0. Fool

This session was so much fun! Hannah Brought.It.

Let me just say, right off the bat, that this lady made her own costume - including her own escoffion - and did the most amazing MU for this shoot. She's also no fool when it comes to posing so the collaboration came very easily.

But see what I did there? I used the name of the card as an adjective and this is the way we normally think of the idea of "Fool." However, this card in tarot is often misunderstood precisely because of this understanding of "fool."

My own understanding is not that the person in this card is being silly or "foolish" as we often think of someone who purposely makes bad choices. (Although there is an element of not looking closely at where you are going and standing right at the edge of a great precipice). But there is an important element which coexists here with the fact that this person is carefree and happy and in one of those blissfully-naive states of simply... being. "Foolish," to me, means that state of mind where you, let's say, begin a collaborative tarot deck project with no idea how long it might actually take you? (Like, if you thought it through you'd never be foolish enough to take on such a large project...)

This card is so hopeful to me, and a place where I strive to get back to often. That take-on-the-world attitude I had after finished my degree in Cultural Anthropology.

For all of these sessions, one of the collaborative pieces is the clothing/costumes. If someone has a strong view of what should be worn, I'm all for it. The tarot is for everyone, and we are al individuals. That's part of where the art comes in. Hannah's take on imagery for this card was reminiscent of medieval jesters. She went to town making her duds and I was totally impressed. She is the only one so far who hand-made her outfit! It wasn't the aesthetic direction I would have chosen, but I LOVED it. This, more than almost any other session to date, deviated from the original aesthetic (though so far none of them has stuck to the original imagery in many ways at all).

That's part of the many wonderful things about this collaborative project: we come together, different people, different minds, and make magick and art. Boom.

Hannah was down to try aaaalll the poses despite physical hardships, and she is a natural at modeling. We shot this at Frog Holler (my FAVE spot on the island, by the way) and we did her standing on a rock (so I may use it to look like the precipice that the fool stands on in some art), the little "mushroom forest," two fields and the trail. How the hell I'm supposed to pick a scene or image from this one, I don't know.

We talked about the Fool looking off into the future like "IDGAF" or with "I totally got this" vibes. We talked about a confidence that they seem to have. (As with many figures in the tarot, this one seems androgynous to me). We also talked about this figure feeling carefree and laissez-faire.

Another reason I love collaborating on this project is that I see things I never would have otherwise. The jester aesthetic that Hannah introduced brought a new perspective about this card to my mind: this figure isn't stupid, silly or foolish, but they don't take themselves too seriously, either. One of the saddest parts of life is being jaded along the way so that insecurity springs up. Then, we know it, we're taking ourselves so seriously that we constantly overthink things and have a hard time making choices without input, or else we just don't think we can... when we actually can and are completely capable of doing all the things: hard, easy or otherwise.

We need the Fool's child-like naiveté and "I'm unstoppable" energy. This is always in us, but sometimes it gets lost along the way. Sometimes it needs to be coaxed back to the forefront of our lives.

Have you connected with your inner Fool lately? Why not check in? Maybe let your hair down and wear it real messy today. Walk around barefoot for a little bit. Blow off work for a day. Take the first step on that seemingly crazy project you've been dreaming up forever. Or stop right now and give yourself a giant bear hug.

You deserve it.

And remember: you're never too adult for a good rumpus-y frolic in the woods.

Love you. <3