As Aquarius Aaron Neville sagely and smoothly reminds us, “Everybody Plays the Fool,” but some signs seem to reprise the role more often than other.
In terms of the Tarot, the Fool card is the first in the Major Arcana, symbolizing newness, opportunity, beginnings, faking it til you make it and the simple truth that we have to fall before we can crawl. The Fool card is numbered zero – the point of unlimited potential and a helpful metaphor for the failures, foolery and triumphos of our human existence.
History of April Fool’s Day
April Fool’s Day, observed every year on April 1, is a hallowed day of hijinks and hoaxes that has been celebrated for centuries.
Historians surmise that the origins of April Fool’s can be traced to the 16th century and the Council of Trent which called for countries to switch from the Julian Calendar to the reformed, pope sanctioned Gregorian that deemed January 1 the start of the new calendar year.
Prior to this swap and in accordance to the stars and seasons, the new year was observed on the Spring Equinox. Folks that were slow on the uptake or resistant to adopting the new calendar continued to celebrate the new year during the last week of March and became the butt of jokes and the patsies for pranks with heckler’s calling them “April fools.”
Wile E. Coyote? Full fledged Aries
Nerds have also noted the relationship between April Fool’s Day and the ancient Roman festival of Hilaria, hallowed to followers of the cult of Cybele. During these festivities revelers would wear disguises, mock prominent leaders and generally indulge in a wine soaked laugh riot. It wasn’t all fun and games however as the days that preceded the good times and glad rags were marked with self-mutilation and fasting, two decidedly dour pursuits.
The Talmud cautions, “Never tell a fool that he is a fool. All you’ll have is an angry fool,” but in the spirit of April 1 and self-knowledge, we bring you our list of the most foolish signs in the zodiac.
April Fool’s Day falls in the full flush of Aries season. Apropos of this, Aries peeps will typically do anything for a laugh and are not above using physical comedy, abject danger, slapstick tactics and/or bad jokes to endear themselves to strangers or make amends with friends. Ram folk are a rash sort that speak, act, purchase (looking at you and your ghost detector Gaga), day trade, ignite and Tweet with utter abandon.
Wile E. Coyote? Full fledged Aries. This bank robbing bro who wore a reusable grocery bag to conceal his identity and promptly removed it to carry the stolen loot? Pure fire sign. Aries lives by the ethos that fortune favors the bold but fall prey to the fact that foolery follows flight of fancy.
Sagittarians are what some might call foolishly optimistic and more often than not, it pans out and their bellies stay full, secrets stay stored and luck runneth over. But sometimes the the archer’s pie in the sky, sunny side up, the best is yet to come, make lemonade from lemons attitude makes them easy marks and they end up looking as foolish as Jack with a hand full of magic beans and no cow to milk or Brad Pitt with a fortune worth of radar equipment he bought after being duped into believing hidden medieval treasure was buried under his castle. Dream the dream, baby.
Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, planet of expansion and abundance, stretch pants, and winning lottery tickets, higher consciousness and extra cheese. All good things, but, the shadow side of the great benefic, is hubris, over indulgence and the too big for your britches belief that you can and should have it all and will be made whole by an orgy of excess. In the vein of foolery, this excess extends to word vomit as Sag folk often speak bluntly or baselessly, looking at you Vanessa “why is the Corona virus a big deal” Hudgens
Fools for love and suckers for a sob story, Pisces can’t say no to a wounded bird, a medium ugly musician, a snake oil salesman or a sub par poet.
Elvis famously sang that “Fools Rush In,” and trust, he was speaking of and to Pisces people, who can’t help falling in love or into the role of savior and don’t mind playing the proverbial fool so long as it means a shot at temporary bliss. These rainbow pissing, rose colored glasses wearing empaths with hearts on sleeve and head in clouds are wide eyed when it comes to romantic entanglements and charitable causes. Fools for love and suckers for a sob story they can’t say no to a wounded bird, a medium ugly musician, a snake oil salesman or a sub par poet.
In the major arcana of the tarot, Pisces is associated with The Fool card. In relationship to this mutable water sign, the Fool represents the unsuspecting naïveté of Pisces people, a guileless purity that is equal parts refreshing and troubling. In the same way you wouldn’t ask a Care Bear not to care and you can’t expect a Pisces to exercise caution. Apropos of the fish being the symbol for Pisces, OG 16th Century April Fool’s pranks included French folk pasting paper fish on the backs of the unsuspecting “fools” and calling them “poisson d’avril” (April fish) a reference to the young, gullible and otherwise easily hooked.
Astrology 101: Your guide to the stars
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls guide” to strip clubs and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.