The trickster archetype as a performance aid

This post summarises some of my thoughts on how the concept of the trickster (often known as the joker) archetype can aid in navigating performance journeys.

What does it mean to be a trickster? The word “trickster” tends to have negative connotations when used in everyday language; people who we would describe as actual tricksters are typically deceptive and immoral, comfortable with taking from others to further their own agenda. Indeed, these behaviours sit under the umbrella of the trickster archetype, which reflects a fundamental point about archetypes - they all have their creative and destructive tendencies, or light and dark sides. Equally, any characteristic has its disadvantages if pursued in excess without being balanced by other qualities.

But let’s look at the more positive characteristics of the trickster archetype.

Tricksters outsmart people. They are cunning and clever, seeing opportunities and potential for creative solutions where others cannot. This might manifest in a willingness to try new strategies where old ones have become obsolete, for example with a new training method or different attitude. That can mean deliberately violating long-held psychological “rules” one holds about how to do things, for example learning to resist the perfectionistic urges to train through burnout or stay in the office for detrimentally long hours. All of this requires an openness to the transformation of existing viewpoints and a willingness to let go of the worry about losing or missing something, all in order to find out.

Consequently, tricksters are necessarily bold and daring. They are willing to attempt new and challenging things, bend the rules a little and risk failure. This daringness can buffer against the urge to protect one’s ego by avoiding failure. Of course, failure in isolation is generally not desirable. But if our desire to avoid failure outgrows our desire to succeed, we increasingly avoid putting ourselves in situations where we risk failure, or we white-knuckle through them and end up a passenger to our emotions as opposed to a driver towards our goals. Anyone who has been overcome by performance anxiety knows this well, and it often ironically ends in stagnation. But being willing to “be the fool” - to fail, make errors and even risk your status or image – is what enables true learning and transformation, as discussed eloquently in Dr Peterson’s Maps of Meaning. By virtue of these attributes collectively, tricksters know how to navigate uncertainty, and they are connected to their own agency.

There is yet another exploratory aspect to the trickster. In myths and fairy tales they often show up as figures who can cross boundaries and move between different realms in ways that others cannot. An example is Hermes from Greek mythology (or Mercury from the Roman era), often cited as the god of travellers, boundaries, negotiation, thieves, a psychopomp to guide people from earth to the underworld, and divine messenger. From my perspective, this aspect reflects the skill of facilitating integration between the conscious and unconscious aspects of our minds – seeking to better understand ourselves and to make use of that insight.

To illustrate, let’s consider some examples of the “head-heart mismatch”, i.e. the conflict between logic and emotions. When it comes to performance in both the short-and long-term, it’s not uncommon to want to do one thing but find your emotions are pulling you in the opposite direction. Part of you wants to take the shot, the rest of you screams: “don’t!” Or maybe you’re really keen to hit the gym 4 times a week, but the emotional side of you is just not having it.

The trickster comes in handy in facilitating understanding of the emotional side of things (usually the lesser-known aspects of the psyche, as emotions are more unconsciously situated and mediated) and therefore creating “compromise” as such between different viewpoints we may hold. In doing this we can pursue our goals in ways that are more authentic and with less emotional resistance. It means being able to experience and understand two conflicting states at once and decide how to proceed from a place of conscious intention, which reflects that straddling of boundaries that the trickster is so adept at.

Finally, the trickster archetype involves humour, mischief and playfulness - the spirit of not taking oneself too seriously. Humour can be a potent way of not only connecting to people but lightening the load of difficult situations. There is a reason humour is known as a “transcendent” strength in the field of positive psychology, and that is because it operates as exactly that - it can temporarily lift you up out of overwhelm by misery, anxiety and other negative states, and allow you to look at mistakes and weaknesses from a distance and face them with a playful attitude. In this way, humour allows you to get close enough to a difficult reality to make sense of and use it to your advantage.

Equally, the power of the hostile or tyrannical “inner critic” can be attenuated with trickster-style humour or nonchalance - the demeanour of the likes of Cal Lightman from the series “Lie to Me” is one of my favourites here. Alternatively it may be met with a daring response: a “we’ll see about that” or “come on then” attitude. When part of you is convinced that you’ll fail, you can still deliberately step forward anyway and do it with humour and boldness. We can see this kind of standing up to hostility in David Goggins when he records himself narrating internet trolls’ hostile comments and then listens to them. He is taking people’s dysregulated and bitter attempts to tear him down and making them catalysts for growth: “if you do that, then I’ll do this.”

So, elements of the trickster archetype can serve as important antidotes to many a psychological barrier – fear of failure, rigid perfectionism, anxiety, and self-criticism, all of which can ultimately lead to avoidance and stagnation. The trickster can facilitate courage and humility, alongside realisation of your own agency and creativity. It can embolden you to take on a playful, daring attitude that enables you to deliberately do things that make you feel out of your depth yet hold promise. Any time you are faced with adversity or challenge, whether those relate to other people, your own thoughts and feelings, the need to problem-solve or an actual performance, this is a resource at your disposal.

This is achieved in practice by exploring and shaping the idea by using your own creativity. In a way, you are embodying the trickster in doing this. But as with any psychological change there are prerequisites. Firstly, you may have noticed I used the word “willingness” a lot throughout this post. The reality is that boldness and daring requires a relatively strong attitude of willingness to experience discomfort. Secondly, there is wisdom to come to terms with here, namely that short-term failure is the price of long-term success, and there is probably far more to learn and adjust than you currently realise. Finally, making maximum use of the principles of the trickster means not just doing what the trickster might do, but trying to think like and embody it. For those well-practised in exploring their inner dynamics this may be straightforward, but for others it’s a case of practising the ability to bring the concept to mind, shape it to fit the challenges they are facing and tune into the various ways in which that concept can be expressed.

To bring this to a close, I’ll draw your attention to my use of the word “can” throughout this post (as opposed to definitive statements). As with any psychological concept or strategy, there are people for whom this will resonate and “work”, and others for whom it will not. Furthermore, it is better suited to some situations than others, and is best considered alongside other qualities you also find important. Any self-development journey involves discernment - the quality of being able to consider an idea openly and then make an informed judgment about its merit in facilitating understanding and desired outcomes. In a sense, that is what psychological development is about - refining your ability to observe, understand and move forward with your experiences productively.

Chloe Ward