April Fool's Day

Today (April 1st) is April Fool’s Day an unofficial and popular western holiday which is celebrated with the playing of pranks and the orchestrating of elaborate hoaxes. April Fool’s Day is a day on which people celebrate trickery and Tricksters – those individuals (be they gods, demons, animals or men) who specialize in the art of deceiving.

The origins of April Fool’s Day are shrouded in mystery, but celebration of the holiday goes back as far as 1582, the year Pope Gregory XIII officially replaced the Julian calendar – which was off by ten days – with the Gregorian. One theory has it that April Fool’s Day arose as a response to this change over since it not only changed the number of days in a year but also the date of New Year’s Day. Traditionally many Europeans had held New Year’s Day at the end of March, but the Gregorian calendar moved the date to the beginning of January. Once this became official anyone still found celebrating New Year at the end of March was branded a “Fool” and had pranks played on them.

April Fool’s Day first caught on in France in late 1500s and then spread across Europe. By the early 1700s it was being celebrated in Britain and soon afterwards in America. Each country also has their own unique customs when it comes to celebrating April Fool’s Day. In France the day is called Poisson d’Avril or “April Fish” and fish are a major decorating motif, being seen as a springtime symbol of fertility. A common French practical joke is to try and pin a paper fish to another person’s back without them noticing. In England all April Fool’s Day pranks are to played before noon, pranks played after noon are thought to cause bad luck to fall upon the pranker. The exact opposite is true in Scotland, however, where April Fool’s Day lasts a full 48-hours with a second day, Taily Day, being devoted entirely to jokes involving people’s posteriors – so break out the “Kick-Me” signs and whoopee-cushions.

In addition to this the archetype of the Trickster is very old with the character of The Fool being one of its many variations. The Fool (and his variants the Joker, Jester, Buffoon, Comedian, Clown, etc…) is important for his ability to speak truth to power. In times past the Fool occupied the lowest position in the hierarchy of the court and yet was the only one with the authority to speak his mind to the King and other important government officials. Furthermore, because of his unique social position the Fool was also beyond reprise and could not be punished for his remarks – this is the reason why The Fool card is worth zero points but at the same time untouchable in the game of Tarot.

April Fool’s Day is a holiday which allows us all to “play the Fool” without the fear of reprisal. It is a day on which we can embrace our own cultural Tricksters as well as our inner ones. It is a day on which we can exercise our wit and have fun…

…No Fooling.

Pictures:

At Top: The Fool, the only card which is worth zero points but at the same untouchable in the game of Tarot.

Bottom: Artist and researcher Jeffery Vallance’s impressive “Trickster Family Tree,” with the Fool branch at its center.

Sources: Fertility Goddesses, Groundhog Bellies & the Coca-Cola Company: The Origins of Modern Holidays (2006) by Gabriella Kalapos

Setsubun

Today (Feb. 3rd) is Setsubun in Japan. Setsubun, which literally means “seasonal division,” marks the start of the New Year as well as the beginning of spring (Feb 4th) in Japan according to the old lunar calendar. On Setsubun, Japanese families prepare for spring by cleaning their homes and then by performing a ritual known as Mamemaki in which the oldest male will throw a handful of soybeans outside their front door while shouting “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” a phrase which means “Oni out, happiness in!” or “Oni out, luck in!” Afterwards the family will eat some soybeans, one for each year of their life.

In Japanese mythology and folklore Oni are troll-like demons who often serve the role of the generic villain opposed to the hero, much like giants or dragons do in western myths and legends. On Setsubun the Oni function as a symbol for evil and misfortune which may afflict people in the coming year. Since the 13th-Century tradition has held that Oni can be expelled or driven away by soybeans, which is why they are scattered outside the front door at the beginning of the year.

Prior to the 13th-Century it was custom for families to keep Oni away by making a ritual bonfire outside their homes in which they would smoke dried sardine heads and bang on drums. Others would also decorate a sacred tree with sardine heads, cloves of garlic, or onions. It is thought that after this ritual became too impractical (and possibly too annoying) that the bean-throwing ritual replaced it.

