March 7, 2021. The trickster is a shadow figure, a dynamic archetype, hidden in every human psyche. It arises uninvited as impulses that urge us to ‘play the devil’ with our own rational side and behavior. But it can also manifest as a sense of playfulness, when one becomes a clown in an otherwise ‘serious’ situation. The trickster is projected in myths and stories of virtually every traditional culture.

The trickster protects us as individuals, and society as a whole, form taking ourselves too seriously, and from growing rigid and inflexible in our traditional ways. Often by the event of synchronicities that trip us up at first, and make us stop and examine ourselves. If we are open to these seeming stumbling blocks, we often discover them to be treasures in hiding; gifts from the trickster to enrich our lives.

This presentation by Allan Combs, Professor of Consciousness Studies at the California Institute for Integral Studies and well-known author, encourages each of us to explore our personal experiences of synchronicity and question how they reflect the work of the archetypal trickster, often to our consternation at first, but ultimately facilitating our own growth and transformation.