"Sacred clown" redirects here.

For the jesters in Hopi mythology, see Pueblo Clo

wns.
The word Heyók?a refers to the Lakota concept of a contrarian, jester, satirist or
sacred clown.
Heyók?a are thought of as being backwards-forwards, upside-down, or contrary in na
ture. This spirit is often manifest by doing things backwards or unconventionall
y riding a horse backwards, wearing clothes inside-out, or speaking in a backwards
language. For example, if food were scarce, a Heyók?a would sit around and compla
in about how full he was; during a baking hot heat wave a Heyók?a would shiver wit
h cold and put on gloves and cover himself with a thick blanket. Similarly, when
it is 40 degrees below freezing he will wander around naked for hours complaini
ng that it is too hot. A unique example is the famous Heyók?a sacred clown called
"the Straighten-Outer":
He was always running around with a hammer trying to flatten round and curvy thi
ngs (soup bowls, eggs, wagon wheels, etc.), thus making them straight.
John Fire Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions, p250
During the Sun Dance, a Heyók?a sacred clown may appear to tempt the dancers with
water and food and to dance backwards around the circle in a show of respect. If
a dancer looks into the mirrored eyes of the Heyók?a, his or her dance is finishe
d.[citation needed]
Contents
[hide]
1 Social role
2 Thunder dreamer
3 Heyoka in popular culture
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography
7 External links[edit] Social role
The Heyók?a symbolize and portray many aspects of the sacred, the Wak?á?. Their sati
re presents important questions by fooling around. They ask difficult questions,
and say things others are too afraid to say. By reading between the lines, the
audience is able to think about things not usually thought about, or to look at
things in a different way.
Principally, the Heyók?a functions both as a mirror and a teacher, using extreme b
ehaviors to mirror others, thereby forcing them to examine their own doubts, fea
rs, hatreds, and weaknesses. Heyók?as also have the power to heal emotional pain;
such power comes from the experience of shame they sing of shameful events in thei
r lives, beg for food, and live as clowns. They provoke laughter in distressing
situations of despair and provoke fear and chaos when people feel complacent and
overly secure, to keep them from taking themselves too seriously or believing t
hey are more powerful than they are.
In addition, sacred clowns serve an important role in shaping tribal codes. Heyók?
a's don t seem to care about taboos, rules, regulations, social norms, or boundari
es. Paradoxically, however, it is by violating these norms and taboos that they
help to define the accepted boundaries, rules, and societal guidelines for ethic
al and moral behavior. This is because they are the only ones who can ask "Why?"
about sensitive topics and employ satire to question the specialists and carrie
rs of sacred knowledge or those in positions of power and authority. In doing so
, they demonstrate concretely the theories of balance and imbalance. Their role
is to penetrate deception, turn over rocks, and create a deeper awareness.[citat
ion needed]
For people who are as poor as us, who have lost everything, who had to endure so
much death and sadness, laughter is a precious gift. When we were dying like fl
ies from white man's disease, when we were driven into reservations, when the go
vernment rations did not arrive and we were starving, watching the pranks and ca
pers of Heyók?a were a blessing.
John Fire Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions, p250
Wichá a Wak?á? means Holy man, not "Medicine man" or "shaman" (a term of Siberian orig
in). This is an important distinction. A Lakota medicine man is called p?e úta wichá a.
[edit] Thunder dreamer
It is believed among the Lakota that if you had a dream or vision of birds you w
ere destined to be a medicine man,[citation needed] but if you had a vision of t
he Wakí?ya? Thunderbird, it was your destiny to become a Heyók?a, or sacred clown.[c
itation needed] Like the Thunderbird, the heyoka are both feared and held in rev
erence.[citation needed]
When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the West, it comes with terror li
ke a thunder storm; but when the storm of vision has passed, the world is greene
r and happier; for wherever the truth of vision comes upon the world, it is like
a rain. The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the storm... you hav
e noticed that truth comes into this world with two faces. One is sad with suffe
ring, and the other laughs; but it is the same face, laughing or weeping... as l
ightning illuminates the dark, for it is the power of lightning that heyokas hav
e.
Black Elk, quoted in Neihardt (1959), p160
The Heyoka are healers and have many functions, for example healing through laug
hter and awakening people to deeper meaning and concealed truth and to prepare t
he people for oncoming disaster with laughter.[citation needed]
====================================================
The Heyoka
Living Life Backwards
By
Todd F. Eklof
Why did it all turn out for me like this? George asks, after an afternoon of self
-reflection at the beach. I had so much promise. I was personable, I was bright
. Oh, maybe not academically speaking, but ... I was perceptive. I always kno
w when someone's uncomfortable at a party. It all became very clear to me sitti
ng out there today, that every decision I've ever made, in my entire life, has b
een wrong. My life is the complete opposite of everything I want it to be. Eve
ry instinct I have, in every aspect of life, be it something to wear, something
to eat ... It's all been wrong.
Just then a waitress arrives to take his order. At first he ask
s for the usual, tuna on toast, coleslaw and a cup of coffee. But then, in a mo
ment of inspiration, he changes his mind. Wait a minute, he says, I always have tun
a on toast. Nothing s ever worked out for me with tuna on toast. I want the compl
ete opposite of tuna on toast. Chicken salad, on rye, untoasted ... and a cup o
f tea. Although Jerry argues that salmon is actually the opposite of tuna since s
almon swims against the current and tuna swims with it, George s new lunch choice
marks a bold step toward transforming his life.
A few moments later he sees a beautiful woman at a table across
the room. His friends encourage him to go talk to her, but he argues that she s w
ay out of his league. Well here's your chance to try the opposite, Jerry argues, In
stead of tuna salad and being intimidated by women, chicken salad and going righ
t up to them.
Yes, I will do the opposite. George responds, I used to sit here an
d do nothing, and regret it for the rest of the day, so now I will do the opposi
te, and I will do something! He approaches the woman and says, Excuse me, I couldn
't help but notice that you were looking in my direction.
Oh, yes I was, she replies, you just ordered the same lunch as me.
George takes a deep breath and continues with the opposite of hi
s usual approach, My name is George. I m unemployed and live with my parents.
The woman smiles, I m Victoria. Hi.
As the story progresses, Victoria s uncle helps George land a job
with the New York Yankees. This has been the dream of my life ever since I was a
child, he says, and it's all happening because I'm completely ignoring every urge
towards common sense and good judgment I've ever had. This is no longer just s
ome crazy notion this is my religion!
Though George s spiritual epiphany is only a storyline in a comedic
sitcom, his experience may be worth taking seriously. Is there wisdom in somet
imes doing the opposite of what we ve been doing? If we consider, for example, th
at the number of people killed in warfare has increased almost exponentially dur
ing the past five centuries, including more than a hundred million during the 20
th century, and untold thousands already during the first five years of this cen
tury, perhaps it s time we begin doing the opposite. In light of the fact that ou
r polar ice cap has melted 30 percent during the last three decades, we re experie
ncing an increasing number of apocalyptic hurricanes and other natural disasters
, and energy consumption has tripled since 1950, even in light of global warming
, maybe we should try the opposite. In our age of unprecedented globalization,
during which the most powerful nation in history has become increasingly nationa
listic and supportive of an elitist economy, further frustrating and antagonizin
g much of the rest of the world while trying to fight terrorism, let s try the opp
osite. At a time when our bad environmental habits obliterate 130 species a day
, let s go with the opposite. In the most affluent country on Earth, in which a m
ajority of people have been more concerned with forcing their personal religious
views on everyone else, especially concerning freedom of choice and marriage eq
uality, leading to an ineffective government that can no longer cope with the de
vastating impact of national disasters, and has squandered our children s future o
n an unnecessary war, for God s sake, let s do the opposite! Yes, it does seem we s
hould begin taking opposition most seriously.
In Lakota mythology, one who lives in opposition is called a hey
oka. And just as George Costanza describes his experience as religious, one bec
omes a heyoka only after a divine encounter. Indeed, the heyoka is associated w
ith the great Thunderbird and Trickster
=====================================
Introduction
The Thunderbird is one of the few cross-cultural elements of Native North Americ
an mythology. He is found not just among Plains Indians, but also among Pacific
Northwest and Northeastern tribes. He has also become quite a bit of an icon for
non-Indians, since he has also had the honor of having automobiles, liquors, an
d even a United States Air Force squadron named after him. Totems bearing his re
presentation can be found all over the continent. There have been a number of cu
rious theories about the origins of the Thunderbird myth - ones which I will sho
w are probably wrongheaded.
In this paper, moreover, I want to examine how the myths and legends of the Thun
derbird tie into the sacred clowning/trickster ritual complex of Plains tribes s
uch as the Lakota. I will show how the Thunderbird is intimately connected to th
is complex, and attempt to explain why. It is the intimate association between t
hese two traditions that may help explain some features of Plains culture and fo
lklore. Aspects of the Thunderbird myth only make sense in light of these associ
ations.
Plains Indians myth and folklore
In order to understand Plains Indians folklore, we have to realize that their my
ths were not just "just-so" stories to entertain, divert, or make inadequate eff
orts at naturalistic explanation. Rather, Indian myth functioned in religious, p
edagogical, and initiatory ways, to help socialize young people and illuminate t
he various religious and other roles in society. Indian myth was always fluid, a
nd grounded in the present, which is what might be expected of societies which l
argely lacked static, written traditions. Storytelling was an art which was main
tained by the medicine people with great fidelity, because it was used to explai
n the development of certain rituals and elements of society. (Hines 1992)
Some have looked at the Thunderbird myths through the same lens of understanding
applied to European mythology. The Thunderbird is like the Indo-European dragon
or ogre or Leviathan, a huge monster who kidnaps virginal maidens, and who must
be slain by the brave hero. Or the Thunderbird is simply treated as some kind o
f fantastic oddity, like the mythical unicorn or mermaid - an impossible constru
ction borne from the extremes of the imagination. Both these attempts at explain
ing myth lose the important point of seeing Thunderbird as a personification of
energies in nature - those found in violent thunderstorms and such - and his cru
cial dual nature.
Still, the Indians were not merely "mythmaking" in the pejorative sense. They no
more literally believed in a giant bird generating storms through the beating o
f its wings, then Christians today literally believe in their divine being as an
old man with a beard sitting on a marble throne. Thunderbird is an allegory; hi
s conflicts with other forces in nature are then an attempt to allegorize relati
onships observed in the natural order, such as the changing of the weather. Like
other Thunder Beings, he is essentially an attempt to represent the patterns of
activity of a powerful, mysterious force in a way that can be understood simply
and easily - sort of the way in which a weather map functions today. (Edmonds a
nd Clark 1989)
The Plains Indians believed that everything that was found in nature had a human
representative in microcosm. Everything in nature often contained its own oppos
ite polarity, hence the expected existence of beings such as contraries, women w
arriors, and berdaches. Because the Thunderbird in particular represented this m
ysterious dual aspect of nature, manifest through the primordial power of thunde
rstorms, it is not surprising that his representatives were the heyoka or sacred
clowns, who displayed wisdom through seemingly foolhardy action. Western thinki
ng has prevented us from seeing the reasons why Indians perceived this connectio
n. Few anthropologists have sought to locate how Thunderbird may have been mytho
logically linked to Trickster.
