Erev Elul and The Fool

Psalm 81:4

Sound the shofar on the New Moon, on our holiday, when the moon is still hidden

In liminal space and time

Tonight, the New Moon rises. You can't see the moon in this phase, at least not with the naked eye, but it's there nonetheless, taking up space and contouring the shape of the Earth as it pulls on all of Earth’s water.

So much within us is like the New Moon, present and shaping us, taking up space in the parts of us we don't think about so often. This month is a daily invitation to wake up and pay attention, to notice what things are taking up space and shaping us, and to decide what to do about them, instead of letting them be in charge of who we are.

This is an in-between time, a liminal, transitional space between one moment and the next, the pause between exhale and inhale. It is no longer yesterday, but neither is it yet tomorrow.

This Jewish month of Elul inhabits the liminal spirit, both part of the year and also apart from it. It exists in some ways outside of time, asking us to hold ourselves aloft and view the past year from above even as we look forward toward Rosh HaShanah, the new year, with anticipation.

Even as we heed the wake-up call of the blasting ram's horn (shofar) and turn inward to examine ourselves thoroughly, we do not live in the present moment. In truth, the present moment doesn't really exist—it is conceptual, that single beat between the past and the future.

In the Tarot, there is a character who lives simultaneously fully in the moment and also completely outside of it. This liminal, nonbinary person marks a transition point, the perfect present in which absolutely nothing is happening, whose focus is everywhere but here and now.

The Fool balances on the precipice, in the moment between moments, remembering and anticipating, but not acting. They are full of dreams and promise, and perhaps also regret.

The Fool is numbered 0 in most decks, but in truth, he has no number. She floats through the Major Arcana (the 'trumps' of the playing card game, where the archetypal story of life is told), which is often times referred to as "The Fool's Journey."

In their floating, the Fool represents teshuvah, the ability to return to a state of pure possibility. No matter where in our lives we find ourselves, no matter how hard we have fallen, or how successful we feel, we can always become the Fool once more, pausing to reflect and dream, without action. We can cast off our failures, move past our brokenness and despair. We can believe in the enoughness of the resources we carry with us to meet every challenge.

This month, Tarot is our shofar, the wake-up call asking us to turn once more, to inhabit the Fool and remove ourselves from time long enough to look backward and forward, to reorient ourselves to our lives.

It is tempting to try to change everything all at once, but that is not sustainable. You can quickly become overwhelmed by the magnitude of the project. This 4-card Tarot spread can help you focus your attention for the month as you ask…

• What do I most need release from?

• What goodness is already in me, waiting to be illuminated?

• What possibility for my future needs to be embraced?

• What is blocking my transformation?

If you have a Tarot deck of your own, you may wish to pull the cards yourself, and I'm available to help you interpret if you wish. Or, you may prefer another way of opening yourself to the Holy: sitting in meditation with these questions, journaling or collaging, letting them wash over you under a hot shower.

However you process them, allow these questions to spark your curiosity and guide you throughout the month.

I can't wait to explore with you more.