The Advocate of your Uncertainty Conundrum

[TeaDidikai]

The trickster, knave, prankster, rascal and rogue invoke strong reactions in the people I know.

They are Living and Undying Sacrifice, The Bane of the Respectable, The Quintessence of Humor, Masters of Illusion and Delusion and the Advocate of your Uncertanity.

Loki, Coyote, Eris, Satan, Anansi, Veles and Eshu to name but a few- and they have been the fire caressing the crucible of mankind since their inception.

Let us eat doughnuts and question the questioner for a while.

Disclaimer:
It doesn’t take much more than one or two conversations with me to realize I am a hard polytheist. I am in no way, shape or form suggesting that these beings are anything other than unique individuals who fill a role in their community and/or culture.

Remember the platypus.  

[TeaDidikai]

The Bane of the Respectable

The Trickster is often the bane of the “Respectable”.
I propose there are the following reasons for this:

Trickster actions are seen as idle and thus an anathema to those who work hard. In a culture that has a strong work ethic and a focus on labor for the good of the community, the Idle are seen as dead weight. This is very much the case in agricultural societies.

This I find ironic, because at the heart of what allows for a culture to develop is “leisure time”, or so my anthropology teacher said. After all, if you only have time for survival, the hallmarks of a culture such as art, theology and philosophy will not have a chance to develop.

This holds true for humor and waste as well.

Moderate waste, I would argue, is the sign of a healthy culture. If a community can allow for waste, one has enough for it’s people. Thus, the Trickster is birthed at the dawn of culture and the dichotomy of Hard Work and Idle Humor can be seen in many culture’s mythology.

Even more interesting is that The Trickster as the Harbinger of Culture often Births Transcendental Thought through questioning, challenging and humor.  

[TeaDidikai]

How and When to Fall Flat on Your Arse

The “problem” with being “Respectable”, is that it lays a foundation for stagnation. Static existence is not contusive to growth- personal or cultural.

Traditions are important to a culture- but when they hinder the community they once benefited, they need to be questioned.

Within the Respectable and Idle Humor dichotomy, there is a need to find out what is still useful and what isn’t. Thus, the Guard of Tradition meets the Challenger of Humor and they contest one another. However, the static nature of Tradition provides comfort in an uncertain world. This leads to an unwillingness to let the useless fall away. Our culture has created the idiom of “Better the devil we know”. We often see this in destructive long term relationships as well- the person who would leave stays because there is psychological comfort in what is known, even if it is unpleasant.

When this stagnation becomes repressive, the Trickster comes along to break up the static patterns.

However, too often in real life, there seems to be an assumption that said Trickster will put things back together again.

While I do see reparations in mythology, they are often done for things that did not need to be broken apart. In situations where there is need, I find mythology supports the people who needed the challenge are called to pick up the mess. Mind you, this paragraph is merely UPG.

And speaking of UPG:

My own UPG says that laughter is a wonderful tool for breaking up static patterns. The vibration of a good laugh can be felt through the whole body and it stretches muscles that one might otherwise be unaware of. There is an ecstasy present in both laughter and suffering that seems to be at the core of what it is to be in corporeal reality. (I’d argue that it is that core ecstasy is what those who seek ascension need to give up- not their cloaks, but that’s another thread.)  

[TeaDidikai]

The Living Sacrifice

Ever heard the saying “If ya kill ‘em, they don’t learn nothin’!”

This is perhaps best illustrated in the Trickster. It would appear that even the Tricksters that die are usually resurrected.

They risk and sacrifice themselves, often in the form of their “egos”, time and again for the betterment of their people.

One of the best examples of this is Loki and the Treasures of the gods. Through the risking of his own head, the Aesir and Vanir received lovely treasures, treasures that without them, the Aesir would be unable to leave Asgurd- without this, the protection and knowledge from the gods might not have reached their people.

I cannot begin to count how many times Coyote has been flayed alive and in the processed, gained insight, wisdom or treasures.

While these Tricksters may initially cause harm to their people (cutting Sif’s hair, theft of the river, etc), the reparations are often much better than the original loss, and thus a small slight- an error that we as humans can relate to, is a catalyst to better the community.

