a good laugh
May. 19th, 2005 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chelidonOkay, I really needed this today. Check it out, I can almost guarantee it'll put a smile on your face. I love MoveOn.org.
Humor can help save us. That's going to be a core of the path I'm co-teaching at Vermont Camp this year. It's going to center around shadow-work through the path of the Trickster and the Fool, drawing upon and working with the powerful bardic craft of Satire, calling upon the Cheshire Cat and our other trickster allies (the Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass stories are the camp's theme this year) to pierce the veils of illusion, see What Is, and speak Truth in ways which can actually be heard, and inspire change and growth.
The bard, the trickster, the sacred Fool, are at times the only ones who can speak the obvious truth that the emperor has no clothes, who can wield the foolish, razor-sharp wit that pricks and lets the air out of people, organizations and situations which have become overblown. Through pointed, wicked humor, the trickster/fool shows clearly to all what is real and what is illusion. Satire was one of the essential tools in the Celtic bard's repertoire, and the most feared, even by kings, who would do almost anything to avoid being satirized by an eminent bard. An effective satirist could literally kill with their art, and worse than that, could make sure that whomever was satirized would die a lingering death of their reputation, lasting long after their physical passing. Powerful stuff, indeed.
The satire of the trickster and the fool is related to the old witch's adage (and chaos magick axim, and Erisian "belief," as in the Turkey Curse) that "banishing by laughter" is one of the most powerful tools you can use. Laughing at something often robs it of its glamour or illusion, shows its true form, and if there's nothing real there, causes it to fade away. All you have to do is look throughout history to such as the Revolutionary War broadsides by Franklin and others, and more modern-day satirists like Arlo Guthrie, George Carlin, Gary Trudeau and Bill Hicks to see the enduring power of this Art. The Fool teaches us to laugh at what is foolish. And that is good. In cards, the Joker is the wild card who can beat the King.
Humor is our ally, laughter can be a savior and sure proof against the grim, grey fatigue of the soul that can weaken will and sap our strength. May we all know laughter, and when to wield the wisdom of cunning foolishness.
Humor can help save us. That's going to be a core of the path I'm co-teaching at Vermont Camp this year. It's going to center around shadow-work through the path of the Trickster and the Fool, drawing upon and working with the powerful bardic craft of Satire, calling upon the Cheshire Cat and our other trickster allies (the Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass stories are the camp's theme this year) to pierce the veils of illusion, see What Is, and speak Truth in ways which can actually be heard, and inspire change and growth.
The bard, the trickster, the sacred Fool, are at times the only ones who can speak the obvious truth that the emperor has no clothes, who can wield the foolish, razor-sharp wit that pricks and lets the air out of people, organizations and situations which have become overblown. Through pointed, wicked humor, the trickster/fool shows clearly to all what is real and what is illusion. Satire was one of the essential tools in the Celtic bard's repertoire, and the most feared, even by kings, who would do almost anything to avoid being satirized by an eminent bard. An effective satirist could literally kill with their art, and worse than that, could make sure that whomever was satirized would die a lingering death of their reputation, lasting long after their physical passing. Powerful stuff, indeed.
The satire of the trickster and the fool is related to the old witch's adage (and chaos magick axim, and Erisian "belief," as in the Turkey Curse) that "banishing by laughter" is one of the most powerful tools you can use. Laughing at something often robs it of its glamour or illusion, shows its true form, and if there's nothing real there, causes it to fade away. All you have to do is look throughout history to such as the Revolutionary War broadsides by Franklin and others, and more modern-day satirists like Arlo Guthrie, George Carlin, Gary Trudeau and Bill Hicks to see the enduring power of this Art. The Fool teaches us to laugh at what is foolish. And that is good. In cards, the Joker is the wild card who can beat the King.
Humor is our ally, laughter can be a savior and sure proof against the grim, grey fatigue of the soul that can weaken will and sap our strength. May we all know laughter, and when to wield the wisdom of cunning foolishness.
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Date: 2005-05-19 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2005-05-19 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-19 07:56 pm (UTC)This reminded me of an example in current fiction that embraces this concept. In Harry Potter, the Boggart is a shape-shifting imp/poltergeist/spirit that takes the shape of what it thinks will frighten its target the most. The spell "Riddikulus!" is used to get rid of a boggart. In order for the spell to work properly, the caster must envision the boggart as something that it finds amusing prior to casting the spell. The spell only turns the boggart into something humorous - what actually gets rid of a boggart is laughter. It is, in essence, laughed to death, or at least back into hiding. Needless to say, this is a good lesson to learn outside of the fictional context too!
And, in a slightly different vein, oh how I miss Bill Hicks.
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Date: 2005-05-19 09:11 pm (UTC)Only the good die young. Oh, wait, I guess that blows that theory... ;> Well, he was very good, just not nice (a stance I admire). Paul and Lylythe are huge Bill Hicks fans.
Ya, Rowling got the banish by laughter thing right in the Potter book. As
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Date: 2005-05-19 09:55 pm (UTC)