No Fooling ~ April 1, 2004


April Fool’s Day is upon us. At first I thought I might write something about the origins of this presumably fun-filled, prank-ridden day. Instead, I decided to add something about how to address this day in a fully honoring manner. Surely, the little tricks and jokes may abound out there today. Growing up in the family I did, such things reached plethoric proportions. It was amusing as long as it was amusing.


Before all that, bear in mind one of the repeating trick themes of the solar system commences again on April 6th. Mercury, the planetary trickster, ruler of slight of hand and pickpockets, reverses course once more. Why does this always seem to catch us off guard? It happens every 115.88 days. Well, for the three weeks and two days following the 6th, he has his fun. Think of the creativity that can happen. We are inclined to learn new words as we utter something less than affirmations at our printers, copiers and computers, who all seem to know this little planet moves backward and provide us with spiritual challenges of mundane occurrence. That’s creative. So are the things written on tax returns filed under Mercury retrograde. And perhaps, if one looks sharply enough right now at sunset, Mercury can be seen. That glimpse might provide you with a mental spark that will flint an entire new direction in your life. I went out looking the other night (Mercury is just about as far from the Sun as it gets - so it is more likely to be seen), but smoke from a nearby wildfire obscured my view (no fooling). Someone beat me to the spark.


During my Internet research on another matter this week, I came across a quote from Oceanus. This god in Greek lore was considered to be at the origin of all things - quite a handy position, actually. So it is written in “Prometheus Bound” that Oceanus said to Prometheus, “...it is most advantageous, when truly wise, to be deemed a fool.” Personally, I like this quote as much as any I’ve ever encountered (no fooling). The concept of the Fool in the Tarot, willfully stepping off the precipice into the unknown has also been an image of great appeal. Actually, it seems to take courage, not foolishness, to take such a step Faith also seems to be part of the equation.


Enter the present planetary positions. Neptune, associated with faith, now lingers at quadrature to the vicinity of the alchemical intersection of the Galactic and Super Galactic Centers. This point has a good bit to do with incantation. Incantation in this context takes form by stating inclusive factors. What do you want to include? State that. Be precise and open ended. Such affirmations start the larger wheel turning in more fortuitous directions.


Sometimes getting “off it” and onto willful redirection of life through the use of thoughts, words and deeds remains pretty tough to do (there’s a definite, ‘no fooling’). Venus now crosses the Pleiades, not only by longitude, but she actually passes through this portion (asterism) of Taurus. Again, grieve properly. Let go of losses. Lament as necessary. It seems to be the way of letting go. Don’t fool around with this. Get in, dig deep for as long as it takes to get it done. Then, latch onto Neptune’s lofty agenda of inspired vision once again.


Another nifty thing now going on in the constellation Taurus (the sidereal constellation, that is) is that the red planet (even if somewhat diminished by recent color assessments), Mars, approaches the red, royal star, Aldebaran. In the next days, these potent red bodies will align causes. The cause of Mars is action. Given alert, insightful, thoughtful action, Mars causes all kinds of good things. Going off impetuously, though, may not achieve the greatest results. In native traditions, Aldebaran, part of the horns of the bull in Taurus, is the red eye of the coyote. Known as the quintessential trickster, the coyote creates awareness, sometimes through chaos. The point always is resurrection above and beyond the previous dimensions. The key is using the red eye’s full vision, especially that of peripheral realms.


Since, it is April Fool’s Day, maybe transforming even the coyote energy is appropriate. Above, in Hopi tradition, is the Koyemsi. These good spirited creatures were assigned the difficult task of ensuring the world was safe enough for the entry of the Kachinas - the blessed spirits that came from the San Francisco Peaks on annual basis. This was a tough task and part of the purging process was good humor. Laughter and amusement cleared the way. Within this levity comes inspiration, the kind that permits being a-mused, or at least a muse (to disregard the negating denotation of the prefix ‘a’).


My money, and after all, a lot of this stuff is in Taurus, is one the faith to take the next step into the unknown as if there is no choice. Really, there is no choice. No fooling.