Crowley: Balance against each thought its exact opposite. For the marriage of these is the annihilation of illusion. Justice, the act of adjustment, suspension of all action pending decision; in material matters may refer to law suits or prosecutions. (BT p. 256)

Because there are six kua associated with this card, and all of them have cognate symbols, images, and concepts there is much to be related. It is important to remember that all symbols have relationships with all other symbols. Symbols merge into each other and so form a complex web of meaning. In the tarot deck almost every card can be related to "THE FOOL." Trump I, "THE MAGUS" is the adult form of the youthful fool and trump VIII, "ADJUSTMENT (JUSTICE)" is its feminine counterpart.

Crowley: This card is the feminine complement of the fool. This woman-goddess is Harlequin; she is the partner and fulfilment of the fool. (BT p. 86,87)

It is actually very curious that while "THE FOOL" has but two kua to illustrate it and only one dominant theme, that of the wanderer; the trump of "ADJUSTMENT" is exceedingly rich in concepts and symbols associated with "THE FOOL." It was anticipated that I should find such similarities but it is still a mystery to me why there should be such a preponderance of the fool in a card meant to illustrate the complex and difficult concepts of justice and adjustment. One of the dominant characteristics of the fool is that of innocence; which is the title of kua 25.

Crowley: Now consider the traditional form of Harpocrates. He is a babe, that is to say, innocent, (BT p. 61) ... In the third act, Parsifal's innocence has matured into sanctification; he is the initiated priest whose function is to create. (BT p. 59) ... This same doctrine of maximum innocence developing into maximum fertility is found in ancient Egypt in the symbolism of the crocodile god Sebek. (BT p. 59)

Wilhelm: (kua 25) ... movement follows the law of heaven, man is innocent and without guile. His mind is natural and true, unshadowed by reflection or ulterior designs. (p. 100)

Crowley: The Green Man is a personification of the mysterious influence that produces the phenomena of spring. The fool stirs within all of us at the return of spring. (BT p. 56)

Wilhelm:(kua 51 THE AROUSING) The trigram CHEN means the coming forth of God in the spring and also the reawakening of the life force, which stirs again from below. (p. 648)

Crowley: But the essential of this card (THE FOOL) is that it represents an original, subtle, sudden impulse or impact, coming from a completely strange quarter. He (THE FOOL) is shown against the background of air, dawning from space; and his attitude is that of bursting unexpectedly (my emphasis) upon the world. (BT p. 68)

Wilhelm: (kua 25, INNOCENCE [THE UNEXPECTED]) Starting out with the idea of the natural, the train of thought in part goes somewhat further and thus the hexagram includes also the idea of the unintentional or unexpected. (p. 101)

Crowley: In the commonplace interpretation of the card (THE FOOL), the scholiasts say that the picture is that of a gay, careless youth, with a sack full of follies and illusions, dancing along the edge of a precipice, unaware that the tiger and the crocodile shown in the card are about to attack him. (BT p. 63) ... The legend of Bacchus ... His constant attendant is the tiger; and, in all the best extant examples of the card, the tiger or panther is represented as jumping upon him from behind, ... (BT p. 66)

KUA 10, The judgement: TREADING. TREADING UPON THE TAIL OF THE TIGER. IT DOES NOT BITE THE MAN. SUCCESS. (p. 44) line 3: HE TREADS ON THE TAIL OF THE TIGER. THE TIGER BITES THE MAN. line 4: HE TREADS ON THE TAIL OF THE TIGER. CAUTION AND CIRCUMSPECTION LEAD ULTIMATELY TO GOOD FORTUNE. (p. 46)

Crowley: Balance each thought against its exact opposite. For the marriage of these is the annihilation of illusion. ... She (the lady in the card) represents manifestation, which may always be cancelled out by equilibration of opposites. ... She is the ultimate illusion which is manifestation; ... The equilibrium of all things is hereby symbolized, ... Her expression shows her secret intimate satisfaction in her domination of every element of dis-equilibrium in the universe. (BT p. 86-88)

Wilhelm: (kua 38) In general, opposition appears as an obstruction, but when it represents polarity within a comprehensive whole, it has also its useful and important functions. The oppositions of heaven and earth, spirit and nature, man and woman, when reconciled, bring about the creation and reproduction of life. In the world of visible things, the principle of opposites makes possible the differentiation by categories through which order is brought into the world. (p. 148)

Crowley: Equilibrium stands apart from any individual prejudices. (BT p. 87)

Kua 17, Miscellaneous notes: FOLLOWING TOLERATES NO OLD PREJUDICES. (p. 471)

Crowley: She is therefore to be understood as assessing the virtue of every act and demanding exact and precise satisfaction. ... She is purely a matter of calculation. ... Suspension of all action pending decision.

Kua 25, line 6: ACTION WITHOUT REFLECTION BRINGS ABOUT THE EVIL OF BEWILDERMENT. (p. 513)

Crowley: Every form of energy must be directed, must be applied with integrity, to the full satisfaction of its destiny. ... In Eastern philosophy she is Karma. (BT p. 86-88)

Below is the I Ching definition of Karma.

Wilhelm: (kua 10) It is only by the consequences of his actions, by the fruit of his labors, that a man can judge what he is to expect. (p. 47)

Of course the first thought that comes to mind when this card is viewed is the concept of justice.

