I love the term TRICKSTER.
It seems to perfectly describe some of the intangible experiences in my life. I know what it means in my gut, but how would you define it literally?
Christopher O’Brien has written a very intriguing book titled STALKING THE TRICKSTER where he tries to come to terms with this iconic force. The sub-title of the book is Shapeshifters, Skinwalkers, Dark Adepts and 2012.
What is the Trickster? That answer is - well - tricky.
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one hour & 23 minutes
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Audio conversation with Chistopher O'Brien.
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We have a really delightful audio conversation where we wrestle with our own personal Trickster experiences, and we try to get a hold of the slippery tail of this elusive concept. We talk about owls, helicopters, cattle mutilations, the internet, leprechauns, little people, synchronicities, Neutrogena Sun-Block and the collective unconscious.
Tricksters have inhabited our culture for millennia and this mysterious force has played pivotal roles throughout history, and they've burrowed deep inside human belief into the core of our mythic culture. But why? What are these forces? What is their agenda?
Chris sums it all up at the end of this hour and 23 minute conversation by saying, “It’s a hall of mirrors with a quicksand floor.”
True enough.
I encourage you to dig deeper at Christopher's web site, called Our-Strange-Plannet.
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6 comments:
LOL So you tricked Christopher into thinking you've already read all the book?? Shame on you, sir! ;)
Good interview. Specially interesting the stuff about the possibility of the trickster using our IT to creep inside fields of interaction that would've been closed to it in the past. The synchronicities in the interwebs might be the crop circles for the Twitter generation :)
Yes, I haven't read the entire book. I think I say it (twice) in the conversation, and I guess that means I lied. I was actually gunna edit my comment out, but I found it easier to simply say it at the end, to come clean.
So - As of Dec 17th 2009 I have NOT read STALKING THE TRICKSTER. That said, I have skimmed it with some intensity.
I actually HAVE read SECRETS OF THE MYSTERIOUS VALLEY (and it's good).
Very enjoyable conversation! As I was listening to y'all talk I had another task opened and had gone to Anya's site and was following various links; right when you and Chris were discussing 17 and 33 I was reading something (can't recall now what it was) that referenced 33 in print!! So glad you're back posting again; I was getting concerned.
MusingEgret wrote about the audio interview with Chris O'Brien:
"... As I was listening to y'all talk I had another task opened and had gone to Anya's site and on!was following various links; right when you and Chris were discussing 17 and 33 I was reading something (can't recall now what it was) that referenced 33 in print!! "
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Quanta (aka Stace) wrote about the wolves in the previous post:
"... as I was reading your post for the first time I was also listening to the song Kandi by One eskimO, and as I read your words, "all night long," the vocals in the song exactly matched. At the exact moment. This sent a chill up my back, which was rather pleasant!
And you're talking about the wolves, and "they were close," you recall, stirring up a great image and a bit of suspense...just as the I hear the word "close" in the song.
Wild! An itsy-bitsy, pretty special synchroniticy..."
I believe it was Budd Hopkins who coined the phrase - "It's a hall of mirrors with a quicksand floor".
Mike:
I finally listened to this after downloading a while ago. WOW!!! Great interview -- I really enjoyed your stories about inexplicable synchronicities and how they seemed to reinforce the strangeness of the subject.
What particularly struck me was the story about the Neutrogena bottle at the stop sign. Here's my take on it (for what it's worth):
Maybe the important symbolism was not that the bottle was at a stop sign (i.e., it wasn't a warning to "stop" looking into the paranormal--what would be the fun in that?)
Rather, maybe it was simpler than that. The bottle was at YOUR self-selected goal. You'd decided you were going to clean the trash up to that point and then turn back. You stuck to your goal despite the challenges of hideous weather -- it WOULD have been much easier to turn around at several points.
But by being determined, by sticking to your goal and persevering despite the presence of serious obstacles, you were rewarded with a simple reminder that, "Yes, there is something mysterious to this thing we call life." You were rewarded with the one thing you were REALLY looking for that day which you could not reasonably acquire for yourself...but the universe gifted it to you after you showed your commitment to completing the task you set for yourself.
Maybe it was the universe's way of reinforcing the notion of "seek and ye shall find." Keep at it and you will find the answers you need -- of course, the universe being a Trickster-ish sort of place, the answers you need and ultimately get, while being helpful, may not be the answers you thought you were looking for when you first started on this quest for knowledge.
It does tie into that whole "The Secret" angle IMO -- sometimes, by being focused on a specific task or idea, we tend to stumble across things that reinforce our expectations but we may also subconsciously draw things that pertain to that goal or objective to us.
Woo-woo?
Sure. But it also kinda-sorta makes sense, too.
I'm not saying I *believe* this is what happens...just throwing out my interpretation of this specific event and what it might have meant. I think an awful lot of the meaning in life is not what happens to us but how we interpret those events and moments.
Of course, my explanation also appeals to the stubborn optimist in me.
Bill Smith
www.BillSmithBooks.com
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