The mythologies of gods and goddesses of various cultures can be a fascinating
subject to research, as well as a frustrating one. Part of the fascination lies
in the observation that similar attributes have been projected onto deities across
widely differing cultures, to the extent that you can choose any pantheon and
easily pick out gods of agriculture, of war, of the hunt and many other roles
which were common to pre-technological civilisation. This is especially true of
the Greek and Roman pantheons, which have become so closely entwined that the
references to a god or goddess in one pantheon will often describe the deity as
the equivalent to a similar icon in the other pantheon.
This has no doubt come to pass because of the intertwining of the actual cultures
of these two civilisations in history, but is a bit of a shame as the individual
personalities of the original gods and goddesses can be lost, or overshadowed by
the corresponding deity from the other culture. Researching Discordia for example,
the Roman goddess of strife, will inevitably lead the student of mythology to
references stating that she is "The Greek Eris" which will then go on with the
story of the golden apple at Thetis' wedding, which is specific to Eris. The
entire personality of Discordia seems to have been lost to academia.
This is the frustrating aspect of this area of research. The trend toward creating
correspondences across the pantheons of less closely homogenised cultures dilutes
the individual stories of specific deities in favour of showing the correspondences
for anthropological requirements. However, with the exception of Discordia herself,
there is one category of deity which is an exception to this general rule of
standardisation, where the personalities of the entities stand out as individualists
so that despite the examples of common trends in their behaviours, their stories
and personalities shine brightly each in their own light, unsquelchable by the
categorisation boxes of the mainstream governing bodies of academia. This is of
course the Trickster.
There are certain common attributes to Tricksters in mythology, but no one character
tends to display all of them together. Rather, the various cultural aspects of
Trickster manifest each a part of the overall picture of that which makes Trickster,
so that the category maintains flexible parameters a bit like a Lorenz attractor,
never quite the same yet preserving the integrity of the common factors so that
the definition remains recognisable.
One of the best known classical manifestations of Trickster is the Monkey King
of China, who accompanied Hsuan-tsang (Tripitaka), the Buddhist monk to India to
collect scriptures. Monkey was a known trouble maker among the gods who had
effectively stolen his immortality by eating the sacred peaches, thereby
demonstrating one of the common attributes of Trickster in that he broke a taboo
to satisfy his own hunger. Tricksters are boundary pushers, and Monkey demonstrates
this time and again as he violates one taboo after another until the gods imprison
him in a mountain. It is only his promise to protect the monk on his journey
which eventually wins his escape. His methods of fulfilling this mission continue
to exasperate Tripitaka and even to elicit disciplinary measures through pain
employed through a magic circlet he must wear on his head.
Loki, from the Norse pantheon is the best known Trickster figure among these gods,
although Odin himself also displays significant Trickster attributes. Loki stirs
arguments between the other gods, and just to outwit the mother's blessing that
protects Baldur, that he cannot be killed by anything of Heaven or of Earth, he
murders him with a mistletoe spear as it is the one plant which is not of Heaven,
nor of Earth.
Causing arguments is of course also one of the main attributes of Eshu, an African
god of the crossroads. One of the well known stories of this voodoo Trickster god
is that he painted half his face black, and the other white, and wore differing
clothing on both sides of his body so that when he walked between two people who
had been busy about their work they argued as to the description of the person
they had seen.
Hermes is a Greek Trickster god who rules over games of chance. One of the
illegitimate sons of Zeus, he tricked his father into acknowledging him. Hermes
also presides over the act of losing and finding things of value, sometimes referred
to as a 'gift of Hermes'.
Eris, also from the Greek pantheon is of course best known for bringing a golden
apple to the wedding of Thetis, meaning it as a gift for the bride (this varies
in some versions). She had inscribed it with the epithet, Kallisti, which means
'for the fairest'. Ironically, Eris had not been invited to the wedding as she
was known for being a troublemaker and it was the apple which disrupted the wedding
most of all when she anonymously rolled it out among the guests. The goddesses
all tried to claim that the gift was for themselves, each believing herself to
be the fairest. This of course caused pandemonium and when Zeus sent the three
best claimants to have the matter resolved by Paris, the promise of Aphrodite to
give Paris the most beautiful of mortal women in order to be chosen led to the
Trojan War as this woman, Helen, happened to be the wife of King Menelaus.
Coyote is a North American Trickster who constantly gets himself into trouble.
He is an educational sort of Trickster who, through hunger, manages to break
boundaries and stay just one step ahead of his adversaries who learn from his
trickery. Like many Tricksters, Coyote is actually androgynous and there are
stories of Coyote indicating both genders. This is lesser known in connection
with Hermes and some of the other ostensibly androgynous gods, but sometimes is
expressed through cross-dressing or shape shifting as in the case of Loki.
Raven, like Coyote, comes from North America and is motivated by hunger to look
for ways to satisfy his desires with as little work as possible involved. One of
the stories about Raven involves tricking Crow into having a feast, called a
potlatch, for all the other animals so that they might hear Crow sing. Raven plays
on Crow's ego until he agrees to hold the potlatch, which Raven invites everyone
to as his own party. This of course results in Raven receiving invitations from
all of the animals for potlatches throughout the Winter, so that he never goes
hungry despite doing no work to provide his own provisions.
Maui is a Polynesian Trickster who actually changes the flow of time by capturing
the Sun with a rope made of hair. Like Hermes, he is marked by an impure birth
and is raised by the gods. Bringing celestial knowledge to mankind is the realm
of Trickster, and the avatars of Trickster are often connected with divination,
the arts and sciences. Most prevalent is the sense of timing that Trickster displays
which results in the ability to climb out of any scrape.
Looking among more recent figures, Bugs Bunny is an obvious Trickster figure who
flirts with danger with complete faith that he will always be able to stay that
one step ahead of Elmer Fudd or Daffy Duck. Recent films have brought new attention
to The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Suess' character who breaks boundaries and plays in a
world of dangerous balances, yet always manages to allow order to resume and to
avoid getting caught.
My own favourite modern Trickster is Captain Jack Sparrow from the film, Pirates
of the Caribbean. Captain Sparrow displays many classic Trickster qualities. He
walks into trouble without giving much thought to the danger, always confident
that luck will provide an escape. He appears to change sides frequently, and has
an inherent sense of timing, often referring to "the opportune moment" which serves
his purposes more than once during the film. Close escapes and an unswerving sense
of humour characterise his ability to keep on top of every situation.
Trickster plays a part in magic as well as in mythology. In my most recent book,
Chaos Monkey, I present the magic itself as Trickster, personified as the
Monkey who will bring opportunities as well as finding convoluted ways to bring
about the change that the witch or magician intends with their spells. Opportunity
is of course a major aspect of Trickster, one who will find a way where there is
no way.
Those of us who practice magic can find ways to accomplish things which cannot
be done through mundane means alone, but magic is a two-edged sword which requires
some caution as things can go wrong. This is why magic is the natural realm of
Trickster, why he defies the ordinary constraints of classification that other
gods are subject to. It is also why the most difficult magic can best be accomplished
through the means and deities of Trickster, who push the boundaries and break
taboos. The fact that something will go wrong is assumed in Trickster magic, but
this is sometimes what is required to shake up the status quo and to create real
change.