…of Coyote, the Trickster
Coyote the Trickster is one of the most layered and amazing characters ever to inhabit the lore and mythology and folk tales and legends of humankind.
He is never quite malicious, but he is not kind, either. He is an elemental force, he is the boulder which gets put in the middle of the stream of your life so that the stream can divide
around it and rejoin and flow on (the stronger for it) or be dammed by it, and stopped, and perhaps deepened and widened…
He is not the cause of any of this, he is the catalyst.
As a character, in a story, Coyote the Trickster is a gift.
When he sauntered into my story, I welcomed him. And he started out as just the Trickster, out for himself, trying to get his own prize and damn the hindmost – and then he became the boulder in his own stream, and deepened, and widened. And when the final scenes of the
Worldweavers books came around, they were unimaginable without him.
He has to be one of my favorite characters in all of my books ever. Unpredictable, snarky, filled to the brim with laughter, and pure cheek, and his own particular sense of honor, he came, and he conquered.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Coyote has his own set of “commandments”.
Jana Russ (link at end) credits Cadhla with coming up with this wonderful list.
The 10 Commandments of Coyote
- Thou Shalt Have As Many Gods and Spirits and Personal Trainers and Gurus As You Like Before Me, But You Shalt Not Let Them Block the Exits, and More, You Shall Not Permit Them To Take the Last Beer, For That Beer Is Mine. Seriously. Don’t.
II. Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Wife, But Thou Art Totally Welcome To Admire Her Ass When She Walks By, and If It Happens To Come Out That They Are In An Open Relationship, Dude, Tap That Ass As Much As They Are Willing To Allow. Same Goes For the Ladies. Coveting Is Sort Of Stupid, But Sex Is Just Plain Fun, Unless Thou Art Doing It Entirely Wrong.
III. If Thy Neighbor Says ‘Hands Off My Wife, Dude’, Thou Shalt Listen and Back Off, Because Otherwise, Thy Neighbor Will Be Totally Justified In Hitting You About the Head and Shoulders With Gardening Tools, and Don’t Think That I’m Going To Step In There and Stop Him.
IV. Adultery Is Actually Pretty Fun. Commit It All You Like. Just Make Sure Everyone Is Cool With It, Or I Will Not Help You Out Once the Hitting Gets Started.
V. Thou Shalt Not Eat Poisoned Bait. If You Do, Don’t Come Whining To Me About It, Because I Am Very Unlikely To Care. Once It Is In Your Mouth, It Is Your Problem, Not Mine.
VI. Of Course Thou Shalt Kill. Carnivores Do That. Also, Swatt ing Mosquitoes, Sort Of Instinctive. But All Creatures Are Alive Before You Kill Them, and So Thou Shalt Respect Them In Their Lives and In Their Deaths. Thou Shalt Not Kill Without Reason. Thy Neighbor Tapping Thy Wife’s Ass? Is Not A Reason. Don’t Make Me Set A Plague Upon Thy Ass. Thou Wouldst Not Enjoy It, I Promise.
VII. Thou Shalt Not Hoard. Seriously, Here. If You Have Enough, Share. Only Asshats Bogart Life.
VIII. Thou Shalt Not Be A Martyr. If You Have One Beer, Drink It. Do Not Give It To Me and Then Expect Adoration. Dude, That Was Your Beer, I Did Not Break Your Arm To Get It. Give What You Can Give, and Expect Neither Praise Nor Worship. You Are Not Being Morally Superior, You Are Being A Decent Human Being. There Is A Difference.
VIV. Assume This Is It. Maybe There Is Reincarnation; Maybe Not. Not Only Am I Not Saying, Please Consider the Fact That I Probably Get A Say In Whether You Come Back, and If You Are the Sort Of Person Who Doesn’t Do Anything With One Life, Why Should I Waste My Time Giving You Another One? Live Like You Get No Second Chances. You Will Have More Fun.
X. Are You Going To Eat That?
My Worldweavers books HERE
Jana Russ on the 10 commandments HERE
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