Trickster appears when a way of thinking becomes outmoded and needs to be torn down and built anew. The destroyer of worlds and yet, at the same time our savior. The wise fool, creator, joker, storyteller, truth teller and liar.
Carl Jung has described trickster as such: “In his clearest manifestations, he is a faithful reflection of an absolutely undifferentiated human consciousness, corresponding to a psyche that has hardly left the animal level”.
Click here to read more about Trickster, here on Shaman’s Way.
For more on the notorious trickster, Raven, click here.
For more information on the Northwest Coastal People please visit this post on the firstpeoplesofcanada.com.
For more on Carl Jung’s interpretation of the trickster archetype, check out this post at jungcurrents.com.
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Interpreting last nights dream brought me to your page as I was confronted with the Ouroborus. The archetypal children s’ characters of my youth , Mutley, a trickster akin to Alice’s rabbit, and Scoobiedoo, were peering into a deep vertical shaft at the end of which, a very large snake was occupying the tunnel below. Suddenly ! The head of the snake, at the entrance to the cave, spotted the team above her and so began the chase, sliding from her underground lair. Just at that moment, as in all great cartoons, Mutley fell into the shaft. Luckily he hit the ground just as the tail of the snake began to recede in its hole, after the front of its owner. Suddenly, again, a large and frenzied group of bats came careering around the corner of the deeper end of the tunnel and Mutley legged it behind the snake….but not too fast ! The obvious conclusion of this tale is the snake will catch up with the trickster and the bats, representing the blind spot, but not quite? I decided to slip into the dream and joined it in the cave where Mutley fell. I didnt follow the snake but instead explored where the bats had come from. This opened into a huge cavern where dragons treasure lay. Today I will go sit in that treasure and find out why my dream has taken me there.
Love Love Love It!!! Adventure On!! What a grand sharing. I hope you discovered where your dream had taken you!!
You also forget that the fox is cunning and wise, he is a trickster but not an outright liar and would be angered to be called such, he never lies, only obscures the truth so you might learn on your own, the way the raven taught him about the sun by letting him muck things up before revealing the lesson that must be learned, he is not malevolent but rather a teacher who teaches through hard knocks and clever ruses, but above all else he does not truly lie, at least in my experience with him. He is powerful and dangerous but he can also be compassionate and protective of those he holds dear to his heart. Many paint the fox as selfish but he is not truly, he teaches us about survival through cunning and wit, rather than brute force and aggression, he teaches the value of enjoying yourself in all things and showing respect when it is earned. He denounces the cruel who are cruel for the sake of cruelty.
Thank you for sharing your insights into Fox.