The Confidence of the Trickster
People say they like confidence but what they really like is the projection of confidence, the kind that says “hey look how awesome I am!”. This is the opposite of confidence, it is the appearance of confidence and we have all been fooled into thinking this is a favorable trait. Real confidence has nothing to prove. It is quiet and relaxed and not bothered by how it is perceived by others. This kind of confidence scares the absolute shit out of people, especially if that person doesn’t wear the kind of clothing that allows them to quickly be identified as a certain ‘type’ of person.
People like to be able to put each other in little boxes, categories that allow them to make assumptions about another person’s behaviors. A person who is difficult to categorize is seen as an anomaly and a potential threat. In reality, the people with the most carefully cultivated image tend to be the most dangerous of all, but we want to buy into what they are selling because it makes it easier for us to avoid having to examine our own identities. It’s all an act, we are like method actors and we forget they we are playing characters and now we can’t stop, we don’t want to stop. We are all insecure about our true nature as human beings. It’s easier to wear a mask that everyone loves than it is to examine the deep wounds and hurts of the past or question what it means to be conscious and self-aware.
The person with a quiet confidence who doesn’t try to impress or stand out or fit in is the one who figured out how to stop playing a character and just be in the present moment. On paper, this type of person sounds like a person we would like to know, or even be, but when you meet this kind of person in real life they call you on your bullshit without saying a single word. Just their demeanor alone is enough to make you hyper-aware of all your insecurities. You can’t get them to play the game and in modern society that is unacceptable. This person is doomed to be an outcast of society unless he agrees to play the game and join the masquerade.
When the liberated person decides to dawn a mask of their own free will, knowing full well that the character he or she is playing is just an act, they become the archetype of the trickster. They move through society undetected and can choose the perfect opportunities to scare you out of your wits without ever being called out by anyone. You cant call them on their game because you don’t understand the game they are playing and to understand it would be the same as admitting to your own phoniness, Which is exactly what they want you to do.
The trickster’s greatest trick is when they stop trying to trick you. We are so accustomed to fooling ourselves and fooling others that when someone doesn’t participate in the ego game we all play it throws us for a loop. So the trickster is a type of spiritual teacher. Not the type who stands up on stage and gives talks about the way to enlightenment or gives you 12 steps to manifest your desires, but one who knows when not to react. It’s like throwing a rock down a well without ever hearing a splash. You can’t catch them at their game because their game is to not play any games.
Notice I used the word ‘liberated’ when referring to the trickster, I didn’t use the word ‘enlightened’… the term ‘enlightenment’ is a loaded term and people have too many ideas in their heads about what it’s supposed to mean or what it is supposed to look like. It leads to all kinds of paradoxical arguments about whether or not there even is such a thing. By liberated I mean a person who is no longer subject to compulsive identification with his or her unconscious mental constructs. A liberated person knows that their entire sense of identity is a fiction of the mind.
So all this is to say you never really know who might be this kind of trickster. The wise often appear foolish to the unwise. Not all spiritual teachers write books, give seminars, wear crystal necklaces, Say namaste at the end of their emails, or dress like Aladdin at a psytrance festival. Sometimes they can be an annoying neighbor or that obnoxious person at work or that close friend who you can’t quite figure out if they are an idiot or a genius. As they say, if you are familiar with the Tarot, the journey both begins and ends with the fool.