The Nature of Thunderbird
In Plains tribes, the Thunderbird is sometimes known as Wakinyan, from the Dakot
a word kinyan meaning "winged." Others suggest the word links the Thunderbird to
wakan, or sacred power. In many stories, the Thunderbird is thought of as a gre
at Eagle, who produces thunder from the beating of his wings and flashes lightni
ng from his eyes. (Descriptions are vague because it is thought Thunderbird is a
lways surrounded by thick, rolling clouds which prevent him from being seen.) Fu
rther, there were a variety of beliefs about Thunderbird, which suggest a somewh
at complicated picture. Usually, his role is to challenge some other great power
and protect the Indians - such as White Owl Woman, the bringer of winter storms
; the malevolent Unktehi, or water oxen who plague mankind; the horned serpents;
Wochowsen, the enemy bird; or Waziya, the killing North Wind. But in some other
legends (not so much in the Plains), Thunderbird is himself malevolent, carryin
g off people (or reindeer or whales) to their doom, or slaying people who seek t
o cross his sacred mountain. (Erdoes and Ortiz 1984)
Many Plains Indians claim there are in fact four colors (varieties) of Thunderbi
rds (the blue ones are said, strangely, to have no ears or eyes), sometimes asso
ciated with the four cardinal directions, but also sometimes only with the west
and the western wind. (According to the medicine man Lame Deer, there were four,
one at each compass point, but the western one was the Greatest and most senior
.) (Fire and Erdoes 1972) The fact that they are sometimes known as "grandfather
s" suggest they are held in considerable reverence and awe. It is supposed to be
very dangerous to approach a Thunderbird nest, and many are supposed to have di
ed in the attempt, swept away by ferocious storms. The symbol of Thunderbird is
the red zig-zag, lightning-bolt design, which some people mistakenly think repre
sents a stairway. Most tribes feel he and the other Thunder beings were the firs
t to appear in the Creation, and that they have an especially close connection t
o wakan tanka, the Great Mysterious. (Gill and Sullivan 1992)
The fact that Thunderbird sometimes appears as something that terrorizes and pla
gues Indians, and sometimes as their protector and liberator (in some myths, he
was once an Indian himself) is said to reflect the way thunderstorms and violent
weather are seen by Plains people. On the one hand, they bring life-giving rain
(Thunderbird is said to be the creator of 'wild rice' and other Plains Indians
crops); on the other hand, they bring hail, flood, and lightning and fire. It is
not clear where with them worship and awe end, and fear and terror begin. Some
Indians claim that there are good and bad Thunderbirds, and that these beings ar
e at war with each other. Others claim that the large predatory birds which are
said to kidnap hunters and livestock are not Thunderbirds at all. Largely, I sus
pect that this dual nature of the Thunderbird ties it to the Trickster figure in
Indian belief: like the Trickster, the harm the Thunderbird causes is mostly be
cause it is so large and powerful and primeval.
Origins of the Thunderbird Myth
Cryptozoologists like Mark A. Hall, having studied the Thunderbird myths of nume
rous tribes, and compared them to (mostly folkloric) accounts of unusually large
birds in modern times, as well as large birds (like the Roc) in other mythic tr
aditions, suggest that there may well be a surviving species of large avians in
America - big enough, apparently, to fly off carrying small animals or children,
as has been claimed in some accounts. (Hall suggests the wingspan of such a spe
cies would be several feet longer than any known birds - certainly bigger than t
hat of the turkey vulture or other identifiable North American species.) (Hall 1
988) Such researchers feel the Thunderbird myth may have originated from sightin
gs of a real-life flesh-and-blood avian which might be an atavism from earlier e
pochs (a quasi-pterodactyl or teratorn, perhaps.)
However, the big problem with this theory is that most ornithologists consider i
t to be quite farfetched. If such a species existed (a situation akin to the fol
kloric Sasquatch), it would be amazing that to this point it has remained uniden
tified and uncatalogued. A species of birds that big, unless it consisted of an
extremely small number of members, would find it hard to avoid detection for lon
g. Hall does suggest the possibility that maybe, like the mastodon, these large
birds were hunted to extinction prior to the arrival of Europeans on the North A
merican continent. Still, the other problem with his theory is that it ignores w
hat Indians themselves have to say about the Thunderbird.
They describe the Thunderbird as a spiritual, not just physical, being. It is no
t seen as just a large, fearsome predatory bird that people tell stories about.
Rather, it's an integral part of Plains Indians religion and ritual. Only by ign
oring this fact could we put our Western ethnocentric biases into effect, and re
duce it to a zoological curiosity. The Thunderbird is much more than that; the I
ndian attitude toward it comes from more than just the mere fact that it is supp
osed to be really big. To understand the origins of Thunderbird myths, it's nece
ssary to see how they connect with other elements of Indian belief and ceremony
- especially the Trickster complex - and see how they fit into the structure of
Plains Indian myth as a whole.
Clowning around in Plains Indian culture
Clowning, like the icon of the Thunderbird, could be found in almost every North
American Indian society. In every case, it involved ridiculous behavior, but on
the Plains it especially exhibited inversion and reversal as elements of satire
. There were four types of clown societies on the Plains - age-graded societies,
military societies, the northern plains type, and the heyoka shamanistic societ
ies. The behaviors of all sorts of clowns revolved around a few basic themes or
attributes: burlesque, mocking the sacred, playing pranks or practical jokes, ma
king obscene jokes or gestures, caricature of others, exhibiting gross gluttony
or extreme appetite, strange acts of self-mortification or self-deprecation, and
taunting of enemies or strangers. (Steward 1991)
The age-graded clown societies primarily consisted of older people who had been
inducted into their ranks - groups such as the Gros Ventre Crazy Lodge or the Hi
datsa Dog Society. These clowns were assumed to simply be playing a role appropr
iate to their sodality, rather than receiving some sort of supernatural inspirat
ion. They carried out certain expected ritual performances on proscribed days, s
uch as the Crazy Dance or the imitation of animals. In contrast, the military cl
own societies such as the Cheyenne Inverted Bow String Warriors, often carried c
omical or ridiculous weapons, but were also expected to show absurd bravery in b
attle, provoking the enemy into giving up its discipline and cohesion with taunt
s and insults. Not surprisingly, they sometimes rode their horses backwards into
battle.
The northern plains clowns, found among tribes such as the Ojibway, wore masks w
hich made them appear to be two-faced, and costumes of rags which made them appe
ar comical. All of these three types of clown societies practiced a sort of conv
entionalized or patterned sort of anti-natural behavior. That is, they might do
something which seemed strange or contrary, but under somewhat regular condition
s. You knew when they might do something weird - and there were times when they
were forbidden to perform their antics. Further, they might often "give up" the
clowning way of life, and return to a non-contrary state by marrying and engagin
g in a more normal mode of existence.
The heyoka were different in three primary ways from the other sorts of clowns.
They were truly unpredictable, and could do the unexpected or tasteless even dur
ing the most solemn of occasions. Moreso than other clowns, they really seemed t
o be insane. Also, they were thought to be more inspired by trans-human supernat
ural forces (as individuals driven by spirits rather than group conventions), an
d to have a closer link to wakan or power than other clowns. And lastly, they ke
pt their role for life - it was a sacred calling which could not be given up wit
hout performing an agonizing ritual of expiation. Not surprisingly, these unique
differences were seen as the result of their having visions of Thunderbird, a u
nique and transforming experience.
Testimony of Black Elk: the heyoka and lightning
The Oglala Indian Black Elk had some interesting things to say about the heyoka
ceremony, which he himself participated in. Black Elk describes the "dog in boil
ing water" ceremony in some detail. He also describes the bizarre items he had t
o carry as a heyoka, and the crazy antics he had to perform with his companions.
He also attempts to explain the link between the contrary trickster nature of h
eyokas with that of Thunderbird.
"When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the West, it comes with terror l
ike a thunder storm; but when the storm of vision has passed, the world is green
er and happier; for wherever the truth of vision comes upon the world, it is lik
e a rain. The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the storm... you ha
ve noticed that truth comes into this world with two faces. One is sad with suff
ering, and the other laughs; but it is the same face, laughing or weeping. When
people are already in despair, maybe the laughing is better for them; and when t
hey feel too good and are too sure of being safe, maybe the weeping face is bett
er. And so I think this is what the heyoka ceremony is for ... the dog had to be
killed quickly and without making any scar, as lightning kills, for it is the p
ower of lightning that heyokas have." (quoted in Neihardt 1959: 160)
Today, of course, Western physicists describe the dual nature of electricity. An
object can carry a positive or negative electric charge. The electron is simult
aneously a wave and a particle. Electricity and magnetism are thought to be aspe
cts of the same force, and as is well know with magnetism, it comes in polaritie
s, with opposite poles (north and south) attracting. Though the Indians did not
have access to our modern scientific instruments, they are likely to have observ
ed some of the same properties in lightning. Thus it would have been intuitive t
o link the dual spiritual nature of the heyoka (tragicomedy - solemn joking - jo
y united with pain) with the dual nature of electricity.
Thunderbird and Heyoka, the Sacred Clown
It was believed among the Lakota and other tribes that if you had a dream or vis
ion of birds, you were destined to be a medicine man; but if you had a vision of
Thunderbird, it was your destiny to become something else; heyoka, or sacred cl
own. Like Thunderbird, the heyoka were at once feared and held in reverence. The
y were supposed to startle easily at the first sound of thunder or first sight o
f lightning. Thunderbird supposedly inspired the "contrariness" of the heyoka th
rough his own contrary nature. He alternates strong winds with calm ones. While
all things in nature move clockwise, Thunderbird is said to move counterclockwis
e. Thunderbird is said to have sharp teeth, but no mouth; sharp claws, but no li
mbs; huge wings, but no body. All of these things suggest Thunderbird (and the h
eyoka) have a curious, paradoxical, contrary nature. You could become heyoka thr
ough a vision of the Thunderbird, or just of lightning or a formidable winged be
ing of power. (Steiger 1974)
While clown societies were found throughout the Plains, the heyoka, or sacred cl
owns, were usually few in number, but were found in almost every clan. Heyoka we
re contraries, often speaking and walking backwards. They acted in ridiculous, o
bscene, and comical ways, especially during sacred ceremonies. They were thought
to be fearless and painless, able to seize a piece of meat out of a pot of boil
ing water. They often dressed in a bizarre and ludicrous manner, wearing conical
 hats, red paint, a bladder over the head (to simulate baldness), and bark earri
ngs. The heyoka was thought to usually carry various sacred items - a deer hoof
rattle, a colored bow, a flute, or drum. His "anti-natural" nature was thought t
o be shamanistic in origin -- and as a contrary, he was expected to act silly an
d foolhardy during battle (although this was found more among warrior clown soci
eties such as the Cheyenne Inverted Warriors.)
However insulting or sacrilegious heyoka actions might be, they were tolerated,
since it was assumed they were acting on the higher and more inscrutable imperat
ives of the Great Mystery. Heyoka were freed from all the ordinary constraints o
f life, and thus were usually not expected to marry, have children, or participa
te in the work of the tribe. Despite their bizarre acts (such as dressing in war
m clothes during summer or wearing things inside out), they were trusted as heal
ers, interpreters of dreams, and people of great medicine. Whenever they interru
pted the solemnity of a ceremony, people took it as an admonition to see beyond
the literalness of the ritual and into the deeper mysteries of the sacred. Like
the flash of lightning, the heyoka's sudden outbursts and disturbances were thou
ght to be the keys to enlightenment - much like the absurd acts of Zen masters i
n Japan. (Hultkrantz 1987)
Thunderbird and Trickster
Part of the link between heyoka and Thunderbird comes from Iktomi, the Trickster
figure. Iktomi is said to be heyoka because he has seen and talked with Thunder
bird. Iktomi is the first-born son of Inyan (rock), and is said to speak with ro
cks and stones. Like Coyote and other Trickster figures, Iktomi likes to pull pr
anks on people, but is just as often the victim of tricks and misfortunes. This
makes him at once a culture hero, and a figure to be feared and avoided. Iktomi
was thought to be a hypersexual predator, one who frequently pursued winchinchal
as (young virgins) who bathed in streams, through various methods of deceit. Yet
his pursuits and antics often wound up with him inadvertently getting hurt or w
inding up in trouble.
Paul Radin suggests that Iktomi and other Trickster figures are akin to the Grea
t Fool or Wild Man of European folklore, who often shows up in the Feast of Fool
s and other ceremonies where the social order is turned topsy-turvy. (Radin 1956
) Jung, following his lead, claims the Trickster as an archetypal part of the co
llective unconscious; and his "crazy wisdom" as emblematic of humankind's earlie
r, undivided, unindividuated consciousness. Iktomi and other tricksters seem to
be at the constant mercy of their desires; yet their blind luck always seems to
protect them from the consequences of their missteps. He is dangerous primarily
because he is so powerful, yet so rarely has the forethought or good judgment to
use his power wisely. Radin and others proclaim him the representative of untam
ed, unpredictably wild nature, within the confines of culture.
