Dear Friend,
Your wrote;
What about trickster gods, what they can
teach us? I had some experiences with Loki and he seemed to be willing to
interact with me, I asked him simple things while doing devotional work for
some months and it seems he answered my requests, I had a bad result one time,
though, when I almost fought with a person I was involved with in a magical
group when he told me about his suspicions of magical attacks supposedly done
by me (silly, I know, but looks like the guy was/is a little paranoid). On the
other hand, when asked Loki to give me a good experience in one night, I had
the most vivid and lucid dream in my experience, it was great.
I also noticed something very fiery about
Loki, nothing to do with tricks and things like that, but an energy, sometimes
even explosive, that reflects a kind of passion for existence.
Trickster gods in whatever part of the world represents opportunity,
choice and movement. They are considered as a chaotic element, a disturbance,
which we know as Chance or Luck, one of the epitaphs of Fortuna. Trickster gods
are experienced as disturbances as they entered a temporary order and literally
shake it up, hence pointing towards the fragility of any condition – of creation
itself – and in this realization they inspire us to search our Luck, our good
fortune; our destiny.
In the case of Loki we find a great example of the path of devastation
and turbulence that leads to Luck and this is demonstrated in one of Loki’s runes perth. This rune has been subject to several interpretations and is
perhaps more known as a rune of Frigg –
which it is indeed – but it is a Loki rune more than anything. Scandinavian
transmissions teach that perth
replicates the roar of the wolf, hence it is seen as the jaws of the wolf as
replicated in the cup that holds the dices in games of Luck. So, it is one of Loki’s children, Fenrir, he who swallows
the Sun, which is also the power that holds Luck.
With trickster gods we are invited to life and the charge is as Henry
Miller said: “Every man has
his own destiny: The only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter
where it leads him.” I think it is in
this the trickster gods gain a bad reputation, the temper and tease, they challenge
and seduce. We might not know to where, but it will always be to the right place
if we decide to let go of resistance and embrace the journey.
If
we return to Loki we see that he is
in the sagas and Eddas spoken of as foster son and blood brother of Odin, he is even mentioned as an aesir, while he was in truth a jotun, like Odin. As we see Loki
telling in ‘Lokesenna’:
Do you remember, Odin, when in bygone days
we mixed our blood together?
You said you would never drink ale
unless it were brought to both of us
So we can see here the force of order rising from chaos, Odin, rejecting the need for the force
of transformation, his brother of blood, Loki.
In this Odin demonstrate the docile temperament
that infests us when life is good, but not harmonious. The illusion must be brought
into question and in doing this what is good will stand stronger. In ‘Lokesenna’
Loki is challenging each and every aesir with their flaws and imperfections,
questioning their character as it were. He was the always needed hasatán, the Devil’s Advocate. Loki, as a force of movement,
transformation and trickery is also found in his heritage, where his father is Fårbautne (he who strikes hard) while
the mother is subject for dispute. He however married a jotun woman, Sigyn - but it was with his mistress Angerboda he fathered Jormundgandr, Fenrir
and Hel. In Voluspå, the poem that speaks of ragnarøk and the end of the world Loki and his children actively seek to destroy the aesirs just to provide the coming of Balder. In doing this Loki is the master of all the forces of
cosmic renewal, it be by war, famine, or shaking our illusions. Loki is also a shape shifter and is
associated with fire and also air, he can transform in shapes as much as
elements and in doing this he invites unpredictability.
In holding all these features we ascribe to ‘trickster gods’ we can see
some sense emerging, Loki is the
force of transformation that announces constant change. He is the lucky charm
in the crossroad of the worlds. And speaking of crossroads, which are junctures
of decision and choice, this is what he is. We are the consequence of the
choices we make. And this is important; the trickster gods will always get this
point across, that YOU are the owner of your choices. If you err in choosing
this is also your fault, because you simply made a bad election at the banquette
of gifts, requests and challenges.
So, a trickster god is always a force that challenges you to be true to
your self – and to be true to yourself means to always be in a state of
acceptance - because in this way our joy of being will be in a constantly shifting
world. Failure to confront this challenge in the right spirit will always be
resistance, anger and finally devastation. Life is a dance and a journey and
opportunity is the stardust swirling up as we dance through life, if we take
the opportunity or not depends on how well we know our Self – and this is the
first teaching of the trickster gods!
Be well
Nick
Please do continue to write me at nicholaj@gmail.com
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