Why soybeans were chosen is a bit of a mystery. Some scholars trace the choice of bean back to a traditional No Comedy play performed at Mibu Temple in Kyoto in which an old woman attempts to steal a beautiful kimono and a magic hammer from an Oni. The Oni catches the old woman, however, and in order to escape the woman throws soybeans at him. Other think the choice was a result of soybeans being cheap and easily obtainable.

Despite not being an official national holiday Setsubun in celebrated all over Japan and everyone from Shinto priests to Buddhist monks to pop-culture celebrities get in on the celebration.

At Top: Celebrities celebrate Setsubun at Ikuta Shrine, Kobe.

Sources: Get Out Ogre! Come In Happiness! Setsubun in Japan; A Lunar "New Years' Eve" (Revised Jan. 2009) by Steve Renshaw and Saori Ihara, Setsubun at japan-guide.com, and Oni at http://www.obakemono.com/

Happy New Year: 2009

The celebration of the passing year and the approaching of the “New Year” is a tradition found in nearly every culture all over the world. Today’s New Year’s Eve celebrations – which are marked by parties, the consumption of alcoholic beverages, kissing, the declaration of vows and resolutions, and noise making – are not at all that different from the celebrations held hundreds of years ago. The tradition of making as much noise as possible at the stroke of midnight, for example, has to do with the once widely held belief that such cacophonies would succeed in driving off malevolent spirits.

In addition to this, there are many other facets of New Year’s Eve celebrations which have mythical roots. One of these is the popular New Year’s Eve figure Father Time; traditionally depicted as an old man with a long white beard, an hour-glass or clock, and a scythe. Most mythographers believe that Father Time is based on the Greco-Roman character of Cronus (called Saturn by the Romans). Cronus was the ruthless leader of the Titans – a race of giants who ruled over the world before the advent of the Olympian gods – and who is most famously remembered for making a snack out of his own children.[1] As Saturn the Romans worshipped Cronus as a harvest deity, which explains the scythe. The Romans also held a popular end of year celebration is honor of Saturn known as Saturnalia which began on December 17th and lasted a week, being something of a cross between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.

Later on it appears that Cronus was confused or combined with another Greco-Roman god-like being known as Chronos; the personification of time and the source of such modern day words as chronology.

Another element to consider is that of New Year’s Day; January 1st. The month of January draws its name from the Roman god Janus who presided over gateways, beginnings, and endings. Janus is classically depicted in art as having two heads; one to look forward with and one to look backwards with, a gift from Saturn himself. Janus’ temple, which was located in the Roman Forum, was also unique in that it possessed two separate gateways; one to enter the temple and one to leave it. This was in opposition to the traditional temple model which only featured one gateway in and out.

There are very few myths about Janus, the most famous being the tale of how Janus got a wife. According to Ovid’s Metamorphosis there was once a nymph by the name of Carna whose days were spent teasing men with her sexual advances only to run away as quick as a flash whenever said men attempted to make a move. One day Carna made the mistake of teasing Janus, not knowing the god literally had eyes in the back of his head. When Janus attempted to make a move on Carna the nymph once again attempted to run away, only this time Janus saw where she went and quickly gave case and furthermore caught the saucy nymph forcing her to become his bride.[2] According to legend the King of Alba Long was their son.

Sources: The Penguin Dictionary of American Folklore (2001) by Alan Axelrod and Harry Oster, Don’t Know Much About Mythology (2005) by Kenneth C. Davis, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology (2001) by Arthur Cotterell & Rachel Storm, and the Metamorphosis by Ovid, translated by Charles Martin (2004).

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[1] It could be speculated that the image of Cronus/Saturn devouring his own children so as to prevent them from overthrowing him is linked in some way to the modern day, sanitized image of Father Time and Baby New Year, though I haven’t done the research to prove this.
[2] As an additional perk Janus made Carna the goddess of doorhinges.