Meditation for The Fool by Hez Stalcup

This episode is a meditation for The Fool card in the Tarot Major Arcana by experimental dance artist Hez Stalcup.

Hez is an experimental dance artist. He works with bodies, words, sound and objects. He makes dances. He is usually in them. He makes other things that maybe get seen. Most people think his work is about being queer or about gender, its only sometimes about either. Often he is dancing about time, failure and personhood with people he thinks are smart and funny and should be looked at. He doesn’t make beautiful dances per se, rather he thinks about what makes something outlandish and solitary enough that you want to love it forever.

LINKS

If you enjoyed the episode, check out —

How to Take a Soundwalk by Erin Palovick

Grief Threads : How Sewing Can Help us Heal w— Melissa Word

Dancing with Daimons + the Occulted Body w— Alkistis Dimech

More about our guest —

email Hez at hezstalcup@gmail.com

Stay Connected —

Subscribe to the home—body podcast wherever you get your listens.

Mary Grace's website

home—body website

This podcast is produced by Softer Sounds. ✨

Transcript

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Music. Welcome to a homebody podcast my name is Mary Grace and here we explore big questions in embodied ways, these conversations intersect the mystical the Practical and The Artful bridging a range of topics such as astrology creative practices what healing can look like and cultivating deep love and care for the more than human world, we not only want to live better but live more fully with more connection courage and creativity in our day-to-day lives and work, and this podcast asks what are the ways we can do that. We hope to enliven you and inspire you towards possible regenerative Futures and we hope to encourage you so together we can become Dynamic agents of beauty fully awake Fully Alive to all that life has for us, we want to be here for ourselves and for one another with more grace while making room for curiosity sensitivity, enjoy if you enjoyed today's episode please take a few moments to share it with someone else and thank you so much for listening. Welcome everyone I am so so excited to share with you this final episode of 20 22 and it's a creation by, my dear friend has stalcup who I'm obsessed with and just so grateful and lucky to have in my orbit, everything he makes including his perspective is such a gift to the world that I inhabit and I'm feel very fortunate to be able to share a small glimpse of that with you here, has is an experimental Dance artist he works with bodies words sound and objects he makes dances he's usually in them, he makes other things that maybe get seen most people think is work is about being queer or about gender it's only sometimes about either, often he is dancing about time failure and personhood with people he thinks are smart and funny and should be looked at, he doesn't make beautiful dances per se rather he thinks about what makes something outlandish and solitary enough that you want to love it forever. This episode is offered as a meditation that's created around the fool card in the tarot has and I started talking about this episode this past summer and it's been a real gift to watch it evolve and Brew and Grow as a become this creative, resource and experience that you'll hear in just a moment I feel like everything has makes of so alive and funny and erotic and speaks for itself so I don't want to introduce this too much because it's already complete so I'm going to let this episode introduce itself to you and unfold for you and if you find it moving useful interesting provocative or something else I hope you'll share it with someone who would also, and with that here's the Fool by his stock up this is a meditation about the fool card. The fool card in traditional tarot decks shows a young person in adjusters costume skipping towards a cliff looking up at a rose with a small dog at their feet, it is assigned the number zero. This is the wild wild emotional Wilderness of the novice and the amateur. Wrong flat Plains of geography with no destination yet in sight. When I think of the fool I think of the character Arthur Dent in the Douglas Adams series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. While exploring the universe very much as a novice one of the things are there discovers is that the secret to humans being able to fly is to become completely and utterly distracted whilst tripping, and simply forget to ever land. You see the fools great ability is to be completely enraptured and what is happening to the degree that all conclusions are suspended. And that is risky business because the fool is the trickster at heart appearing as someone who may be derided, in some cases demoted naive. I think it's worth noting when I type naive on my laptop it keeps auto correcting to alive. We particularly in the global North tend towards avoidance of being deemed a fool. We who grew up without a temple or a dress for the trickster God are inclined to censor the self. Not risking the mental and physical sensations of Shame and embarrassment let alone the social implications, most of us rely on appearing capable powerful and professional in order to have jobs Community friendships money and regard. And so requesting that you purposefully engage in what trips you up and suspend landing on your worst fear, that you forget that the blood rising to your face and the acid swimming in your stomach means any one thing or another that can be no small task, after all how do we rewire towards what we have been trained to avoid. How can we daddy weaponize our ongoing assessment of our past and possible Futures especially when weariness pretends to be savviness all the damn time. And yet to all that that may be inclined to shut you down the fool says nice try handsome. Jingle jingle get that leg in a garish tight and