"The
first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364
days of the year." - Mark Twain
First
off... I've finally come to the conclusion that there's to no
one singular origin to the widespread phenomenon of "April
Fools Day." April Fools Day has been celebrated and observed
for centuries in various countries and cultures, for different
reasons, all over the world.
Only
a fool would be bold enough to proclaim that they know the one
definitive answer to the origin of April Fools Day. That's because
there is no one definitive answer to its origin. What follows
is only one of the origins, most related to Western Tropical astrology.
(And I won't swear to you that I'm exactly right on all the little
details.)
Vernal
Equinox and Easter
To get started... many of us assume January 1 has always been
pretty much the day traditionally set aside for celebrating the
beginning of a new year. Not so.
From
14th to 16th century A.D., much of the Western world celebrated
the new year on one of two days. Folks either celebrated the new
year with a party that lasted from March 25 to April 1 - or they
celebrated the coming of the new year on Easter, commemorating
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As
we all know, the date for Easter varies from year to year. However,
during that period of time (using the "Julian Calendar"),
Easter normally occurred around the first part of the month in
April. April 1 in the "Julian Calendar" was likewise
approximately the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere
- as marked by the "vernal equinox."
This
is why, in Western Tropical astrology, the Tropical Zodiac still
begins it's yearly cycle in the Zodiac sign of Aries, marked by
the "vernal equinox" and the beginning of Spring in
the Northern Hemisphere.
In
1582 AD, Pope Gregory XIII introduced a spiffy new and improved
calendar for the "Christian world," and in this calendar
(now called the "Gregorian Calendar") the beginning
of the new year was changed and was now declared to fall on January
1 (more closely aligning the celebration of the new year with
the birth of Jesus Christ).
Ten
days were deleted from the calendar, so that October 4, 1582 was
followed by October 15, 1582. This change caused the vernal equinox
(the first day of Spring) of 1583, and all subsequent years, to
occur about March 21. Some years, such as the years 2000, 2001,
and 2002, the first day of Spring occurs on March 20.
Are
you confused yet? I know I am - but, all of the above, really
does have a purpose.
April
Fools and France
From 1363 AD on, France was one of those Western World countries
having the tradition of celebrating the new year on Easter. The
story goes that in 1563 AD a young pompous King Charles IX (born
1550 AD– died 1574 AD) declared to his subjects that heretofore
New Year's Day would be celebrated on January 1. (Notice this
is prior to the "Gregorian calendar" change and the
pope's edict in 1582 AD)
When
this happened, there were some folks who apparently either hadn't
heard word of the king's edict or who had decided to stubbornly
"stick to their guns" and defy the young king's edict
- and, thus, they continued celebrating New Year's Day on Easter.
Remember
now... that Easter normally occurred around the first part of
the month in April.
These
people, continuing to celebrate New Year's Day on Easter, were
given the moniker of being "April Fools." It wasn't
until 1567 AD that most of France finally got with the king's
program and began celebrating New Year's Day on January 1. The
French tradition of sending folks out on a "fool's errand"
then began with a vengeance.
Today,
in France, April 1 is called "Poisson d'Avril." The
tradition is that French children fool their friends by taping
a paper fish to their friends' backs. When the "April Fool"
discovers this trick, the trickster yells "Poisson d’Avril!"
(meaning: April Fish!)
The
origin of this French "fish tradition" is officially
considered to be "unknown." However, it makes quite
a bit of sense that the origin behind this "fish tradition"
is that the Sun has now left winter and Pisces (the fishes) the
final Sign of of the Zodiacal cycle and has now entered into the
new birth and new hope of springtime in the Zodiac Sign of Aries
(the ram).
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