The fool provides entertainment. But if we look a little deeper - TopicsExpress

The fool provides entertainment. But if we look a little deeper it is often more than entertainment. The fool gets to tell the truth, the hard truths that might cause trouble if anyone else tells them. The fool can get away with telling the hardest truths just because he is a fool. He speaks in jest and we laugh. He speaks in parables and we struggle to understand. He can speak harsh truths and we must listen because he is entertaining in his difference. We must listen because he is crazy and cannot be held responsible for what he says. The fool plays and everybody knows that play is not serious so he can accomplish the difficult, controversial issues in play. Scholars of mythology and some cultures portray the trickster as either a hero or as a destroyer, missing the essential relationship in the two elements. Change is not evil. Even the destruction the trickster can bring is often necessary, just as the winter destroys the old so that there is room for the new growth that follows in the spring. The unity of Trickster with the Benefactor is present in many myths while others emphasize only one part of the duality. Nevertheless, the duality is not a paradox, but the binding of change. We often only know the value of a fools actions after the change is complete. The fool is the destroyer of our well-ordered world and the creator of the new through play. Let the fool lead the way!