Across cultures
Tricksters
The shapeshifters who break the rules and remake the world.
The trickster is a culture-hero in disguise. He (and it is usually a he, with notable exceptions) steals fire, breaks taboos, gets caught, gets punished, and somewhere in the chaos teaches us how the world works. Loki, Hermes, Anansi, Coyote, Sun Wukong, Maui: their stories carry the same comedic and disruptive function. Read against each other they expose the boundaries each culture set for itself.
2 tricksters from 2 traditions
All mythologies
Akan
Anansi the Spider: Trickster and Culture Hero
Anansi, the Akan spider trickster who won the sky god's stories. Explore his origins, cunning exploits, and transformation across the Atlantic.
Chinese
Sun Wukong: The Monkey King and Trickster Hero
Sun Wukong, the Monkey King of Journey to the West, rebels against heaven, masters 72 transformations, and escorts a monk to India. His story explained.
More domains
See all twelveSolar Gods
Sovereignty, time, and the daily death and rebirth of light.
Lunar Gods
Cycles, omens, and the quiet half of the sky.
Storm & Sky Gods
Thunder, lightning, and the right to rule.
Gods of War
Battle frenzy, strategy, and the dignity of the fallen.
Death & Underworld
The keepers of what is gone and the gates we all pass through.
Love & Fertility
Desire, the harvest, and the mathematics of new life.