In other cultural traditions, thunder and lightning are connected with the unexp
ected. We talk about a "bolt out of the blue." In American folk culture, there a
re a host of legendary stories of mysterious cures or transformations wrought by
someone being struck by lightning. It's at once dangerous, and a symbol of sudd
en, shocking revelation and inspiration. It's also the primary weapon in most pa
ntheons of the chief sky god (such as Zeus in Greek mythology.) For the Plains I
ndians, thunder and lightning symbolized the vast, uncontrollable energy of natu
re. It's not surprising, then, that the Thunderbird is connected with the strang
e, uncontrollable force of the Trickster figure, and his avatar, the heyoka.
Significance of the Trickster Figure and "Contrariness" in Plains Society
Psychological anthropologists, especially those oriented toward psychoanalytic t
heory and depth psychology, point to the Trickster figure as a sort of important
cultural "release valve." He represents the "return of the repressed," the Dion
ysian aspects of life only temporarily held in abeyance by the Apollonian forces
of civilization. The carnivals and feasts held in honor of fools in Europe, sug
gest some anthropologists, are "outlets," allowing people to invert the social o
rder temporarily as a way of promoting its continuity in the long run (avoiding
its ultimate collapse.) The ruler is dressed in peasants' clothes, and some igno
rant serf is crowned king. Symbols of authority normally held in extreme reveren
ce are mocked and desecrated.
Clowns and contraries in Plains societies do not just come out once a year, howe
ver. They are permanent parts of the society, and are seen as continual reminder
s of the contingency and arbitrariness of the social order. Long before French t
heorists came on the scene, the heyoka was reminding his own people about the so
cial construction of reality. By doing everything backwards, the heyoka in a way
is carrying out a constant experiment in ethnomethodology, showing people how t
heir own expectations limit their behavior. Like a good performance artist, the
shocking behavior of the heyoka is supposed to confront people and make them rec
onsider what they may have arbitrarily accepted as normal. It's to "jolt" them o
ut of their ordinary frames of mind. (Steward 1991)
More importantly, as a representative of Thunderbird and Trickster, the heyoka r
eminds his people that the primordial energy of nature is beyond good and evil.
It doesn't correspond to human categories of right and wrong. It doesn't always
follow our preconceptions of what is expected and proper. It doesn't really care
about our human woes and concerns. Like electricity, it can be deadly dangerous
, or harnessed for great uses. If we're too narrow or parochial in trying to und
erstand it, it will zap us in the middle of the night. Like any good trickster,
the heyoka plays pranks on others in his culture not to make them feel embarrass
ed and stupid, but to show them ways they could start being more smart.
The Account of John (Fire) Lame Deer: Heyoka and ASC
Lame Deer calls the heyoka the "upside-down, forward-backward, icy-hot contrary.
" He describes in detail one particular heyoka trick which may give some clues t
o the nature of their antics. Apparently, they would grab pieces of dog meat out
of a pot of boiling water, and fling them at a crowd of people, without being b
urned or harmed in any way. (Why dog meat? Lame Deer gives a clue when he says,
"For the heyoka, he says god when he means dog, and dog when he means god.") Lam
e Deer suggests before doing this they chewed a grayish moss called tapejuta. I
suspect that heyoka were able to perform this feat through going into trance, an
altered state of consciousness, by utilizing this and other psychotropic plants
on occasion.
More importantly, I think they induced trance in others through their contrary b
ehavior. Psychologists have noted that trance does not always occur through rhyt
hmic repetition. Another way in which it occurs (the "paradoxical state") is thr
ough a sudden shock to the nervous system. Ethnomethodologists have often noted
the blank, glassy stares and strange states produced by violating peoples' expec
tations - by, for example, getting into an elevator and facing the other people
in it. It's in such "paradoxical states" that people often may assimilate new in
formation quickly, without filtering. They also may be able to "abreact" psychol
ogical trauma. For these reasons, the heyoka may have been seen as a source of w
isdom and healing.
Lame Deer seems to suggest the power of trance is connected to the power of Thun
derbird. As a paradoxical state of consciousness, it ties into the paradoxical e
nergy of thunder and lightning. The crash of thunder can startle us and wake us
up out of dreaming sleep. The trance of the heyoka comes from sacred power. He t
ies it all together in a way that's fairly succinct:
" These Thunderbirds are part of the Great Spirit. Theirs is about the greatest
power in the whole universe. It is the power of the hot and the cold clashing ab
ove the clouds. It is blue lightning from the sun. It is like atomic power. The
thunder power protects and destroys. It is good and bad; the great winged power.
We draw the lightning as a forked zigzag, because lightning branches out into a
good and bad part... In our Indian belief, the clown has a power which comes fr
om the thunder beings, not from the animals or the Earth. He has more power than
the atom bomb, he could blow off the dome of the Capitol. Being a clown gives y
ou honor, but also shame. It brings you power, but you have to pay for it." (quo
ted in Erdoes 1972: 251)
Conclusion
The Thunderbird's association with heyoka clowns is not simply serendipitous. Th
e fact that the Thunderbird displays many paradoxical and contradictory attribut
es links it to Trickster figures and to the contraries of Plains Indians culture
. This culture complex probably resulted from Indian beliefs about nature and th
e ways in which thunder and lightning exemplified the manners in which it could
be at once capricious, beneficent, and destructive. The Thunderbird's own link t
o the original Great Mystery suggests that the role of the sacred clown was seen
as one of the highest in Plains society - like wandering fools in Europe, they
were thought to be touched by the Divine power itself. Like Thunderbird himself,
the heyoka was thought to be a conduit to forces that defied comprehension, and
by his absurd, backwards behavior he was merely showing the ironic, mysterious
dualities that existed within the universe itself.
============
Thunderbird who defies any logical description. In most traditions it is withou
t form and its body billows like clouds. It has claws but no feet, beaks but no
head, wings but no shoulders, and a voice like thunder but no throat. In order
to remain invisible, Thunderbird covers itself in robes that are as shapeless a
s itself; some large, some small; some black, some white. Thunderbird also live
s in an anti-clockwise dimension and cannot be understood by ordinary people bec
ause it speaks backwards. It is said, therefore, that if one does encounter Thu
nderbird, one becomes heyoka, and also begins speaking and acting in an anti-nat
ural manner. As James R. Walker explains in his work, Lakota Myth, When one sees
the Winged One, he is heyoka and ever after when he speaks, he says the opposit
e of that he would say and when he does, he does the opposite of that he would d
o. [1]
In one story, Eya, the West Wind, son of Tate, the breath of lif
e encounters the terrifying and indescribable Thunderbird. After staring at the
creature for a moment, Eya begins laughing and standing on his head and walking
on his hands. He then begins shouting and taunting Thunderbird, even though th
e more natural thing to do would be to quietly cower and hide. You pitiful thing,
Eya says, your small voice frightens no one. Your weak eye can hurt nothing. Yo
ur beak and your teeth are good for nothing. Your wings are only tattered rags.
Your talons are nothing but blades of grass. I would be ashamed to be your co
mpanion. I do not fear you and want none of your aid. [2]
Naturally we might think Thunderbird, who can devour entire whal
es in a single gulp, and destroy anybody with the lightning bolts that shoot fro
m its single eye, would become enraged over such insult, but because it lives in
a backward dimension, it s response is opposite of what we might expect. You have
pleased me, Thunderbird tells Eya, for thus I would always be addressed in terms t
he opposite of intention of one supplicating me. [3] Thunderbird then invites Eya
to place his tipi beside Thunderbird s lodge on Thunderbird Mountain. Together with
you, I will purify the world from all filthy things. We will sweep it and wash
it and water the ground. We will cause all that grows from the ground to flour
ish and bear leaves, flowers and fruits. We will give nourishment to all that b
reathes and cause their growth. We will combat the Unktehi the monsters that de
file the waters; the Mini Watu that cause things to stink; and Gnaski the demon
who delights in filth. This has been my province from the beginning and now you
will aid me and all that breathes will be grateful to us. [4]
The message here is clear, that if we are to join forces with th
e divine Creator and purify our air and water and heal our poisoned land, we mus
t become heyoka, we must do the opposite of what we ve been learning from our larg
er culture, from those who make our water, air and earth toxic through their gre
ed and shortsightedness. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, [5]
wrote the Apostle Paul, and if we are to tap into divine wisdom, we must become
fools to everyone else, living contrary and in opposition to what the larger cul
ture says makes sense.
Like Thunderbird, the God of the Abrahamic religions Judaism, Christianity and Is
lam is without form and cannot be described. The Kabalah says, Every definition of
God leads to heresy; definition is spiritual idolatry. [6] In Jewish mythology, fu
rthermore, Moses is only allowed to see God s backside because it s considered impossi
ble for any individual to fully comprehend the fullness of God. And when God le
ads the children of Israel through the wilderness, the Lord went before them by d
ay in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fir
e, to give them light. [7] A cloud, to sound redundant, is a very nebulous image,[
8] and fire is the element Heraclites chose to symbolize his philosophy of const
ant change (i.e., You can t bathe in the same river twice ). Cloudy, ever-changing,
nameless these are the divine attributes that give context to Moses peculiar encoun
ter with God as a burning bush a God who answers, I Am Who I Am, [9] when asked its n
ame. This term, ehyeh-asher-ehyeh, is itself rather nebulous in that its precis
e meaning is unclear. Some scholars suggest it would be more accurately transla
ted, I will be what I will be, or I exist, or I am present, or I will be with you.
Fromm translates it as I-am-becoming, meaning, God is not finite, not a person, no
t a being. The most adequate translation of the sentence would be: tell them that m
y name is nameless. [10]
Hence, though it may seem backward to those who foolishly try to define God, an
d force their definitions on the rest of us, a genuine encounter with the Divine
defies all definitions. The first step in becoming a heyoka, then, is to let g
o of all our ideas and explanations about what is God and what is Good. Tapping
into Divine wisdom means letting go of what we ve been taught makes sense and beg
in questioning our paradigms those patterns and habits that lead us blindly into d
estructive folly. Becoming a heyoka means admitting we are fools, we don t know,
we don t have all the answers, and we need to keep questioning and looking for eve
n better answers, just as, in the Tarot, the Fool is represented as the beginnin
g of wisdom.
In his book on the Tarot, The Hanged Man, psychotherapist Sheldon Kopp shares t
he writing of one of his patients who began to understand the importance of faci
ng her shadow, that is, her opposite self.
I know I m better because I feel worse.
The nicer you are, the harder it gets.
The stronger I grow, the weaker I feel.
You can t give it to me because I already have it.
I can t be littler because you re not bigger.
The more lost I become, the clearer it gets.
`I m feeling confused, I must be in the right place.
I move furthest when I am stuck.
The worst part is knowing that I can make it.
The safest places are the most dangerous.
`The more I cry, the harder I laugh.
`The more I love, the more I hate.
`The more I fight, the more friends I have.
`I can t make you love me, you already do.
I can t be special, everyone/no one is.
Given permission to rest, I work harder.
`When I rest you call it work; When I play you call it work; When I call it work
you call it work. I can t mess up.
`Since I can t please or displease you, guess I ll just have to do what I want.
I don t get to win, but I don t have to lose.
There is no winning or losing, but I get to keep what I have.
Erich Fromm referred to this sort of insight as the paradoxical logic that exis
ts in Taoist, Hindu and Socratic philosophy alike, and is contrary to our wester
n Aristotelian logic that rejects the possibility of opposites. In western logi
c, A cannot be both A and not-A there is no room for contradiction. Yet the Tao t
ells us, To know and yet [think] we do not know is the highest [attainment]; not
to know [and yet think] we do know is a disease. [11] Yet, in paradoxical logic, i
n the backward-speak of the heyoka, opposition makes complete sense. It is not
conflicting and dualistic, as in western reasoning, but is completely harmonious
.
Becoming a heyoka, then, is crazy wisdom and divine wisdom at the same time. I
t is backwards in that it begins with answers and ends with questions. And if w
e, as a species, are going to heal our Earth and our Communities, which seem to
have strayed so far from the harmony of the Universe, doing the opposite seems l
ike just the place we must begin, and, as George Costanza put it, it must no lon
ger be just some crazy notion, if must become the basis of our religion.
