Harlequins, Tricksters, and Sacred Clowns

[@BusyBeeRecovery]

Sacred clowns can heal because we're masters of transmuting heavy energy into light energy.

[@crownedomniarch]

Running out of cream pies is the funniest and advanced perspective to that question

[@moonchild3187]

The ones who have been truly hurt in ways other humans may not survive. And thru that trauma they become gifted. They are also known to have near death experiences.

[@Jazzgriot]

There is an old Welsh saying, " If you tell people the truth make sure you make them laugh, or they kill you".

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Noor] They weren't wrong!

[@atomicvaudevilleBC]

I've been teaching clown for 15 or so years and performing and theatre-ing and I gained a lot of insight from your video. Thank you! I've been feeling a strong pull to make the practice more frequent and visible. I've absorbed the saying that 'clowns emerge in times of crisis' and that has been my experience. Crisis as understood as the turning over, like soil in a garden, exposing darkness to light. The word sacred is so interesting as clown dives into the profane and all the spaces in between. Lots of thoughts. Yes.

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Mushtaq] I think Clowning is of more real importance now than at any time since the Great Depression, So please, yes. BTW I really liked your channel.

[@jonathanteller6550]

I would say that the job of a sacred clown is the most difficult and dangerous one of all. His job is to give "shocks" to any of his community members who are ready for a self-discovery. Or to shock any member who is heading in a bad life direction and needs to be brought back onto a better track. only a true sacred clown is able to do this because he does not have to obey life's common rules, he obeys a higher law and so is able to guide his community members. To develop this ability I imagine that he has to be trained in a "school" or at very least he must have been taught by a personal teacher for many years . He would also need many years of life experience before being qualified to take on such a responsible role. Actually this kind of reminds me of someone ...... someone with a very good sense of humor.....someone always cracking jokes. .

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

Yes, and think about the training that goes into the profession :D

[@danyellerobinson5940]

It is the school of hard knocks; a lifetime of surviving trauma.

[@moonchild3187]

Incredibly accurate description of a close existence. They are ones who have endured horrendous things at times and had no choice but to develop an amazing senses of humour.bone who can transmute real pain and torture with love and laughter.

[@tom-ov6mw]

To be a clown is to push the boundaries of what is right and wrong and give purpose to the rules. To create chaos despite order.

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Mushtaq] I would say it a bit differently. A proper clown doesn't create chaos, they ride it, blend with it and own it to a purpose. They act as a rectifier bringing the currents into the needed direction. A Clown creates order out of chaos.

[@toddaulner5393]

I would like to tell you a story of a painting I am doing. Well I painted guns n Rose's in the original lineup, and before I finished it I quit, later I decided to paint images of sacred clowns over the top of it and because of my research, I came across this video, the rough edges part, with the perfectly round stones in the sea part totally blew me away as I was painting over Rock and Roll.

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Noor] Thanks so much for sharing. That's quite a shift in direction on your painting -- but a powerful one! May the inspiration flow freely for you, Todd. :)

[@ahabalheis2478]

Interesting points of view, I recommend those of you who had this talk to learn about the cognitive function called extroverted intuition, yknow jung described the trickster archetype as a boundary crosser, that particular characteristic is key, the trickster can see things outside of himself which is why he sees the flaws that others gloss over and sometimes bitterness comes from the inability to correct or the fact that no one listens because often times trickster types hold the role of a fool to be taken seriously

[@ahabalheis2478]

And while looking a fool may not get you heard but it's often a defense mechanism to avoid harm

[@Jazzgriot]

The impudence of the clown heals and purifies. Someone said that once :-)

[@stephstanbro]

Can you do more of this

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Mushtaq] Likely so. Is there an aspect of the subject you would like to focus on?

[@stephstanbro]

I really enjoy the history behind the archetype itself. The sacred clown bit for example. I had no idea that it was prevalent in tribes at large. It makes complete sense, though. Who do you think is our appointed jester of the post modern world? Comedian wise. I mean, they aren’t necessarily clowns, but they have an act, a routine mixed with spontaneous expression.

