Paul Radin (1883–1959)

I was surprised to learn that this is an important book. Surprised only because I came upon it haphazardly not by dint of its reputation. But it was significant enough that Carl Jung contributed an essay along with Karl Kerenyi. With the Trickster, and this book is based upon the Winnebago tribe's Trickster cycle we are looking at one of the most primitive narratives known to mankind. The Trickster, whether he is part creator part jokester, represents man before he is able to differentiate before he can see himself for himself. The Trickster, for instance, has no use for societal rules, he follows his appetites, he can't distinguish his sexuality (he disguises himself as a woman and get pregnant), keeps his sexual organs in a box and both tricks and is tricked by nature. In other words, this is mankind before he understood society or how to act or why things were as they were. It's a fascinating concept and one I applied to Trump as a kind of sociopathic primitive, a man guided by his emotions and appetites with very little ability to distinguish good from bad, with no concept of honesty integrity, scruples or principals. Radin however also gives us other cycles like the Raven cycle where over the arc of the story the Raven helps mankind, functioning more as a creator of society than a destroyer. The book is weakened by the essay by the expert in Greek myth, who like most academics, enters the story without creating a context that would be useful to help us integrate. Jung's is not much better though his point is that this myth has been around for so long because we carry this primitive man around in us as a shadow. It is not repressed but still lingers in the unconscious. The whole story here is about our gradual emergence from the animal level, the Trickster being one of the earlier representations thereof.… (meer)