The Bricoleur

How we imagine our lives is how we live our lives, and mythologies provide the images and ideas in this process. But images of the human in the dominant myths– as sinner, dominator, or world destroyer– aren’t guiding us toward a bright future. What are the alternatives?

How about an ingenious, improvising jack-of-all-trades, the “bricoleur”?

There is no “Myth of the Bricoleur” as far as I know and yet, the bricoleur and the act of bricolage can be found in myths and stories around the world. And once you know what this is, I think you’ll see the bricoleur at work everywhere today.

You may even be one.

The human as bricoleur jack-of-all-trades offers a different way of understanding and engaging with the personal and cultural transformation currently underway. I hope you enjoy the episode.

Transcript of The Bricoleur

Hello and welcome to Myth Matters an exploration at the intersection of mythology, creativity and consciousness. I’m your host Dr. Catherine Svehla. Wherever you may be in this wide beautiful crazy world of ours, I’m glad that you decided to join me here today.

Today I want to explore the image of the “bricoleur” as another image and model of a human being. The bricoleur doesn’t necessarily describe everyone. But as I suggested in the recent episode with Dr. Chalquist, “Images of Human Being,” there may not be a single, universal, definitive image of the human being at this point in our history. No universal, definitive image of the human and no universally useful myth. 

Striking a new balance between what is shared and what is unique in an individual life or in a culture– this may be the challenge that we face at this time. Our current quest then, is for generative alternatives to those images offered by the dominant culture. Images of human being that offer us ideas about human nature, human purpose, and human life that provide creative possibilities for life now, in these times.

This is important because how we imagine ourselves to be is how we will live. If we see ourselves as inherently bad or born to dominate and fight, as greedy or world destroyers, then how will we relate to ourselves and others? What type of life and future will we be inspired to work for? How will we interpret current events and human history? I think you can look the cultural political conflicts playing out around the world right now through the lens of these questions. The choice between hatred and acceptance and love is a choice in your concept of the human being and human potential.

Reflecting on your answers to these questions and seeing through the cultural messages and mythologies that shape your consciousness is something that you have to decide to do. Something that you have to work at. Simply saying “Well, I don’t believe that stuff, in those myths or that religion,” is not enough. The mythologies in our cultures shape our consciousness in ways that we don’t see until we actively look for the effects and entertain alternatives.

This is what many people are calling “deconditioning” or “decolonizing” your consciousness and the work is central to truly living as a free and responsible individual.

For years, people have talked about the evolution of human consciousness. The task of decolonizing or deconstructing is part of this desired evolution. In fact, this conscious examination makes any conscious evolution possible. And as we deconstruct and separate from inherited images and mythologies that no longer work for us, we need to look for new possibilities.

So, back to the bricoleur. What is this? Today, “bricoleur” is a French word for “handyman.” A handyman who works with the materials at hand and improvises, perhaps using them in novel ways. The term has broad application, from jack-of-all-trades to the tinkerer. One who fiddles around with stuff or anyone in any field who handles inherited material in new and inventive ways and approaches problems somewhat circuitously.

The words “bricoleur” and “bricolage,” referring to what is made or the making process, have an interesting history that adds dimension to the image. These words come from the French bricole or “brick wall” in English. Initially used in the games of billiards or tennis, bricolage refers to a shot off the wall, a rebound. As a metpahor, bricolage referes to something accomplished with an extraneous or indirect movement. An act with an element of improvisation. Something unexpected and maybe a bit tricky. 

This is the bricoleur type of creativity. The bricoleur approach to things.

The air of opportunistic ingenuity and novelty connect bricolage and bricoleurs and the mythical figure of the trickster in my mind. Coyote, for example, appears in some Native American Indian creation myths as the one who helps get this world into proper shape. He does this by manipulating materials that are already present. Experimenting with what has already been created, often with the help of others. 

In one such story, Coyote is floating on a raft. The earth is covered with water. He meets some water birds who tell him that there is mud way down at the bottom and he asks them to retrieve some. Several different types of bird attempt this and eventually the grebe brings up a little bit of mud. Coyote spreads this around and around and makes the dry land. Other beings that need dry land, like wolves and stones then appear.

In Greek mythology, there’s the example of the trickster God Hermes, who is a bricoleur from birth. Hermes was the child of Zeus and Maia, a nymph known as the youngest of the Pleiades. Hermes was very precocious. They say that he was born early in the morning. Before noon, he invented the lyre. By evening he had stolen fifty of the sacred cattle of the god Apollo and hidden them away. He had also invented the technique of making fire by rubbing two sticks together and invented the rite of sacrificial offerings to the gods.

According to the myth, Maia fell into a deep sleep after the birth. Only minutes old, Hermes climbed out of cradle and went to the threshold of the cave where they lived. There he discovered a tortoise. He killed it, took the shell, some ox hide and reeds, and invented the lyre. This new instrument was the first of its kind. Then Hermes composed a lovely melody and sang a song about his dear mother and the glorious tale of his own begetting. There’s another invention.

