Hero Neo as The Fool
There are 78 tarot cards and each of them has a special, deep meaning that represents certain ways of life. These cards are divided into two groups which are called the Major and the Minor Arcana, the word “Arcana” meaning “secret”. For now, we will focus only on the Major Arcana which consists of 22 cards, but numbered cards are twenty-one and one is unnumbered (it is called “The Fool”). We will analyse each of them, and we will travel this journey together.
Each card of Major Arcana deals with the human condition – the joys and troubles that are experienced in different stages throughout our life. The full number of cards in the Major Arcana represents the story of the road to spiritual self-realisation. Along the way, each of the cards contains a significant life lesson. These twenty-two cards illustrate our life.
Each card of the Major Arcana has its special keywords, so each stage and the card represented by it within the twenty-two cards has a theme that is described by the keywords. In this article, the keywords will be highlighted so that you can see which theme belongs to which card.
We all know the movie “The Matrix” and its trilogy so I think it would be great to compare this movie, specifically the path of Mr Anderson (NEO), to the Major Arcana cards’ journey.
The Fool
The first card of Major Arcana is called “The Fool”, yet it isn’t numbered. Instead, it has the value of zero. Why isn’t this card numbered? Because the value zero represents unlimited potential, so “the Fool” has unlimited potential. In fact, The Fool does not have any specific place in the sequence of the 22 Major Arcana cards because actually, the other 21 cards are all about The Fool’s journey, therefore this card needs no number.
At the beginning of his journey, the newborn Fool has unlimited potential, is fresh, youthful, and of course spontaneous. In this card, we see the sun, which means that The Fool is starting his journey with a very bright outlook towards his coming adventure. The Fool is ready for his new journey of self-development, self-growth, and adventure. The Fool begins his journey full of hope and unmindful of risk, as this is a time of discovery and moving forward into the unknown. This is represented on the card by The Fool stepping off the cliff to a new world with all the tools needed. But as we can see The Fool has not opened the bag at the end of the yardstick on his shoulder yet. This is just like a Mr Anderson in The Matrix movie who sleeps, and who is unaware of the danger that approaches him.
The Magician
The Fool is a representation of all of Neo’s life before the awareness calling (Magician)… and this includes him being a hacker, a drug addict, and a regular employee in a government job. In an early scene, Mr Anderson is asleep because he is “The Fool”, the newborn one, receiving a message on his computer screen where Trinity calls him “NEO”. According to the producers of the Matrix movie (the Wachowski brothers), the name NEO is just an anagram of the word for the number one. So we can compare Neo (ONE) to “The Magician” whose card number is one.
The Magician is associated with the planet Mercury and has the intellect and unlimited and absolute power over all circumstances. So Neo (Mr Anderson) is compared to The Magician, who can shape the world with his superpowers.
An interesting perspective on the Magician is that The Magician’s role is to prepare the world for the arrival of The Fool – the one who is an avatar of the son of God. The Magician is the Pontifex, the bridge-builder who has the task of connecting the above with the below. The Fool is the son of God manifesting as The Fool. In the Rider Waite deck, The Fool follows the smell of the rose, looking backward while walking forwards towards the abyss. The coming new Aeon is the Foolsworld, because he represents the 0 (zero), the eternal, the immortal, the universal, and the infinite, and is not an “either/or” but rather is an “as well as”.
The High Priestess
Then the Fool meets the High Priestess (which is card number two) in two or three different forms. She is the Spirit Mother whom he meets during his psychedelic experiences with drugs, where she gives him access to ecstasy and to the high mysteries. She is the way out for Neo – out of his room and out of the mundane world, leading him via signs and symbols to a new path because of the White Rabbit on the shoulder of one of her many messengers of Light, Dujour. Also, the High Priestess is called upon when Neo has to make an “intuition” call while he is being aided by Morpheus to escape from the office. There, Neo has to make the choice to follow the instructions, despite his emotions.
So the Magician and the High Priestess are absolutely equal in value and importance. Each is important for balance. Both cards are equal because we can’t elucidate what is light without darkness.
