Clowning and the Wise Fool

[Anibis]

Alright, then. I have decided to start threads on the three performance arts which I feel are most relavant to the discussion of Magick. I would say that the thing which separates the Magick of the Fool, from that of the Magician is that it telds to involve a release of control, a madness, exstacy and possesion, more than the magician, since the Magician's work is very measured and deliberate. It is more like the magic of the Shaman than the magic of the Magus. Okay, so looking at the art of the clown, we see that much of it is focussed on improvisation. As a theatre form, it owes more to this than most others. One strong example is the way the 'commedia Del' Arte worked. This was (and is) a form of Italian commedy which basically used 'stock characters', each with a characteristic 'half mask' (there are I think 8 of them (the main ones)), and as far as I know they have been given astrological archetypes and such, and they get deployed in 'stock situations' which could be encounters, rants, micro-storylines, gags etc... which are called 'Lazzis'. the thing is, the great commedia troupes would have many of these lazzis in their repetoire, so what they could do is 'improvise' entire shows. In otherwords, by having this store of scenes and characters, they could have a theatre production more or less on the fly, without a director. It ends up being quite stylized, but I supsect you guys can see the applications of this. It is like what happens once one has become an experienced invoker: one can draw on the God form at any time when it is appropriate. Another piece of related Clown-lore is the term 'Turn' as in 'clown turn' which is the same sort of thing: a moment, held in reserve which can be employed as part of an improvisation, or used to build a show quite rapidly. All this fluidity in the dynamics of clowning reminds me of the image of the fool who has a bag of coins, each with an astrological sign on it. It's like the fool or clown has all the same magics as the magician, but knows them in a more intuitive, physical way, as opposed to an orchestrated, controlling way. The Fool is very much an adept, but a fluid adept, in contrast to the pure Magus, it's like Jazz as opposed to classical music. Okay I could say much more. This is a big topic, and I'm sure I've already contradicted myself a bunch of times (it seems to be the way, with this stuff). Any thoughts? Agree or disagree?
-Ibisis-

[Amur]

One thing which is very freedom giving is to go out in a public place and do something which either upsets the crowd or something else which is somehow out of the common 'behavior rules'. Was thinking of taking up this form of yoga, standing with my arms out staring at a point on some very visible place. I'm quite sure that it wouldn't have such an impact on other cultures, but here in Finland people are quite into their robotic routines, and this is certainly one thing which is very ridiculed here. Being able to withstand the shock without giving a crap about what they think, is the same as having a very good self-confidence.

The more naturally one can perform in front of a big mass, the more free one becomes from my current perspective.

[Anibis]

I think the naturalness and the physicalization is key. Once you now longer think about it, it becomes pretty automatic, like 'flexing a muscle'. This is when magic gets really powerful. IMO.
-Ibisis-