+_+__+_+_+_+_++_+__+__+__+++_
The right road is where all roads merge. There are many faces on the heyoka path
. Your heyoka face is an unusual one. Humanity usually knows the heyoka as a beg
gar, clown, coyote, fool, trickster. The Buddha was a great heyoka. First there
is the Grandfather Sun, who was young once and is now a grandparent of great pow
ers, but the sun will one day go into the void. And that is the power of the hey
oka---the void. Heyoka respects no ritual, philosophic system, or belief. Histor
y is contained within this power. To take you into history and make you live it
is a heyoka power. To become Crazy Horse or George Washington. It's the power of
death---corruption of the body by flame and going back to earth. In woman, man,
or vice versa, the heyoka has been the great lover of children, healing them an
d protecting them. To someone who is not part of this tradition, a heyoka Indian
will seem to work in strange ways. Heyoka people will come and beg for food dur
ing a ceremony. The medicine woman wouldn't dare bother them, because a heyoka h
as the power to destroy the ritual. He is the disturber of ritual, the trickster
, he tests your beliefs to see if they're real. To be a heyoka you have to be en
lightened---being a heyoka makes you a backward woman or man because you see the
reflection of life, like you saw by walking backward and holding a mirror.
Imagine you are leaning over a pool of water--the first mirror. You dive into th
e water and your reflection comes up to meet you. What happens to your reflectio
n on the plane of the surface of the pool?
You can see that's a kind of crossroads--if you can unravel that, you can go bey
ond the crossroads. The end is where seven roads fork the dream. Choose one of t
he roads if you want power, or you can run back and say, 'I've gone too far.' Wh
en you look down you see seven auras--pick up crooked, twisted arms of heyoka an
d know love and trust.
A heyoka has the power of hot and cold. She can reach into bubbling hot meat in
a kettle and, taking it, she can eat it without being burned. The world has a po
werful need for understanding this way because it's the power of void, of women.
Men teach women--women, men. No other native tradition teaches the opposite sex
. We need to heal the woman in us all.
We're like the water. Heyoka has to do with primal eroticism that comes from the
beginnings of life, forms your cells. Our cells contract and expand and produce
regeneration and life. We, as life forms, reproduce this effect in love and in
knowledge. Sometimes we use plants to break through a mind barrier into the inne
r lodges. This is so that the phenomenon of expansion and contraction can be und
erstood in love. Because the heyoka has to do with love. It's the womb, the void
. If we're the lake--as I see you in me--I'm in you.
We're the great mirror. We're nothing but the reflection of each other. If I did
n't have anybody around, I would only have myself to define myself. Black holes
in the universe are symbols. Everything is backward to itself in a heyoka vision
. Life is bad, death is good, because we've been tricked into our own illusions.
The way has to do with the paradox of life---I love you means I hate you on som
e level. You can easily be confused by a heyoka into thinking they are black mag
icians, because they deal with the void--death and rebirth. But they are not. On
e reason this medicine is so powerful is because it's the destroyer of heroes. H
eroes fear the heyoka, because the heyoka can see through them, can see their fe
et of clay. People who define themselves only by themselves often are powerful,
but they have no womb. They need wombness to be sisters and brothers over and ov
er.
The heyoka will always take a new and different step. I'm sure it sounds strange
, but this is the most powerful way if you can understand it. It is a way of bea
uty and love. They say that a heyoka remembers the trail and takes a different o
ne. So? If you meet a heyoka, you want to shut your eyes and quickly walk by, be
cause any confrontation will change your life forever. They come from this idea-
-heyoka is an awake one--they walk backward because they know God is behind them
. Trust and fall backward--they know the Great Spirit will catch them. They make
you see yourself and all your illusions. They dance the peace dance in a time
of war.
My Teacher had a Lakota Thunderbird necklace. It was pearly white and she kept i
t wrapped in cloth. It resided on her altar and she considered it very sacred.
She always explained the one blatantly backward bead in this way: "It is backwar
d to remind us that the world is not perfect."
She told me that this necklace would some day be mine.
She also told me that I was a powerful medium. She believed that I might be the
Theosophical Messiah her group was expecting to appear sometime in the 1970s. Sh
e remarked, over and over, that my overall vibes, and my eyes, were not those of
an ordinary psychic. My power was mysteriously cloaked though I was their direc
t link to the Mahatmas and Devas. I was not what anyone would expect.
In my own mind I was none of those things. Though I could always interact with s
pirits to a greater or lesser degree, and seemed to possess an innate understand
ing of arcane lore and obscure cultic practices, I saw myself as being on a Herc
ulean hero-quest to locate the Olympians. At odds with my culture, I had declare
d myself an Outsider, a barbarian. And Sword & Sorcery fiction spoke to my soul
more powerfully than any of the occultists' sacred texts.
Well, my Teacher was right in many ways and her original dreams for me all came
true. They just didn't happen the way she expected them to. She was very disappo
inted. I am still, even after all these years, considered to be the powerful sou
l who, despite his great gift, was seduced by the world's darkness.
Needless to say, I did not inherit the necklace but ultimately I did claim its p
ower.
The Thunderbird is the totem of the Heyoka, a type of Lakota shaman. The Heyoka
is a mighty warrior in times of conflict: bold and reckless, heedless of consequ
ence. At other times he is considered even more dangerous: he disrupts and threa
tens the social order with relative impunity.
His medicine is the most powerful. His community, for their greater good, is obl
iged to dance his thunder-dreams.
The Heyoka is somewhat sinister and dark, a cosmic clown who violates taboos wit
hout fear of contamination.
Every Heyoka is different, a unique individual.
Every Heyoka has his own Way, and lives it.
Every Heyoka is both a powerful medium and a messiah.
Every Heyoka is Heyoka, the Thunder God.
Every Heyoka is not what you would expect them to be.
My understanding of the significance of the backward bead also differs from my o
nce Teacher's take on it. This doesn't make me right, or her wrong. I saw that t
he Heyoka, being contrary, will stand out... and attract attention. This is a po
werful truth every eccentric must learn to see, understand, live with and benefi
t from.
And I have come to know that the world is very much a product of how we as indiv
iduals choose to see it and what we decide to make of it.
In closing I'd like to add that according to the Lakota, who are, after all, in
the best position to know, every Heyoka is a bit of a Trickster... or isn't.
A Musing by Thor the Barbarian
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Aho Heyokah!
Make me laugh so I'll be human again.
Allow me to see my crooked path
And the Trickster as my friend.
Aho Heyokah!
How contrary you can be,
Yet you make me learn.
Aho Heyokah!
The jokes on me,
But next time it's your turn!
22
Heyokah
Humor/Opposites
The Teaching
The Heyokah- is a contrary clown who holds total wisdom and teaches the People t
hrough laughter and opposites. This Sacred Trickster is one who makes you wonder
if what they are saying, or doing is actually correct, thereby making you think
and figure it out for yourself. When people are made to think on their own, the
wobbly beliefs that have been a rubber crutch for them in the past are tested.
If the rubber crutch gives way and they end up on the ground on their rump, a le
sson was learned. If they stop and think, test out a teaching for themselves and
it stands in good stead, the wobbly belief becomes a Knowing System for their l
ives.
This Divine Trickster is called Heyokah by the Plains Tribes and Koshari by the
Hopi and Pueblo Indians. Many Tribes have Trickster Teachers who dress in costum
e for Ceremony and wear regular clothing in daily life. Their jokes do not stop
just because it is not a feast day. All Heyokahs operate through opposites. The
Heyokah's purported wisdom, imparted to a seeker, could be the exact opposite of
the answers the person would find for the Self. The laughter surrounding the re
sults could be a lesson for the entire community.
The Heyokah is known for creating lessons at the expense of another's seriousnes
s. Laughter is the ultimate lesson that breaks the bonds that destroy balance in
people. If the Heyokah is successful, all is taken in good fun, and the bonds o
f old habits, no longer helpful, are broken. The Medicine Ally of the Heyokah is
Coyote. The Heyokah is a master at Coyote Medicine and can use the joking part
of Coyote's nature to trick others into enlightened states of understanding. Occ
asionally the Coyote Medicine will backfire and zap the Heyokah in a blind spot.
If this happens, the true Heyokah will take it in stride and laugh at the backf
ire, learning from the lesson along with others.
Native People understood the value of being good sports. In earlier times it was
not considered "losing face" to have the Heyokah play a trick on someone. In fa
ct it was an honor to be singled out for a trick that contained a valuable spiri
tual lesson. Each Tribal Member was a valuable part of the whole, and many times
the joke had consequences for more than one person. Everyone seeing the actual
prank or talking of it later could relate those events to personal situations an
d grow from the lesson. All are forced to reflect on how they would react if the
y were the person the joke was played on. The Heyokah is able to master the art
of balancing the sacredness with irreverence.
The true art of knowing how and when to use Heyokah tactics comes through the ab
ility to laugh at one's Self while being compassionate in using the Trickster el
ements of teaching in a way that is not cruel or self-imposing. An experienced H
eyokah will know how sensitive a student is and would never use a trick on that
student to create more pain. In this situation, the Heyokah would make a joke an
d become the laughing stock of the situation so that the student could reflect o
n it through another's experience. This art of self-sabotage is planned and in n
o way makes the balanced Heyokah feel lesser or abused. The joy of the wise Elde
r within the Heyokah knows well that the results have created growth in another.
The lesson is complete and even the self-sabotage was staged and yet, served it
s purpose.
The Sacred Medicine Path of the Heyokah can involve diminishing fear through lau
ghter. Many people are frightened by the mystery of the Void. They have to be tr
icked out of their fear so that they can see that their self-created "boogeyman"
was the only obstacle to Divine Connection. The Heyokah excels in situations wh
ere stubbornness stops growth. If a Heyokah knows that someone is stubborn and h
as to do it his way, the Trickster will tell him to do the exact opposite. Many
days later we might find the Heyokah alone in the lodge giggling at the wondrous
Medicine Story moving through the camp. The stubborn person had done exactly wh
at Heyokah said not to do and had a mystical experience that was life changing.
Only the Heyokah knew that due to Stubborn's refusal to be guided, the trick had
worked and spiritual growth ensued.
Since the Magical Coyote is the Divine Trickster's Ally, all of the antics of Co
yote are suspect. When a hunter tracks a Coyote, the trail will double back on i
tself many times and can fool even the most experienced tracker to the point of
total frustration. Anyone trying to guess a Heyokah's next move can likewise bec
ome befuddled. Coyote teaches Two-leggeds to find joy in their own foolishness.
When the Heyokah calls upon Coyote to assist him in keeping prying eyes off his
trail, Coyote will assist in a multitude of ways.
I learned my first Coyote lesson in Mexico when Joaquin, my Medicine Teacher, wa
nted me to see how ridiculous my seriousness had become. We spent one whole day
gathering dried Cow dung, Rabbit pellets, Coyote, Dog, and Owl waste and careful
ly placing each in an old tin bucket. The next day we spent mixing all of it tog
ether, crushing each part into powder and slowly adding water to make a paste. A
fter this was completed, I was told to mark a circle in the earth with string an
d a stick making sure that the circle was perfectly round. Then Joaquin told me
to fill the tiny groove in the soil with all of the paste I had made from all of
the feces. I was very careful to make a perfect circle and not to let any of th
e circle be crooked. Joaquin praised my work and how careful I had been during t
he two-day process. He then told me to enter the circle and sit in the center un
til I understood the value of the lesson.
I sat there for at least three hours, thinking that maybe this was a way to cont
act the Power Animals. Finally Coyote came into my consciousness, took one look
at me, and rolled on the ground in side-splitting laughter. Coyote was laughing
so hard he could not speak. I was fascinated, while still sitting in my circle o
f poop, serious as ever. In between his guffaws, Coyote spit out the words that
taught me my lesson. "For the past three days you've been examining other people
's shit!" he screamed. "Now you've surrounded yourself with it and you are so se
rious you can't even see how ridiculous you look."
