The Trickster in Myth
The Trickster in Myth
Trickster myths, a significant part of most cultures if not all, have permeated the legends and folklore of peoples since the early days of civilized man. The ancient Greeks had Hermes, the Chinese the Monkey King, and the Native American Indians the coyote. These diverse tricksters found within cultures often have many commonalities with each other, and then, often they do not. But this illustrates the very nature of the trickster; ever changing, shifting, shaping, disguising, and tricking his or her way into the lives of the Gods as well as the mortal people. The trickster is often seen as a physical presentation of a God, or an anthropomorphic animal, that which can walk and talk; breath and die. However, as societies developed and cultures became more advanced, newer, more advanced ideologies of the trickster began to appear. No more are we, "of the time of millions of years ago to the magic moment of fist creation, that, dawn time, when first the world was born', and we, walked with the gods'."(Crystal, The Trickster) Today the evolution of the mind allows us to seek alternative explanations. Paul Radin, I believe, said it best when he asked the question, "Is this a speculum mentis, wherein is depicted man's struggle with himself and with a world into which he had been thrust without his volition and consent?"(Crystal, The Trickster) To find out we must fist understand the trickster at large; who is he, where does he come from, and what does he do. Then we must look at the trickster from behind the eyes of the people, the cultures that embraced him; that feared him. Over the next several pages we will do just that; it is my intent to understand and present the trickster through an analysis of the general trickster myth itself and then to explore the trickster within his habitat of three different and unique cultures: the Slavic Norsemen of the Scandinavian north and their trickster Loki, the Hopi Indian culture of Southwest
Trickster myths, a significant part of most cultures if not all, have permeated the legends and folklore of peoples since the early days of civilized man. The ancient Greeks had Hermes, the Chinese the Monkey King, and the Native American Indians the coyote. These diverse tricksters found within cultures often have many commonalities with each other, and then, often they do not. But this illustrates the very nature of the trickster; ever changing, shifting, shaping, disguising, and tricking his or her way into the lives of the Gods as well as the mortal people. The trickster is often seen as a physical presentation of a God, or an anthropomorphic animal, that which can walk and talk; breath and die. However, as societies developed and cultures became more advanced, newer, more advanced ideologies of the trickster began to appear. No more are we, "of the time of millions of years ago to the magic moment of fist creation, that, dawn time, when first the world was born', and we, walked with the gods'."(Crystal, The Trickster) Today the evolution of the mind allows us to seek alternative explanations. Paul Radin, I believe, said it best when he asked the question, "Is this a speculum mentis, wherein is depicted man's struggle with himself and with a world into which he had been thrust without his volition and consent?"(Crystal, The Trickster) To find out we must fist understand the trickster at large; who is he, where does he come from, and what does he do. Then we must look at the trickster from behind the eyes of the people, the cultures that embraced him; that feared him. Over the next several pages we will do just that; it is my intent to understand and present the trickster through an analysis of the general trickster myth itself and then to explore the trickster within his habitat of three different and unique cultures: the Slavic Norsemen of the Scandinavian north and their trickster Loki, the Hopi Indian culture of Southwest
Cited: 1. Trickster. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Sept. 10, 2005. Sept. 11, 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickster 2. TricksterCrystallinks. Crystal Links MetaPhysical and Science Website. Sept. 11, 2005. Sept. 11, 2005. http://www.crystalinks.com/ 3. Transformation of the Trickster. Southern Cross Review. July 2005. Sept. 11, 2005. http://www.southerncrossreview.org/ 4. Kokopelli. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Sept. 10, 2005. Sept. 11, 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokopelli 5. Introduction to the Legend of Monkey King. China The Beautiful. April 2005. Sept. 11, 2005. http://www.chinapage.org/main2.html 6. The Monkey King. An International Catalogue of Superheroes. April 2003. Sept. 11, 2005. http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/m/monkey.htm 7. Monkey King. China on Site. Sept. 11, 2005. http://www.china-on-site.com/monkey.php 8. Trickster, Kokopelli. The Zodiac Master. Sept. 11, 2005. http://www.thezodiac.com/index.htm