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The origins of April Fools' Day

Discussion in 'Break Room' started by Cameron, Apr 4, 2008.

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  1. Cameron

    Cameron Well-Known Member


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    Now safely passed we can contemplate the origins of April Fools' Day (All Fools' Day) which remain uncertain. Some have seen it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stemmed from the adoption of a new calendar. Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, ordered a new calendar to replace the old Julian Calendar. This was called the Gregorian Calendar which started on the 1st January (New Year's Day). The theory is not everyone adopted the reformed calendar and refused to accept the new date and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. The popular believe was followers of the Gregorian Calendar lampooned the traditionalists and send them on "fool's errands." Historically it is unlikely the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar had this effect since the King of France Charles IX in 1564 had decreed the beginning of the year should start on the 1st of January. There is little historical evidence to support the Gregorian Calendar theory it still prevails but other historians believe the origins of April Fools day relates to the ancient belief of reversing order. This predates Christianity and is more likely to be associated with celebration of the spring equinox which occurs about March 25th. Many ancient cultures celebrated New Year's Day on or around April 1. In Europe March 25th (Feast of Annunciation) marked the beginning of the New Year which corresponded to the beginning of the growing season. During this time the Romans had a festival days which they called Hilaria one was held on March 25 and involved much rejoiced. It was held to celebrate the resurrection of Attis (son of the Great Mother Cybele) and involved much merriment and wearing disguises. Attis auto amputated his genitals in a fit of folly and many believe he was turned into a pine tree. In India, Hindus celebrate the feast of Holi with the chief amusement was befooling others by sending them on fruitless errands. The Jewish calendar had Purim one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination. Northern Europeans observed an ancient festival to honor Lud, a Celtic god of humor. The church attempted to christianise the celebration by locating its origin somewhere in Biblical traditions. One version attributed the day’s origin to Noah's mistake of sending a dove out from the ark before the flood waters subsided (thereby sending the dove on a fool's errand). A second story told the day commemorates the time when Jesus was sent from Pilate to Herod and back again. The phrase "Sending a man from Pilate to Herod" (an old term for sending someone on a fool's errand) was often pointed to as proof of this origin theory. The Festus Fatuous (the Feast of Fools) evolved out of the Saturnalia. On this day (mostly observed in France) celebrants elected a mock pope and parodied church rituals. The church, of course, did its best to discourage this holiday, but it lingered on until the sixteenth century. Following the suppression of the Feast of Fools, merrymakers focused their attention on Mardi Gras and Carnival. The 1st of April was observed in Great Britain by the ancients as a general festival but it appears until the beginning of the 18th century before making of April-fools was a common custom. In England, a fool was called a gob, gawby or gobby. The Scots called the custom "hunting the gowk," (cuckoo), and April-fools were "April-gowks. " The cuckoo lays her eggs in other bird’s nests and has no nest of her own. The chick hatches and proceeds to push her adopted siblings out of the nest until they are the only remaining chick. The sound of the cuckoo heralds the beginning of Spring. To be sent to find a cuckoos nest would be a fools errand. In France the person befooled is known as poisson d'avril. Whilst this may have an astrological explanation i.e. in April the sun quits the zodiacal sign of the fish. A more likely explanation is young fish emerge at this time and are easily caught. Poisson d’avril would relate to naivety. And French children tape a picture of a fish on the back of their schoolmates, crying "Poisson d'avril" when the prank is discovered.
    April Fools jokes must only be made before midday otherwise the joke is on you. So now you know for next year.

    toeslayer
     
  2. admin

    admin Administrator Staff Member

    April Fools' Day

    April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day[1] is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved with these pranks, which may be revealed as such the following day. The custom of setting aside a day for playing harmless pranks upon one's neighbour has been relatively common in the world historically.[2]

    1. ^ "April Fools' Day". Britannica. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
    2. ^ McDonald, Bertha R. (7 March 1908). "The Oldest Custom in the World". Harper's Weekly. Vol. 52, no. 2672. p. 26. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
     
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