The honest answer is that no one knows. Not that that has stopped plenty of people putting forward ideas. One suggests that as 25 March used to be New Year’s Day, 1 April was the day when all the fun and games that followed it came to an end. Another theory is that our April Fool’s Day may be a survivor from the ancient Roman ceremony of Cerealia. This was also held at the beginning of April. According to the legend it was based on, the goddess Ceres went in search of her daughter Proserpina, who had been carried off to the underworld by the god Pluto. Ceres heard the echo of Proserpina’s screams and went in search of these. It was a fool’s errand, of course – chasing after an echo. Well, that is the theory anyway.
Another explanation links April Fool’s Day with Lud, the Celtic god in charge of fun. And some people try to match it with the trial of Jesus Christ. But no one knows for certain.
Picture Credit : Google
