the masked fool
The fool
My first direct experience with the masked fool was watching Morris Dancing here at home in Yorkshire, England. Morris dancers were dressed in their usual dancing shoes with bells and baggy pants. To be quite honest, I’ve always found Morris men a bit funny! Maybe I should explain about Cecil Sharp, no, I’ll leave a note to the foot.
The Boars Head Morris Men were dancing in the parking lot of a pub. (Pub, short for Public House, a place to drink beer, etc. in the UK). They were doing the usual dances related to fertility, good harvest, crops, etc. But, of course, they do not really have pagan beliefs misplaced. Yes, when you see drinking beer in the quantities they did, then you will realize that perhaps had fully they understood the pagan ways of having a good time. (It does not mean that all people who follow the pagan forms drink a lot of beer, just a convenient concept)
What you’re probably wondering right now is that this has to do with chumps.
Well, the Morris Men of Boars Head had a fool in a mask. It was complete with boar mask pants and boar head cane. He also carried a bucket to collect cash donations for charity, or maybe beer money. He followed the dancers, imitated them and cajoled the spectators into changing to fill his bucket.
Oddly enough, 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!
The boar’s head club became a threatened club, never used, just pointed and waved. The mask was a place to hide behind, for an ordinary person. As you’ll find by searching this site for more, the mask allows people to change personalities. He bullied, capered, and enjoyed his dual mission of collecting money and protecting dancers from the crowd. Sometimes kids 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 off in search of three attractive women. He rattles his bucket and rounds them up like a sheepdog. He pressures them to donate generously. He just leaves his dancers unprotected to fend for themselves. The next ten minutes are exchanged in good-natured banter. (The fool’s wife is present!)
The above is from memory, probably about 20 years ago. In terms of masquerade traditions, that’s very recent. Mask traditions go 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?
What then is this reference to fools and masking traditions? Well, as you explore this site, you will find that the fool comes in several other traditions.
In Masquerade the fool is an essential figure. On the surface he, occasionally she, is the one who keeps order. He controls the children, prevents their prying eyes from invading the dressing room. His stick maintains the area of action. He jokes, entertains, juggles, makes faces and GOES VIOLENT. He chases after 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 he gets bored and goes to sit down to chat philosophically with a group of friends from his time unmasked. As the conversation progresses, he introduces new ideas. He begins to ridicule the accepted norm. He questions the accepted reality. He tries to turn the arguments around.
the ubiquitous fool
The fool is an omnipresent. The fool occurs in the masquerade traditions of North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, China, …………………… if you know something else please fill in my blank.
Universally the fool treads the line between normality and the inconsistencies that the world has. The fool is both sensible and totally insensitive. It’s not that he doesn’t use his senses, he just uses them in a different way. He questions and cajoles. He jokes and makes fun of others. However, when someone crosses the arbitrary limit, (who decided) changes. He suddenly becomes the quiet house cat, the sleeping, tame, sleek, silky feline. And as you caress and give pleasure to the cat, it begins to make claws and teeth and growls worse. He becomes the furious tiger, with claws and teeth.
What is the role of the fool?
Traditionally silly questions. He / she challenges the norm. It goes beyond the routine and the everyday. S / he crosses the boundary between the physical and the spiritual. The fool knows both sides but unfortunately does not understand either. The fool is beyond the trial but he is unable to judge. The fool is an intermediary, an obstacle, a creator and a destroyer. He prepares the only things to break them down.
To be honest, I love dumb, because I feel like I am, sometimes. The fool embodies the contradictions of the world. He accepts our human weaknesses and at the same time challenges them. For those of you who know the tarot card symbols consider the fool, for those of you who don’t take the time to figure it 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 flowing veil that gives them a featureless appearance. They carry whips for horses. Around him, the cheering crowd of young people follows his movements. Suddenly, the rush towards the youths cut fiercely with the horse whips, brutally beating the confused youths. Panic ensues. The pleasant scene of a town has suddenly been turned upside down.
China In China, or in your local China Town, when the New Year is celebrated, the Lion Dance is performed. This often acrobatic masquerade dance is usually performed by two dancers accompanied by two Happy Face dancers who wear 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 harass the crowd for money while keeping the crowd, especially the children, at a safe distance.
Pacific West Coast
Noohlmahl
During Kwakwaka’wakw Potlatch ceremonies in the areas of the west coast of Canada, another fool roamed there. He is Noohlmahl. A disgusting creature with a long nose sprouting snot, he is eager to laugh, but observers mention the state of him, especially his nose, you can expect a backlash.
Iriquois False Face Society
The Iriquois False Face Society also have a silly 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 life we all do silly, silly despise others and love the fool who entertains. Unfortunately, the fool who entertains also be torn 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 treads 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 (15/12/04) I lost my silly, it was our cat. If you want to know that she died of old age. He had the luxury of a soft purring fur to stroke and at one point became a fanged biter. He had the taste of a French gourmet chef but ass licking. He refused to leave when the wind blew, because he was cold, but he was happy sitting on the wet grass when it was raining and blowing a gale. Tango, the cat, was my silly, as I was when I played her hideout. She loved her affection and saddened me refusing her the food she gave him. Overall, Tango, our family cat, was all contradiction and beautifully herself. She’s a little be greatly missed.
Note
Cecil Sharp collected popular songs in the British Isles. Among folk enthusiasts, he is something of a hero, as he preserved many popular songs and traditions. He was instrumental in helping preserve the hundreds of different Morris dances. However, as with the song lyrics he collected, they were purged by naughty parts. Anything that went against his strict Victorian morality was censored. The whole of British folk lore was made “nice.”
Masks inspired by the art of expression ed. John Mack ISBN 0-7141-2530-X and other sources I have read and internalized long ago.
© Ian Bracegirdle 2004 1 Elderberry Close East Morton BD20 5WA United Kingdom 01535 692207
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