April Fools Day: Foolish or Wise?

April 1st, known as April Fools Day, is here. Tradition celebrates this day by the playing of practical jokes on friends, family and even strangers. A lesser known part of the custom dictates that practical jokes must only be played until midday, and if you play an April Fools joke on someone after that time, then the joke is on you. Indeed you are the fool. This tradition has endured the passing of time. In fact we may learn much on how we view April Fools Day, fools and foolishness in the story of its beginning. April Fool Day
Until the mid-sixteenth Century the start of the New Year in France was observed on April 1st. New Year was celebrated in those times with outings and parties much as it is today. In 1562 Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world and the New Year then fell on January 1st. News in those times did not travel as fast as today and many people did not hear about the change. Others just refused to believe it. Thus came the start of our present day tradition. The people then who still celebrated April 1st as the New Year had tricks played on them or were sent on fools errands. We must assume that eventually everyone in France did get to celebrate New Year on January 1st and yet the April Fools Day tradition has continued. Other countries celebrate the day too. Scotland celebrates for two days, with the second day being devoted to the posterior part of the body and pranks are played on that area, which brings us to the present day sign "Kick Me" pinned to the backside in Comedy acts. In England the media gets involved in a big way on April 1st. One year, a top national radio station announced very seriously that aliens had landed and most of the country believed the hoax for a good part of the day.

The Fool Card
For centuries the Fool has carried a mystic image in many parts of the world. One of my favorite cards of the Tarot pack is the Fool. The Tarot is used as a playing card and more popularly as a means of divination. There are many theories as to where the cards originated. They date back to Ancient Egypt and have mentions in history with India, Ancient Greece, Romans, and the French and English gypsies. Originally a pack of 78 cards, the Tarot is split into the major and the minor Arcana. The Fool card is one of the major Arcana. The Tarot set works as a form of divination for different people is different ways. They can be viewed as mirrors into the psyche, as a catalyst to clear seeing known as "clairvoyance".

Beginners to Tarot often interpret the Fool in a rather harsh way. He is seen as a dreamer, one who needs to wake up, rather than holding his head in the clouds. Yet who is truly not to say that life is but a dream? The card shows the Fool going on in life with a bright sun shinning about his head. It shows that there is always hope. But the card also shows the Fool just about to step off a cliff. We can say that man should look where he is going at all times, head to the ground rather than up in the clouds. But at the same time we can say that the Fool, who is just about to step off the cliff, has the confidence of more than one reality. As he steps of a cliff or leaps into the abyss, he will be guided by his awareness and dualities more so than the person who is not so well equipped because he is so rooted in a one way reality and one way system. Perhaps then we don't need to fear, for the Fool could be the clever one in the end.

The Fool and the Wise
We have all seen that acting the fool or with seeming foolishness can result in positive as well as negative ways. When we acted outside of the box in those times, followed our hearts and made the right choices, even when those choices seemed to make no sense, we have been often afterwards thankful. At those times we show ourselves that there is more to life than logic and sense. Once Mark Twain said, "Let us be thankful for the fools but for them the rest of us could not succeed." William Blake said, "A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees". These comments are heart warming for they show that man can recognize, value and appreciate the difference between men. Without doubt that is how mankind needs to be, as we move forward to the realization that there are no mistakes and that we each do know exactly what we are doing at all times.

The fool moves on, often without needing any proof. How much greater then is the fool's awareness? Let's look again at April Fools Day this year in a new light. We might allow ourselves to let go and be foolish without fear of judgment from others or ourselves. We can also take the chance to look around at all that we consider foolish and then open our hearts and minds to a broader understanding of the Fool in us all. Then we can truly celebrate without fear or dread.

Happy April Fools Day!

By Petrene Soames

Petrene Soames is the author of The Essence of Self-Healing: How to bring health and happiness into your life (FleetStreet Publications - March 2001). She is a leading authority in healing and self-awareness, an inspirational speaker, a veteran television and radio guest featured in national and international press. She has worked successfully over the past 22 years as a consultant and therapist, helping others achieve their highest potential. Visit her web site at http://Timeismine.com or call (281) 363-9983.