I started to laugh at myself as I imagined how Joaquin must be rolling in hyster
ics at the joke he had played on me. I wondered how he could have kept a straigh
t face for two days. It finally came to me that I had spent the previous days wo
rrying about the problems of others. All of these worries had left me, in effect
, sitting in a circle of others people's mental garbage.
The lesson hit me hard, and I laughed until I was aching with no breath and tear
s ran down my face. It has taken me many years to master the lesson and I still
get sucked in the drama of others at times. Joaquin was an excellent Teacher and
even now he will come to me, in spirit, and break my seriousness with more Heyo
kah antics.
The primary lessons of the Heyokah trick us into revelations rather than giving
us all the answers. Heyokah is needed when we refuse to allow ourselves alternat
ives. The view will always expand if we use the Divine Medicine of laughter - No
thing is beyond repair. We may need to use comedy to crack a smile so we can rec
laim our Sacred Space.
Heyokah Medicine can be called upon through Coyote. Remember that the Divine Tri
ckster is the perfect integration of all things wise and foolish, sacred and irr
everent. When we ask for those lessons, we need to be prepared for adventure. We
 need to be willing to laugh and to have others laugh with us. We will have achi
eved the ultimate union of opposites when we learn to celebrate more than we mou
rn. The time has come to laugh and reclaim our divine right to find pleasure in
the sacredness of being human.
The Application
If the Trickster has appeared on your horizon, you are in for a barrel of laughs
. You may be doing exactly the opposite of what you need to be doing and are abo
ut to get busted for it. Stop leaking your creative energy on other people's pro
blems or high drama. Stop being so serious and crack a smile, or Coyote will dog
your dreams. Remember that some days you are the fireplug and some days you are
the Dog. That goes for everyone, so don't let getting pooped on get you down. L
earning through laughter or opposites can be fun.
The keynote to the Heyokah card is to lighten up and start balancing the sacredn
ess with irreverence. If you are just being stubborn, it may be time to create a
contrary lesson that will force you to crack up, crack a smile, or trick you in
to going into the crack in the universe to find out what's really important!
+++++++++++++++++=================+++++++++++++
Trickster Teacher Heyokah
bevspaper | June 16, 2010
On our walk here on the Earth Mother sometimes we encounter Heyokah the Trickste
r Teacher on the Sacred
Path. This contrary clown is a Spiritual Counselor to us humans who teaches us t
hrough laughter and opposites. Heyokah will make you wonder if what you are doin
g or saying is actually correct, which will then make
I would like to explore the Heyoka. I am understanding that Heyoka carries a lot
of Coyote and/or Raven Medicine... but is more than that alone. Not everyone wh
o walks with Coyote, or flies with Raven is Heyoka, am I correct in understandin
g that?
So where is the line between Coyote Medicine and Heyoka? Heyoka, the Trickster,
the Clown, the Court Jester, the Fool. I understand that Heyoka holds a sacred p
osition, and is by far more than just a person who tricks for the heck of tricki
ng. I understand that Heyoka teaches the balance between work and play, between
team spirit and individuality, between light and dark. I understand that Heyoka
is also connected strongly to Fire, to the Sun, to Thunder.
I understand that the role of Heyoka would be to mirror behaviour that is not to
the benefit of the greater whole of the tribe, or behaviour that is harmful to
the person... the Heyoka would be showing Tribe Elders the holes in the plans, o
r Tribe members holes in their behaviour. I understand that it is not intended t
o ridicule out of spite or intention to hurt... but that it is an honourable rol
e to hold up the mirror for the other person(s) to see what is being presented.
The mimicry and joking exposes hypocrisy and arrogance. The portrayals of ridicu
lous behavior shows the people (in a very humorous way) their own foolishness an
d blind-spots.
From "The Daughters of Copper Woman" by Anne Cameron: "A clown was like a newspa
per, or a magazine, or one of those people who write an article to tell you if a
book or a movie is worth botherin' with. They made comment on everythin', every
day, all the time. If a clown thought that what the tribal council was gettin'
ready to do was foolish, why the clown would just show up at the council and imi
tate every move every one of the leaders made. Only the clown would imitate it i
n such a way every little wart on that person would show, every hole in their id
ea would suddenly look real big."//
The Teaching:
The Heyokah is a contrary clown who holds total wisdom and teaches the People th
rough laughter and opposites. This Sacred Trickster is one who makes you wonder
if what they are saying or doing is actually correct, thereby making you think a
nd figure it out for yourself. When people are made to think on their own, the w
obbly beliefs that have been a rubber crutch for them in the past are tested. If
the rubber crutch gives way and they end up on the ground on their rump, a less
on was learned. If they stop and think, test out a teaching for themselves and i
t stands in good stead, the wobbly belief becomes a Knowing System for their liv
es.
This Divine Trickster is called Heyokah by the Plains Tribes and Koshari by the
Hopi and Pueblo Indians. Many Tribes have Trickster Teachers who dress in costum
e for Ceremony and wear regular clothing in daily life. Their jokes do not stop
just because it is not a feast day. All Heyokahs operate through opposites. The
Heyokah's purported wisdom, imparted to a seeker, could be the exact opposite of
the answers the person would find for the Self. The laughter surrounding the re
sults could be a lesson for the entire community.
The Heyokah is known for creating lessons at the expense of another's seriousnes
s. Laughter is the ultimate lesson that breaks the bonds that destroy balance in
people. If the Heyokah is successful, all is taken in good fun, and the bonds o
f old habits, no longer helpful, are broken. The Medicine Ally of the Heyokah is
Coyote. The Heyokah is a master at Coyote Medicine and can use the joking part
of Coyote's nature to trick others into enlightened states of understanding. Occ
asionally the Coyote Medicine will backfire and zap the Heyokah in a blind spot.
If this happens, the true Heyokah will take it in stride and laugh at the backf
ire, learning from the lesson along with the others.
Native People understood the value of being good sports. In earlier times it was
not considered "loosing face" to have the Heyokah play a trick on someone. In f
act it was an honor to be singled out for a trick that contained a valuable spir
itual lesson. Each Tribal Member was a valuable part of the whole, and many time
s the joke had consequences for more than one person. Everyone seein gthe actual
prank or talking of it later could relate those events to personal situations a
nd grow from the lesson. All are forced to reflect on how they would react if th
ey were the person the joke was played on. The Heyokah is able to master the art
of balancing the sacredness with irreverence.
The true art of knowing how and when to use Heyokah tactics comes through the ab
ility to laugh at one's Self while being compassionate in using the Trickster el
ements of teaching in a way that is not cruel or self-imposing. An experienced H
eyokah will know how sensitive a student is and would never use a trick on that
student to create more pain. In this situation, the Heyokah would make a joke an
d become the laughing stock of the situation so that the student could reflect o
n it through another's experience. This art of self-sabotage is planned and in n
o way makes the balanced Heyokah feel lesser or abused. The joy of the wise Elde
r within the Heyokah knows well that the results have created growth in a anothe
r. The lesson is complete and even the self-sabotage was staged and yet, served
its purpose.
The Sacred Medicine Path of the Heyokah can involve diminishing fear through lau
ghter. Many people are frightened by the mystery of the Void. They have to be tr
icked out of their fear so that they can see that their self-created "boogeyman"
was the only obstacle to Divine Connection. The Heyokah excels in situations wh
ere stubbornness stops growth. If a Heyokah knows that someone is stubborn and h
as to do it his way, the Trickster will tell him to do the exact opposite. Many
days later we might find the Heyokah alone in the lodge giggling at the wonderou
s Medicine Story moving through the camp. The stubborn person had done exactly w
hat heykah said not to do and a had a mystical experience that was life changing
. Only the Heyokah knew that due to Stubborn's refusal to be guided, the trick h
ad worked and spiritual growth ensued.
Since the Magical Coyote is the Divine Trickster's Ally, all of the antics of Co
yote are suspect. When a hunter tracks a Coyote, the trail will double back on i
tself many times and can fool even the most experienced tracker to the point of
total frustration. Anyone trying to guess a Heyokah's next move can likewise bec
ome befuddled. Coyote teaches Two-leggeds to find joy in their own foolishness.
When the Heyokah calls upon Coyote to assist him in keeping prying eyes off his
trail, Coyote will assist in a multitude of ways.
I learned my first Coyote lesson in Mexico when Joaquin, my Medicine Teacher, wa
nted me to see how ridiculous my seriousness had become. We spent one whole day
gathering dried Cow dung, Rabbit pellets, Coyote dung, and Owl waste and careful
ly placing each in an old tin bucket. The next day we spent mixing all of it tog
ether, crushing each part into powder and slowly adding water to make a paste. A
fter this was completed, I was told to mark a circle in the earth with string an
d a stick making sure that the circle was perfectly round. Then Joaquin told me
to fill the tiny groove in the soil with all of the paste I had made from all of
the feces. I was very careful to make a perfect circle and not to let any of th
e circle be crooked. Joaquin praised my work and how careful I had been during t
he two-day process. He then told me to enter the circle and sit in the center un
til I understood the value of the lesson.
I sat there for at least three hours, thinking that maybe this was a way to cont
act the Power Animals. Finally Coyote came into my consciousness, took one look
at me, and rolled on the ground in side-splitting laughter. Coyote was laughing
so hard he could not speak. I was fascinated, while still sitting in my circle o
f poop, serious as ever. In between his guffaws, Coyote spit out the words that
taught me my lesson. "For the past three days you've been examining other people
's s***!" he screamed. "Now you've surrounded yourself with it and you are so se
rious you can't even see how ridiculous you look."
I started to laugh at myself as I imagined how Joaquin must be rolling in hyster
ics at the joke he had played on me. I wondered how he could have kept a straigh
t face for two days. It finally came to me that I had spent the previous days wo
rrying about the problems of others. All of those worries had left me, in effect
, sitting in a circle of other people's mental garbage.
The lesson hit me hard, and I laughed until I was aching with no breath and tear
s ran down my face. It has taken me many years to master the lesson and I still
get sucked in the drama of others at times. Joaquin was an excellent Teacher and
even now he will come to me, in spirit, and break my seriousness with more Heyo
kah antics.
The primary lessons of the Heyokah trick us into reveleations rather than giving
us the answers. heyokah is needed when we refuse to allow ourselves alternative
s. The view will always expand if we use the Divine Medicine of laughter. Nothin
g is beyond repair. We may need to use comedy to crack a smile so we can reclaim
our Sacred Space.
Heyokah Medicine can be called upon through Coyote. Remember that the Divine Tri
ckster is the perfect integration of all things wise and foolish, sacred and irr
everent. When we ask for those lessons, we need to be prepared for adventure. We
need to be willing to laugh and to have others laugh with us. We will have achi
eved the ultimate union of opposites when we learn to celebrate more than we mou
rn. The time has come to laugh and reclaim our divine right to find pleasure in
the sacredness of being human.
The Application:
If the Trickster has appeared on your horizon, you are in for a barrel of laughs
. You may be doing exactly the opposite of what you need to be doing and are abo
ut to get busted for it. Stop leaking your creative energy on other people's pro
blems or high drama. Stop being so serious and crack a smile, or Coyote will dog
your dreams. Remember that some days you are the fireplug and some days you are
the Dog. That goes for everyone, so don't let getting pooped on get you down. L
earning through laughter or opposites can be fun.
The keynote to the Heyokah card is to lighten up and start balancing the sacredn
ess with irreverence. If you are just being stubborn, it may be time to create s
ome contrary lesson that will force you to crack up, crack a smile, or trick you
into going int the crack in the universe to find out what's really important!
*I have more I'll be adding.
The Heyoka - A Lakota way of being, a medicine way. A Heyoka is one who does thi
ngs backwards or opposite. The idea that Heyoka is a clown comes from the opposi
te behavior; it is part of the medicine of Heyoka, to remind us we are merely hu
man beings and not to become too serious about ourselves, not to imagine we are
more powerful than we really are, reminding us that Spirit holds all the power.
In this day there are those among the Lakota who pour Heyoka lodges, which are d
irected towards the West and full of laughter. If a Heyoka man messes up he has
the Thunder Nation to deal with. Spirit chooses who is Heyoka; it is a very diff
icult path to follow.
