Greetings My Lovelies! How have you been! The First quarter moon is upon us and it time to gather round and learn more about my tales. As you may have suspected, I myself am a Trickster – which one, you say? I will leave it to your imagination, as any guess would be as good as the next...

I find myself a bit remiss in my first words on our Identities – A Trickster Storyteller doesn’t simply toy with the Tangles and Detangling of the world on a whim – Or at least that is only a very small part of the why. There is Fun to be had – but it is not senseless.

Last time we met, Tortoise tricked the Haughty Hare to find some peace and balance on the plains, and I mentioned the roles a Healthy Trickster takes… Hare took the role of the Arrogant Clown learning the lesson, while the Tortoise played the part of the cunning and wise detangler – the problem solver. In this story both Tricksters were part of what I would consider to be the “Healthy Trickster” traditions.  It is true that the Hare was a bit of a bully (and should have learned his lesson without having to be defeated by and wasting Tortoise’s time) but the STORY being told was meant to detangle and guide- As a healthy trickster works from the unseen, unknown, cunning, curious and Liminal OF the world to plant and nurture seeds that will allow the world to thrive (and not just for Humans). There is Whimsy and Chaos and even Hubris, but this path is one of Un-Idolized Guide, Guardian and Steward.  

I don’t think I am yet ready to dip my toe into the Toxic Trickster, as I feel there are many more untangles I need to get to for those to be safely addressed and composted… but I will remind you each story that they do exist, and maybe even slip in a few hints as to what they are and what they do…  

Before we move onto our next tale - first a few notes – there are some wonderful stories available in collected tales, novel and storybook form –  I do my best to share my original sources where I remember and find them – but a note of caution.  Translation, Perspective, Lived Experience – AND GOAL – matter in the retellings of these tales. I think it is important as we continue this Journey to make it clear that I am trying to untangle and share the roots of these stories – as in much like the root of the word they are as much history as the tomes you are told to read in your school days. And if you understood even a smidge of what I meant as the role of a Trickster Storyteller, then one’s INTENTION when telling and sharing and planting those seeds are much more important that what tale you are using to do so.  In that light, one must look at the motivation behind those who collected and shared such tales as well….  It isn’t as if there is some intended Malice, but stories are histories, lessons and seeds… if they are not handled as such then they can both accidently and purposed be used to tangle and detangle things that should not be so.  

On to redeeming Hare! This time around Hare is both Cunning and Courageous.  I will do my best to share with you all the variations of this tale, as with most of mine comes from memory and are mixed from my travels, the roots of this story are in much of Turtle Island, but also those of other parts of the world as well.

Hare lived on the plains, much like my first tale. She may have even been a smart relative of the first story’s Hare!  But these grasslands had a problem. The Sun!  Hare knew that the sun’s rays were substenance for the land and plants that she ate, but sun had become arrogant or maybe oblivious in the recent moons. There was some speak of a Spider wounding their pride, but that might just be the storyteller making an assumption or misremembering. Regardless, the Sun was spending too much time in the sky and the time was spent drying everything up. In her desperation Hare had entreated the sun, calling out question’s of Why and curses and even compliments and begging. Upon deaf ears apparently.

Hare decided after a particularly grueling afternoon and even evening – it had been so hot the previous day that the sun’s setting hadn’t lessoned the heat much – that enough was enough.  She decided then and there that she was going to shoot that darn sun out of the sky.

She gathered her bow and throwing stick and various tools and started marching East – where she knew that Sun rose sleepily in the Morning. After traveling for most the day, taking rests in the shade here and there, she began to see the flaw in her plan. She couldn’t just KILL the sun. The plants she ate needs the sunlight, and she had some deep memory of a time that the sun had been stolen or maybe they had hidden theirself? Or both? Hare made a mental note to ask Raven about that later. Actually she felt a little anxious, like maybe she should have spoken with Raven before she left. Hare sighed deeply and trudged on.

By the time she finally made it the far Eastern place where she was fairly certain she would have a way to reach the sun – for there was a suitable mountain ridge that would work – Hare had come up with a plan.  She was a crack shot, but even as the idea of slaying the sun became clearly nonsense, being able to kill the sun with an arrow WAS nonsense. What she needed was access.

She designed an arrow that she could shoot at the sun so as to gain the upperhand – she reasoned if she was able to get ahold of sun before they rose too far into the sky that she may be able to reason with them – and if not... Well, no one said her plan was fool proof. She was acting a fool anyhow.

The morning went off without a hitch and Hare was able to anchor her rope onto sun and keep it in place for just the moment to gain their attention.  The Sun, who was indeed distracted, was jolted to the present, trapped by Hare. Sun bluster out a “What do you want you tiny Creature!”.. Hare asked her question before the Sun even finished “WHY ARE YOU MOVING SO SLOWLY AND BURNING SO HOT! YOU ARE KILLING US DOWN HERE!”

Sun slowly blinked, and Hare understood her gamble in full. If the Sun stayed to much longer where they were then it would truly be in a position to burn the world down.

“Oh, I am sorry. I was distracted, I will do my best to pay better attention from now on. I was bested by a spider recently and it brought me some pause.”

Hare stared opened mouth at Sun and slowly reached for the rope to that held it, cutting them loose. It took a few moments after sun went on their way for Hare to realize that she had been singed. Was worth after the next few days passed with Sun keeping her promise and water slowly coming back to the grasslands.

But Hare was bewildered that such a being could not only FORGET WHERE IT WAS AND WHAT IT WAS DOING… but also be bested by a Spider. In a way Hare realized the second could make some sense as she herself had bested the Sun in a way… but… 

With some mixed feelings on self-worth and her goal met she returned home.

I have to admit that this story was a departure from a simple retelling. There are so many world telling of Hare and Sun and I had one specific story from my youth that I wanted to use to redeem Hare and to remember by retelling it… and as I told it I found that it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to tell… and in all the ironic twists, by warning that INTENTION MATTERS in telling a story before this tale, I told a tale that illustrates, both in form and function, that *really* does.

Throughout my story Hare is questioning her intentions, her plan and even her lack of plan which finds a solution that, in the end, meets her main goal. In the original tellings of this story many show Hare’s foolishness or ignorance in action – the world burns or the Sun dies and is remade… and the Sun is always, in my mind, uncharacteristically depicted as arrogant. In my tale, Sun is simply distracted – by a spider of all things, which was on my mind when I remembered another of the stories of my youth. The Sun, in all their power and grandeur, are distracted and, well, forgetful of their role and intention. 

In my Trickster Cunning, I fully claim the intention of this lesson – although I also claim the lessons I learn by the telling of these stories to you!

Faire Farren – Safe travels and well intentions to you all!