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Mushtaq] OK I will start putting together something on the archetype for a discussion. I'd love to have you join us if you can. I think it would make for lively discussion. As to the second part of your question, I don't think that there is just one, but I suspect that Jon Stewart may have filled that role for a number of years.

[@chrisomcgrath9935]

how do I join these talks I love this!

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Mushtaq] There are two ways. This first is to join our mailing list (and we promise that we will not sell, trade, give away, spam, bend, spindle, or mutilate your email address) You can do that here; mailchi.mp/8ac820a2c546/nine-sided-circle Or, you can join our private forum on Facebook. We put up an invitation there each week. You can find us here; facebook.com/groups/666714787002047 And of course, you are welcome to do both.

[@stephengarrett8076]

Many a true word said in jest !

[@littleone1st]

Have you ever gave a thought to the thought that bits and pieces of these aspects or qualities of the archetype have been given to curtain people cause of today's world not being able to handle a full fledged sacred clown or any of these others that are listed

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Mushtaq] That is a very interesting thought. It may be the case, or perhaps certain aspects get more emphasis because of cultural norms. It's an idea worth thinking about, thanks!

[@Derrickj-qn3em]

I been there to SD feast

[@thecowboymystic9215]

Bart Simpson I’m screaming

[@juslostone]

What a phenomenal breakdown. Truly enjoy this. If I could just point out that story of Moses is actually not from judaic sources but is found inside the Quran. Beautiful story!

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Noor] Thanks so much for taking time to comment and let us know this was time well spent! We appreciate it. And thanks for the patience too given that we tend to pack a lot in to these teaching sessions and sometimes things get mixed up. We'll do better to keep the sources straight next time.

[@don-eb3fj]

This came up in a search for "harlequin", part of some research for a piece I'm working on as part of a larger work. It raises more questions than it answers, but I like questions, more grist for the mash tun. What happens when a full moon suddenly rises from behind its shadow (with the blessing of a helping handful of goddesses) over a necropolis on a tiny island in the middle of a Midnight Sea? This is the place of exile for an aging eclectic Samurai shipwrecked in a storm, a recently-awakened Vampiress who wears the dark stain of her pierced heart on the breast of her gown (fashioned from her burial shroud) along with a rosary of her fettering chains and the iron cross stake that made the wound, a teenage faery princess, a seven-year old opera tenor with a taste for SexPistols songs,a prepubescent aspiring tattoo artist, and a 3-year-old boy in harlequin footie pajamas; how might things change when unexpected guests arrive - a disenchanted nun from a faraway land (recently a guest on Charon's yacht), a herd of Centaurs, a retinue of tribal ancestors from the Pleiades, and an old fat hippie in a tie-dyed toga with a very large jar of excellent vintage ? An impression-able attention-seeking toddler can be very entertaining when in the possession of a changeling theatre masque and a shepherd's crook, under the spotlight of the heavens, on the longest night of the year. " ...The shimmering colors blooming from the grayscale of his pencil sketch may have been only a prismatic refraction of the moonlight through the fat drops that fell there from his gray-green eyes , the twins of those in the ghost-image of the pale face glaring back through the window from far beyond the rocky shore and darkly glittering sea just outside the circle of leaded glass of his little light keeper's cottage. The shifting expressions might have been a trick of the flickering lamplight. But the shaking shoulders, heaving chest, full throated sobs, and peals of laughter, so unfamiliar, were unmistakably real." -excerpt from "The Book Of Ronin". The sacred clowns are the acolytes of the High Priestess who sits on the middle path between dark and light, the path less travelled to the veiled beyond. I'm no clown, to be sure, but at 57, this old graying battlescarred schizoid veteran is just discovering the long-forgotten impression-able toddler in harlequin pajamas; maybe it's not too late to learn a few new tricks and undertake a little reconciliation, and reunification, of my own, and help out a bit. Thanks, this was a great find.

