{"collection":"bos","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bos/bos135.htm","path":"bos/bos135.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bos/bos135.htm","text":"Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999]\n \n \n \n THE HOLY FOOL: \n The Third member of the Triad \n -some musings by: the Bard \n \n * \n \n \"Remember, the Moon is only half as big as the Earth, but it's twice as \n far away.\" \n -Anonymous \n * \n \n After some time musing on the concept of Goddess/God that is \n common in Wiccan (and most Neo-Pagan groups) and seeing the common theme\n of \"things come in threes\" in these belief systems, I fell to wondering \n \"Why only the God and Goddess? If all things come in threes, where is \n the Third Aspect that should be there?\" \n \n So what is this Third Aspect? I feel it is the Holy Fool; the \n Prometheus who is the Trickster, the God (neuter) that rolls the dice. \n This also fills in certain holes in neo-Pagan Theology that have bothered\n me for some time, too. \n \n First, we need to have a quick look at the Holy Fool in religious \n and/or cultural beliefs, both primitive and modern: \n \n American Indian: \n Aztec: Ueuecoyotl \n Caddo: Coyote \n Chinook: Coyote \n Coos: Coyote \n Haida: Raven \n Hopi: Mudhead Kachina, Clown Kachina \n Kiowa: Coyote \n Navaho: Coyote \n Nez Perce: Coyote \n Omaha: Coyote, Rabbit, Iktinike, Orphan \n Pueblo: Koshare \n Sioux: Spider \n Tillamook: Coyote \n Tinglit: Raven \n Winnebago: Rabbit \n Zuni: Coyote \n African: Spider, Tortoise, Rabbit, Jackal \n Graeco/Roman: Pan, Dionysis \n Celtic: Phooka and the like (see Irish: Fear Dearg, and a host of \n others. The Fool must love Ireland very much...He made so \n many of Itself there!) \n Norse: Loki...-and- Balder \n Banks Island: Clat \n Micronesia: Nareau \n England: Puck, Black Jack Davy \n Christianity: \"Doubting\" Thomas, and The Christ Himself, in many \n ways....and Judas, too. \n 20th Cent. North American: Bugs Bunny, The Joker, Mr. Mxyzpltk, \n Murphy, (\"And Pooh is a -good- example, \n too!\" said Eeyore) \n \n \n 592\n \n Neo-Paganism: Discordians \n 18th thru 20th Cent. Appalachian: Jack (from British Isles) \n 18th and 19th Cent. N.A. Black: Br'er Rabbit, Long John, &c. \n German: Tyl Eulenspiegel \n Italy: Harlequin (check out Agatha Christie's stories about \n \"Harley Quinn.\" VERY interesting!) \n Islamic: Juha, Abu Nawwas, Mullah Nasruddin, Nasreddin Khoja, \n Nasreddin Hodja \n Japanese: Fox, Hotei, and the whole concept of Zen...... \n \n And the many, many instances of the Hero figure and his Friend in \n most people's mythology....Gilgamesh and Enkidu, Robin Hood and Little \n John, the Mythic Hollywood Western Hero and his ridiculous sidekick, Don\n Quixote and Sancho Panza.....and many times you see the recurrent theme of\n the Great Betrayal of the Hero, which leads to His death...and to His\n Resurrection! \n \n One immediately sees that the Fool is a universal constant in \n folk belief, just as the Goddess and God are! \n (NB: I have not gotten more specific for two reasons: one, for \n limitations of space, and two, to encourage others to do a little reading \n on their own!) \n \n As most things, the Fool is Personified in three basic Aspects \n that (of course) overlap with each other and with the God and Goddess. \n The first is that of the Saviour God, the Prometheus, the Culture Hero, who\n brings Knowledge (and -occasionally- Wisdom) to Mankind. This Aspect loves\n Mankind with all His Being, and only wishes Good. His Good Intentions\n sometimes fall short of His (or Mankind's) expectations, however.\n \n Thesecond isthat ofthe Clown,the Nerd,the Jerk,that teaches\n by his own mistakes (and who usually comes out ahead because of His own \n Innocence.) This Aspect is mostly neutral, and is how He seems to mostly \n manifest Himself. \n \n Butletus notforget thethird,and darker,side oftheFool, best\n exemplified by Jack Nicholson's portrayal of The Joker in the film version\n of \"Batman.