The Empress
It is Trinity who tells Neo to wake up. Trinity stands for number three. The third card in the Major arcana is The Empress. As the Fool grows, he becomes more aware of his surroundings, so the avatar of Sophia on earth – The Empress – nourishes and cares for The Fool. She represents Power, Femininity, and Love. We can associate Trinity to The Empress because she cares about Neo who is “The Fool”.
The Emperor
After that, The Fool on his journey meets the father – The Emperor. The Emperor is the fourth card that represents and is associated with authority. So The Fool adds to his wisdom by learning from the father – The Emperor – because this knowledge is necessary for his growth and prosperity. This is represented in the movie by Neo meeting Morpheus – The Emperor – and learning from this leader of a group of strong individuals who are almost all working towards escaping the Matrix. Morpheus teaches Neo the wisdom needed for his empowerment and the knowledge that is vital for his well-being, just like how The Fool finds out these same things from The Emperor.
It is very interesting to note that when Neo first meets Morpheus he is invited to sit opposite Morpheus in a lounge chair. This is a very strong parallel to how The Emperor card in most tarot decks usually depicts him in a seated position on a throne. Notice too in the scene where Morpheus takes Neo into the construct of reality that has nothing in the background but white, that when Morpheus sits in his single lounge chair, on the front of the arms are two carved Lion heads: another symbol for a throne. No doubt this was done on purpose by the filmmakers.
The Heirophant
The fifth card is The Heirophant. He is the keeper of religious knowledge. In an early scene, Neo is confronted by his boss who is the defender of the present order and who is hell-bent on making sure that nobody challenges the current system of control. This man (who is unaware that essentially he is an agent), is like a priest or minister who defends and tries to enforce his religious belief system on others, thinking that his religious convictions are correct. Most priests and ministers only want to help, so really, this enforcement of control is more a crime of the Church rather than individual representatives of the Church, who in all good faith think that they are doing the right thing. However, we still do have those individuals who fervently attempt to enforce rules and dogmas.
Yet the Agent/Boss is the dark side of the Heirophant, and within Morpheus are aspects of the Light side of the Heirophant. In the next scene, we see Neo being taken away by those who know that he is someone who is here to do amazing things in the world. Those taking him away are agents who are aspects of the negative side of The Heirophant in that they want to force people to obey rules and dogmas.
It’s a Yin Yang struggle between light and dark when it comes to deciding which character best represents this card. Nevertheless, the Hierophant has a huge responsibility to help people learn about higher wisdom.
The Lovers
The next card, the sixth, is The Lovers. The Lovers is a card both of love and of choice. In the scene where Neo is about to step out of the back seat of the car and out into the rain, he changes his mind because Trinity wins him over. It seems obvious that at this stage of his journey The Fool wants to experience a deeper connection, a heart-centred union with a partner.
Thus we see Neo making the choice not to get out of the car because at a level beneath that which he realises at this stage, he wants to deepen his relationship with Trinity to the point where it becomes a loving partnership. Somehow, this is the main reason why Neo stays with Trinity and Morpheus.
The Chariot
The seventh card is The Chariot, the card of success, departure, and travel. Through determination and hard work, The Fool begins to move ahead, thus there is no time to rest.
Here we see Neo waking up connected to a series of tubes, where he pulls each one out and then finds himself being washed down a tunnel that makes a 90 degree turn to the right, which then spits him out at the other end into a waterway. Essentially he departs from the world which was known to him and moves into a new world successfully. He is born again.
Strength
The eighth card is Strength. On his journey to enlightenment, The Fool faces challenges so he is building his strength. Just like the order of the cards, Neo goes through a period of healing, restoration, and integration (after successful departure to a new world), while building his strength through many information downloads that teach him about the Matrix, and by learning Kung Fu from Morpheus.
The Hermit
At this stage, The Fool starts asking himself questions like “why”, and searches for answers. This card is called The Hermit (who is a guiding light to others) and its number is nine. The Hermit stands alone on the top of the mountain, which means that he is developing his skills and knowledge to a high degree by the very fact that he is left alone to do so.
