While I was perusing various tarot blogs and articles, this coyote appeared in our backyard. He seemed to be searching for something; dinner? or his pack. Some think of coyote as a trickster. Card readers vary in their understanding of the trickster, some citing the magician as the trickster of the tarot, some cite the fool. Both cards inhabit the major arcana. Both cards are at the beginning of the deck. The Magician is the master of metaphysical secrets, creating alchemical changes by calling on the power of the elements and the universe. The Fool is beginning a journey and someone whose naiveté and innocence are ideal as foils to his beginner’s mind. Like a jester from medieval courts the fool helps remind us to take ourselves a bit less seriously. Both the fool and the magician work their own magic. Both use their skills and their own common sense and knowledge in order to enhance or change their circumstances.
When the coyote walked through the backyard while I was reading he (or she) seemed a sign that I better pay attention to the wisdom of the trickster.
Tricksters are like a double-edged sword. The wisdom of the trickster suggests lightening up, but not falling for something. naiveté, in a cruel world doesn’t serve a soul and won’t save a soul either. Finding those we can trust is essential. No one gets through this life without assistance. Requesting help requires trust. When people don’t live up to our expectations regarding trust, a frequent go to understanding is that we’ve been betrayed. Sometimes this is an accurate understanding. Sometimes, it might also be misunderstanding or different/unspoken understanding of each person’s expectations.
My own ideas of trickster continue to evolve. Is the trickster someone who shakes us into a different reality? A prophetic guide who wakes us out of our everyday existence compelling us into new directions? Someone who simply wants to wreck our day for about a week? Perhaps the trickster wants us to learn, to grow, to stretch beyond what we think we are capable of.
My preferred understanding of the trickster these days is one who reminds us of our lost capabilities. The trickster helps us move beyond what we are comfortable with and shows us we have resources and resilience to proceed in a way that is unfamiliar. It is easy to say that I prefer this understanding. I work on actually practicing it because the trickster creates a sense of dis-ease and alarm in me at times, particularly when I am feeling uneasy. When I am feeling insecure or anxious, I’m not enchanted with the arrival of the trickster. I think that is why I find my Tarot or Oracle decks helpful when my intuition tells me the trickster is afoot. Readings confirm my intuition and provide perspective, information and ideas on how I might view a situation. What do you do when a trickster appears? What makes you feel better or worse? When the trickster shows up in your life, how do you handle it?
