Date:         Wed, 24 Mar 1999 20:57:26 EST
From: "Barbara J. Harris" <BarbHare@AOL.COM>
Subject:      [WRITERS] INT: Inspiration!  Haven for Hopeful Renaissants

      Barbara yawned, sleepy, but wanting to add a bit to the inspiration for the
April Fool's category in the Spring Fiesta Contest.  After all, she didn't
want to have *just* Tarot card references, or who knew what inappropriate
laughter might rock the small city of Barkerville.  She leafed through
Cooper's symbol book, hoping against hope that none of the applicable
references would be referred to as "chthonic", but of course, that wasn't to
be, worst luck!  "Chthonic" seemed to be a favorite word of Mr. J.C. Cooper.

From: _An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols_ by J. C. Cooper:

COYOTE: Amerindian: A transformer; hero-saviour, a demiurge; leads out of
danger; it is also lunar and a flood-bringer; the spirit of night; the
TRICKSTER of the Indians of the western mountains.  Aztec: A form of
Quetzalcoatl, the double coyote is his chthonic aspect.

FOOL: The extreme opposite fo the highest temporal power, the King.  The fool,
clown or jester is the lowest at the court and frequently took the place of
the king, in ritual sacrifice, as the scapegoat.  The king symbolizes the
forces of law and order, the fool those of chaos, hence the licence of the
fool or jester who could say or do what he pleased.  The fool also represents
unregenerate man who does not know whence he came or where he is going but
goes on blindly towards the abyss.

TRICKSTER: Appears in Amerindian, Chinese, Greek and Oceanic symbolism as the
egoist, or the evolution of the Hero from the unconscious, chaotic, and amoral
to the conscious, integrated, and responsible man.  The Trickster also
represents the life of the body which tends to cunning and stupid action and
in this apsect shares the symbolism of the fool or jester in provoking
laughter and exposing weakness; it is sometimes used as the villain to throw
the Hero and the good into relief.  Amont the Red Indians it is symbolized by
the Raven in the North Pacific regions, the Coyote in the western mountains,
and the Rabbit or Hare in the eastern forests.  The Scandinavian Loki is a
Trickster.

        Hare being a long entry, and having even more to do with rebirth symbolism
than with the Trickster, Barbara decides to save that one for an upcoming
post... get writing people!  :)
                        Love & Light, Barbara