Here below we see Neo and Morpheus walking through a city street in the Matrix, where Neo begins to learn that he is very alone, as is the Hermit, and that all the people he can see on the street are locked into the matrix and cannot be freed from it – that is unless they willingly come.
The Wheel of Fortune
The next card is called The Wheel of Fortune. The Wheel of Fortune is all about twists of fate, consequence, and superior external powers. These powers are represented by the hunter-droids, the Sentinels, which threaten to strike but don’t because they know about the traitor who is aboard the Nebuchadnezzar. At this stage of the journey, The Fool begins to see how everything is connected.
Justice
Then comes the Justice card, which is commonly depicted as female. The Fool now takes responsibility for his past actions, while Justice gives a message of objective facts, rationally and responsibly.
Just like this card, Neo goes to see “Justice” – the Oracle – who gives him the right message for where he is at in his life at the moment. Notice that The Oracle is holding a cigarette – a symbol for Justice’s sword. In the movie, you can see that she also holds a glass which may possibly symbolise Justice’s scales.
The Hanged Man
Now The Fool is ready for new adventures and is determined to realise his vision. He continues his journey and finds amazing truth and discovers that he has superior support from his inner self. This stage is called The Hanged Man, and the card represents sacrifice for the greater good or for an ultimate purpose. When the card falls reversed, it means that there is a betrayal which leads to a dire consequence. Judas may have been the ultimate example of The Hanged Man, as it appears that he acted like the Devil incarnate who was given the chance to redeem himself but didn’t. (There is another side to the events of the betrayal of Jesus where Jesus may have asked Judas to hand him over, but that story is for another article). Much of humanity’s negative yearnings come from the collective unconscious which is represented by The Hanged Man when it falls in its reversed position.
In the next scene, we see the group that had entered the Matrix hanging on a wall between two buildings in order to escape the clutches of the Agents, and Morpheus demonstrates his ability to sacrifice for the greater good by thrusting himself through the wall to land on top of one of the Agents in order that the others might escape unharmed. He is especially concerned for Neo’s safety.
Death
The next card on the journey is Death. In the Journey of The Fool, the Death card signifies the end or loss of things or people and doesn’t necessarily signify actual physical death, the ending of life. In the tarot journey, this stage is not the ending of The Fool’s journey. It just means that The Fool may have to eliminate old habits and start controlling his journey. This stage simply means a transition to a new way of life. However, in the Matrix movie, there are some actual physical deaths at this point where Cypher kills several crewmates, before he is eliminated by Tank.
Temperance
Now The Fool realises that he needs to use the balancing stability of temperance in all that he does, which is the next stage in the journey of The Fool. So this card is called Temperance, and it is symbolic of careful decisions and harmony. Old fears have been replaced by faith and The Fool has come a long way towards having a harmonious and prosperous life.
Neo and Trinity work together here planning and preparing to free Morpheus by packing a number of guns.
Now the Fool has everything: faith, health, and peace of mind, however, he still has yet to meet The Devil face to face.
The Devil
In the Matrix, the Devil is represented by Smith who is evil, and full of hatred and disgust. He uses bondage and torture on Morpheus, which is very symbolic of the bondage and torture we experience whenever we meet a Devil in our own lives. Sometimes that bondage and torture manifest in the form of an addiction, and sometimes it manifests in the form of not being able to escape a relationship with someone who is very controlling and evil.
The Tower
After facing The Devil, The Fool has to free himself so for this, he needs to make a sudden change. The next card and its congruent stage of the journey is called The Tower. In the Matrix movie, the building that Morpheus is being held captive in is destroyed as Neo and Trinity launch their escapade to free Morpheus. We see much destruction throughout the next few scenes, but in the end, Morpheus is rescued. It is rather interesting that the writers of the movie chose not to put Morpheus in a dungeon or a prison while he was being held captive, but rather they kept him captive at the top of a ”tower,” and the reason is that they wanted him in a building so that the building could be brought down in the same way that The Tower is brought down.
The Star
Now The Fool has restored his faith and so he is filled with joy. This stage of the journey is called The Star and The Fool now has peace of mind and is ready for his next adventure. This card is symbolic of hope, faith, trust, and optimism. Neo believes in himself which enables him to defeat the Agent.
