In Our Own Image: Radical Empathy, Trickster Gods, and the Importance of Being Irritating

In the Beginning, humans created the heavens and the gods.

In cultures and religions throughout the world, trickster gods occupy a specific and unique place in their pantheon. This article, originally published in the May 2021 issue of The Stellar Beacon, explores the gifts of the trickster archetype: Not just fire stolen from the gods, but an empathetic cultural understanding of the reality of human imperfection... and, of course, the absolute necessity of those who flout the established social order in pursuit of making society better.