Date:         Fri, 19 Mar 1999 11:11:30 EST
From: "Barbara J. Harris" <BarbHare@AOL.COM>
Subject:      [WRITERS] INT: Inspiration!  Haven for Hopeful Renaissants

        Barbara sat pensively in her Writing Room, trying to think of something to
inspire the contestants for the Spring Fiesta... aha... nothing had been
posted yet to help those tackling the April Fool's category.

She opened _The Tarot Handbook_ by Hajo Banzhaf to read about Major Arcana
card 0, The Fool...  There she saw pictured a young man with a hobo bag on a
stick over one shoulder, a flower in his other hand, a white dog at his feet,
staring up into a sunny sky as he was about to step unknowingly off a high
cliff.

"The Fool represents the child in us.  He stands for spontaneous new
beginnings and an open-mindedness free of prejudice.  He is the symbol of
playful lightheartedness, fulll of the joy of living, and free from care.  The
Fool shows us that we can enter a new area of life with wonder and without
great expectations, and often without previous experience.  He therefore can
represent a childlike innocence, the result of which can be recklessness,
foolish naivete, playfulness, as well as tomfoolery.  The Fool can also stand
for the joke and rascal in the traditional sense as well as the one and only
honest adviser at the court as the alter ego of the king.  In any case, he
lives totally in the present, is the symbol of openness and spontaneous
honesty, always ready for new experiences.  Whether this stance is the result
of our refusal to grow up or of the wise realization of our spiritual maturity
cannot be decided by the card.  The Fool always indicates refreshing
experiences that sometimes may have chaotic traits but do not represent true
danger, even when we fall flat on our faces."

Love & Light, Barbara