The Moon
The next card The Moon is the card of nightmares, fear, confusion, and anxiety, and means that The Fool has not cleared his mind from fear fully, so he has to work towards creating peace. Yet, The Moon is not all bad, as it simply hides a mystery, and once the mystery is revealed the truth can be either good or bad.
In the movie, we see Neo in flight, pursued by Agents, where he appears to suffer horrific defeat. This is where Neo turns to fight his fears in the form of The Devil (Agent Smith), and during this fight, he enters into a new stage of his journey where he defeats his final fears.
The Sun
The card that represents the defeat of his fears is called The Sun, which stands for joy, enthusiasm, and assurance.
It is Trinity’s emerging victory over her own fears that helps Neo overcome his possible impending death, delivering him from evil and bringing Neo back to life. It is the resurrection of the masculine by the Divine Feminine, and the scene where Trinity kisses Neo is the most touching scene in the whole movie.
In victory, The Fool is resurrected and has faith and peace of mind without any fear. Maybe he regrets the mistakes that he made in past but he knows that finally, he has discovered his real self. This card and stage of the journey are called Judgment, which stands for justice, resurrection from the grave, and deliverance from evil. Just like this journey, Neo realises (becomes) his real self, is resurrected and after winning his duel with the agent (in the form of fear and the Devil) he is full of faith without any fear. He is triumphant.
Now his goal is achieved. The Fool experiences his life as full and meaningful. He is involved in the world successfully and his journey is complete, thus, this stage of his journey is in alignment with the card called The World.
Just like this last card, Neo now has deep meaning in his life and understands it differently so he is ready to show the people around him a new world. Neo announces, “I’m going to show the people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, a world without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible.” Now Neo is The One.
It’s very interesting to note that Keanu (Key Neo) Reeves was the one chosen to play the part of the main character Neo, the One, the Magician, in a movie symbolic of The Fool’s journey through each Tarot (Torah) card in its proper sequence. You can almost say that he was “born” for the role, synchronistically speaking, and if the truth be known, he was.
The Major Arcana of the Tarot has a pattern for the Hero’s Journey that has been used countless times in movies, the most well known being Star Wars, which notably includes each of the individual films and the entire series as a whole. Another masterpiece along the same lines as The Matrix is The Wizard of Oz – a prototypical Hero’s Journey written by L. Frank Baum who was a member of the Theosophical Society. It’s no accident that the Hero’s Journey is incorporated into it.
The parallel to the Hero’s Journey in this instance (ie. with regards to the Matrix movie) is a masterpiece in that there are far more connections between the Tarot and The Matrix than there are in other movies. The connection between the Tarot and The Hero’s Journey, as presented by Joseph Campbell, is well known. Seeing as how Hollywood tends to follow this format, you can always find associations in other movies, however, the number and strength of the associations and connections in The Matrix movie – right down to the numerology used in various scenes etc – is staggering.
On a final note though, whenever we are faced with the duality of good and evil, one must remember that these two concepts are for those whose perceptions are muddied by their own unprocessed shadow. Good and bad exist only in those who are held to a construct – in other words, a set of beliefs – which belongs to someone else. Black and white do not exist, because the truth is that we are all varying shades of grey.
written by Luka Tvaradze and Madeline Rose ©
Thanks for reading,
Psychic Madeline Rose
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The Bravehearts of Belgrave High is now published. I have completed the first in a series of novels that I wrote for teens. It is the courageous story of a young girl growing up in a home filled with domestic violence. She also has to endure a school and neighbourhood full of bullies. We read how she maneuvres her way through such a difficult situation. Plus, how she grows because of it, among other themes in the novel.
The desired outcome for young readers is that they will be inspired to treasure their unique differences. If they don’t fit in with the system or with those around them, then they should realise that it’s quite okay not to fit in.
My first novel was written to help raise funds for the private foundation that I established, which might later become a charity. Click here if you’d like to be taken to the site where you can purchase this novel. If you cannot see the site, use a browser other than Chrome.
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