I dedicated an episode to the Greek myth of Hermes’ birth a few years ago. I’ll post the link to that recording along with the transcript of this episode, if you’d like a complete telling of his story. For now, let me tell you a little more about his theft of Apollo’s cattle. Hermes’ was handed an opportunity here as the shepherd charged with protecting the herd had left his post. He was preoccupied with a love affair. No doubt Hermes would have found a way to trick him but in any event, the cattle were unguarded. 

Hermes selected fifty of them. First, he tied a branch of tamarisk to each tail, to sweep away the track the animals would leave in the sandy soil. Then just in case, and knowing Hermes also for the pure fun of it, he provided each cow with little clogs that made marks in the reverse direction of their hooves. That is, he disguised their hoof tracks so the animals would appear to be moving in the opposite direction from their actual path.

Quite bold and very ingenious use of what was at hand, right, and also the extra step, the indirection.  Hermes anticipated what the folks searching would typically do, i.e. look for tracks, and he did something to throw them off. 

You can find other examples of bricolage in folktales and other stories about the completion of a difficult task or new inventions. For example, there is a Chinese folk tale that involves weighing an elephant. In days long past, the Emperor was given an elephant for a gift. All  the people were amazed by the size of the animal and the Emperor decided that he needed to know how much the elephant weighed. It was too big and heavy for any of the available scales. Someone suggested that he kill it and cut it into manageable pieces but the Emperor didn’t want to harm the elephant. 

Finally, someone, maybe a villager or craftsman, who knows, came to the palace and said that he could accomplish the task. He put the elephant in a boat and marked the waterline on the boat. Then he removed the elephant and loaded the boat with rocks until it sunk to the waterline. The rocks were removed and weighed. Problem solved. Again, a very creative solution that required indirection, calculation, multiple steps, and the use of known materials in new ways. 

This bricoleur type of creativity and the bricolage method can be a pattern or path in a person’s life as well. “Bricoleur” may be an apt name for a person who has many different life experiences and collects some expertise in a variety of realms. The jack-of-all-trades. The person skilled at personal re-invention. This person’s life doesn’t unfold in a straight line or take a direct path but rather zig zags around and involves the discovery of unexpected connections and purposes. You may pursue something for some reasons that you don’t fully grasp, maybe you simply feel drawn to it or it’s a response to a situation, and years later that experience or knowledge comes in handy. 

This brings to mind another story that I’ve told in the past about a woman named Fatima and a tent. Again, I’ll post the link to the earlier episode that featured this story in its entirety. For now, a gloss–

Fatima is a young woman who experiences a series of hardships and tragic loses. She is born to a prosperous spinner who is very proud of his daughter and teaches her everything about his craft. When she is a bit grown up, her father takes her on a business trip and they traveled from island to island together by ship. A huge storm destroyed the ship and swept away her father and all of their possessions. Fatima was found by a family of weavers, battered, alone, and destitute. They took pity on her and took her in.

Here she was, alone in a foreign land. The weavers taught Fatima their craft and she made a new life for herself with them. But one day when she was back on that same beach, a band of slave traders landed and captured her. They took her to Istanbul to sell as a slave. 

Fatima was purchased by a man who owned a wood yard and made masts for ships. He was a kind man and took pity on her, and thought she would be a great help to his wife. When they arrived at his home, however, he discovered that a ship in which he’d invested had been captured by pirates and he had lost all of his money. Now everyone would have to go to work making ship masts– including the man, his wife, and Fatima.

Mast making was heavy work but again Fatima learned the trade and made herself valuable to her employer, who treated her well. After some time, he asked her to take a load of masts to Java and sell them as his agent. She accepted this responsibility and set sail only to encounter another terrible storm, this time off the coast of China. Once again, Fatima found herself washed up, bruised, destitute, and alone on the shore of some foreign land. 

Fatima wept bitter tears. It seemed that nothing in her life was ever going to go according to her expectations. She wondered how she attracted so much bad luck. Eventually, she got herself together and started to walk inland, looking for a village. 

Now, here’s a curious intersection of events. There was an ancient legend in this place about a stranger, a woman, who was going to arrive one day and make a tent for the Emperor. No one in China at that time could make tents and a number of Emperors over the years had tried to find this stranger. Heralds and messengers were regularly dispatched to collect news of strangers arriving in the country. So, when she was discovered, Fatima was taken to meet the Emperor. 

Fatima had never made a tent before but she had seen one. So, when the Emperor asked her about tent making she inquired about rope, suitable cloth, and tent poles. None of these were available. But Fatima realized that she knew how to make what was needed. She’d picked up the skills of spinning, weaving, and mast– that is tent pole– making, over the years. Fatima made the rope, the cloth, and the tent poles and assembled the tent. And she enjoyed a happy life in China until the end of her days.

I mentioned boldness and ingenuity a few minutes ago. We can add curiosity and a sense of necessity (necessity being the mother of invention) to the list of bricoleur qualities. A bricoleur can work within certain constraints, right? I mean, look at Fatima’s situation. There are constraints in her life, all of the ups and downs that she weathers. Also, constraints in terms of available materials, and what she can make and how she can blend things.

