John Constantine (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
talentforlying) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2019-08-02 11:18 am
talentforlying) wrote in fandomhigh2019-08-02 11:18 am
Gods & Monsters: Divine Trickery, Friday, Second Period.
"There's no creature more commonly known to be a trickster than a fox, regardless of culture," Constantine drawled as class started. "Kuma Lisa, the kitsune, the pale fox of the Dogon people, Aesop's tales...the list is vast. We call people cunning or clever as a fox when we agree with what they do, sly as one when we don't, call women 'vixens' if they're tricky... hell. Reynard is such an iconic trickster fox in France, that renard became the standard French word for 'fox', replacing the previous term, goupil, from the Latin vulpecula."
"Which, not surprising. Reynard has an ego and probably instigated the change himself, the preening bugger."
"So what is it that makes us think of the fox as the ultimate in trickery? Sure, they're murder on a chicken population, but what elevates them to a mythological status? Why do we not only tell tales about them, but aspire to be like them? Our stories and dreams shape reality in more ways than you suspect--" yes, Del, he was shooting you an amused glance. "--so why do we empower the fox over other animals as a trickster?"
"Which, not surprising. Reynard has an ego and probably instigated the change himself, the preening bugger."
"So what is it that makes us think of the fox as the ultimate in trickery? Sure, they're murder on a chicken population, but what elevates them to a mythological status? Why do we not only tell tales about them, but aspire to be like them? Our stories and dreams shape reality in more ways than you suspect--" yes, Del, he was shooting you an amused glance. "--so why do we empower the fox over other animals as a trickster?"