The Heyoka- is a sacred fool, sometimes called a clown with a great deal of powe
r. He does everything backwards. He is yin and yang, sorrow and laughter, good a
nd bad all rolled into one. Heyoka is a one of the most important of the Medicin
e People in the Lakota Nation. Usually Heyokas' are men but some women have Heyo
ka inside them and therefore must become a Heyoka.
**The Heyoka's power comes from the Great Winged Ones, which the whites call Thu
nderbirds. They have control over the weather and certain sicknesses. They are "
Thunder dreamers" and once you have a dream of thunder or lighting you become on
e of these contraries- whether you want to or not.**
The Heyoka has strange and enormous powers even though they make everyone laugh
with their backwards behavior. There is a great reverence and fear of the Heyoka
s as their contrary behavior is intimidating to most people and you never know w
hat they are going to do next 8.
The Heyoka's power is usually used for good but because they are Heyoka one neve
r knows.
Sacred clowns, although they are often portrayed as merely providing comic relie
f in otherwise deadly serious ceremonies, are in reality close to the heart of A
merican Indian religion. As an Apache medicine man explained:
People think that the clown is just nothing, that he is just for fun. That is no
t so. When I make other masked dancers and they do not set things right or can t f
ind out something, I make that clown and he never fails. Many people who know ab
out these things say that the clown is the most powerful.
The Sioux clown, or heyoka, is a man or woman who has received the greatest poss
ible vision, that of the Thunder Being, who is many but only one, moves counter-
sunwise instead of sunwise, is shapeless but has wings, lacks feet but has huge
talons, and is headless but has a huge beak; his voice is the thunderclap and th
e glance of his eye is lightning. During this great vision the person promised t
o work for the Thunder Being on earth in a human way, and until he fulfilled his
promise by announcing that he would give the Heyoka Ceremony, the Thunder Being
was wearing him, even as a medicine man wears an object or a symbol of an object
which is subject to his commands. If he did not serve the Thunder Being by clown
ing before his people, he would be struck and killed by a glance of the Thunder
Being s eye.
During a heyoka impersonation, the new heyoka does seemingly foolish things, suc
h as riding backwards on his horse with his boots on backwards so that he s coming
when he s really going; if the weather is hot he covers himself with blankets and
shivers as with the cold, and he always says yes when he no. These actions, while t
hey expose him to the ridicule of the unthinking, have important meaning. As Lam
e Deer expressed it, Fooling around, a clown is really performing a spiritual cere
mony. Indeed, these actions are a translation, as it were, knowledge of another r
eality: a non-objective, shapeless, unnatural world of pure power or energy symb
olized by lightning. The contrary actions of the heyoka not only demonstrate som
e of the unnatural, anti-sunwise nature of the Thunder Being, but they also open
people. As Black Elk said, the people are made to feel jolly and happy at first,
so that it may be easier for the power to come to them. ~ In the process of gett
ing a good laugh at these backwards-forwards, cold-hot contraries, the people ar
e opened to immediate experience.
In some tribes religious ceremonies cannot even begin until all the people, part
icularly any strangers, have laughed. Among
Eskimos, for example, it often takes an entire night of clowning for the visitor
s from other other villages or tribes to break down and laugh. During a festival
in 1912, the Unalit of St. Michael performed several unsuccessful humourous epi
sodes before the Malemuit and some some Unalit from Unalakleet, until finally th
ey presented an old man wearing a mask adorned with feathers and an erormous nos
e. this man was a caricature of a Yukon Indian; this tribe, called ingkilik, "lo
use-eater," was the chief enemy of both the hosts and visitors. Coming out and s
itting down in the center of the floor, he placed his head on his breast and his
hands in his lap. then, raising his hand to his head, he cracked a louse audibl
y. this was too much for the guests and they howled with laughter. They had resi
sted so long because after laughing they would be at the mercy of their hosts, w
ho could then theoretically demand anything from them. with the visitors complet
ely open before their hosts, the religious drama could begin. On the Northwest C
oast the Haida symbolized this opening of their feast guests while greeting them
on the shore: they burst open thier baggage.
Although the guests of the Haida were prepared for a forceful greeting, they wer
e more often than not annoyed with it. Frequently, roaring laughter is neither t
he desired nor the actual response to ritual humor. For example, the Arapaho "Cr
azy Dancers" are said to "act as ridiculously as possible and annoy everyone in
camp"; the Cahuilla "Funny Man" of Southern
California "annoys people by throwing water on them or dropping live coals down
their backs"; and the Iroquois "False Faces," on entering a house, scoop up hand
fuls of smoldering cinders from the fireplace and spray everyone in sight, sendi
ng them screaming in all directions. The Assiniboine clowns are said to provoke
laughter in their audience, but they also frighten them; when Navajo clowns appr
oach too closely, "the smiles of the women and children quickly change to expres
sions of surprise, tempered with fear"; and Apache children are terrified by clo
wns, having been told that the clowns will put them in their baskets and carry t
hem off to eat them. The "Fool Dancers" of the Kwakiutl, when they are possessed
by supernatural power, move from practical joking, as when they throw stones at
the people or hit them with sticks, to outright terror, stabbing and even occas
ionally killing people.
There is a clue to the potential terror of clowning in the visionary experience
of the Plains clown. Black Elk, a Sioux Holy Man
explained it this way:
When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the west, it comes with terror li
ke a thunder storm; but when the storm of vision has passed, the world is greene
r and happier; for wherever the truth of vision comes upon the world, it is like
a rain. The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the storm. °
A person who had this experience and became a heyoka, a visionary clown, could f
rom then on strut before the lightning of his fear Among the Cheyenne, as among
the Sioux, men and women who had such a vision had to act it out by clowning bef
ore the entire tribe. These people, called Contraries, put up a contrary lodge wit
h its covering inside out, the lodge poles on the outside, and the smoke hole tu
rned in the wrong direction. Dressed in rags, they backed in and out of the lodg
e, and sat against it upside down that is to say, with head and body on the groun
d and legs against the wall while all the people laughed at them. They did many ot
her foolish things, such as run around wildly and pull weeds backwards: they bac
ked up to weeds and pulled them from between their legs. They were said to act l
ike lightning in a storm, thus becoming one with the sacred power they most fear
ed.
The clown s mystical liberation from ultimate cosmic fears brings with it a libera
tion from conventional notions of what is dangerous or sacred in the religious c
eremonies of men. Among the northwestern Maidu of California, clowns interrupt t
he shaman whenever he tries to make a speech and parody everything he says. In th
e Wintu Hesi Ceremony, the most important of all Wintu ceremonies, the clown, wa
lking backwards, precedes the leader all around the inside of the dance house in
perfect step with him, while delivering joking remarks about his bad singing. 3 A
mong the Zuñi of New Mexico, a neweekwe clown may lampoon a Beast Priest (shaman),
wearing a bear paw on his left hand, a wolf snout on his nose, and acting wild.
The clown of the Navajo Mountain Chant burlesques the sacred sleight-of-hand pe
rformances, clumsily revealing their secrets.
Although the clown, by causing people to laugh at shamans and other religious au
thorities, might appear to weaken the very fabric of his society's religion, he
may actually revitalize it by revealing higher truths. For example, the Navajo c
lown who reveals sleight-of-hand tricks is in effect reminding the people that t
hese tricks are not in themselves the power which cures them, but are instead a
symbolic demonstration of power which is itself invisible. A white man cured by
a Navajo medicine man during a Red Ant ceremony asked him whether he really had
red ants in his system. The curer told him, "No, not ants. We have to have a way
of thinking strongly about disease."
Because of the difficulty in seeing other than disruptive meanings for specific
clown actions, I shall give a second example from my own knowledge of religious
symbolism. the most common religious gesture among Pueblo Indians is the feeding
of their katchina dancers (ancestors impersonated by initiated males) by sprink
ling them with corn meal. On occasion, clowns have been known to substitute ashe
s or sweepings from the plaza for corn meal as their own "sacred" offering, whic
h causes people to laugh. The clowns intend this immediate response, but their a
ction also contains a hidden meaning. for ten days before each winter solstice e
very Zuni woman saves her cooking and heating ashes and her sweepings and then o
n the solstice she and her daughters take them to the family corn field and desp
osit them, saying first to the sweepings: "I now deposit you as sweepings but in
one year you will return to me as corn," and then to the ashes: "I now deposti
you as ashes but in one year you will return to me as meal." We can understand h
er assertion on the model of plant germination, which involves the bursting fort
h of life from the decay of the seed pod just as flames may suddenly spring fort
h from smoldering ashes. The clown's offering of ashes, then, can be understood
as an esoteric substitute for corn meal. Here we see the clown's creative edge:
no one else ever deviates from feeding the katchina dancers the corn meal, but t
he clown thinks of a possible variation, and one that is only apparently disresp
ectful.
The ability of American Indian religions to allow room for the disruptive, crazy
, but creative power of the clown in perhaps their greatest strength. Within som
e Indian societies the clown is given his charter for revolution within the text o
f the sacred story of the creation itself. At Acoma Pueblo, the first koshari cl
own "was kind of crazy; he was active, picking around, talking nonesense, talkin
g backwards, saying I know everything, and loudly around the altar, even though it w
as supposed to be very quiet there. It was decided that he should live with his S
un Father because he was not acting normally enough to be here with the people. H
e was different from the other people because he knew something about himself. Fr
om this time on he was o help the sun cross the sky, but he would be called upon
from time to time to help on earth, and since he was not afraid of anything," no
r did he regard anything as sacred, he was to be allowed everywhere. So, although th
e people could not live with such a powerful bundle of energy all of the time, t
hey did need him from time to time. When he was called upon to help on earth it
was always for new ideas. For instance, when the people decided that they needed
a harvest dance in order to get away from the continuous solemnity of the secret
 ceremonies, Country Chief called upon Koshari because he knew of no new way to da
nce and he wanted to leave it to Koshari to arrange the dance and instruct the p
eople in it. For Koshari had power to do this. The Acoma avert the possibility of
the stagnation of their religion in excessive esotericism by including the clow
n.
In other creation stories from the Southwest the clown leads the people out of t
he darkness of the underworld into the knowledge of daylight, thereby assuming a
n even more central position within the religion. At Isleta Pueblo k apyo shure c
lowns used their horns in order to tunnel upwards to the earth s surface so that t
he people could come out. At Zia both koshairi and kwiraina clowns helped the pe
ople emerge by leading them up through the four underworids by means of four tre
es which they strengthened by their clowning:
They told him to make the tree firm and strong. So he climbed the tree doing fun
ny things, shaking the branches as he went up....Then he told them the tree was
now ready and strong and they started to ascend. Koshairi went first and then th
e three mothers and all of the societies and the people in the order in which th
ey had been created.
By preparing the trees for climbing and making the tunnel through the earth thes
e Pueblo clowns opened the way for their people to follow them out of the earth
(ignorance) into the sunlight (knowledge).
The Jicarilla Apache, however, did not see this sunlight world purely good, but
as containing disease; the clown that led them
out of the dark earth (thought of as perfectly spiritual and holy) was equipped
with a horrible non-human laugh which scared
way the sickness on the earth s surface. In this origin story we learn a basic cur
ing technique which is still practiced today by clowns in many tribes. Just as t
hese Apache clowns kept smallpox and other epidemics away from the people with t
heir sudden terrifying laugh, the Assiniboine, Plains Cree, and Plains Ojibwa cl
owns scare disease out of the people. Navajo clowns during their Mud Dance all o
f a sudden stop dancing and rush up to a sick person and lift him high above the
ir heads, sometimes tossing him into the air. The Cheyenne Contraries also cure by
quickly lifting people into the air, sometimes holding the head downward. Anothe
r curing method is to run up to a person very fast; in a threatening manner, and
then either jump over him or else throw a piece of boiling-hot dog meat at him.
By startling people in these ways clowns reverse their polarity, as it were, cur
ing them by releasing them from any idle thoughts or worries. This clearing of w
orry from the mind is both an ethical value and an important preventative health
concept. The Tewa beautifully express this ethic within one of their most impor
tant
Now go to your homes
Without worry
Without weeping
Without sadness.
