Join Hedge School founder Dr Sharon Blackie in this course to explore the riches of the Fool’s Journey: an archetypal life-journey which derives from the sequence of the Major Arcana (or Trumps) of the Tarot, beginning with the Fool. Our Fool’s Journey is founded on an approach to the Tarot derived from archetypal psychology, and uniquely, it uses narratives, imagery and archetypes from our native British and Irish traditions.

I’ve been preoccupied with mythical journey models for a good couple of decades, and I’ve spent a large amount of time researching them – from Joseph Campbell’s classic ‘Hero’s Journey’ to the considerably greater riches of the Fool’s Journey. Whether or not you’re interested in Tarot for divination, the cards of the Major Arcana offer up some of the richest and deepest universal archetypal imagery in existence. The beauty of them is that, like all genuine archetypal images, they are readily adaptable to any cultural and personal overlays. The Magician, the High Priestess, the Tower, the Star – make of them what you will; it’s what they’re there for.

The twenty-two stages of the Fool’s Journey (one for each of the Major Arcana) offer the possibility for deep and extended exploration of our individual passage through life. As with all of my work, the Journey I offer here is not just a journey to self-realisation, but a journey back to a profound sense of belonging to the wider world of which we’re a part.

The Fool’s Journey: an outline

The Fool’s Journey begins with the Fool as the representation of innocence. He or she (for simplicity, let’s stick to ‘he’) sets off and encounters (through the Magician and High Priestess) the two poles of existence – masculine and feminine, light and dark, action and stillness, conscious and unconscious. He embraces the mother (the Empress) and the father (the Emperor). He begins his formal education in the traditions of his time (the Hierophant); he embraces the urge for sexual union (the Lovers); he achieves control and mastery and rides victoriously through the world (the Chariot); he begins to learn the Strength that comes from taming his inner passions …

And yet sooner or later, the Fool begins to question this outward life and begins to search for answers, turning inwards (the Hermit), glimpsing the great patterns and connectedness of the world (the Wheel of Fortune). He looks back over his life and comes to a decision (Justice): he must learn to let go, and enter the Underworld (the Hanged Man). He puts his old life behind him, and a process of rebirth begins (Death). Emerging from the Underworld is a balancing act (Temperance) between the old material world (the Devil) and the new. The Fool finds release in crisis – a sudden change or upheaval (the Tower) which leads to revelation and to hope and inspiration (the Star). The Moon stimulates his creative imagination, but he needs the grounding of the Sun to keep it in healthy balance. And so the Fool is reborn, and makes a deeper Judgement about the purpose of his life. With that, he returns to the World, having integrated the disparate parts of himself so that he is able to bring something valuable and necessary back into it.

To me, ‘The World’ is a card which represents the anima mundi: a term which ancient philosophers and alchemists used to refer to the spiritual essence of the world – the ‘Soul of the World’. They conceived of the anima mundi as a spirit embedded in matter which animated everything from the stars to the plants and animals of the Earth. And so the Fool’s Journey, to me, represents a journey back to a sense of genuine, grounded belonging to the planet of which we are a part.

Course structure

The course will last for 22 weeks. Each week, for its duration, you’ll receive an email containing a link to download a full-colour PDF containing notes on one of the 22 stages of the Fool’s Journey. There will be notes on the imagery associated with the Major Arcana card we’re working with, and its interpretation, and notes on the mythical, psychological and ecological aspects of each stage of the Journey we’re following. There will be questions to reflect on, and practices to work with. Our foundation deck will be the classic Rider-Waite Tarot, but we’ll also explore imagery from other decks and other artists, especially those which are relevant to our own native traditions.

Signing up

This course will be offered for the first time in autumn 2018; please sign up to my newsletter (see form at the bottom of this page) to be kept informed.

The cost of the course will be 100 euros, payable with a credit or debit card via PayPal, or via bank transfer (euros only). If you’re using PayPal, you may pay in full at the beginning, or in four monthly installments.