on out the door we have important full business to attend to. So let's practice together what it might feel like to forget to land. If you can I would like you to pause and close your eyes and if you are standing in a public place while you do this meditation then excellent. Let's have a little exposure therapy. The sun is shining and he were walking And fall in front of a crowd where someone is filming and you were in the background and your pants rip. You have fallen accordion-style so as to land ass up. The huge tear across the seam making it very clear that you forgot to wear underwear so just bare ass in the air. And you're pretty sure you made an embarrassing sound and face as you fell. All of this is caught on film now several of the onlookers and pastors buyer horrified some are laughing, you feel the stinging wash of acid just begin to pour within you the looming dread of humiliation entering your brain calculating the level of Shame and yet. The taste of dirt in your mouth is impossible not to notice the loamy smell and feel of wet Autumn Leaves literally in your nose, the surprising sensation of the sun shining through the rip and your pants a rare moment of Illumination for the soft tissues of this part of your body. And as the gasps and laughter fills your ears just like that, you think wow today I am a comedian and maybe soon to be internet famous. What a wild unexpected turn of events who knew today would be such an adventure. You arise and take a bow some people blush some people clap. Your mind settles somewhere between the sentiment of oh well and well done. And so you continue your walk. Suddenly you see a group of friends you haven't seen in some time you decide why I avoid saying hello just because your pants are ripped and you're a little scuffed. Within moments you find out everyone you knew now has prestigious jobs and titles and are being paid eye-watering amounts of money, in fact your eyes do start to water as you notice they're having a very expensive picnic. Laid out are the softest of blankets and fanciest of foods and a full uniform staff of attendance or serving everyone champagne and delicate cups of rare kombucha on Golden platters. You look down at your disheveled in dirt street clothing friend pulls a straight wig from your hair looking a little unsure whether they should ask if you are okay, and yet. What a stroke of luck that you get to be yourself right now living breathing proof that every life has value. Feel The Surge of cringe fear sadness maybe Envy jealousy doubt what a rush. Just let those flow in. Like a sacred Elixir it in livens you and drips out just like the nervous sweat you are now covered in. And how good the breeze feels when you are sweaty and possibly smelly. That same wind blowing open the Gap in your pants like a small sail you feel so present. No hiding no pretending that you are not exactly where you are. And see how these same friends embrace you sweaty and smelly and want to know even the smallest detail of what is happening in your life. So you share about how you were temporarily famous just now and everyone is charmed. Reminded of what a wise and beloved part of the community you are. You flash a smile and continue to walk. Next you discovered that your wallet has fallen out of your pocket. Here comes the throm of anxiety just edging its way towards a Sinking Feeling preparing to crawl across your nerves and just as you tip your head back to yell a well overdue fuck. You notice a cloud in the sky and how it looks almost exactly like Benedict Cumberbatch. And then your phone rings that you did not drop which will come in handy when you go to cancel your credit cards oh it's your landlord what's that. Unexpected eviction I see next month it is. You decide to take a seat on a nearby bench as you were starting to feel a little winded and wow the sensation of this unheated wood on that small window of cloth exposing your skin is something. Your head tilts and your brows crunches as you are so incredibly fascinated and taken by the newness of this feeling. And then an interesting stranger sits down and Strikes up a conversation and you're off again laughing distracted. What was it you were doing again all right discovering New Sensations talking to people feeling the breeze having a Time. I feel you are nervous system rerouting old Sensations into new pathways. Like a spring trickling across dry Earth achingly unfamiliar impossibly refreshing. And so to finish and to carry you out into the world as you open your eyes I want you to think I am a professional. Now mentally I want you to put on your adjuster suit only make it something epic and sexy. Perhaps it's made of stitched panels of leather like a Gothic Prince. Or a bespoke Gucci meets comme Des garcons it's Balenciaga meets address van noten Couture gesture sued autumn/winter 2022. Topped with that devastatingly grotesque hat that Jingles so you never forget you are wearing it. Isn't it interesting how different a garment feels when you wear it on purpose. And if in your days you find that being the fool is thrust upon you. May it be a bomb of aliveness. May your naivete autocorrect again and again. Imperfect brilliant ruthlessly hopeful, and well dressed for the unwieldy and Uncharted way of living that is not only of Great Value but also infinitely more fun. Music. Thank you for participating in this conversation with us if you enjoyed the episode please take a few moments to subscribe to the show leave us a review and share the episode these tiny tasks help our independent podcast so much, be sure to also check out the links below to learn more about any free resources guests or things we talked about today, our intro and outro music was created by artist Aaron pelvic and Jared Kelly our podcast logo was created by Elaine Stevenson and this show is produced by softer Sound Studio thank you for being here be well, peace. Music.