The Trickster

The Trickster

There once was a young man named Martin who lived in a castle in a far off land. In this castle many strange things seemed to occur. Walls appeared to move, furniture changed shape and assorted other mysteries would happen, magically of course, so it would seem.

Martin loved this castle. It was his home. No one else lived here at this time; but Martin never feared being alone. He had numerous ways to amuse himself. He would imagine a certain shape to a piece of his furniture and “voila” a chair became a table, a bowl became an urn, a tapestry became a painting. He had no end of amusing himself with such activities. When strangers came to visit Martin would delight in tricking them with his amazing abilities. And they were often left scratching their heads wondering if what they had just seen were real. One moment they could be sitting in a chair chatting with their host, a second later they were on the floor rolled up in an area rug. And Martin would chuckle with glee. He just loved seeing the expressions on their faces when he pulled something out of his bag of tricks.

One day a beautiful young woman came to visit. She had heard of Martin’s notorious pranks and wanted to see for herself the kind of mischief he was capable of. When she came to the door, Martin greeted her with a handkerchief in hand, which he then quickly transformed into an umbrella. The young woman took the umbrella, examined it closely, and then returned it to Martin as the original handkerchief, leaving him dumbfounded for a change. Collecting himself Martin invited her into the castle and quickly proceeded with more of his usual trickery. But no matter what prank or trick he performed, the young woman would reverse it and carry on conversing as if nothing had happened.

Martin was becoming quite frustrated. As he led her about the castle trying to outdo his last failed prank she would continue with her practice of reversing all his efforts. After a few more futile attempts Martin stopped trying altogether and proceeded to ask her what she was doing.

“I am merely countering all of your foolishness.” She answered. “I am not here to play games with you. I am here to visit and get to know you. But you seem more interested in playing your little pranks. I know you can do all these amazing things and I have no doubt that you are extremely gifted in these matters. But I want to know what kind of person you are? What do you think about? How do you feel? What do you value in life? These are the things I am interested in knowing. So tell me, who is this person behind these abilities? Show me that face and I will be truly impressed.”

Martin was stunned once again. Here he was facing a person he could not impress with his pranks, a person he could not trick or manipulate. She saw right through that aspect of him and could easily counter any move he made. To her, tricks were unimpressive; she wanted to know who he was. “What to do?” he thought.

Suddenly Martin came up with an amazing idea. “I will imagine the bravest, most handsome, most successful man I can and then present that image to her.” And so he proceeded to imagine this magnificent being in order to transform himself into him. Just as he was about to make the change, the young woman stepped up to him and looked him in the eye.

“Not your visions do I want,” she boldly stated. “Not some artifacts from your imagination. But you, sir, from the depths of your Soul, the very essence of your being, that’s what I want. Show me that face and I will lead you to a great treasure, never before seen or appreciated.”

And so Martin pondered her request and decided to try again. This time, in his imagination, he went inward and asked that his true Self now rise to the surface. This he believed was his essence and core. And it happened. There before his mind’s eye, he could see this Self rise and, just behind it, his Soul, his beautiful, golden, brightly glowing Soul. And the young woman was impressed. She did not counter his efforts this time, nor did she interrupt him. She merely stood in awe at the beauty taking shape before her and then thanked Martin for showing her who he truly was.

Martin was most pleased with himself. Finally he was able to distract her from countering his every move; and he was able to hold all of her attention as he had always been able to with others. He was smiling and felt in control again. Now he wanted his reward.

“So where is my treasure?” he asked. “I wish to see my treasure now please.”

And the young woman smiled as she prepared to answer.

“Where is your treasure you ask? Why it is right here before you, my dear friend. You have blessed me with a view of your beautiful golden Soul, the greatest treasure of all, your very essence, holiest of the holy.”

She paused then to let the full impact of her words reach Martin. Then continuing, she added.

“You are truly a God, sir, which means you are far more than a trickster. A God is eminently more capable than any master of illusions. A God is ‘whole’ unto Itself, needs no distractions to take away from that core Self, needs no external power or control which only serves to confuse. A God is complete, and complete It remains throughout all eternity. You have just shown me your treasure, your beautiful golden Soul. Do you still have need of your illusions?”

Martin hung his head. He knew she was right. He knew she had seen through him to his essence. He understood now that this was far more important than any trick he could play. When he opened to his essential Self, she could see his Soul and held up a mirror for him to view it too. That was his treasure, his one golden gift from the God of all Eternity. He thanked her for the lesson and for returning him to his life. Her task was done. She bowed graciously and then quietly slipped out of the castle. Another Soul had been found and reclaimed for all time, for the Light everlasting, for the Light of God within. Yes, a truly remarkable treasure.

And so Martin returned to his castle life, but there would be no more illusions or tricks now. He would just be himself and enjoy expressing that core part of him. For he, too, was a son of God, born to this life to actualize his Self and radiate his Soul. And with that thought he felt happy.

And All Was Well in His World