The fool
My first direct experience with the masked fool was seeing Morris Dancing here at home in Yorkshire, England. Morris dancers were dressed in their customary bell dance shoes and baggy pants. To be absolutely honest, I’ve always found Morris’s men a bit funny! Maybe I should explain about Cecil Sharp, no, I leave it in a footnote.
The Boars Head Morris men were dancing in a pub parking lot. (Pub short for Public House, a place to drink beer, etc. in the UK.) They were doing the usual dances related to fertility, good harvests and harvests, etc. But, of course, they don’t really make pagan beliefs out of place. Of course, when you see them drink beer in the amounts they drank, you will realize that perhaps they had fully understood the pagan ways of having a good time. (Not to say that all people who follow pagan customs drink a lot of beer, just a convenient concept)
What you are probably asking at this juncture is that this has to do with fools.
Well, the Boars Head Morris men had a masked fool. It was complete with boar mask pants and boar head stick. He also carried a bucket to collect cash donations for charity, or maybe money for beer. He followed the dancers, imitated them, and cajoled onlookers to fill his bucket.
Interestingly, he knew the fool quite well and in real life, without the mask, he would never do what he did with the mask. Being English, he was too polite!
Boars Head’s stick became a threatened club, never used, just pointed and waved. The mask was a place to hide behind, for an ordinary person. As you will find by searching further on this site, the mask allows people to change their personality. He intimidated and joked and enjoyed his dual mission of collecting money and protecting the dancers from the crowd. Sometimes children get too close. That is not allowed. Sometimes the dancers’ space is threatened by cars entering the parking lot. Wow! It’s not a good idea!
But suddenly the fool sets out in search of three attractive women. He rings his cube and rounds them like a sheepdog would. They are pressured to donate generously. He simply leaves his dancers unprotected to fend for themselves. The next ten minutes are exchanged in good natured jokes. (The fool’s wife is present!)
The above is from memory, probably about 20 years ago. In terms of mask traditions, that is very recent. The traditions of the masks date back at least 25,000 years. I am sure they go back to the time of the first questioning peoples; 50,000 …………….. or more years?
So what is this reference to fools and masking traditions? Well, as you explore this site, you will find that the fool comes up in various other traditions.
In Masquerade the fool is an essential figure. On the surface, he, occasionally she, is the one who maintains order. Control the children, stop their prying eyes that invade the dressing room. His stick maintains the zone of action. He jokes, entertains, juggles, makes faces and gets violent. He chases the children with a whip and beats them mercilessly if he gets the chance. He tries to seduce women, and he does it if he can!
Suddenly bored, he goes to sit down and talk philosophically with a group of friends from his unmasked time. As the conversation progresses, come up with new ideas. He begins to ridicule the accepted norm. Question the accepted reality. Try to turn the arguments on their heads
The omnipresent fool
The fool is omnipresent. The fool occurs in the masking traditions of North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, China, …………………… if you know a little more please fill in my blank.
Universally the fool treads the line between normality and the incongruities that the world has. The fool is sensible and totally foolish. It’s not that you don’t use your senses, you just use them in a different way. He questions and cajoles. Tease and tease others. However, when someone exceeds the arbitrary limit, (who decided) changes. Suddenly he becomes the silent cat of the home, the sleeping feline, domesticated, elegant and silky. And as you pet and pleasure the cat, she begins to turn into claws and teeth and, worse, growls. It turns into the raging tiger, claws and teeth.
What is the role of the fool?
The fool traditionally asks. Defy the norm. It goes beyond routine and day to day. Cross the boundary between the physical and the spiritual. The fool knows both sides, but unfortunately he doesn’t understand them either. The fool is beyond judging, but he is incapable of judging. The fool is an intermediary, a hindrance, a creator and a destroyer. He prepares things only to break them.
To be honest, I love the fool, because I feel like I am one, sometimes. The fool embodies the contradictions of the world. Accept our human weaknesses and challenge them at the same time. For those of you who know the symbols of tarot cards, consider the fool, for those of you who don’t have time to find out.
Some examples of fools in masquerade Italy In masks the art of expression Cesare Poppi describes the Moena Carnival in the Italian Dolomites. Two Arlechign, a local version of Harlequin, lead the masked group. They are dressed in plaid suits, with a high pointed cap under which is a loose veil that gives them a featureless appearance. They carry horse whips. Around him, the crowd of cheering young boys follows his movements. Suddenly, the rush to the youths slashed fiercely with horse whips, dealing violent blows at the confused youths. Panic ensues. A nice village scene has suddenly been turned upside down.
China In China, or your local China Town, when the New Year is celebrated, the Lion Dance is performed. This often acrobatic masked dance is usually performed by two dancers accompanied by two Happy Face dancers wearing their papier-mâché masks with large smiles painted on them. As the dance progresses through the streets, the dragon collects lettuce and money to help bring luck in the New Year. Around the dragon, the two fools tease the crowd for money and at the same time keep the crowd, especially the children, at a safe distance.
West coast of the pacific
Noohlmahl
During the Kwakwaka’wakw Potlatch ceremonies in the West Coast areas of Canada, another fool was prowling. He is Noohlmahl. A dirty creature with a long nose sprouting snot is ready to laugh, but if observers mention his condition, especially his nose, a backlash can be expected.
Iriquois False Face Society
The Iriquois Fake Face Society also has a fool’s mask to support the healing processes they undertake. These corn husk masks are relatively simple and disposable. As with other traditions, the fool plays his fun and organizing role.
Joy has an important place in many masquerades.
In our lives we all play the fool, we despise the fool in others, and we love the fool who entertains. Sadly, the entertaining fool can also be shattered by internal mental divisions.
The masked fool is the one who maintains order and at the same time questions it and sometimes destroys it on a whim. Traditionally, the fool draws a fine line between the known and the unknown, the acceptable and the unacceptable. Even without the mask, I’m sure you recognize the fool in your life.
The fool is a universal being. Today (12/15/04) I lost my fool, she was our cat. If you want to know that he died of old age. He had the soft luxury of purring fur to stroke, and in a moment he was transformed into a fanged teether. He had the gourmet taste of a French chef, but he licked his ass. He refused to go out when the wind blew, because it was cold, but he sat happily on the wet grass when it rained and a gale blew. The tango, the cat, was my fool, as I was hers when I played hide and seek. I loved his affection and was saddened by his rejection of the food I gave him. All in all Tango, our family cat, was all contradiction and beautifully herself. She is a very missed little being.
Note
Cecil Sharp collected popular songs from the British Isles. Among folklore enthusiasts he is something of a hero, as he preserved many popular songs and traditions. It was instumental in helping to preserve the hundreds of different Morris dances. However, as with the lyrics of the songs he collected, they were purged for naughty parts. Anything that went against his strict Victorian morals was censored. The whole British folk tradition was made “nice”.
Inspired by Masks the Art of Expression ed. John Mack ISBN 0-7141-2530-X and other sources that I have read and internalized a long time ago.
© Ian Bracegirdle 2004 1 Elderberry Close East Morton BD20 5WA UK 01535 692207
http://mask-and-more-masks.com You can use this article freely on the condition that you include this copyright line and URL and that people who use this article later follow the same conditions. Thank you for accepting these conditions.