Conscious Choice: Celebrate the Sacred Fool

April 2002 | Herbs for Health

Celebrate the Sacred Fool

by Meg McGowan

My son, Tom, went off to Germany a couple months ago with the National Guard troops that were called into active duty. It is the first time he has been out of the country. When I spoke with him recently, he said he was intrigued and impressed by the deep sense of culture he was experiencing. "When my friend from Russia told me that we don’t have any real holidays in the United States, I didn’t know what she meant. Now I get it," he said. I pondered this for a while, and decided he might have been expressing recognition that holidays are meant to be ritualized reminders of spiritual truths that operate in our lives, that they are ways of honoring all the diverse energy that flows through the universe, the seasons, and ourselves. As our melting-pot population assimilated itself, cultural connections were severed. We kept the idea of the holidays, but lost the deeper sense of what was being celebrated.

"What then is the true meaning of April Fool’s Day?" I wondered; "What do we celebrate when we recognize the Sacred Fool?" Humor allows new perspectives to slip undetected past our inner censor. Also, any time we begin something new, we risk looking foolish. So it is important to honor the fool as much as the master. In terms of getting things done, we are much better served if we can engage the fool rather than employ the whip cracker. (Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way works on this principle.) The fool will play endlessly and emerge refreshed, whereas under the taskmaster’s whip a rebellion is always imminent.

A practical joke, then, is not an oxymoron. The delight of plotting, planning, and playing jokes reminds us just how clever and efficient the fool can be. Being on the receiving end prompts us to embrace rather than avoid the experience of looking foolish. How appropriate that we celebrate the essential role of the fool in life at the beginning of the spring and the start of the growing season. In honor of the holiday, I present the following compendium of herbal remedies that are very practical for those fluttering their foolish wings.

Foolish behavior can stretch into the wee hours of the morning before you know it. When night has suddenly turned into day and caught you unawares, compresses made from German chamomile teabags (Chamomilla recutita syn. Matricaria recutita) can be effective for sore, puffy eyes. Steep the bags for five minutes in water that is just off boiling, then cool and squeeze out excess liquid before applying. Burt’s Bees’ Rebound Stimulating Massage Oil contains essential oils of peppermint (Mentha x piperita), lemon (Citrus limonum), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and pine needle extract (Pinus sylvestris). Apply after a shower. A single drop of peppermint essential oil rubbed briskly between your palms and then inhaled with your eyes closed, can provide a quick revival as needed throughout the day. This peppermint oil inhalation can also ease symptoms of headaches and nausea.

If your head aches from smoking too much or being in a smoke-filled environment, a homeopathic remedy for sinus congestion may be helpful. Pulsatilla (Pulsatilla nigerians), Sanguinaria (Sanguinaria canadensis), Hydrastis (Hydrastis canadensis), Kali Mur (Kali muriaticum), and Silica (Silicea terra) are useful individual remedies. Alternatively, a steam inhalation with a drop each of thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus or E. dives) essential oil can clear your head and nasal passages. If a hangover and nausea are factors, the homeopathic remedy Nux vomica (Strychnos nux vomica) is likely to be the best choice. For excesses of all types, Celestial Seasonings’ Detox A.M. Herb Tea helps to bring your body back into balance with milk thistle (Carduus marianus syn. Silybum marianum), sarsaparilla root (Smilax spp.), dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale), Echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia & E. purpurea), and red clover (Trifolium pratense).

And if you find you have foolishly awoken next to someone you wish you hadn’t, smudging with dried desert sage will cleanse your aura. Additionally, Gwydion O’Hara, in The Magick of Aromatherapy (Llewellyn, 1998), suggests adding bergamot (Citrus bergamia), cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica), sandalwood (Santalum album), and a trace of eucalyptus essential oils to bathwater as protection against sexually transmitted diseases.

Thank you to my son the wise one, who was just twenty minutes short of being born an April Fool and has brought much laughter into my life. I wish you a very happy twentieth birthday; may we both grow wiser and more foolish in the years to come!

DISCLAIMER: Choosing a holistic approach to medicine means choosing personal responsibility for your health care. Herbs for Health offers a doorway through which to enter the realm of herbal healing, an invitation to further investigation on the part of the reader. It is in no way intended as a substitute for advice from a health care practitioner.

Recommend this page to a friend

Top Ten pages recommended to friends: