unnumbered the fool is outside the pack, the outsider, free from rules and convention and the laws that govern phenomena. he's the one we fear, he's the one we can't understand, the one we can't pin down, the trickster, the court jester with the ear of the king, who does he report to? 

consider this. he is really a bodhisattiva come to lead us towards liberation.

the cards value is zero, crowley says, 'this is the most important feature of this card.'

it's quite possible it represents the divinity of absence, in contrast to the divinity of presence which religion offers. the fool represents the place beyond language, a place where contradictions are united, a place of chaos (magickally speaking) something for nothing, and thus from the fool comes the universe.

the fool moves forwards, inexperience does not hold the fool back, innocence moves him forwards, pure folly leads to initiation, parsifal, hoor pa kraat, an aspect of pan, his head is empty, no thoughts of ideology or distractions of fame, success  or power for these will devour innocence, the lack of rational thought and the use of intuition will appear to most as, foolish. the fool travels through life with his dog dancing at his heels.