According to the historian of card games, David Parlett, the Joker was added to the 32-card deck in the 1850s specifically for the game of Euchre. The blank card held the highest rank of all [1].
Traditionally, Jokers are depicted as jesters.
But emptiness isn’t nothingness—it’s the freedom to be anyone.
The humor here is no accident. It lifts us above misfortune, suffering, and pain. After all, the best jester is the one who first mocks himself mercilessly and only then others.
The Joker shares much in common with the Trickster—“a demonically-comic antagonist of the cultural hero, with traits of a rogue and prankster.” The Trickster doesn’t follow the rules—not out of malice, but for the love of the game itself [2].
Sometimes rules need to be broken if they’re slowing down the flow of life.
The Joker is also often compared to the card “Fool” or “Madman” in Tarot decks. There, his task is to perceive the new with an open mind, to learn through play, and his goal is to find joy in life, gaining experience through playful discovery. He is resourceful, trusts his instincts, is curious, incredibly open, eager to try everything for himself—yet carefree and light-hearted [3].
Being open to the new always carries greater risk.
But it’s important to distinguish between pointless risk due to recklessness and residual risk. The latter is an inherent part of novelty itself.
Emptiness, humor, freedom, curiosity, resourcefulness, initiative, and audacity—they’re divine gifts when these traits emerge in a person not impulsively, but consciously.
We all want awareness in an instant. But it’s more like the growth rings of a tree or a stalagmite. Life drips onto us from above, entering us drop by drop. Just don’t refuse—take it!
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
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As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.
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