"The
first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364
days of the year." - Mark Twain
First
off... there appears to be 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 assume that January 1 has always been pretty
much the day set aside for celebrating the beginning of the 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 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 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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