On Being a Monkey, Artist and Trickster
by Gordon Raven
If I had a choice, this would have been the last category I would
have picked. Give me something spiritual, something dignified. I have spent
most of my life trying to disassociate with these traits. Even being an
artist, which was an interest at one time, has not surfaced since my preteens.
So getting labeled a "Monkey, Artist, Trickster" was hardly what
I would have looked at as a compliment.
I find a certain discomfort around being someone who chooses to
create a certain amount of havoc and chaos. When I was asked by Ann of my
experience of the above my instinctive response was, "I have tried
to be a good person". It came out as a comic response but spoke a heartfelt
intent throughout most of my life. Being a "good boy" seemed to
be what was required to make a smooth transition through life. There were
other members in my family who were overt trouble-makers and I witnessed
at many levels the pain and disruption that this brought.
As I entered more fully into my teen years I became increasingly
concerned about my slide into regular teen culture (sex, drugs, rock and
roll). My close friends were serious drug users or pushers. I made a decision
to do a fast exit and became a devotee Christian in order to keep myself
out of trouble. All the while there remained an inner sense that there was
something wrong with me. So I turned up the heat. I went to every crusade,
responded to every altar call, memorized half the New Testament and eventually
became a minister.
What happened was that I found new opportunities to get into trouble.
There remained an instinctual urge to stir things up. In the parish I created
havoc by intentionally pushing buttons and siding with the "wrong people".
Eventually I was kicked out. As if that wasn't enough, I began teaching
courses on spiritual and religious abuse which further inflamed my notoriety.
This exodus from the church began a process of coming to terms
with what was at the root of my personality. Some of that insight came from
being introduced by Dwayne to the teachings of the Feathered Serpent. I
realized that a certain amount of trouble-making was instinctual to my being.
This needed to be owned but could also be differentiated from some of the
major disruption and pure badness that I grow up with. In my aversion to
some of the abuse I experienced in my childhood I had attempted to repress
any natural, normal and healthy expression of my trouble-making tendencies.
The result was that in the end I caused far more disruption than necessary
and it hurt myself and others around in very painful ways.
Being an artist, monkey or trickster does not mean being a social
derelict or reprobate. In fact, in most cultures these identities hold very
esteemed positions. They are the root of social change and transformation.
The artist through his/her portrayals allows us to see into the deeper reality
and transforms what is into images of what might be. It is the fool in medieval
times who alone is allowed to critique the King. Old Man Coyote in some
Native traditions and the Raven in others is the wise man as well as the
trickster. He teaches his lessons through creating entrapments or destroying
illusions. The Monkey is the playful mischief-maker whose energy and penchant
for fun at another's expense seems to be insatiable.
Of all the characters the one with which I most identify is the
Raven. My intrigue with this figure began before I knew my last name translated
"Raven" from the Ukrainian. The Raven is known as trickster around
the world in folk traditions. The story with which I most closely identify
is the Haida legend in which the Raven, through his mastery of trickery,
was successful in rescuing the sun, moon and stars from the entrapment of
an evil chief and returned them to the sky. I came across this legend for
the first time when I was in the midst of much personal darkness. The promise
of the Raven was that I would find the light in the midst of darkness and
when I released it would light my path forever.
These polar images of darkness and light are characteristic of
Raven. The Raven represents the dark path to redemption. S/he is in many
respects outside or above morality. In some traditions Raven cooperates
with the gods as in creating the world. Raven descends to the bottom of
the ocean and brings mud to the surface to form the earth. At other times
Raven acts against the wishes of the gods. In many respects he acts as mediator
between Creator/rix and creation.
Raven is also the protector of culture which aligns him strongly
with the artist. The Raven's energy of tearing down and refashioning or
recreating parallels the work of the artist.Both energies have an element
of irreverance and disdain for the status quo.
The Raven is a scavenger and picks from corpses that which is suitable
to sustain life and nurture. Raven represents the dark path to redemption,
rescuing light from the darkness. It is the move from unconscious to consciousness.
It is consciousness seeking reflnement from crude unconscious beginnings.
He is sexually boisterous and childlike and in some imagery is pictured
with a large erect penis on his back. The Raven is about coming to terms
with one's instinctual behaviour and primal passions.
The Raven is in many cultures the shaman. He is the wounded wounder.
The Greek God Apollo turned himself into a Raven and mated with the crow
and then wounded the offspring. It is these wounds which push one to another
level of consciousness.
The Raven fell from cultural acceptance with the advent of Christianity.
Darkness became associated with evil and death as did witchcraft. The tricksters
penchant for chaos and disorder was despised as subversive and demonic.
The Christian path to order and subservience did not serve the pursuit of
salvation but rather preserving order. Obedience and submission were the
great virtues in preserving order in the patriarchal religion.
The Artist's and Trickster's insight into salvation and redemption
is that too often and too early the soul is tamed and subdued by culture.
It is necessary that the soul reconnect with the primitive and passion in
order to recover its power. In terms of my personal history, what I discovered
was that I needed to own my own darkness and disruptive nature before I
could focus my life in a constructive and powerful manner.
I have learned to accept certain things about myself and to factor
them in to my life. I have a desire to always stretch the envelope. There
is a dissatisfaction if things are comfortable and normal. I am continually
wanting to challenge myself and do the irregular in work and love. I continually
take risks. Whatever I do needs to express some distinctive stamp.
