Food for thought.
The following link is an excerpt from Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. It addresses two main topics that I believe you Nexians may find enjoyable, "The Root Rep" and tricksters. It is fairly dense, but I found it to be very worthwhile.
Link:
http://webpages.charter....ature/cryptonomicon.htmlPersonally I've been relating the reading to my DMT experiences and would be interested in hearing what ideas the reading brings forth in the other members here. I found the Root Rep to be an intriguing concept that was very well demonstrated in the reading. Any input is much appreciated.
For those of you with no Entity or Trickster contact (as I've read in previous threads), can you relate the Trickster ideas to your general DMT or life experiences?
Moving on to the topic at hand...
TrickstersI'd like to preface this by saying that I've searched the Nexus for relevant threads and will try to incorporate the information introduced by other Nexians into my post. I will be laying out my ideas in a fairly rough form. The following does not specifically discuss the excerpt I posted above, but the reading spurred my thinking on the topic of Tricksters.
Benevolent or Malicious Intent?Many Nexians have reported that an entity seems to be evil or otherwise tricking them in some fashion. I believe this post may help to reveal some possible motivations behind these entities, the purposes they serve, and some common tricks that tricksters use. Tricksters are commonly found in both benevolent and malicious roles and many times these roles overlap. The important aspect of tricksters, in my opinion, is that they are bringers or representations of change. Trickster's behavior is unsettling, appears malicious, but ultimately serves a positive purpose. The trickster who falls short of ultimately serving a positive purpose is commonly labeled as the fool.
Neal Stephenson wrote:"So, Enoch, you want me to believe that these gods - which aren't really gods, but it's a nice concise word - all share certain things in common precisely because the external reality normally generated them is consistent and universal across cultures."
"That is right. And in the case of the Trickster gods the pattern is that cunning people tend to attain power that un-cunning people don't. And all cultures are fascinated by this. Some of them, like many Native Amercians, bascically admire it, but never couple it with technological development. Others, like the Norse, hate it and identify it with the devil."
An Embodiment of DMT, The TricksterMy experiences with DMT have almost all fell into what I could categorize as trickster-like experiences.
Amara Graps wrote:The Tricksters are important symbols because they devour ego and trick us into new perspectives, so the Trickster is the “ego demolitions expert” that leads us to places in our lives where we are tricked into becoming more whole. When people are in situations in their lives where it seems to them, psychologically, that their world is turned upside-down, then it’s time to pay attention. Usually it means that it’s time to change or do something different, and in a big way.
John E. Mack wrote:Trickster is providence’s representative — a kind of savior sent when a society is in crisis and no longer serving the needs of its people.
In my opinion, the similarities between the DMT experience and the role that tricksters play is stunning. They break down the world-views we have built and reveal previously unknown or unaddressed possibilities. Through some of the thoroughest of displays they reveal the simplest of lessons that lie right before your eyes and just beneath the cusp of your conscious mind.
The Gate-KeeperAs mentioned by a few others here on the Nexus, I agree that the trickster entities (sometimes seen as Jesters) seem to welcome travelers to hyperspace.
On the reference to them being a gate-keeper or a doorway to hyperspace here is a quote from Byrd Gibbens on the trickster archetype:
Byrd Gibbens wrote:Many native traditions held clowns and tricksters as essential to any contact with the sacred. People could not pray until they had laughed, because laughter opens and frees from rigid preconception. Humans had to have tricksters within the most sacred ceremonies for fear that they forget the sacred comes through upset, reversal, surprise. The trickster in most native traditions is essential to creation, to birth
My own experiences have been similar to the Trickster definition as well. If I encounter entities on this Earthly realm before entering hyperspace, they are generally gesturing me to go in odd directions, or are so completely fixated on something (eg: my smoking device) that I become distracted or confused. They throw off my game, so to speak, and prepare me for the unexpected.
Using Special Tools & ShapeshiftingTricksters are often found as shape-shifters and/or using special tools. Shapeshifting may be as grand as a complete shift to an alternate physical form (Man<-->Animal/God), or a more subtle change in behavior or appearance of ability (Popeye, Coyote & Roadrunner, there are many possibilities here).
