However, he soon softens, sympathising with Parsifal, and then invites him to go down the road a little bit and go to the left . . .
Again, Parsifal suddenly finds himself on the grounds of the Grail Castle, this time, however, with twenty long years of earned experience and humility. Again, he finds himself in the midst of the great feast and celebration where maidens brought out the Holy Grail for all to partake.
This time, however, Parsifal asks the question, “Whom does the Grail serve?” The simple act of asking the question immediately heals the Grail King and the entire Castle erupts in celebration! What is the answer to the question? “You, My Lord, the Grail King.” And what exactly does this answer mean? Very simply, we serve something far greater than ourselves. Carl Jung, the great psychologist, would say that by asking this question, one comes to the realization that the Ego now comes into service of the Self.
The goal of life is not merely to attain personal happiness. Rather, it is to serve the Grail – that is, to live a life not of ego but of our most authentic nature, our souls. As Robert Johnson so eloquently sums it up: “One cannot pursue happiness; if he does he obscures it. If he will proceed with the human task of life, the relocation of the center of gravity of the personality to something greater outside itself, happiness will be the outcome.”
Interesting reading 😊