This is the significance of using the materials at hand and of the improvisation and indirection. The necessity. Because the bricoleur sees the materials and the challenge at hand with fresh eyes. The bricoleur also sees relationships between things in new ways. For example, in Kerényi’s translation of the Greek  “Hymn to Hermes,” Hermes tells the turtle, “Your shell is a kaleidoscope.” Your shell is a kaleidoscope. There is the ability to look at things from a variety of perspectives and see new possibilties.

New possibilities in the materials, which can be tangible things like wood or intangible things like ideas or stories. I want to think a bit more with you about the role of the bricoleur and doing bricolage in the arena of story or culture building but first I wonder, does this image resonate with you and your approach to problems or creative work? Do you see this pattern in your life? Each of us is unique so maybe not and yet, I suspect that the cultural historical conversation about the value of a “jack-of-all-trades” type of knowledge drives some of us bricoleurs into hiding. 

Because being a generalist or pursuing a wide range of interests over the years, perhaps wandering around some and experimenting broadly, is often looked down upon today. Many of us live in a culture that values and even insists on specialization. There’s pressure to commit to mastering one discipline, one subject, one craft, or even one small piece of a complex process. Pressure to be a cog in one of the many machines, literally or figuratively. To be straitjacketed in a quest for expertise. And to feel that real success requires being super skilled or knowledgeable about one thing. One. As if the inability to choose a life path in your youth and stay in that lane for decades is a personal failure and not merely another good way to go about things.

The label “jack of all trades” was originally a compliment. Later the phrase “master of none” was added, to suggest that someone with this broad knowledge wasn’t very good at anything in particular. This coincided with the rise of modernism and the mindset of categories and breaking apart systems into parts to understand them, the proliferation of disciplines, etc. The belief that if you break something down into small enough parts, and drill down deep into the nature of each part, you can grasp the thing or the system in its entirety and remove all the mystery. That whatever the thing, it is a collection of specific, discoverable details. 

This hasn’t worked. We’ve learned a lot about many things but ultimately it hasn’t worked.

Anyway. A bit later, another phrase was added to the “jack-of-all-trades” bit so the complete saying is: “Jack-of-all-trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than the master of one.” Now, some people do hone in and go deep and that can be great too. Very useful. What matters is being able to do what is natural for you. So, is being a bricoleur or taking that approach to a problem a good thing? “That depends,” Hermes might say…with a wink.

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Now, what is the role of the bricoleur and doing bricolage in the arena of story or culture building? The definition and value of a thing (and I’m talking of objects and matter and also intangibles like concepts), the value and definition is connected to the way that the “thing” is used, and this use is connected to the meaning of the thing. Meaning is a matter of context and how a thing appears. When you see something in a new way and use it in a new way, you also change the meaning of it.

When Hermes makes the lyre, for example, he changes the way that people see, think about, and use the shell of a tortoise. What was once only part of an animal is now also the body of a musical instrument and by extension, a material that can be crafted.

Changing the context is a very powerful creative tool because it impacts meaning. The bricoleur does this by rearranging, seeing with fresh eyes, looking for connections that could yield something new.

I see this in the proliferation of multidisciplinary approaches and multimedia projects, and also in the retrieval and refreshment of many kinds of old knowledge and skills. People are blending things that people have known or done in the past with new technologies or needs or ideas. This appreciation for relationships and what we now call “holistic” is opening up many new approaches. This type of refashioning and blending and borrowing is a response in some respects, to the modern approach that I mentioned earlier.

In the field of mythology, I use the ancient Greek word mythopoesis to describe the bricolage that has been going on through the centuries and is continuing as our myths are reworked, extended, and shared in new ways. Bricolage is what keeps a myth alive,  and by “alive” I mean useful. Useful to a culture.

I wonder what might open up if we hold the image of the human being as bricoleur in consciousness. Can we bring this skill forward to help us use what we’ve inherited to meet the needs of this time? To discover new avenues, tools, and meanings? Would we be better able to recognize this activity and appreciate this form of creativity in ourselves and others? I think so.

My friend Rags Rosenberg wrote a song about the bricoleur. “The maps are all dissolving,” he says, “the compass spinnin’ round.” Many of us are feeling this collapse and lose of direction and yet, all is not lost my friend. We can still choose the path and in choosing, make a new way.

I’m going to stop here for today. I’d love to get your thoughts on this and any examples that you see of the bricoleur in action. Feel free to email me– my contact is on the Mythic Mojo website– or use the “text Catherine” option that should appear with this episode on most platforms. 

If we have a better understanding of our need for myth and all that our old stories offer, we can live more satisfying lives. We can inhabit a better story and create a more beautiful, just and sustainable world. 

And that’s it for me, Catherine Svehla and Myth Matters. Thank you so much for listening. Take good care of yourself and until next time, keep the mystery in your life alive.

Listen to Meaning is magic: the trickster Hermes and radical change episode

Listen to Shipwrecks, Donkeys, and Holy Fools episode