The Magician brought the Fool to a sweeping vista where a river wound through rolling hills. The Fool was trying to follow the Magician’s teachings, but the Magician sputtered and wasn’t organizing his thoughts well.
You must use something as a focus for your magic, the Magician said, something that you can channel your power through.
Think of the dowsing rod, the Magician continued. It’s not the rod that is magical, it is you that is letting the rod guide you to water by being a channel of what you already know.
As they walked towards the river, a dark cloud hovered over the valley before them. From out of it, a giant hand came down, holding a weeping willow branch with its curling twisty leaves spilling down into the river.
We use these implements to pull the subconscious to the surface, the Magician said, motioning towards the disturbed water. When we can bring conscious and subconscious together, we can speak to the gods.
But, the Magician continued, we cannot bring these together easily, so we must find a better way to commune with gods, and that is with action. The best action is service: being of service to others.
It is easy to use action for willful and egotistical means, the Magician said. We can even confuse our need for approval for service. But to be of service is to be a servant.
The Fool didn’t understand any of that. He wasn’t egotistical, nor did he provide service. He chose to be a casual observer of mans’ struggles and successes. Neither affected him one way or another; he just liked watching.
He was a Fool, so he wasn’t sure how he could help others. He was an idiot. Most of the time, when he watched people do things, or ants carry leaves, or a fox jumping in the snow, he was baffled. Whatever it was, it represented something he couldn’t fathom. Sure, he knew what was happening when he watched the struggle, but he never thought of intervening and helping.
It wasn’t his problem, after all – it was theirs. He just wanted to wander. If the universe wanted him to help, it would have provided him with abilities.
This is what I’m trying to tell you, the Magician said. You do have the know-how to help others. The universe is guiding you to be a servant. That is what this journey is all about. This wand is the tool of initiative.
The Fool saw that he already had a wand: his staff, the one he held his bindle and his bell on. He walked with this staff every day. Maybe the Magician was right, maybe he was supposed to be a servant. To serve is action.