Wilhelm: (kua 21) Recourse to law and penalties overcomes the disturbances of harmonious social life caused by criminals and slanderers. The theme of this hexagram is a criminal lawsuit, in contradistinction to that of Sung, (CONFLICT (6)), which refers to civil suits. (p. 86)

Kua 21, The judgement: IT IS FAVORABLE TO LET JUSTICE BE ADMINISTERED. (p. 86)

The image: THUS THE KINGS OF FORMER TIMES MADE FIRM THE LAWS THROUGH CLEARLY DEFINED PENALTIES. (p. 87)

The Hebrew letter assigned to this trump is LAMED. ALEPH is assigned to "THE FOOL."

Crowley: The letters ALEPH LAMED constitute the secret key of the Book of the Law, and this is the basis of a complete qabbalistic system of greater depth and sublimity than any other. The details of this system have not yet been revealed. (BT p. 86)

Kua 25, INNOCENCE (THE UNEXPECTED), describes one of the primary characteristics of "THE FOOL", but it is included in that constellation of kua which I have assigned to trump VIII ADJUSTMENT (JUSTICE), which is the feminine complement of "THE FOOL." Within the content of kua 25 are two very interesting references to the fool.

Kua 25, line 2: IF ONE DOES NOT COUNT ON THE HARVEST WHILE PLOWING, NOR ON THE USE OF THE GROUND WHILE CLEARING IT, IT FURTHERS ONE TO UNDERTAKE SOMETHING. (p. 102)

line 3: UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE. THE COW ( ox ) THAT WAS TETHERED BY SOMEONE IS THE WANDERER'S GAIN, THE CITIZEN'S LOSS. (p. 102)

Crowley: This card (THE FOOL) is attributed to the letter ALEPH, which means an ox, but by its shape the Hebrew letter (so it is said) represents a ploughshare; ... (BT p. 53)

In other translations of the I Ching the cow of line 2 is an ox. The Hebrew letter ALEPH means "ox," LAMED means "ox-goad," that is, the tool (or weapon from the point of view of the ox) that humankind has used to tame the ox and make it useful for plowing the fields. Thus facilitating the cultural transition from a wandering nomadic existence to a settled agricultural life.

With agriculture came the villages; with villages came the necessity for law. As villages became cities the law expanded to encompass more of the complex social relations necessitated by the increased specialization of urban life. In line 3 of kua 25 we see illustrated one of the consequences of a differentiation in life styles attendant upon the evolution of civilization. The citizen, or urban dweller who lives under law has fallen prey to the wanderer, who lives outside the cities and their law.

Hellmut Wilhelm (son of Richard and I Ching scholar in his own right), says this of "THE WANDERER," (kua 56 assigned to "THE FOOL"):

"Wandering, then, leads out of the entanglements of given laws into a freedom in which the rules of tradition no longer prevail." (Heaven, Earth, and Man in the Book of Changes p. 179)

In this curious complex of symbols and concepts we can see the essence of a rudimentary theory of social development. In the trump of "THE FOOL," the kua of "THE WANDERER," and the symbol of the ox, we get a description of an undomesticated, nomadic and free being who is outside the walls of the urban centers and under no inner compulsion to obey its laws. The feminine complement of "THE FOOL" is the trump, "ADJUSTMENT (JUSTICE)" which, among other things, illustrates the application of law and penalties to human relations. Its letter is LAMED, the ox-goad; the means by which the ox is tamed.

Kua 17, Appended judgements: THE HEROES OF OLD TAMED THE OX AND YOKED THE HORSE. THUS HEAVY LOADS COULD BE TRANSPORTED AND DISTANT REGIONS REACHED, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE WORLD. THEY PROBABLY TOOK THIS FROM THE HEXAGRAM OF FOLLOWING (17). (p. 471)

As I pointed out earlier, the goad is a weapon when seen from the point of view of the ox. The goad is used to keep the ox from straying from the straight and narrow of the plowed furrow. It does this through the infliction of pain and the fear of pain.

Kua 38, Appended judgements: THE MEN OF ANCIENT TIMES STRUNG A PIECE OF WOOD FOR A BOW AND HARDENED PIECES OF WOOD IN THE FIRE FOR ARROWS. THE USE OF BOW AND ARROW IS TO KEEP THE WORLD IN FEAR. THEY PROBABLY TOOK THIS FROM THE HEXAGRAM OF OPPOSITION (kua 38). (p. 574)

Look again at the lady of trump VIII. See that she is balancing on the point of the great sword of justice. A precarious position which illustrates the all or nothing aspect of guilt or innocence under the law. The weapon of law, the penalties meted out, are the goad for humans. Fear of punishment for deviations from the straight and narrow is what keeps the domesticated primates of planet Earth plowing. Rule of law, faith in justice, and fear of punishment motivate the civilized man to maintain the social compact necessary to allow work to be accomplished in an urban environment. Law is the tool by which men become able to live in settled groups with some hope of success. Law, and the just enforcement of law.

It was agriculture and animal husbandry which created the physical basis for the development of civilized (read: city-bred) man. Domestication of plants and animals led to the domestication of nomad man and created settled man. The wanderer tamed by law, the fool domesticated by justice, the ox controlled by the goad.