Special tools may be a privileged advantage of many kinds. In regards to the DMT experience I believe there are a few tools used. Trickster entities display a knowledge of hyperspace that is unknown to the observe and seem to use this to manipulate the experience. The rise of fear or other emotions in these situations may simply be a tool, an effective means for conveying a message in a memorable fashion.
Hyperspace-Techno-Savvy TeachersI've also noticed, at least in my experiences, that tricksters in hyperspace are found working with technology more so than other entities. They also appear to be very human-like but at the same time are 'gods' existing comfortably in hyperspace. Both characteristics are commonly applied to tricksters (technology not so much for Native Americans, but for other culture's tricksters). Tricksters are also often used as Teachers, tricking a character in order to reveal a more important truth. For me, the tricksters appear to be my go-between. Human-like, but god-like, they have attempted to show me or teach me the workings of hyperspace in a fashion that is more
understandable unsettling than that of some other entities, a ways away from being spelled-out clearly but having the conscious pull of importance.
One of my experiences with a trickster entity:
VIII wrote:While beginning to focus on hyperspace I've seen Jesters begin to wander across my vision until one of them stays to greet. The single remaining Jester, in the couple times I've seen him, then proceeded to show me a mechanical device of sorts. It was an 'old' piece of machinery with a about 3-4 TV screens lined up horizontally. The TV's would then begin rotating vertically, bringing even more TV screens into view. The Jester then spoke telepathically, "This is what's happening."
The trickster entity in this experience would glance up intently while working this machine. I won't even attempt to say if that device had a specific purpose beyond conveying the message to me that there are always multiple perspectives and that it is important to be aware of the multiplicity.
Another decent read on tricksters:
TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE TRICKSTERHelen Lock wrote:According to Radin, for example, “Trickster is at one and the same time creator and destroyer, giver and negator, he who dupes others and who is always duped himself. . . . He possesses no values, moral or social, is at the mercy of his passions and appetites, yet through his actions all values come into being” (xxiii). Carl Jung, in an appendix in Radin’s volume, says further, “[T]rickster is both subhuman and superhuman, a bestial and divine being, whose most alarming characteristic is his unconsciousness. . . . He is so unconscious of himself that his body is not a unity, and his two hands fight each other” (“Trickster” 203). In all this, says Lewis Hyde, “Trickster is the mythic embodiment of ambiguity and ambivalence, doubleness and duplicity, contradiction and paradox” (7), and can thus be seen as the archetypal boundary-crosser, although here Hyde notes that “there are also cases in which trickster creates a boundary, or brings to the surface a distinction previously hidden from sight” (7).
TL;DR
- LONG, but interesting, BOOK EXCERPT
Cryptonomicon excerpt- Trickster's behavior is unsettling, appears malicious, but ultimately serves a positive purpose.
- DMT is a trickster
DMT is an “ego demolitions expert” coupled with a “teacher”
- Tricksters(ex: Jesters) are the Gate-Keeper/Doorway to Hyperspace.
"Humans had to have tricksters within the most sacred ceremonies for fear that they forget the sacred comes through upset, reversal, surprise."
- Tricksters are shape-shifters and use special tools to help convey messages
- Tricksters working with technology or working as teachers to reveal inner workings
-Another decent read on tricksters:
Transformations of the TricksterTrickster's TimeMany, many other researched and cited articles on tricksters are out there for those interested.
Thanks for reading. Any ideas this brought forth, any ideas it sparked, any comments, questions, experiences, or anything else you feel like sharing is much appreciated!
I have no expectations for where this goes, only to share this information and hear other perspectives.
The inner soul is full of joy. Reveal my secrets and sew me whole. With each day, "I" heeds your call.
You may not care the slightest and may not be the brightest, but from here "I" sees you're mighty for you created it all.
And the jumbling sea rose above the wall.
Through this chaos comes the order you enthrall.