At Zuñi, before a man puts on his mask to impersonate the dead (an action which mi
ght well worry him), he is reminded to make his mind a blank, just forget about w
orries ; otherwise he could be taken over by the terrible power of the mask and di
e. At Hopi the clown himself must go out there with a happy heart, a heart withou
t worry, to help his people. Releasing oneself from worry is central to much Amer
ican Indian thought; as the Hopis have it, disease and death are primarily caused
by worry, which settles particularly in the stomach, causing it to harden. The c
lown, as the enemy of worry, is also the curer of the stomach. The Zuñi neweekwe c
lowns are the medicine men par excellence of the tribe, whose special province is
the cure of all diseases of the stomach the elimination of poisons from the syste
ms of the victims of sorcery or imprudence. At Acoma, where it is the chayani (ma
gician or shaman) who actually makes the medicine for stomach troubles, the clow
n takes this medicine without permission and goes among the people, administerin
g it to them through his own mouth. They prefer him to the chayani because he kno
ws no sadness, pain, or sickness.
The clown himself is immune from stomach problems, that is, from poisoning. Amon
g the California Maidu, the pehei pe clown was the chief of the ceremony of yomepa
or poisons, powerful substances owned by shamans which killed on contact. The Sout
hwestern clown demonstrates his immunity by eating filth of all sorts without an
y visible harm. These scatalogical rites have quite naturally attracted much des
criptive attention. As early as 1882 Adolph Bandelier, reporting on a clown perf
ormance at Cochiti Pueblo, noted that the whole is a filthy, obscene affair. [The
y were] drinking urine out of bowls and jars used as privies on the house tops,
eating excrements and dirt.
At Zuñi Cushing described a neweekwe clown, or glutton, as eating bits of stick and r
efuse, unmentionable water, live puppies or dead, no matter peaches, stone and all,
in fact everything soft enough or small enough to be forced down his gullet, inc
luding wood ashes and pebbles. During the koshari initiation at Acoma, one of the
old members took a dish, urinated in it and mixed this with the medicine (herbs)
, another put phlegm from his nose in it, and the woman who was a koshari pulled
out some pubic hair and threw it in.
At Hopi during the Horned Water Serpent, dance the seven chuku clowns eagerly dr
ank three gallons of well aged, particularly foul-smelling urine, rubbing their b
ellies after each draught and shouting, Very sweet! " The Jicarilla Apache clowns,
whose name means Striped Excrement, eat both dog and child feces; this makes their
bodies very powerful, enabling them to dance ecstatically for hours, amusing an
d curing the people. Just before they eat this medicine they say, Wa! four times, im
itating the sound people make when they are going to vomit. These clowns, known
for their ability to cure vomiting, never give their medicine" to anyone except t
hemselves; for others, they chew small sun- and moon-shaped breads which they we
ar around their necks and then administer these, partially masticated, to the si
ck person.
Thus the clown, even though he is a curer, has no medicine of his own; he either
uses medicine that belongs to others, or else his "medicine is nothing but commo
n filth. All he has, otherwise, is himself and his own actions. In a word, clown
s are poor, or at least they appear to be. All over North America they wear shab
by clothing or even rags; they beg for and even steal food. Poor though they may
be, they are also powerful and potentially terrifying, so that the people willi
ngly give them anything when they go on begging tours. Zuñis, for example, give aw
ay whole dressed sheep or deer or bushels of apples, cantaloups, and watermelons to
their koyemshi clowns, because they are very dangerous, and whoever withholds foo
d from them will injure himself he will burn himself." During the Iroquois Midwint
er Ceremony, beggars wearing False Face masks and rags or a parody of women s dress ve
ry short skirts, out-size bras, girdles, and the like go fron house to house coll
ecting tobacco or food. If anyone refuses then they throw dirt on them or else s
imply steal whatever they want. The theft of food is common clown behavior in Ca
lifornia, when the Miwok clowns are allowed to enter any home for this express p
urpose.
The aggressive shamelessness the clowns display in their quest for food is also
extended to sex. They talk about, sing about, and even perform shocking sexual d
isplays in societies which are normally quite modest. For example, Jemez clowns m
ake advances toward women ; Ponca clowns crawl up and touch a woman s genitalia in fu
ll daylight ; and Kwakiutl clowns jest with chiefs daughters, often making pointed
references to sex. In the Southeast, Creek clowns, while singing obscene songs d
uring the Crazy Dance, make sexual motions and even come into bodily contact wit
h women, touching and rubbing against their genitals. The Pueblo clowns formerly
wore enormous dildos, and sometimes they displayed their own genitals. Among th
e Arizona Tewa, Alexander Stephen saw a clown snatch off another clown s breech cl
out and literally drag him by the penis nearly the whole length of th dance court
, and in California, Yuki clowns hold each other penises during their frolics. In th
e Plains, Crow clowns simulate intercourse with a horse made of willow bark; eas
t of the Plains, the Fox clowns, imitating stallions during the Mule Dance, perf
ormed indecent antics ; and in the Southwest the koyemshi clowns tell the people at
Sha lako, the most important religious ceremony at Zuñi, to go out and copulate with
rams.
From an 1880 entry in Bandelier s diary we learn of a particularly intense example
 of sexual display at Cochiti Pueblo:
They chased after her, carried her back and threw her down in the center. of the
plaza, then while one was performing the coitus from behind, another was doing
it against her head. Of course, all was simulated, and not the real act, as the
woman was dressed. The naked fellow performed masturbation in the center of the
plaza or very near it, alternately with a black rug and his hand. Everybody laug
hed.41
Such performances as this would have to get some response from everyone present,
including foreigners, and indeed they did. As the American anthropologist Julia
n Steward noted, funny as these are to the natives, however, they have elicited o
nly emotions of repugnance and disgust from even the ethnologist. Whatever the at
tiudes of ethnologists, it is fortunate that at least some of them made a record
of such displays (often using Latin instead of English) while they still flouri
shed. The objections and interferences of Protestant missionaries have been unre
lenting, and during the 1920s the Bureau of Indian Affairs indulged in one last
fling at religious persecution. Obscene practices were one of the principal target
s of the Bureau s religious crimes code, and clown performances have never been quit
e the same since.
My last example, reported from Hopi at the turn of the century by Alexander Step
hen, contains an important detail suggesting an
esoteric interpretation. A clown dressed as a woman comes into the plaza with a
basin of water and proceeds to wash her legs while displaying a great false vulva
and turning around so that all the spectators can see and laugh at it. Then anot
her clown wearing a large false penis made of a gourd neck comes in, climbs on t
op of "her," and proceeds to imitate copulation with her with the utmost grossnes
s right on the sacred shrine. This clowning episode, centering itself as it did o
n top of the shrine, might be interpreted as revealing the higher truth of a non
-attachment to shrines, altars, or other religious objects; it certainly demonst
rates the clown s own non-attachment.
Here, as at other clown performances, the onlookers are opened to immediate expe
rience by laughter or shock; their minds
cleared of whatever worries they brought with them. It may be possible to attend
a church service without so much as a smile, but American Indian religion, like
Zen Buddhism, has a place for laughter, the laughter that goes with a sudden op
ening or dislocation in the universe. R. H. Blyth, one of the foremost Western s
tudents of Zen, has said that for him laughter is a breakthrough of the intellect
ual barrier; at the moment of laughing something is understood; it needs no proo
f of itself. . . . When we laugh we are free of all the oppression of our person
ality, or that of others, and even of God, who is indeed laughed away. Or, as a Z
en monk explained, a well-placed, unexpected kick from his master helped him to
attain enlightenment, and since I received that kick from Ma Tsu, I haven t been ab
le to stop laughing. Or, as Black Elk put it, the people are made to feel jolly an
d happy at first, so that it may be easier for the power to come to them." And,
as the Acomas say of the first clown, He knew something about himself.
Thunderbird and Trickster
Introduction
The Thunderbird is one of the few cross-cultural elements of Native North Americ
an mythology. He is found not just among Plains Indians, but also among Pacific
Northwest and Northeastern tribes. He has also become quite a bit of an icon for
non-Indians, since he has also had the honor of having automobiles, liquors, an
d even a United States Air Force squadron named after him. Totems bearing his re
presentation can be found all over the continent. There have been a number of cu
rious theories about the origins of the Thunderbird myth - ones which I will sho
w are probably wrongheaded.
In this paper, moreover, I want to examine how the myths and legends of the Thun
derbird tie into the sacred clowning/trickster ritual complex of Plains tribes s
uch as the Lakota. I will show how the Thunderbird is intimately connected to th
is complex, and attempt to explain why. It is the intimate association between t
hese two traditions that may help explain some features of Plains culture and fo
lklore. Aspects of the Thunderbird myth only make sense in light of these associ
ations.
Plains Indians myth and folklore
In order to understand Plains Indians folklore, we have to realize that their my
ths were not just "just-so" stories to entertain, divert, or make inadequate eff
orts at naturalistic explanation. Rather, Indian myth functioned in religious, p
edagogical, and initiatory ways, to help socialize young people and illuminate t
he various religious and other roles in society. Indian myth was always fluid, a
nd grounded in the present, which is what might be expected of societies which l
argely lacked static, written traditions. Storytelling was an art which was main
tained by the medicine people with great fidelity, because it was used to explai
n the development of certain rituals and elements of society. (Hines 1992)
Some have looked at the Thunderbird myths through the same lens of understanding
applied to European mythology. The Thunderbird is like the Indo-European dragon
or ogre or Leviathan, a huge monster who kidnaps virginal maidens, and who must
be slain by the brave hero. Or the Thunderbird is simply treated as some kind o
f fantastic oddity, like the mythical unicorn or mermaid - an impossible constru
ction borne from the extremes of the imagination. Both these attempts at explain
ing myth lose the important point of seeing Thunderbird as a personification of
energies in nature - those found in violent thunderstorms and such - and his cru
cial dual nature.
Still, the Indians were not merely "mythmaking" in the pejorative sense. They no
more literally believed in a giant bird generating storms through the beating o
f its wings, then Christians today literally believe in their divine being as an
old man with a beard sitting on a marble throne. Thunderbird is an allegory; hi
s conflicts with other forces in nature are then an attempt to allegorize relati
onships observed in the natural order, such as the changing of the weather. Like
other Thunder Beings, he is essentially an attempt to represent the patterns of
activity of a powerful, mysterious force in a way that can be understood simply
and easily - sort of the way in which a weather map functions today. (Edmonds a
nd Clark 1989)
The Plains Indians believed that everything that was found in nature had a human
representative in microcosm. Everything in nature often contained its own oppos
ite polarity, hence the expected existence of beings such as contraries, women w
arriors, and berdaches. Because the Thunderbird in particular represented this m
ysterious dual aspect of nature, manifest through the primordial power of thunde
rstorms, it is not surprising that his representatives were the heyoka or sacred
clowns, who displayed wisdom through seemingly foolhardy action. Western thinki
ng has prevented us from seeing the reasons why Indians perceived this connectio
n. Few anthropologists have sought to locate how Thunderbird may have been mytho
logically linked to Trickster.
