There is a millennia long tradition of magical teaching via humor, tricksterism, satire, and the use of ethnogenics. This workshop will explore various magical traditions that incorporate these techniques, including Coyote Tales, The Sacred Court Jester/Fool, Till Eulenspiegel, Loki, Eris, and Discordianism. These techniques, can be equally well applied in the religious, economic, political and interrelational arensas, and work better than the direct approach in many cases.

The success of this class depends on the input and interactions of the participants. We therefore request that you bring your favorite legal mind-altering substances and tools. These could be anything from biofeedback machines to 3D glasses, blindfolds, kazoos, water pistols, bubbles, chocolate, hot peppers, plastic wrap, masks, gongs, musical or other recordings, etc.

Please make a few notes regarding examples of trickster magic and effective humorous techniques, oxymorons, catch-22’s, obvious logical inconsistencies, linguistic lunacies in politics, education, religion, etc. which you have observed personally or in the news to share. And, please bring games, activities, toys, “musical” instruments and anything else (in)appropriate you can think of. There will be exercises in anti-stereotyping, discussions, games and general frivolity. We will attempt to arrange field trips to other classes.

There will be a final exam, and certificates of completion will be provided.

We can almost guarantee that you will not learn anything significant that you do not already know. (Of course you may not know that you know it…)

Required Reading (or not):

The Merry Adventures of Till Eulenspiegel – By Paul Oppenheimer (or other versions)

Trickster Makes this World – Mischief, Myth, and Art – by Lewis Hyde

The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson

Any anthology of Gahan Wilson’s cartoons (or Edward Gorey, Charles Addams, etc.)

Also, please email other suggestions for the reading list or class to SeleneHPS@yahoo.com

Presenter:

Sabina: In addition to the discussion of trickster tales, and trickster magic, I am hoping that students will share their knowledge, favorite stories, and personal exploits. I look at trickster magic as a combination of psychological techniques, edge of consciousness or unconscious knowledge, and frequently the universe giving us a good nudge. So, I plan to incorporate some exercises designed to change programmed thinking patterns, discuss the implications of being able to use unconscious knowledge (per the research results from the blindsight phenomenon), do a blindsight exercise which demonstrates this phenomenon on a personal level, discuss Jungian and LaVey archetypes, the advantages of using Trickster techniques to get around mental blocks, communications theory, and hopefully merge this hodgepodge into something resembling a coherent track. I'm also bringing a "magic eye" book, and some other psych toys. Please do the same if you come. And, if you have anything else to share, or want to see done in class let me know. I see this more as a sharing of knowledge and experience than as a download...