THE TRICKSTER

Recently I was at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, and I read an origin story there from the Cree, a large nation that dominates the indiginous nations in Saskatchewan, and a fairly large nation in Quebec, located North near the James Bay. The story names a "trickster". Honestly, I didn't think that I had any use for a trickster in stories, or in real life. The gingerbread man didn't need to be tricked and eaten by the fox crossing the river. Pinocchio shouldn't have been tricked out of money, and caged for someone else's purposes. It is mean when people would take advantage of someone's innocence, for their own amusement. But it clearly seemed that the Cree felt the Trickster was part of the story. They named him Wi-sa-ke-cahk, and he caused the flood at the world's creation. He ordered his companions to retrieve a piece of earth. The Beaver and Otter failed. The Muskrat suceeded but died. That piece of earth was used by the trickster to restore the land (Turtle Island) and its inhabitants. To me, this confirms my dislike of the trickster even further.



Then I listened to the rantings and ironic contradictions of Emily Levine's comedy in a lofty titled TED talk called A Theory of Everything. She makes a very strong arguement for the value of trickster, and I have to admit that, in the way she defines it, I too have been a trickster, and that may be valuable.

Her ideas are based on a book I have not read called Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde. She calls the "trickster is a change agent". She feels that as a comedian she has a quality of the trickster in that she not only crosses boundaries, but "like[s] to cross boundaries". She says, "I think it's good to talk about things I know nothing about because I bring a fresh viewpoint to it, you know? I'm able to see the contradiction that you may not be able to see."

She argues that a trickster has to act as a go-between. You have to create a paradox between realities by denying someone's reality, therefore allowing at least one other reality to exist.

She also grants that sometimes it's dumb luck, but these accidents happen more often to a trickster because their mind is prepared for the unprepared. "The trickster has the ability to hold his ideas lightly so that he can let room in for new ideas or to see the contradictions or the hidden problems with his ideas."

She warns, however, that tricksters have to walk a fine line. For herself, she is "constructing [her] performance so that it's prepared and unprepared. Finding the balance between those things is always dangerous because you might tip off too much in the direction of the unprepared. But being too prepared doesn't leave room for the accidents to happen."

On some level, I identified for the first time with this idea of a trickster, and acknowledge the benefits of a little scepticism, planning, openness, irreverence, and willingness to test out an idea even if it doesn't end up to be the final truth. Clifton always loved to watch me rock the boat. Speaking against the majority in business meeting helps others state their (differing) truth. Vacation is a whole lot more fun when you deviate from the schedule. But sometimes people just like to go from point A and to B by the shortest route, and most of the time, that works the best anyways.