The masked fool
The fool
My first direct experience with the masked fool was seeing Morris Dancing here at my home in Yorkshire, England. Morris dancers were dressed in their usual bell-bottomed 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’ll leave it in a footnote.
The Morris Men of Boars Head 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, harvests, etc. But of course they don’t really make pagan beliefs out of place. Mind you, when you see them drink beer in the amounts that they did, then 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’re probably wondering right now is this has to do with fools.
Well, the Morris Men of Boars Head had a masked fool. It was complete with boar mask pants and a boar-headed staff. He also carried a bucket to collect cash donations for charity, or maybe money for beer. He followed the dancers, mimicked them, and cajoled the observers into giving him change 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!
The boar’s head 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 when searching further on this site, the mask allows people to change their personality. He bullied, pranced, and enjoyed his dual mission of collecting money and protecting 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. Woof! 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 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 interrogating 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 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, prevent their prying eyes from invading the dressing room. His stick maintains the zone of action. Pranks, entertains, juggles, grimaces and GOES VIOLENT. He goes 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, introduce new ideas. He begins to ridicule the accepted norm. Question the accepted reality. Try to turn the arguments on their heads.
The ubiquitous fool
The fool is omnipresent. The fool occurs in the masking traditions of North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, China, …………………… if you know something more please fill in my blank.
Universally the fool treads the line between normality and the incongruities of the world. The fool is both sensible and totally insensitive. 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 crosses the arbitrary limit, (who decided) changes. Suddenly he becomes the quiet home cat, the sleepy, tame, lustrous and silky feline. And as you pet and give pleasure to the cat it begins to make claws and teeth and growls worse. It becomes the angry tiger, with claws and teeth.
What is the role of the fool?
The fool traditionally questions. S / Defy the norm. S / It goes beyond routine and everyday life. S / Cross the border between the physical and the spiritual. The fool knows both sides but sadly understands neither. The fool is beyond judging but is incapable of judging. The fool is an intermediary, an obstacle, a creator and a destroyer. He prepares things only to break them down.
To be honest, I love the fool, because I feel like I am, sometimes. The fool embodies the contradictions of the world. He accepts our human weaknesses and challenges them at the same time. For those of you who know the symbols of the tarot cards, consider the fool, for those of you who don’t take the time to find out.
Some examples of crazy people in the Italy masquerade 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 tall, pointed cap underneath which is a loose veil that gives them a featureless appearance. They carry horse whips. Around him, the cheering crowd of young people follows his movements. Suddenly, the rush towards the youths cut fiercely with the horse whips, dealing ferocious blows at the confused youths. Panic occurs. The pleasant scene of a village 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 ball is usually performed by two dancers accompanied by two Happy Face dancers wearing their papier-mâché masks with big 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 and at the same time keep the crowd, especially 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 hanging around. He is Noohlmahl. A disgusting creature with a long nose sprouting snot, he’s in the mood to laugh, but if observers mention his condition, especially his nose, a backlash can be expected.
Iriquois False Face Society
The Iriquois False Face Society also has a goofy 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 we love the fool who entertains. Sadly, the entertaining fool can 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 on a whim destroys it. 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, she was our cat. If you want to know that he died of old age. It had the soft luxury of purring fur to pet and in a moment it 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. 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 he gave him. In general, 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. It was instrumental in helping preserve the hundreds of different Morris dances. However, as with the song lyrics he collected, they were purged for naughty parts. Anything that went against his strict Victorian morality was censured. 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
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