The synthesis of both The Fool and The Hermit is The World.
Non-existence and Understanding are the two faces of Harmony, the name of this stage, if we can call it that.
The World is truly the perfect balance of the elements in a state as pure as possible in the physical existence. The union with all Nature has been fulfilled. God and us are no longer different concepts. We are all united by Love.
Two are the paths to achieve such harmony. The path of ignorance and the path of wisdom. Not common ignorance, not common wisdom, but transcendental.
The axis that links The Fool and The Hermit represents their binary unity: They are very much the same, for the binary becomes the ternary with The World. In fact, 0+9+21=30 and 3+0=3, the ternary.
So we can see that ultimate wisdom is the same as ultimate ignorance in an existence where no concept exists. There are no opposites, there is no existence nor non-existence. All is union.
This is, in fact, the Nirvana, the Buddhist concept, as I have already explained in the chapter of The Hermit. The difference between Nirvana and Samadhi, however, only now can be explained:
After The World, we can find The Sun. Their relation is the same as Nirvana and Parinirvana. When we die, reaching this stage, we can totally accomplish our existence, by entering the realm of The Sun, which I will explain. Therefore, because of its instability, its illusion of a true transformation, Samadhi doesn't provide us with the key to enter The Sun. This means that the cycle of reincarnations of the Samsara won't cease, as the Buddhist say.
The World is therefore the moment when we re-enter the divine garden, Eden. We have achieved the Harmony to do so. Again we belong to each other, again we exist without being, again we love and unite!...
I cannot explore this more. There are no words of ours that can express this.
I will however apply the symbol of the cycle to a book by Hermann Hesse: Narcissus and Goldmund.
This book is the synthesis of all these ideas:
Narcissus and Goldmund take two different paths but their aim is the same. The Mother and The Father should unite and become one essence: The World.
The path of The Mother is the one of The Fool. It is the instinct which makes Goldmund embrace Nature (The Woods). By giving himself to his mother, by following her way, he walks through this path.
So, he goes into the woods, the realm of The Great Mother. His path and Narcissus' diverge. He then takes a life full of immediate pleasure and empty of thought and words. It is the life of the Soul. Death and Life meet in a balance provided by the Love of The Mother for all beings. She is the one that kills Goldmund and he accepts it as a gift. Death is as beautiful as Life.
As to The Woods, it is the lower stage of Goldmund's path. A stage of suffer from which begins his journey.
The path of The Father is the one of The Hermit. This is the path followed by Narcissus. He takes a life of study, thought, meditation, for he lives in the monastery. It is the life of the Spirit. He will share the Love of The Father. It is maybe a different Love.
The union, The World, is the aim of both. The Mother and The Father unite in the ultimate Love. Soul and Spirit accomplish the Great Alchemical Transformation and embrace each other.
Regarding Goldmund's last thought, concerning Love and The Great Mother, maybe because of the path he took, he cannot understand the Love of The Father. Maybe we must only take one of the paths and never both at the same time. As to die without The Mother, it is irrelevant, because there is no death nor immortality when Mother and Father unite.
Nevertheless, Goldmund's last words are very intriguing to me. It is once more very difficult to express the whole idea. Hermann Hesse found a way to do so and yet we must read the whole book.