Till

It just wasn't possible to move on from the topic of "fools" without at least mentioning my favorite non-Shakespearean fool as well: Till Eulenspiegel. He is an institution at Carneval (or Fasching or Fassenacht, or whatever one chooses to call it), and he incorporates into a single figure, much that is simply classic in regard to fools.

There most likely was a person who embodied a lot of Till's characteristics and there is some evidence that there was a trickster who roamed through Northern Germany in the late Middle Ages around whom the stories and legends may have congealed. It doesn't matter really. He's a colorful and interesting character who, I believe, has a lot to say to us even today.

When we see him these days, he is most often dressed in a motley; that is a patchwork suit of diamonds or squares, very often in the colors red, blue and yellow (for example, see the Marseilles Tarot Deck) or red, green and blue. In other words, a jumble of contradictions, complements and oppositions. On his head he wears, of course, a fool's cap; that is to say, a cap or hood, often with drooping corners to which bells are attached. Most often these days, the cap as two curved drooping horns with bells at the end. Perhaps these are reminiscent of the devilish tricks he might play, but more often they refer to cuckoldry: a man who's wife is seduced by another, in local parlance, has been "horned". Most importantly, however, at least in my estimation, he carries with him an owl-shaped mirror (in German: an Eulenspiegel; Eule = owl, Spiegel = mirror). Owls, as we all known, are known for their wisdom; the mirror is what reveals us to ourselves. But we should recall that when we look into a mirror, we see everything reversed. And thus appareled, Till - an old Gothic and German name which means "ruler of the people", how appropriate - steps before us.

He is such an appropriate figure when you stop to think about it. His very presence, his dress, reminds of the vagaries of life. His cap reminds us we can all be so easily fooled. His mirror reflects not only on us, but if all is reversed in the mirror, could it be that the reversal of reality (that is, how we see the world) is how reality should be, that we've simply got it all backward? I sometimes think that it is so. And that's what I believe that the figure of Till is telling us.

The wisdom of fools

Yesterday was April Fool's Day (or All Fools' Day, or even April Fish Day (go figure) in some places). No one is really sure where it originated or why we really celebrate it (well, it's not a real holiday after all) or why it has any significance at all. But, little things like that have never stopped us before, and April Fool's is no exception.

We all think we know a lot of fools, sometimes that we're surrounded by them in fact. I would contend, however, that true fools are few and far between.

Anyone who has read any Shakespeare will immediately know what I'm talking about. My favorite Shakespearean fool is in King Lear, and he is simply known as Fool. How appropriate. The fool is the one who knows truth from lies, right from wrong, the fool is the one with comprehension, insight, and ultimately wisdom. Lear is really a classic example of foolishness gone wrong. Our tragic hero, sovereign lord of the realm, descends into madness after foolishly dividing his kingdom among two of his three legitimate heirs, all of whom are daughters. How could that possibly work out for the best? I know, William nailed it all in this one.

Lear, of course, as so many who are in power, succumbs to flattery. So many of us who pretend or even strive to power fall prey to this as well. Flattery, of course, is a form of dishonesty, and we see again and again that the root of almost all power structures, in particular hierarchical ones (like we find in government, business, the church, etc.), are based on dishonesty. Oh, I know we like to think that these representatives are well-intended, upstanding and forthright, but we all know different. Lord Acton spoke truth when he noted that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The forms the lies take vary naturally: sometimes they are simple omissions, sometimes slight (to major) shifts of emphasis, and sometimes they are simply outlandish fabrications, but we like to think that the perpetrators are being driven by forces greater than themselves, but they are not. And this where the fool comes in.

Not only in Shakespeare, it is the fool who is honest. It is the fool who not only calls things as he sees them, he is the one who sees them for what they are. It is the fool who is aware of the foils, the weaknesses and shortcomings of those supposedly in power. By virtue of his position - the Fool - it is he who may speak the truth, who may say how things are, without fear of reprisal.

Yes, someone must be allowed to speak the truth, and if it be the fool, then so be it. We live in very dishonest times. We are confronted with crisis after crisis all of which were brought about by the same weakness: the dishonest striving for power. But who is there to "tell it like it is"? Who do we have today who can speak unhindered and unabridged? Who can point out to us the error of our ways? We're in need, again, of the Fool. Or are we simply not listening?