This is the Wildwood’s version of The Fool, so this does indicate the beginning of a journey. However, this is more of a turning point for us or learning to unpack some baggage and leave it on the side of the road. There is courage and strength in starting this journey, so don’t sell yourself short.
Blessings!
THE WANDERER
READING POINTS: You have come to a junction or turning point in your life. It may be an unconscious state in which you feel the tide has turned or sense something is going to happen. In a way it already has. Your spirit must move on and the desire to leap into the unknown beckons. This may mean leaving behind or giving up some baggage or burden that you have carried with you from the past. Now is the time to be clear and to not let fear of falling or sad disillusion with the universe hold you back. Let your imagination carry you into a new set of possibilities. It is a time to travel hopefully and open your arms to new and challenging aspects of the universe.
DESCRIPTION: Poised on the edge of a white chalk cliff, the Wanderer prepares to step across the abyss and into the Wildwood beyond. Ahead lies the faint suggestion of a rainbow arch, onto which the Wanderer must step. This leap across tht boid is greeted with open arms and a deep trust that the wings of imagination and honesty will carry the figure onto the lush green turf of a new path.
Clothed in bark and the soft green mosses and foliage that symbolize the protective and healing essence of nature, The Wanderer is neither strongly male nor female, both genders combining in the slender body. The figure’s naked feet tread lightly on the sweet warm grass at the cliff edge and, across the divide, deep shadowed trees stand ready to receive this newcomer to the Wildwood. Amid the leaves of the tangled wood is the merest suggestion of a face – perhaps the spirit of the wood.
MEANING: A this moment the burdens of the past are set aside – either for the Wanderer to pick up and take along, or to leave behind if the weight is too great. The Wheel of the Year is beginning its great cycle, brining a new range of possibilities and challenges. The Wanderer is ready to make the leap into the unknown – all that is required is faith.
The Wanderer represents the wisdom or courage to let go, to step into the void of the possible. Something within you may have already begun this unconscious, instinctive leap across the abyss; you know it is time to move on. Sometimes the fear of loss or failure may make you doubt the validity of change. You may want to wait or hesitate at the critical moment because of the comfort of security, but the momentum of the Great Wheel has already sent the true heart of the Wanderer into the future, leaping across the gap with courage and joy. Now the figure must leave the burdens that have been carried for so long and trust to the wings of imagination.
The Wanderer is both an end and a beginning. One journey has already come full circle and, as you distil your life experience into sacred memory and put the past and its burdens to rest, the future waits patiently for you to make the first move.
Remember that your wisdom, strength, and whatever personal experiences and skills you have may not help you now. The honest spirit of human inquisitiveness leads you beyond yourself and into a new life.. This unconscious energy creates a rainbow Bridge that rises and greets your foot. It will carry you over the void, as you step, trusting and empowered, into the unknown.
The Wildwood Tarot by authors Mark Ryan and John Matthews and artist Will Worthington
Parting the Mists 
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