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Noor] Thank you for sharing, and we're happy you enjoyed the video after finding it out of the blue. Just know it's never too late to make friends with that part of you you mentioned. Wishing you all the best with the piece you're working on too.

[@PsychologicalApparition]

I feel like Jim Henson was a clown. He presented imagery, sometimes disturbing for the target audience(children), but he was an observer between the columns. There are so many messages implemented in his body of work. Cube (1969) for instance. but definitely the Dark Crystal. and The Muppets foremost of all, of course.

[@philup6274]

Have you heard of understanding conspiracy. A channel on KZbin .

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Mushtaq] No, but I have now. Thanks

[@shanecoopershow]

I was wondering if someone was going to bring up Paul's work🎉

[@andrewr311]

I really enjoyed that but it would be better to refer to sacred clowns as they-them, rather than he or even she, as a default. Obviously it would differ for each of us clowns but as default it is good as we do embody both.

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Mushtaq] Thanks for a most thoughtful comment. I can appreciate that approach, but I am not sure we can or should generalize so broadly. I am from the Southwest of the US, and a majority of my experience with sacred clowns comes from the Apache, Navajo, and Pueblo tribes. That being said, in those cultures clowns are almost universally identified as male. I am sure that there are cultures where clowns are two-spirit or female, and if you can think of any I'd be glad to know. Two-Spirits have an honored place in the cultures I mentioned as healers and teachers, but it seems to be a different category from Clown. An example would be Hastiin Klah of the Dine, the Navajo. He (I use this pronoun because his name means "Old Man Left Hand" and he preferred the male pronoun in his lifetime. Who knows what he'd choose today?) was a well-known healer and artist who worked tirelessly to preserve Navajo culture and tradition. So this is my experience. In any case, I figure that until I find compelling reasons otherwise, I will do with clowns much like I do with anyone else: If they have a pronoun preference and they state it, I'll happily use it.

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Noor] Hi! I tend to agree with you overall, @Hypatia. I tend to fall sometimes into the linguistic habit of binarized singular pronoun usage, but I'm actually a person of what we could call nonbinary experience myself. I am ok with "she" as my primary pronoun personally, for reasons I don't need to get into here. However, my strong intellectual and spiritual preference is to operate and try to speak in they-them terms -- so I'm always trying to get myself and Mushtaq to do more of that when we speak generally. It's my view that ALL of us embody both what is commonly called "the feminine" and what is commonly called "the masculine", clown or otherwise. I feel lucky to be living at a time in which we're bringing the option of they-them back to the fore in English. I've also learned a lot from Mushtaq about how other cultures have navigated these issues, which has begun to inform my approach to gender fluidity and diversity in a less Euro-American-Western-centric way (for lack of a better phrase...so clunky). Ultimately, we all will need to make sure we're choosing our words with care, given how important historical and contemporary context and cultural literacy are. And of course we need to respect the pronoun wishes and needs of those we are communicating with or about, that's for sure. I'm always itching to talk more about this, so I was excited to respond to your great comment. Thank you so much for sharing your time and thoughts!

[@VlogCom-dn1vt]

7:43

[@Chihuahuahuahuahuahua]

Ricky Gervais

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

No doubt.

[@jonathanteller6550]

@@TheNineSidedCircle Carlos Mencia. He seems to be on a mission to break people out of the prison of political correctness.

[@BusyBeeRecovery]

34:34 maybe not IN his cabinet, but wouldn't you say Donald Trump is quite the contrarian?

[@toddaulner5393]

You mean, like Trix cereal.

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

That reminds me of a childhood joke.

[@Derrickj-qn3em]

Have to watch in 1.75 x speed

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Mushtaq] It;s OK, a lot of people have short attention spans these days.

[@Derrickj-qn3em]

Haha you are 100 percent right. Great topic btw. Thank you.

[@benjiyogi639]

@@TheNineSidedCircle Clown energy right there!

[@tom-ov6mw]

These students do not get it

[@TheNineSidedCircle]

[Mushtaq] Which students? How would you know?

[@ocomc3315]

Intelligence is so stoopid