Tricksters, like any archetype in life, are powerful spirit guides and facilitators of conscious expansion. My first ever Shamanic encounter in the spirit world was with a Trickster. 11 Trickster Archetypes and Their Crazy Wisdom For every form of provocation, there is a hidden lesson. For every likable trait within them, there is an equally disturbing trait. As destroyers of duality, Trickster archetypes expose illusions, challenge worldly rules, and celebrate holy madness. In a sense, Tricksters are the ultimate pot-stirrers and “trolls” of life. And in our own lives, Tricksters are represented by the class clowns, the anarchists, the comedians and the rule-breaking harlequins that defy all worldly decrees and decorum. Tricksters continue to incarnate as characters such as Puck (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Beetlejuice (Tim Burton classic), The Mask, Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland), the Mad Hatter, Jack Sparrow, The Joker (from Batman) and Rumplestiltskin. These days, Trickster archetypes still appear in our cultural myths and dialogues.

In psychology, Tricksters are the mischievous archetypes of the collective unconscious that shatter old paradigms and gleefully poke sticks at our sanctimonious beliefs and stiff pretensions. I n mythology, Tricksters are portrayed as the jokers, pranksters, clowns, rule-breakers, alchemists, magicians, truth-tellers and wise-fools. If you feel drawn to, or repulsed by, the Trickster archetype, this is a clear sign that you need to explore the hidden parts of your nature more. At the same time they’re friendly, they’re also fearsome. At the same time they’re lovable, they’re also hateful.

Tricksters defy duality: they are both light and dark, heroic and villainous, foolish and wise, benign and malicious. When Trickster archetypes prance and prank their way into your life, it’s time to pay attention! He possesses no values, moral or social, is at the mercy of his passions and appetites, yet through his actions all values come into being. Trickster is at one and the same time creator and destroyer, giver and negator, he who dupes others, and who is always duped himself … He knows neither good nor evil yet he is responsible for both.

Trickster meaning