This error also fosters forgiveness amongst the Trickster's People, for if a Spirit like the Trickster can error and show mortals their folly, it is perhaps easier to except error in others.  

[TeaDidikai]

Master of Illusion

“Respectable” Thought acknowledges objective reality as being Right, True and Real.

However, this doesn’t mean that it observes objective reality correctly.

As a result, the one that would challenge Objective Reality, must be a master of Illusion, for Illusion exists within objective reality, but is not what it appears. When confronted with this- That which is Respectable is forced to reexamine it’s assumptions and grow.

A wonderful example of this is Eshu. Walking down a village road he had a hat where the right side was white and the left was red. Half of the village said his hat was red. The other half claimed it was white. Eshu returned and corrected them.

This shows not only that we must examine and challange what we see and experience, but that the Trickster- Eshu in this case, is able to teach through folly.  

[TeaDidikai]

The Nature of Humor

Stranger in a Strange Land might have gotten humor correct. Often what is funny is intertwined with pain of some sort.

Perhaps this pain is the price paid for the insight the Trickster gives a person or culture.

Even killing a small useless part of the ego can be painful. Mayhaps Humor is the best tool because it reaffirms the essence of what it is to be alive while leaving something that feels good to fill the void left by the removal of the wounded ego.

JAMA had an interesting piece on Humor as medicine.  

[TeaDidikai]

The Advocate of your Uncertainty

I would like to welcome people's musings, opinions and tales on Tricksters.

What they mean to you. What they mean to a culture.

I welcome discussion of the Trickster as a role filled by people, mortal and otherwise, examples of Trickster sacrifice and virtue as well as folly.

And for goodness sake- watch out for black ice. ninja  

[TheDisreputableDog]

I think I might have a better idea by what you mean by "Advocate of your Uncertainty" now.

I just realized that I don't think the traditional/most common arrangement of a Tarot deck has a Trickster card. The Fool is probably the closest but I don't think it's the same thing at all. I could be missing something though.  

[TeaDidikai]

TheDisreputableDog

I think I might have a better idea by what you mean by "Advocate of your Uncertainty" now.

I just realized that I don't think the traditional/most common arrangement of a Tarot deck has a Trickster card. The Fool is probably the closest but I don't think it's the same thing at all. I could be missing something though.

I tend to view the Fool as pure potential. Not as an active explosion of Chaos, Trickery etc.

Though for some reason I do associate the Five of Swords with a Knavish attitude.

The Advocate of your Uncertainty is a more intellectual approch to the Trickster.  

[TeaDidikai]

I find it interesting to me, that most of the Rroma folktales I am familar with show the Rroma as the Tricksters.

I cannot say I expect much else from a culture that survives by it's wits in alien lands.  

[TatteredAngel]

I'd love to have a doughnut, but I'm not at my finest, cognitively, right now, so I'm not gonna try and get too deep on this.

I did a lot of growing up in New Mexico, and so I did a lot of growing up with Coyote stories. I always adored them. I liked how vulgar and brash Coyote is. I always liked how they weren't all moral tales, necessarily, or great tidbits of wisdom, but still had something to say (I'm still trying to decipher all the implications of "Coyote and Teeth in the Wrong Places").

I guess what I'm most curious about is how Coyote, as a figure, gets treated as such a prolific folkloric character. Like why the Looney Tunes Coyote is no longer really a trickster, but a plotting semi-villain who always gets outwitted by a character much more tricky than himself and learns nothing from the encounters (and why the "Roadrunner" looks like some kind of ostrich, but that's another tangent).  

[TeaDidikai]

I'd ask that you add some of your favorites to the Myths thread Tattered.

That said, sometimes humor and folly exist in and of itself.  

[TatteredAngel]

I will be happy to do that when I'm less sleepy! Coyote cracks me up.  

[TeaDidikai]

TatteredAngel

I will be happy to do that when I'm less sleepy! Coyote cracks me up.

Have you ever read Gods Dog?  

[TatteredAngel]

TeaDidikai

TatteredAngel

I will be happy to do that when I'm less sleepy! Coyote cracks me up.

Have you ever read Gods Dog?

I actually haven't. I intended to when I came across it in the university library this past year, but it was when I was doing research for a major paper and didn't have time then. How is it?