\" Just as the Goddess has Her Dark side (the Crone, the\n Morrigan, &c) and the God has His (Odin as Death-God) so does the Fool\n have a terrifying Aspect (at least, from the human point of view): Chaos\n Personified. \n \n This is not an Aspect to invoke, as It does not care. Period. It \n is the ultimate psychopath, the ultimate Spoiled Brat, the quintessence\n of Ego-centric self-love. In some circles, it could be quite nicely named \n Ahriman, or Shaitan, or Satan, because it fits all concepts of that \n Middle-Eastern deity....except one: It does not care if Man worships It or\n not. It is not in -conflict- with the God and/or Goddess, It is -not- on\n the kind of power-trip that the Judeo-Christian Satan is represented as\n having, it just -is-. It should be considered as neither \"good\" nor \n \"evil,\" though it can personify both or either....or neither! This is \n confusing, but with a little thought the concept will (hopefully) come \n clear. \n \n \n 593\n \n (And, just in passing, the film version of \"Batman\" is perhaps a very\n good metaphor for the eternal struggle between the Fool-as-Prometheus\n (Batman) and the Fool-as-Chaos (the Joker). \n \n Areyou confused? If youare, GOOD! If you arenot, keep thinking by\n not-thinking. (wha-a-a-a-a-t?) \n \n Some of thebest examples ofthe three Personifications arefound in\n the Navaho and Zuni tales of Coyote, or the Br'er Rabbit tales, or the \n older Bugs Bunny cartoons, or even Walt Disney's Goofy. And, while speaking\n of classic animation, if you can see any of the cartoons of the Cannibal\n Boy and the Mynah Bird, do so! It shows not one, but TWO Aspects in\n action! \n \n For a look at His more serious (?) side, try J.R.R. Tolkien's \n wonderful evocation of Tom Bombadil.....who is described as \"the oldest.\"\n Prof. Tolkien came very close to the core of the truth with that one! \n \n The Fool is your slightly daffy Uncle, that comes to visit at \n Christmas and is such fun to be with, but who seems to have a sadness\n about him too, that you found out later, when you were all grown up, was\n his slide into alcoholism. The Fool is the American sit-com \"Daddy\" who\n never seems to get anything right, but wins out in the end anyway. The\n Fool is the classic scene of Bugs Bunny, floating in a washtub in the\n middle of the Pacific Ocean, happily singing \"As Time Goes By,\" blissfully\n uncaring about his obvious predicament...one which would send a human into\n sheer despair....knowing that something will turn up, some scam that he\n can pull that will get him out of the washtub and into clover again. The\n Fool is the Tarot's Fool, of course....but He is also the Hanged Man. \n \n Do -not- invoke the Fool unless you are ready for literally ANYTHING\n to happen! He just might turn you into a Large Green Frog just to observe\n what happens......He is capricious. He is unpredictable. He is what He is,\n and nothing you can do will turn Him from His Purpose, whatever that may\n be at any given moment. He is \"Murphy,\" and whatever can go wrong, WILL\n go wrong...or right. Unless you have an uncommonly flexible mind, you\n -might- not be able to handle it! \n \n He has no Festival, unless it is the Lupercal, or perhaps April Fool's\n Day, or even New Year's Eve, for every day is His, as He chooses. Some\n have inquired about the seeming overlap of functions in the\n Goddess/God/Fool triad, and this should be addressed here. The modern \n Western mind tends to \"pigeonhole\" things, and rigidly excludes other\n things\n from these pigeonholes. This, I feel, is in some ways an error in thinking,\n especially about the Triad. \n \n \n 594\n \n One cannot and should not \"compartmentalize\" the God/Fool/Goddess \n into three rigidly separate Beings, but rather think of them as three \n separate sources of ripples in the same Pond: the ripples interact and \n intersect, and act on each other, but move within the same Source,\n whatever\n That may be. \n \n -the Bard \n at Samhain, 1990 CE \n \n I wish I could list all of my sources, but if I did, it would add several \n pages to this text, and I am trying to keep it short. I -will- recommend\n reading one book, however, that will give a great insight into the Holy\n Fool:\n \n CONTRARIWISE \n Zohra Greenhalgh, Ace (paperback) April 1989 \n 0-441-117112-2 \n (it has a sequel, but I can't remember the title offhand....) \n \n * \n \n \"Rimble, Rimble!\" \n \n * \n \n Permission is granted to reprint this article, both in electronic and in\n print. Any copy of this article must include the WHOLE article, and any\n comments should be sent net-mail to \"the Bard\" at FIDOnet 1:114/29 (602)\n 439-7080. Copies of any printed reproduction of this article should be \n forwarded to \"the Bard\" c/o DEUS EX MACHINA BBS, PO Box 35190, PHOENIX, AZ\n 85069. Thanks! \n \n 595","title":"Internet Book of Shadows: Fool","type":"page"}