1. How have I been a Fool in my life?
2. How has it helped me?
3. How has it hurt me?
4. Where in my life for I need to be more Foolish?
5. Where will the Fool not serve me?
6. Where do I find the Fool outside myself?
7. What gifts does it bring me?
There were no notes on the layout of the spread, so I determined a spread that made the most sense to me. Reading from left to right, rather than vertical, since I find those easier to work with on a practical level — I separated the Fool card out of the deck and set it to the side first, then laid out the cards in order, with (1) being the closest to the Fool card, then (2) and (4) being paired as positive aspects (above) and (3) and (5) being paired as negative or harmful aspects (below), coming back together again for (6) and (7).
I tried to read this layout somewhat intuitively, without reference to any books, in part to help me get better at doing in-the-moment readings, and in part because I want the Fool energy to be pervasive throughout and I didn't necessarily want to get bogged down with complex interpretations of the other cards.
My interpretation...
Where have I been a Fool in my life? Art/Temperance (XIV) — Seeking that point of balance, the blending or reconciliation of opposites, sometimes leading to paradox or contradiction — on the one hand, recognizing these paradoxes as internal aspects of myself, while on the other hand, working to manifest them in the world through mixing and mingling, working with the forces in tension in the world around me. This reflects the aspect of the Fool that is both active and passive, at the zero-point in the center of all things and also the active movement that moves on a journey through life. This card might also be suggesting that I see the Fool primarily through the lens of Temperance, this balancing of opposites.
How has it helped me? Eight of Cups — A certain amount of restlessness, leaving behind the carefully constructed and contained life to seek elsewhere, to return to the "source" so to speak. The activity and enthusiasm of the Fool has helped me to avoid stagnation, continuing to provoke my curiosity. There might be a certain sense of "divine dissatisfaction" here, with the Fool always ready to go off with only a small pack, leaving behind his old life to seek out a new one.
How has it hurt me? Eight of Pentacles — At the same time, this restless energy and tendency to always be seeking a new life might prevent me from settling down comfortably to do the steady, necessary work or to cultivate and enjoy the fruits of my labor. The Fool isn't exactly the type to "settle down and get a job."
The two eights that are paired here suggest a tension bound up in stability or stagnation — the tension of two that naturally gives rise to movement pulling against the stability of four that tends to ground things, pin them down. The Fool has helped me, on an emotional level, by nurturing my curiosity and keeping me engaged — and also perhaps letting me let go of old emotions or psychological states that no longer serve me (maybe in this way it might be "foolish" to forgive old hurts, for instance). On a material or physical level, though, the Fool's tendency to always look for something new might undermine my desire to establish myself, find some stability and bring my work to full fruition in the physical world.
Where in my life do I need to be more Foolish? The Magician (I) — My first instinct in interpreting this card is that it is "foolish" to believe in magic, let alone try to be a magician. This might be suggesting, then, that I could stand to be a little bit more trusting, innocent, enthusiastic and active in my approach to magical work (or any creative work of manifestation) — and that being more open will help me connect with and understand the elements of the world on a deeper level.
Where will the Fool not serve me? The High Priestess (II) — Inner wisdom and mystery, the initiation that comes from parting the veil between the worlds. I find this card difficult to interpret in this position. Perhaps to a certain extent this card suggests that the Fool's more negative or harmful tendency to undermine order and structure, and to turn everything to ash with irony and ridicule, might not serve me well in developing my inner wisdom and intuition. Maybe a tendency towards cynicism and mockery, brought to bear on the inner life, can jeopardize the process that leads to this internal initiation into the mysteries. (Or perhaps this card just indicates that the Fool is not much concerned with what the high priestess represents. The Fool does not "serve" the high priestess, and does not have anything much to do with her work, either through provoking curiosity or exposing chaos...?)
Where do I find the Fool outside myself? Wheel of Fortune (X) — The ever-turning wheel of chance and its unpredictability. Our inability to control "fate," or coincidence, and how it can sometimes seem arbitrary and ridiculous and chaotic. I find the Fool outside myself in the endless turning cycles that seem to lift up some and topple others, ensuring that nothing remains stagnant, everything is interconnected and cycles back in an on-going process. The chaos and unpredictability of the Fool is represented here, but also the energy and curiosity involved with discovering what is new and different about life. I also think it's interesting to have the wheel here by a gear, rather than a wheel of transportation (like a wagon wheel), since this echoes my thoughts on the Fool not only as the empty space in the center around which the wheel turns, but also the empty spaces between the gears that are always moving and turning, as these spaces allow the gears to turn and interlock with each other, they make the whole process possible.
What gifts does it bring me? Six of Swords — Curiosity and exploration, especially as related to the rational, inquisitive mind. The gift of the Fool (especially as it manifests outside myself, I think) is the impetus to always be exploring and discovering new things about the world as circumstances continually change and new possibilities are always arising. There's a sense of completion, on the one hand, but not necessarily of culmination that brings things to a close — instead, there's a glimpse of wholeness that is still part of an on-going process as the cycle continues. It's like a foot that touches the ground in the middle of a run, rather than two feet planted firmly as the person stands still: the next foot is already in the air again, moving forward to the next thing.
Other patterns: It's interesting that so many Major Arcana cards appear, especially in prominent positions. In cards (1), (6) and (7) there is the repeated imagery of the wheel or circle in one way or the other — the Wheel of Fortune being the most obvious, but also the spiraling yin-yang symbol of Temperance and the sword-spoked wheel in the Six of Swords. Interestingly, the symbol of the circle or wheel also appears in a more subtle way in cards (2) and (4), as the full moon above the ocean in the Eight of Cups, and the ouroboros encircling the occult designs and sigils etched into the starry night sky above the Magician. On the other hand, in the High Priestess, the moon is a crescent, an incomplete circle (I think a waxing crescent, just after sunset), which might give a hint as to why the Fool "will not serve" in this particular aspect — if the Fool is a figure of innocence that takes the world at face value, this might suggest that this energy will not serve in exploring what is hidden or shrouded in shadow, only partly illuminated or manifested. Maybe this is the aspect of the Fool's card, stepping off the cliff without taking into account what is unseen (the future, the potential danger).