The Encyclopedia of World Religions

tricksters S 455

Both human and animal tricksters may have exag gerated or incongruous features. In keeping with the light-hearted nature of trickster stories, these are often features that would appear indecent in a more serious context. For example, in some sto ries the North American Coyote has a male sexual organ so large that he must carry it in a backpack. Tricksters are characterized by excess. They are extremely clever—so clever that they often out wit themselves and appear incredibly stupid. As already noted, their physical features may exceed what is generally considered proper. These features may be too large, of the wrong shape, or attached at the wrong place. Above all, tricksters violate the conventions of proper behavior. Sometimes they wear clothes properly reserved for the other sex or another species. Sometimes they make public, cre ative use of bodily substances—feces, flatulence— that are properly disposed of privately. Tricksters often mock the activities of more proper RITUAL specialists. They may change shape, eat to excess, engage in acts of incest, steal, boast—do just about anything that is ludicrous, outlandish, or offensive. In behaving in this way, tricksters are not EVIL ; they are funny. Indeed, tricksters tales often contain messages about how one ought to act. At times tricksters are involved in creating the world and human culture—precisely because they violate convention ( see MYTH AND MYTHOL OGY ). This is true of both Raven and Coyote in indigenous North American stories. According to one common story Raven manages to steal the sun from a chief who had been hiding it. He returns it to the world and restores light. In Cali fornia stories Coyote often creates the world in conjunction with a creator whose behavior and demeanor are more socially acceptable and admi rable, for example, Eagle or Wolf. He may provide a humorous counterpart to the activities of the other creator, as he does for example in an Earth diver story once told by the Yokuts of California. Or he may be responsible for the creation of sick ness and death. Africans who came involuntarily to North America as slaves brought elements of their tra ditional culture with them. One element seems to

age and retreats. There are also Trappist nuns, called Trappistines.

Trent, Council of A council of the Roman Cath olic Church convened in the 16th century in reac tion to the Protestant R EFORMATION . In C HRISTIANITY a council is a meeting of bishops from all over the world to make decisions on teaching and practice. From 1545 to 1563 bishops of the Roman Catholic Church met in council at Trent, a town in northern Italy. The purpose was to respond to the threats posed by the Protestant Reformation. The Holy Roman Emperor also hoped that the council would reunite Catholics and Protestants. The most influ ential participants were Spanish and Italian. Even before the Protestant Reformation Catho lics like Erasmus (1466–1536) had criticized many of the practices of the Catholic Church. The bish ops took steps to rectify these abuses. At the same time, the bishops stood by Catho lic tradition on the points to which Protestants had objected. Among other points, the council defined which books Catholics considered to be part of the B IBLE . It also insisted that the bread and wine of the E UCHARIST changed into J ESUS ’ body and blood, that priests could not marry, that the church deter mined the correct interpretation of the Bible, and that a person needed to perform good works in order to be saved. tricksters Amusing, antiheroic heroes. Trick sters are comic figures in traditional stories. They are called tricksters because they often attempt to gain advantage by tricking others. As often as not the tricks backfire upon the tricksters themselves. People most often see tricksters in stories told by indigenous Americans and Africans. Tricksters take a variety of forms. They are often animals. Common animal tricksters include Coyote and Raven among indigenous North Amer icans, Rabbit and Spider among indigenous Afri cans, and Fox among indigenous South Americans. Tricksters may also take human form. South Amer ican stories tell about tricksters who are twins.