![]() ![]() However often he drops in, the trickster’s influence is typically unwelcome. For others, he merely comes to visit on occasion. ![]() The element mercury itself is paradoxical, and as Carl Jung points out, Mercury “is metallic yet liquid, matter yet spirit, cold yet fiery, poison yet healing draught-a symbol uniting all opposites.” Blessings of the Tricksterįor some, the trickster is a constant presence. Today, astrologers call the planet Mercury the trickster.When the planet Mercury goes into retrograde (moves backward in relation to the earth), astrologers warn us to be on the lookout for the trickster. The greek god Hermes was known to the Romans as Mercury. He was heralded as a peacemaker and committed fraud. ![]() He was the god of commerce and was a thief. Hermes was known for being both the inventor of sacrifices and protector of sacrificial animals. There’s nothing left to do but laugh in exasperation. A newborn baby stealing oxen and inventing a musical instrument is about as absurd as it gets. Usually the act of the trickster is so preposterous that we can’t believe it. We want to stay mad when the trickster wrecks havoc in our lives but we soon throw up our hands and find laughter. This story shows that the trickster archetype can be both charming and frustrating. Apollo couldn’t stay angry with Hermes for long because he was charmed by the sound of the lyre instrument that Hermes had just created. Initially, Hermes denied ever stealing them, but soon enough took Apollo to the cave where they were hidden. Only hours after Hermes’s birth, he made off with a handful of the god Apollo’s oxen. The trickster archetype has taken many forms throughout history, and the greek god Hermes is one that most embodies the paradox in this archetype. This propensity for paradox is signature of the trickster archetype. When asking, “what is a trickster?” a key piece to realize is that the trickster is known for duplicity, landing us in situations that are both a blessing and a curse. The best we can do is throw up our hands and hope life gets back to normal soon. In viewing the trickster from this one-sided perspective, we leave ourselves subject to the whims of this energy. We often don’t see the trick coming, it comes at the seemingly worst possible time, our plans are defeated, and our life as we know it is ruined. The trickster archetype is blamed for our computer crashing in the middle of completing a lengthy tax form, our pipes breaking and flooding the basement during a dinner party, or an overdue loan payment getting lost in the mail. Most people think of the trickster as a misfit that causes trouble. The trickster is interested in breaking through convention, undoing structures and over-stepping bounds. Like the counter-culture members of modern-day youth, the trickster archetype is often viewed as a mischievous outsider. ![]() These amazing tricks are a simple demonstration of how the trickster archetype stretches the bounds of what we think is possible. An avid snowboarder for many years, I could never fathom what a rodeo flip was, let alone how to do it, but it didn’t matter, I still admired the beauty and grace of my trickster friends. They are our modern day trick-sters, doing what defies logic and seems impossible while having a good time. Daredevil skateboarders, snowboarders, BMX bikers, skiers, and motocross riders have an ever increasing dictionary of tricks. ![]()
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