April 1st, a.k.a. April Fool’s Day is once again upon us. April Fool’s Day is when normal folks indulge wacky family members who indulge in pranks and light mischief. On this April Fool’s Day, however, we will set aside the month of April. We will set aside the 24-hour Day. Instead, we will narrow our gaze and consider the archetype of The Fool.
The Fool is, right after my family and loved ones, perhaps the most important person in my life. Without The Fool, I would not be who I am today. In fact, without The Fool, I might not even be here today. The Fool brings me endless laughter and perspective and, ultimately hope. The Fool lightens my load and I laugh because The Fool is, of course, foolish. The fool is unwise, imprudent, silly. At least I am not a fool!
And yet… am I, in fact, so very wise? Do I bubbleth over with wisdom? I mean, I’m not even sure “bubbleth” is a word - so perhaps not. Perhaps when I laugh at The Fool being foolish, perhaps I do not laugh at The Fool? Perhaps The Fool is not another? Perhaps The Fool is Me? Perhaps The Fool is I? Perhaps I am the Walrus?
The history of The Fool goes back, way back. All the way back to folklore. Before folks could even write, the earliest storytellers knew the value of The Fool, of a pratfall, of well-placed naivete. Later on, The Fool emerges in mythology. Sometime after that, The Fool makes his first actual physical appearance as a court jester. From here the line from The Fool to The Clown is a short one. However, while The Clown is technically a Fool, I am scared of clowns so we will ignore them wholesale.
The Fool, the person, becomes, in the English language, a limber turn of phrase. For example, I can fool with something, fool about, fool around, or engage in general tomfoolery. My plan can be foolproof or foolhardy. (One is better than the other.) I’m nobody’s fool so I will tell you that searching for fool’s gold and/or a fool’s paradise is a fool’s errand.
They say many things about The Fool. The Beatles say you can find him on a hill. Proverb says: where angels fear to tread, fools rush in. They say: There’s no fool like an old fool. Plato says: Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Many say: a Fool and his money are easily parted. Shakespeare says: The wise man knows himself to be a Fool. H.L. Mencken says: A man may be a Fool and not know it. But not if he’s married. Honest Abe says: Better to remain silent and thought a Fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
Yet, in the end, The Fool is an archetype which is why we will end with one voice who knows more about archetypes than anyone on this planet. Joseph Campbell is a mythology and comparative religion scholar. I reference Joseph Campbell’s “A Hero with a Thousand Faces” when I want to get a story right. Joseph Campbell believes The Fool embodies the paradox of outward foolishness and inward wisdom, his seemingly nonsensical point of view challenges conventional wisdom, and The Fool invites the Hero to do the same. In other words, Joseph Campbell believes: The Fool is the precursor to The Savior.
So this April 1st, let us indulge the pranks, the mischief, the joke-adjacent folks in our life. But let us celebrate the true person of the hour. We see you, Fool! We salute you, Fool! We love you, Fool! No foolin’.