April 1st is the day reserved for April Fools Day. For a long time it has been a celebration of tricks and foolishness. No one is exactly sure how this celebration got started but there are a few theories. Let’s check them out.
Tricks are for Fish and Lions
In my post A Fool, A Fish, A First I explain some of the best customs surrounding the April Fools Day holiday. One comes from the French. The story goes that when the French adopted a new calendar with January 1st as the start of the year, some rural people still continued to celebrate April 1st as the beginning of the year. These people were often called ‘April fools.’ They were teased and mocked by having paper fish stuck to their backs and called ‘poisson d’avril,’ or April fish.
Playing tricks on April Fools Day is nothing new. Hoaxes.org tells us an “April 2, 1698 edition of Dawks’s News-Letter (a British newspaper) reported that ‘Yesterday being the first of April, several persons were sent to the Tower Ditch to see the Lions washed.’ Sending gullible victims to the Tower of London to see the “washing of the lions” (a non-existent ceremony) was a popular prank. It became traditional for this prank to be played on April Fool’s Day. Examples of it occur as late as the mid-nineteenth century. ”
Tarot Card Poem : The Fool Unplugged
While the Fool has a place in history, he also has a place in the Tarot, and that place is numbered zero. It comes before all the rest, outside and in-between just like fools themselves. The Fool card in a way is everything in the tarot, and nothing. It is the alpha and omega, and here anything is possible. The joy of the Fool is in the beginning. It is the number zero. This is quite fitting. This card is spiritual impulse, nonchalance, mania, and sacred sight all at once. Please watch this performance of my poem about the fool.
Cooking Up New Beginnings for April Fools Day
My new book Love Magic includes my favorite recipe for saluting this energy is Fool’s Eggs. It is great for rituals and situations involving new beginnings.
Fool’s Eggs Recipe
12 eggs, hard-boiled
1/2 cup chipotle mayonnaise
1/4 cup sweet relish
1 tsp. Dill, dried
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1 tsp. Onion powder
1 tsp. Chives, minced
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for garnish
Peel and Slice eggs in half. Scoop out yolks into a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well and add salt and pepper. Spoon filling back into egg whites. Keep refrigerated until serving. Makes 24 halves.
How are you celebrating April fools day ? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. If you would like to book a tarot reading please check out my website lilithdorsey.com to make an appointment. As for me I’m off to wash the lions. Stay foolish people and don’t forget to share this post !
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