Seena Frost, founder of SoulCollage®, strongly encouraged us to create archetypal cards for two energies that no one on this earth escapes. One, of course, is Death. We’re all familiar with that one. The other is the Fool. And although we’ve known its energy throughout our lives in various ways, we may not have known its name.

Death is the Great Interrupter, right? It comes, either to us or to a loved one, and our lives are interrupted with a finality that seems eternal. The Fool is also one who interrupts our journeys, but perhaps not in such a finite way. Seena was always greatly in touch with Fool energy, and she called it the “Holy Interrupter.”

When the Fool enters our lives with its interruptions, it is always a surprise. Some examples include: a medical diagnosis, a divorce, an unexpected pregnancy, leaving a job unwillingly, and falling in love. On my own journey, the Fool played a huge part in rearranging my life when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and then with a scary cancer called angiosarcoma in 2011. Holy interruptions, indeed! The whole landscape of my life changed due to these diagnoses, and although at the time they felt like bad changes (well, okay, the worst changes ever!), and changes that I Definitely Did Not Want, these interruptions served to affect transformation within me that could not have occurred otherwise.

Another time Fool energy entered my life in a big way was in 2005 when I attended my first SoulCollage® workshop. Talk about surprising! My whole life changed that day as I felt the pull towards becoming a Facilitator, leading workshops and retreats, and building a website to bring SoulCollagers around the world together.

Sometimes the Fool enters our lives playfully and rearranges things just a little bit, so that we hardly even notice. And sometimes the Fool shocks us with a massive interruption, leaving us not knowing which way to turn. Either way, it is up to us to recognize the Fool when its energy is at work in our lives, and to honor it in some way. The best way I know to honor the Fool is to let go of our previously conceived ideas about how our life should be going, take the Fool’s hand and be open to what it has to teach us.

As you ponder Fool energy in your own life, I leave you with these questions to play with in your journal:

1. Write about a few of your own Holy Interruptions, when Fool energy was at play. This could involve any time in your life when you were happily going in one direction, and then something happened to change that direction.

2. What would it mean to allow myself to be foolish?

3. How is Fool energy showing up in my life today?

Anne Marie Bennett is a SoulCollage® Facilitator / Trainer, published author, website goddess, and two-time cancer survivor who was mentored directly by Seena Frost. In 2005, she fell in love with SoulCollage® and was inspired to use her professional experience along with web technology as a means to serve the world by putting SoulCollage® "out there" in a really big way with KaleidoSoul. Anne Marie lives in eastern Massachusetts with her middle-aged husband, one adolescent feline, and a treasury of birds, squirrels and chipmunks who keep them hopping. Her other books about SoulCollage® are available here.

Date: Sunday, August 14, 2022

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We are living in times of overwhelming absurdity; sometimes it feels like humanity has lost all sense of direction and goodness. We witness public tragicomedies with wide-ranging and dangerous consequences almost daily. Who ya gonna call in such times? I suggest we call on The Sacred Fool! No one is better at saying what needs to be said in a way that can be heard. Whether it's in managing our own sanity or communicating with the foolish, The Fool is a valuable ally.

The Sacred/Sage/Wise Fool and their guises (Jester, Trickster) know well that humor is medicine. They can diagnose and treat the greatest foibles of humanity, particularly those of the powerful and pompous. Their repertoire is clever, unexpected, ironic, and satirical. Sacred Fool is a magical convergence of seeming archetypal opposites, Fool and Sage, both of which are comfortably at ease with their nonconforming selves. When at work within us, Bill Plotkin posits, “The Sacred Fool merges the innocence of the child and the wisdom of the elder.”

Influential Jesters and other Sage Fools abound in popular culture; we can witness their alchemy among those I refer to as “comedian journalists.” In the US, master Trickster Jon Stewart has inspired a growing group of superstars who reach millions daily with fresh perspectives, healing levity and calls to action. He just received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, not only appropriately lauding his unique impact on a troubled nation but affirming the crucial role that The Sacred Fool has in this era. Historian Jon Meecham said Stewart “loved America enough to tell it the truth;” that is quintessential Trickster and Sacred Fool.

The archetypal energy of The Sacred Fool (Wise Fool, Jester, Trickster) may be present in several places in your SoulCollage® deck. The Council suit may include one or more Neters for the archetype of The Sacred Fool. A person or group of people who embody The Sacred Fool and are important to you may be represented in your Community suit. Among Committee cards, your personal manifestation of Sacred Fool energy may be included. Here are some ways to explore the Sacred Fool energy in your SoulCollage® deck, with notes about my own experience:

Seena Frost urged us each to create at least one Council card for The Fool archetype, and she stressed the sage aspects of this mythic character. Perhaps an update or even a new Sacred Fool card is due. Check in with your existing Neters by asking their preferred name. Then ask: “Are you a Wise Fool for these times? If so, what are your gifts?”

My original Council card “The Fool” always felt uncomfortably impersonal, more like a Tarot card. By adding an image of Jon Stewart to that card, I created “The Sacred Fool” with a much more accessible, active energy. The image of Stewart, for me, is archetypal. So, I would not create a Community card for him alone. I’ll make a Community card that includes his comrades (Sam Bee, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert).

Browse your Committee Cards and identify any that reflect or relate to your own personal Sacred Fool energy. Don’t overthink this; welcome any card that either resonates with your understanding of Sacred Fool or Trickster. Pay special attention to cards representing your innocent child aspects. Also note any cards for your sage self. Perhaps ask these Neters, “What do you know about The Sacred Fool?”

There will likely be Neters that are uncomfortable with or opposed to Fool energy. These may include your conformist or well-behaved self, your Inner Critic or your perfectionist. Ask these Neters to speak about the shadow side of your inner Sacred Fool.

Perhaps you’d like to have at least one Committee Neter that embodies The Sacred Fool. I suspect that Seena would encourage this! You may discover an existing card that serves this purpose, with or without modification. Maybe you’ll create a card. You might have multiple Neters for The Fool at work within you. Perhaps one serves your own sanity while another is a wise jester who influences others.

Ask your Inner Sacred Fool Neter(s) to complete these sentences:

I found a fresh perspective on an existing child card “Little Big Mouth.” This card has new name: “Little Trickster Speaks the Truth.”

I encourage you to dance often with The Sacred Fool energy. May it bring you solace, sanity and a clear voice in these unprecedented times.

Dr. Michele Manos lives in Marin County, California and is the developer of SoulCollage® Card Games and Playing with a Full Deck Retreats. She trained as a Facilitator in 2008 with Seena Frost and has enthusiastically shared the magic of SoulCollage® ever since. Learn about her upcoming virtual gatherings and courses on her web page. .

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