trickster

Another issue we will meet in future chapters is the reluctance to examine foundations too closely. Existence of society requires collectively held fundamental premises, beliefs, and assumptions. When they are questionned or challenged, disruption ensues. Western science adheres to the myth of objective reality, but it does not comprehend the found

Another useful, and superbly documented, book is The Future of the Body (1992) by Michael Murphy.

Carl Jung’s idea of archetypes is also helpful in understanding the trickster. The term archetype is often confusing, and there has been much debate over its definition. For purposes of this volume, “archetype” means only a pattern that can manifest at multiple levels. No more is implied, and nothing paranormal is necessarily required to explain it

Historically, many groups that attempted to engage paranormal phenomena became unstable. There is little reason to think that secret government projects would escape that fate. They too are probably prone to paranoia and conspiracy theorizing. Because of the secrecy surrounding their work, and the importance of it, they could be susceptible to delu

Boundaries must be blurred for the trickster to be seen.

Several theorists have commented on UFOs in relation to cultural stress and transformation. Carl Jung discussed “transformations of the collective psyche” on the very first page of the “Introductory” section of Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies (1958). Carl Raschke, a religious scholar at the University of Denver wrote an es

Many analyses suggest that tricksters are combinations of oppo-sites. Some are both cultural heroes and selfish buffoons. The Spirit Mercurius was associated with gods and with sewers. Wakdjunkaga was able to change from male to female. Some ritual clowns and mystics eat feces, and in so doing they invert the opposites of food and excrement.

We could say that the Joker’s nature isn’t psychological, it’s metaphysical. He isn’t merely a broken psyche or a monster. Those two aspects are certainly present, but that's not all there is to him. Most importantly, the Joker embodies unreason, chaos, disorder, and meaninglessness. He arouses the icy suspicion that everything we build will collap

His origins, which would somehow define his new self, are uncertain and labile, as the Joker admits: “If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!”28 Thus, only something chaotic and indefinable remains. The Joker becomes an embodiment of chaos and starts spreading it, laughing at society’s illusions.