The Pook

This was originally posted at Ginger's Journey on March 11, 2009.

Okay...don't laugh...the focus for the day is embodied in The Pook, or shape shifter. Today we reflect on words such as paradox and resolution. We also think about the "good in the bad" and the "bad in the good". For everything under the sun has a dual nature or the possiblities of good and bad. Our paradoxes and confusions are self created and the Pook just dresses them up a bit to confuse us. The Pook is against rigid mind sets and in his own (often maddening way) encourages us to develop inquiring minds. His challenge is for us to "wake up" (The Faeries Oracle text by Jessica MacBeth, copyright 2000) You can read more about the Faeries Oracle at Faery Wisdom or World of Froud.

The Pook, is simply the name that is given to this archetype in the Faeries Oracle but this concept or archetype is present in other cultures, religions, and lore from around the world. On a worldly realm....the shape shifter is present in many screenplays...that character that switches from good to bad...or vice versa. The character who has been a villan and then in the final few moments of the story does something heroic and self sacraficing....you can name a bunch that fit I'm sure. And of course, the other also...characters that we believe to be good that end up doing horrible things or betraying others.

The shape shifter is sometimes called a spell caster because of his ability to change appearances and navigate through various setting...conscious and dreaming. As this blogger: Woffle puts it think of the politician who can put on any face in any situation. But on the positive side the Pook has the ability to see the possibilites in any situtation.

This archetype is referred to frequently in Native American cultures and can travel through different level of consciousness, dreams, awake or on the astral plane. I'm not sure of this but it makes me wonder if the shape shifter is also the guide during "dream walking"...like I said that is just a guess but it seems to fit.

Some believe this archetype is closely linked to the trickster. There are many archetypes that appear to have the ability to shape shift: Tezcatlipoca, of the Aztecs and Esrsanatlehi, a powerful Navajo deity. For these though shape shifting is just an "added bonus". The true nature of The Pook is to show us the good in the bad and the bad in the good. To wake us up to all possibilities and to break us out of rigid thinking patterns.If we think of the archetype of the Trickster he finds expression through human imagination and experience. He is a Jungian Archetype and as a character creates realities in the duality of time and illusion. Sometimes he breakes the rules maliciously but usually with a postive outcome in the end. And while some of this is true of the Pook...any trickster or shapeshifter can be good or bad...or at times both...It is in the decisions made about the use of changing shapes that the role of helper or hurter is created.

For me...The Pook...speaks of examining rules, giving up rigid mind sets, and attempting to see the dual naure of people and situations. When the Pook turns up in our lives its time to examine our beliefs and to clear away the confusion...the information we need is there...we just need to find it among all the paradoxes. Or on the flip side of that, sometimes he stops by to tell us the information is not available at this time and we need to get on with our lives until the insight is present. I don't know this Pook guy can be pretty confusing...lol...but that's okay...the dual nature means that with confusion there is also clarity....so maybe that comes in the end! Or maybe they send another faerie our way to clear that up!