In the Introduction to The Tarot by Mouni Sadhu, he defines the Tetragrammaton with a Shin in the middle (Yod-He-Shin-Vau-He) as The Copper Serpent. He says, “It is the aim of elementars which belong to the evolutionary types. Its realm is the middle and the higher sub-planes. It frees those who are able to come to it, from all the dangers between incarnations. Saints and advanced “white” occultists come to this Serpent almost immediately after having left their bodies. In olden times, Moses raised the symbol of that powerful cliché of redemption in the desert, when the plague decimated the people. Everyone who looked upon it with faith was saved from death. Later, the Messiah, the Christ, was himself similarly raised in his body upon the Cross for the sake of downfallen and suffering humanity.” This mention of the Copper Serpent is interesting in connection with The Fool, as Shin is the twenty-first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, corresponding to this trump.
Mouni Sadhu notes that this Arcanum has no astrological relationships. However, one of the Hebrew words for fool is Keciyl, which would correspond to the constellation of Orion. He adds that this Arcanum is controversial, saying, “Traditionally, there is no doubt that its place is just between the Twentieth and the Twenty-second Arcana, so logically the number should be Twenty-one, and so it is accepted in all the most authoritative Tarots, which comply exactly with Tradition. But these same Tarots, apart from the number twenty one, also use the sign of ‘0’ (Zero), and this is done in order to emphasize the fact, that this Arcanum does not arise from any other. Its position is unique in the whole central system of the Tarot…”
The hieroglyph of this Arcanum is an arrow in a direct but wavering flight, hitting or missing persons depending on their fate in their incarnation. Our author adds, “The scientific name of the Twenty-first Arcanum is FURCA (the fork) which merely explains the strange shape of its letter Shin, while the vulgar one is the FOOL, which evidently refers only to the picture.” The Fool is a traveler, unobservant of the dangers around him, and wearing clothing and carrying a bag and walking stick which are not properly utilized for his journey. A dog is drawing blood from the bite in the fool’s leg, to which he seems unaware. This traveler is an individual touched by the forces of this Arcanum, but he uses ” the means at his disposal in a reversed sense.”
Later, Mouni Sadhu tells us “We may see that Shin is a dreadful Arcanum. Wrong, unskilled, or ill-timed use of it might endanger the development of the planetary evolution….On the other hand, the most synthetic Pentagram of the whole Astral-(Yod-He-Shin-Vau-He) through just this sign (Shin), secures for itself the possibility of incarnation, of that redeeming fulcrum of humanity, the guarantee of the Reintegration of the Primoridal, Perfect, Cosmic Man.”
Mouni Sadhu is not telling us to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. His idea of redemption is one which attempts to get around the Holy Bible by concocting a philosophy of numbers and symbols based on the name of Jehovah God. But what saith the Scriptures? Psalm 53:1-3 says, “THE FOOL hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Proverbs 18:1-2 observes, “Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.” Thus it would appear that it is not true that The Fool Arcanum does not arise from any other, nor does it stand as unique in the Tarot system. The entire Hermetic philosophy proclaims that there is No God. The occultist intermeddles with all wisdom. In all of Mouni Sadhu’s lessons and commentary, there is no real understanding displayed of the human heart and human condition, either in this world or in the next. The whole point of magic is to gain powers for the exaltation of the magician, without suffering the consequences of his actions.
At this point let us remember what Proverbs 6:12-15 warns, “A naughty (Belial) person, a wicked man, walketh with a forward mouth. He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually: he soweth discord. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.”
In the Introduction to my blog, Mouni Sadhu Unmasked, I displayed a series of seven triangles which represent the relationship of the Arcanum to each other. Each triangle has three points with a fourth point in the middle, which is also the top point of the next triangle. Thus the four letters spelling Jehovah are used to create the foundation of the entire Major Arcana. Mouni Sadhu also illustrated that the top point of each triangle was Active, with the points on the left representing the Passive, and the right hand points being Neutral. Since our author says that the Fool trump is unique and does not derive itself from the other arcana, I decided to put it to a test. After all, Mouni Sadhu was an advanced mathematician in real life, and familiar with Hebrew and Greek gematria as well as the Bible. Proverbs 26:11 says, “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.” The counterpoint to this is found in 2 Peter 2:22.
Interestingly, 2 Peter Chapter 2 has twenty-two verses matching the twenty-two arcanum of the Tarot. When we arrange the gematria of these verses in the seven triangles of the Tarot, we can observe each triangle as three points or four. The difference between the two totals describes the Dominion of the throne of Meroz plus Judges 5:23 which says, “Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.” There are more observations to be made regarding the active, passive and neutral columns; however, it is apparent that disenfranchising the Fool card is a means of overturning the words of God in Scripture. It cannot be done, without overthrowing the entire philosophy of the Tarot as well.
The verse in 2 Peter corresponding to the Fool is this: “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.”
MOUNI SADHU UNMASKED 