The Fool

Today for April Fool's Day I am reprinting my son Brandyn's article about the Fool. It's a good one. The image is Picasso's Fool.

For Millennia, the fool has captured the attention, hearts, and minds, of the people of every country. From politics to playing cards, this character has been the role of many people, to play its part in politics, acting, and religion. The very word “fool” is derived from the Latin form of “follis”, meaning bag of wind, a reference to both the taunting jokes from his mouth, and the stinking odor from behind.

There are many words for a fool, a clown, a jester, and all meaning extremely similar things, with a similar goal in mind: to entertain, to bring joy, and to demonstrate a message beneath. We can date oldest fools to around 2400 B.C, in the clowning of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt, the pantomimus in ancient Greece, as well as the shaman animal traits of Russia and North America, all of which have been fulfilled by religious leaders. Each of these has gone on to affect each kind of foolery we know today.  The Clowning of Egypt has become the circus and rodeo clowns, the tom foolery of fairy tale, the makeup worn in theatre, and in storytelling, to show more closely the role the person is supposed to play. The Pantomimus became the French mimes, the improv, and the comedies we watch in the theatre, from plays to movies. The Shaman animal traits have developed into the court jester, from the motely garb they wear, to their ancient place in the courtroom.
Because of their kind demeanor and honesty in the courts, this has often been some of the main elements for the fool, chastising peasant and king alike. In medieval courts there were two types of fool, that of the natural, and that of the licensed. The natural fools, often considered “touched by God,” were the disfigured, the mentally handicapped, or the insane; the licensed fools were those given permission by the courts. Both were given permission to mock and ridicule the royalty and their guests, as a form of advice and warning, and as entertainment to the others watching.

Examples of historical, clown-like comedic performers have been the pantomimus in ancient Greece, the Lazzi of Commedia dell'Arte, buffoons, court jesters, as well as the French mime tradition. On top of this there are many non-European clowning traditions including clown-like figures in Japanese Kabuki theatre, and North American native shaman traditions to consider, which may or may not have influenced what we now think of as a clown in the Western world.

However, fools set themselves aside from the clowns we think of today, in the fact they had an excuse for folly, and in the idea they did not commit the acts of tumbling, juggling, stumbling and etcetera, but to advise, provide an idea for free open thought, fully aware of the power held to influence, delivering information no one else would dare deliver, but the lack to commit proper action himself. A major example of such is in 1340, when the French fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Sluys by the English. Phillippe VI's jester, who told the king that the English sailors "...don't even have the guts to jump into the water like our brave French.”

“That, of course, is the great secret of the successful fool – that he is no fool at all.” –Isaac Asimov
Fools are often shown wearing a three-cornered hat, two corners being in the front and a third in the back; this was based upon the original hat of choice, a pair of donkey ears and tail, both to make an ass of the target of the fool, and “To make an ass of me”, in the words of William Shakespeare.  Also in the bard’s words: “Motley is the only garb.” Fools would dress in motley during the reign of Elizabeth I, keeping the fool outside the social hierarchy and therefore not placed in a certain class, being outside sumptuary law, and able to speak more freely. Motley, meaning in most forms, a mix of varying things unrelated to each other and together relating to nothing at all, much as the fool’s social place was.

During the holidays of Samhain, Yule, and Saturnalia, we see a shaping of the fool from different folk cultures, which Gerald Gardner incorporated into his Wicca, from the popular Loki, Pan and Puck, all effected during Roman expansion. These created the title of Lord of Misrule, who had precedence over all for the holiday. This position was a joyful one for the twelve days of Saturnalia, as the fool could make any person do as he pleased in the sense of good fun, but records show he was often sacrificed, in honor of Saturn’s own sacrifice.   In Britain and France, the Feast of the Fool was held, in which a Lord of Misrule was chosen to preside over the drunken, and often rowdy festivities, and social precedence was postponed, forms of a silly switching of places were performed, servants and masters, men and women, all were fools to life, the festival made famous in America as a basis for Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.”

In the Tarot, we can see many forms of the fool. In fact, the fool is not the only one to wear Motley. In the Middle Ages, Death was shown in Motley wear, because both humble all, but the last laugh is reserved for death. Often, in the decks before Waite-Smith, the Fool is almost always unnumbered. In the fifteenth century, the fool was numbered as a zero, an Arabic number, when all others were Roman; Charles Williams numbered the fool as "nought" in his book “Greater Trumps” These were both done in the presence of a sense of nothing being the opposite of an amount.

As a final note, we can consider today, the role of the political fool still exists, in forms of shows which cordially make fun of recent politics, by political cartoonists, joke news reporters, and comedians alike. If one wishes to bring the elements of the old fool about, to incite in ritual or to study, some famous fools include:

Harlequin, based upon a number of sources, essentially playing the character of a motley dressed, black masked man, chasing down the damned souls to end them to inferno. However, he rarely pursued them, being heavyset, although extremely nimble. He often chases a woman, Columbiana, caring only for food and fear of his master, often regarded as Death or some form of Satan, more than she. He is not considered an evil spirit, but care should be placed in invoking him, much like Loki, he is very mischievous.

Richard Tarlton (died September 1588), an English Thespian, was most likely the famous clown of his era. Information of his early life is rare, working poor men’s hard labor. 1583, he is reported as one of the original members of the Queen's Men, and already an experienced actor. He was a major influence on Elizabethan fools and clowns, “he of clowns to learn still sought/ But now they learn of him they taught.” Tarlton studied natural fools and other simpletons to add knowledge to his characters. He combined the styles of the medieval, the professional minstrel, and the amateur Lord of Misrule. While on stage, he would match and provoke hecklers by responding with a creative, sometimes insulting rhyme. He would spend time after the play in a battle of wits with the audience. He worked with Queen Elizabeth's Men at the Curtain Theatre at the beginning of their career in 1583. The 1600 publication Tarlton’s Jests tells how Tarlton, upon his retirement, recommended Robert Armin take his place.

Robert Armin, most likely the best Shakespearean actor to have ever lived, becoming so popular, the bard felt  the need to write him out of Henry IV.  In “A Nest of Ninnies”, Armin wrote about the difference between a natural and artificial fool.