Tomorrow is April Fool’s. Pranks and tricks will abound on April 1, and though when or how April Fools Day started is ripe for speculation, I like this explanation best.
About 25 years ago, the origins of April Fools’ Day was provided by Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University. He explained that the practice began during the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine, amused, allowed a jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day, and the custom became an annual event.
“In a way,” explained Prof. Boskin, “it was a very serious day. In those times fools were really wise men. It was the role of jesters to put things in perspective with humor.”
This explanation was brought to the public’s attention in an Associated Press article printed by many newspapers in 1983. There was only one catch: Boskin made the whole thing up. It took a couple of weeks for the AP to realize that they’d been victims of an April Fools’ joke themselves.
Gotta love those silly professors whipping up crazy stories, but Boskin’s tale has an element of truth. Fools and court jesters spoke of universal truths and did put things in perspective with humor. They were the only dudes that could tell the king what was really going on without fear of getting chopped up into tender chewy chunks. To me, rock musicians are modern day Fools as they sometimes write songs reflecting the need for political or social change, and tell the King or the masses they’ve got their head up their butt.
The Fool is sometimes known as a trickster in mythology, and is an essential archetype in the Tarot, often shown as a naive free spirit about to embark upon a journey of self-discovery. And guess what? April Fools is officially Cheap Trick Day in Illinois, the state where the rock band Cheap Trick hails from. Since Cheap Trick fans sometimes call themselves tricksters, and April 1 is All Fools Day, the connection between rock music, “The Fool,” and the Tarot is worth noting.
I describe in my book how Occultist and creator of the tarot Thoth deck, Aleister Crowley, frequently turns up in rock ‘n’ roll circles. First there’s Ozzy Osborne’s song “Mr. Crowley.” Did you know Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin bought Crowley’s castle?And Crowley was so popular, The Beatles included him on the “people we like” cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (second person, top left row).
Rock ‘n’ Roll and the Tarot are braided together like Willie Nelson’s hair since music and spirituality have been synonymous for thousands of years. I recently discovered a rock ‘n’ roll tarot deck (unfortunately, it’s not in print any longer), and the artist Chris Paradis depicted Michael Stipe of REM as the Fool. I probably would have used Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick in his baseball cap with little court jester bells added on because of his quick wit and on-stage antics, but Stipe is a good choice.
However, I think Elvis as the Emperor is perfect (the King!).
So, Happy April Fools. And don’t forget that Fools aren’t stupid…they often bring messages containing great wisdom, humor and universal truths which just might be found in the lyrics of your favorite rock song.