02/23/2022
The Fool - The Zero Key elaborates the occult meanings of Aleph. Its number identifies it with the No-Thing whence all things proceed. The Qabalists called this Limitless Light. In connection with Aleph, we find this Light represented as the active principle of existence, prior to actual manifestation. The picture of the Fool, therefore, does not show this principle as it really is, because the Absolute transcends finite comprehension. Yet the symbols show it as it has revealed itself, in a measure, to the wise.
The Fool is pictured as a youth because we are obliged to think of the Absolute in terms of our own experience. To our minds, the Life-Breath presents itself in human form, but behind this personal seeming sages discern something higher, typified in the picture by the white sun. This higher something is an impersonal power, manifesting as the limitless energy radiated to the planets of world-systems without number, streaming to them from their respective suns.
In manifestation, this energy is temporarily limited by living organisms. Of these, the primary class is the vegetable kingdom, represented by the green wreath which binds the Fool's hair. The hair itself is yellow, symbolizing the radiant energy of the Life-Breath. The higher class of organisms is the animal kingdom, evolved from the vegetable world, and represented here by the red feather rising from the wreath. This feather is also a symbol of aspiration and of truth. The colors of wreath and feather, green and red, are complementary, as are the kingdoms they symbolize. The cosmic Life-Breath is forever young, forever in the morning of its power. It is neither male nor female, hence this gay young traveler's figure might be either a boy or a girl disguised, like Rosalind. Actually, it is the Heavenly Androgyne.
The inner robe is dazzling white, representing the light of perfect wisdom. Dimly traced, in the folds at the neck of this while garment are the Hebrew characters of the Divine Name, IHVH.
To be continued.....
