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the masked fool

The fool

My first direct experience with the masked fool was watching Morris Dancing here at my home in Yorkshire, England. Morris dancers were dressed in their usual dancing shoes with bells and baggy pants. To be absolutely honest, I’ve always found Morris’s men a bit of amusing! Maybe I should explain about Cecil Sharp, no, I’ll leave it in a footnote.

The Morris Men of Boars Head were dancing in a pub car park. (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, harvests, etc. But of course they don’t really have pagan beliefs out of the question. Mind you, when you see them drinking beer in the amounts that they did, then you realize that maybe they had completely understood the pagan ways of having a good time. (Not to say that all people who follow the pagan ways 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 masquerading 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 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?

The fool traditionally questions. He/she defies the norm. It goes beyond the routine and the everyday. S/He crosses the border between the physical and the spiritual. The fool knows both sides but sadly understands neither. The fool is beyond judgment but he is incapable of judging. The fool is an intermediary, an obstacle, a creator and a destroyer. He sets things up only 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 madmen 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, dealing fierce blows to 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 the Kwakwaka’wakw Potlatch ceremonies in Canada’s west coast areas, another fool was hanging around. He is Noohlmahl. A disgusting creature with a long nose from which snot spurts, he is in a laughing mood, but if observers mention his condition, especially his nose, a violent reaction can be expected.

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 play the fool, we despise the fool in others and love the fool who entertains. Unfortunately, the fool who entertains can also be torn apart 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 (12/15/04) I lost my fool, it was our cat. If you want to know that she died of old age. He had the soft luxury of purring fur to pet and in a moment was transformed into a fanged biter. 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. Tango the cat was my fool, as I was hers when she played hide-and-seek. She loved her affection and was saddened by her rejection of the food she gave her. Overall, Tango, our family cat, was all contradiction and beautifully herself. She is a very missed little being.

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 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.”

Inspired by Masks the Art of Expression ed. John Mack ISBN 0-7141-2530-X and other sources that 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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