THE TRICKSTER
VOLUME 4 NUMBER 1
Spring 1979
Who will teach us to discriminate, and are we ready to be taught? The true trickster, mixing up everything in impossible contradictions, shocks us into a greater clarity; the false trickster makes us believe that the opposites are the same. Jones of Jonestown, the leader of the People's Temple which came to its macabre end in Guyana, trained his followers with a frequent ritual potion of fruit juice to drink cyanide when he bade them. But the holy trickster makes it impossible for us to follow him blindly; he shakes us awake to stand on our own feet and make our own decisions. Yet without his help, we never could have made them. --from the editorial Focus
ARTICLES
ONE MORE SMILE FOR A HOPI CLOWN Emory Sekaquaptewa
A man's last wish reveals the profound character of the clown's role.
THE WAY OF BLAME Michel Waldberg
Inner growth through outer shock--an ancient method exemplified in the teaching of G. I. Gurdjieff.
CRAFTSMAN OF CHAOS Lynda Sexson
Insuring that nothing ever makes too much sense, the fool of the Tarot informs and confuses the rest of the pack.
THE YOUNGEST BROTHER P. L. Travers
Illustrated with the art of Cecil Collins. An inquiry into the concept of the Third Son.
ARCS: HOLY LAUGHTER
Notes on the method in madness.
THE WISDOM OF THE CONTRARY: A CONVERSATION WITH JOSEPH EPES BROWN
The well-known friend and student of the Sioux discusses the deep meaning of the Heyhoka and remembers his teacher, Black Elk.
BOUNDARIES OF BELIEF Barbara Tedlock
The terrifying courage of the Zuni clowns in the service of their people.
THE HODJA David Leeming
Nasreddin as Rumi's comic shadow.
TANGENTS: Reviews
THE USES OF THE PAST Roger Lipsey
Tutankhamun at the Met--beyond the cliches.PATH TO THE CENTER Peter Awn
The Whirling Dervishes in "performance".
GOOD NEWS, MOSTLY John Loudon
St. Mark's Gospel as a one-man show.
A MYTHHANDLED MISS Frederick Franck
Eric Rohmer's film of Perceval: an avant-garde look at the Holy Fool.
EPICYCLES: Traditional Stories from around the World
BEYOND THE SEER OF LUBLIN  Jewish
Retold by Diane Wolkstein
OUR LADY'S TUMBLER French
Retold by D. M. Dooling
THE MASTER THIEF Haitian
HOW SALMON GOT GREASY EYES Coos-Coquille
Retold by Will Wasson
THE TORTOISE AND HIS CREDITORS Igbo (African)
Retold by Peter Thomas
THE BROWN MONKEY
Retold by Paul Jordan-Smith