The Nature of Thunderbird
In Plains tribes, the Thunderbird is sometimes known as Wakinyan, from the Dakot
a word kinyan meaning "winged." Others suggest the word links the Thunderbird to
wakan, or sacred power. In many stories, the Thunderbird is thought of as a gre
at Eagle, who produces thunder from the beating of his wings and flashes lightni
ng from his eyes. (Descriptions are vague because it is thought Thunderbird is a
lways surrounded by thick, rolling clouds which prevent him from being seen.) Fu
rther, there were a variety of beliefs about Thunderbird, which suggest a somewh
at complicated picture. Usually, his role is to challenge some other great power
and protect the Indians - such as White Owl Woman, the bringer of winter storms
; the malevolent Unktehi, or water oxen who plague mankind; the horned serpents;
Wochowsen, the enemy bird; or Waziya, the killing North Wind. But in some other
legends (not so much in the Plains), Thunderbird is himself malevolent, carryin
g off people (or reindeer or whales) to their doom, or slaying people who seek t
o cross his sacred mountain. (Erdoes and Ortiz 1984)
Many Plains Indians claim there are in fact four colors (varieties) of Thunderbi
rds (the blue ones are said, strangely, to have no ears or eyes), sometimes asso
ciated with the four cardinal directions, but also sometimes only with the west
and the western wind. (According to the medicine man Lame Deer, there were four,
 one at each compass point, but the western one was the Greatest and most senior
.) (Fire and Erdoes 1972) The fact that they are sometimes known as "grandfather
s" suggest they are held in considerable reverence and awe. It is supposed to be
very dangerous to approach a Thunderbird nest, and many are supposed to have di
ed in the attempt, swept away by ferocious storms. The symbol of Thunderbird is
the red zig-zag, lightning-bolt design, which some people mistakenly think repre
sents a stairway. Most tribes feel he and the other Thunder beings were the firs
t to appear in the Creation, and that they have an especially close connection t
o wakan tanka, the Great Mysterious. (Gill and Sullivan 1992)
The fact that Thunderbird sometimes appears as something that terrorizes and pla
gues Indians, and sometimes as their protector and liberator (in some myths, he
was once an Indian himself) is said to reflect the way thunderstorms and violent
weather are seen by Plains people. On the one hand, they bring life-giving rain
(Thunderbird is said to be the creator of 'wild rice' and other Plains Indians
crops); on the other hand, they bring hail, flood, and lightning and fire. It is
not clear where with them worship and awe end, and fear and terror begin. Some
Indians claim that there are good and bad Thunderbirds, and that these beings ar
e at war with each other. Others claim that the large predatory birds which are
said to kidnap hunters and livestock are not Thunderbirds at all. Largely, I sus
pect that this dual nature of the Thunderbird ties it to the Trickster figure in
Indian belief: like the Trickster, the harm the Thunderbird causes is mostly be
cause it is so large and powerful and primeval.
Origins of the Thunderbird Myth
Cryptozoologists like Mark A. Hall, having studied the Thunderbird myths of nume
rous tribes, and compared them to (mostly folkloric) accounts of unusually large
birds in modern times, as well as large birds (like the Roc) in other mythic tr
aditions, suggest that there may well be a surviving species of large avians in
America - big enough, apparently, to fly off carrying small animals or children,
as has been claimed in some accounts. (Hall suggests the wingspan of such a spe
cies would be several feet longer than any known birds - certainly bigger than t
hat of the turkey vulture or other identifiable North American species.) (Hall 1
988) Such researchers feel the Thunderbird myth may have originated from sightin
gs of a real-life flesh-and-blood avian which might be an atavism from earlier e
pochs (a quasi-pterodactyl or teratorn, perhaps.)
However, the big problem with this theory is that most ornithologists consider i
t to be quite farfetched. If such a species existed (a situation akin to the fol
kloric Sasquatch), it would be amazing that to this point it has remained uniden
tified and uncatalogued. A species of birds that big, unless it consisted of an
extremely small number of members, would find it hard to avoid detection for lon
g. Hall does suggest the possibility that maybe, like the mastodon, these large
birds were hunted to extinction prior to the arrival of Europeans on the North A
merican continent. Still, the other problem with his theory is that it ignores w
hat Indians themselves have to say about the Thunderbird.
They describe the Thunderbird as a spiritual, not just physical, being. It is no
t seen as just a large, fearsome predatory bird that people tell stories about.
Rather, it's an integral part of Plains Indians religion and ritual. Only by ign
oring this fact could we put our Western ethnocentric biases into effect, and re
duce it to a zoological curiosity. The Thunderbird is much more than that; the I
ndian attitude toward it comes from more than just the mere fact that it is supp
osed to be really big. To understand the origins of Thunderbird myths, it's nece
ssary to see how they connect with other elements of Indian belief and ceremony
- especially the Trickster complex - and see how they fit into the structure of
Plains Indian myth as a whole.
Clowning around in Plains Indian culture
Clowning, like the icon of the Thunderbird, could be found in almost every North
American Indian society. In every case, it involved ridiculous behavior, but on
the Plains it especially exhibited inversion and reversal as elements of satire
. There were four types of clown societies on the Plains - age-graded societies,
military societies, the northern plains type, and the heyoka shamanistic societ
ies. The behaviors of all sorts of clowns revolved around a few basic themes or
attributes: burlesque, mocking the sacred, playing pranks or practical jokes, ma
king obscene jokes or gestures, caricature of others, exhibiting gross gluttony
or extreme appetite, strange acts of self-mortification or self-deprecation, and
taunting of enemies or strangers. (Steward 1991)
The age-graded clown societies primarily consisted of older people who had been
inducted into their ranks - groups such as the Gros Ventre Crazy Lodge or the Hi
datsa Dog Society. These clowns were assumed to simply be playing a role appropr
iate to their sodality, rather than receiving some sort of supernatural inspirat
ion. They carried out certain expected ritual performances on proscribed days, s
uch as the Crazy Dance or the imitation of animals. In contrast, the military cl
own societies such as the Cheyenne Inverted Bow String Warriors, often carried c
omical or ridiculous weapons, but were also expected to show absurd bravery in b
attle, provoking the enemy into giving up its discipline and cohesion with taunt
s and insults. Not surprisingly, they sometimes rode their horses backwards into
battle.
The northern plains clowns, found among tribes such as the Ojibway, wore masks w
hich made them appear to be two-faced, and costumes of rags which made them appe
ar comical. All of these three types of clown societies practiced a sort of conv
entionalized or patterned sort of anti-natural behavior. That is, they might do
something which seemed strange or contrary, but under somewhat regular condition
s. You knew when they might do something weird - and there were times when they
were forbidden to perform their antics. Further, they might often "give up" the
clowning way of life, and return to a non-contrary state by marrying and engagin
g in a more normal mode of existence.
The heyoka were different in three primary ways from the other sorts of clowns.
They were truly unpredictable, and could do the unexpected or tasteless even dur
ing the most solemn of occasions. Moreso than other clowns, they really seemed t
o be insane. Also, they were thought to be more inspired by trans-human supernat
ural forces (as individuals driven by spirits rather than group conventions), an
d to have a closer link to wakan or power than other clowns. And lastly, they ke
pt their role for life - it was a sacred calling which could not be given up wit
hout performing an agonizing ritual of expiation. Not surprisingly, these unique
differences were seen as the result of their having visions of Thunderbird, a u
nique and transforming experience.
Testimony of Black Elk: the heyoka and lightning
The Oglala Indian Black; Elk had some interesting things to say about the heyoka
ceremony, which he himself participated in. Black Elk describes the "dog in boi
ling water" ceremony in some detail. He also describes the bizarre items he had
to carry as a heyoka, and the crazy antics he had to perform with his companions
. He also attempts to explain the link between the contrary trickster nature of
heyokas with that of Thunderbird.
"When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the West, it comes with terror l
ike a thunder storm; but when the storm of vision has passed, the world is green
er and happier; for wherever the truth of vision comes upon the world, it is lik
e a rain. The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the storm... you ha
ve noticed that truth comes into this world with two faces. One is sad with suff
ering, and the other laughs; but it is the same face, laughing or weeping. When
people are already in despair, maybe the laughing is better for them; and when t
hey feel too good and are too sure of being safe, maybe the weeping face is bett
er. And so I think this is what the heyoka ceremony is for ... the dog had to be
killed quickly and without making any scar, as lightning kills, for it is the p
ower of lightning that heyokas have." (quoted in Neihardt 1959: 160)
Today, of course, Western physicists describe the dual nature of electricity. An
object can carry a positive or negative electric charge. The electron is simult
aneously a wave and a particle. Electricity and magnetism are thought to be aspe
cts of the same force, and as is well know with magnetism, it comes in polaritie
s, with opposite poles (north and south) attracting. Though the Indians did not
have access to our modern scientific instruments, they are likely to have observ
ed some of the same properties in lightning. Thus it would have been intuitive t
o link the dual spiritual nature of the heyoka (tragicomedy - solemn joking - jo
y united with pain) with the dual nature of electricity.
Thunderbird and Heyoka, the Sacred Clown
It was believed among the Lakota and other tribes that if you had a dream or vis
ion of birds, you were destined to be a medicine man; but if you had a vision of
Thunderbird, it was your destiny to become something else; heyoka, or sacred cl
own. Like Thunderbird, the heyoka were at once feared and held in reverence. The
y were supposed to startle easily at the first sound of thunder or first sight o
f lightning. Thunderbird supposedly inspired the "contrariness" of the heyoka th
rough his own contrary nature. He alternates strong winds with calm ones. While
all things in nature move clockwise, Thunderbird is said to move counterclockwis
e. Thunderbird is said to have sharp teeth, but no mouth; sharp claws, but no li
mbs; huge wings, but no body. All of these things suggest Thunderbird (and the h
eyoka) have a curious, paradoxical, contrary nature. You could become heyoka thr
ough a vision of the Thunderbird, or just of lightning or a formidable winged be
ing of power. (Steiger 1974)
While clown societies were found throughout the Plains, the heyoka, or sacred cl
owns, were usually few in number, but were found in almost every clan. Heyoka we
re contraries, often speaking and walking backwards. They acted in ridiculous, o
bscene, and comical ways, especially during sacred ceremonies. They were thought
to be fearless and painless, able to seize a piece of meat out of a pot of boil
ing water. They often dressed in a bizarre and ludicrous manner, wearing conical
hats, red paint, a bladder over the head (to simulate baldness), and bark earri
ngs. The heyoka was thought to usually carry various sacred items - a deer hoof
rattle, a colored bow, a flute, or drum. His "anti-natural" nature was thought t
o be shamanistic in origin -- and as a contrary, he was expected to act silly an
d foolhardy during battle (although this was found more among warrior clown soci
eties such as the Cheyenne Inverted Warriors.)
However insulting or sacrilegious heyoka actions might be, they were tolerated,
since it was assumed they were acting on the higher and more inscrutable imperat
ives of the Great Mystery. Heyoka were freed from all the ordinary constraints o
f life, and thus were usually not expected to marry, have children, or participa
te in the work of the tribe. Despite their bizarre acts (such as dressing in war
m clothes during summer or wearing things inside out), they were trusted as heal
ers, interpreters of dreams, and people of great medicine. Whenever they interru
pted the solemnity of a ceremony, people took it as an admonition to see beyond
the literalness of the ritual and into the deeper mysteries of the sacred. Like
the flash of lightning, the heyoka's sudden outbursts and disturbances were thou
ght to be the keys to enlightenment - much like the absurd acts of Zen masters i
n Japan. (Hultkrantz 1987)
Thunderbird and Trickster
Part of the link between heyoka and Thunderbird comes from Iktomi, the Trickster
figure. Iktomi zis said to be heyoka because he has seen and talked with Thund
erbird. Iktomi is the first-born son of Inyan (rock), and is said to speak with
rocks and stones. Like Coyote and other Trickster figures, Iktomi likes to pull
pranks on people, but is just as often the victim of tricks and misfortunes. Thi
s makes him at once a culture hero, and a figure to be feared and avoided. Iktom
i was thought to be a hypersexual predator, one who frequently pursued winchinch
alas (young virgins) who bathed in streams, through various methods of deceit. Y
et his pursuits and antics often wound up with him inadvertently getting hurt or
winding up in trouble.
Paul Radin suggests that Iktomi and other Trickster figures are akin to the Grea
t Fool or Wild Man of European folklore, who often shows up in the Feast of Fool
s and other ceremonies where the social order is turned topsy-turvy. (Radin 1956
) Jung, following his lead, claims the Trickster as an archetypal part of the co
llective unconscious; and his "crazy wisdom" as emblematic of humankind's earlie
r, undivided, unindividuated consciousness. Iktomi and other tricksters seem to
be at the constant mercy of their desires; yet their blind luck always seems to
protect them from the consequences of their missteps. He is dangerous primarily
because he is so powerful, yet so rarely has the forethought or good judgment to
use his power wisely. Radin and others proclaim him the representative of untam
ed, unpredictably wild nature, within the confines of culture.
In other cultural traditions, thunder and lightning are connected with the unexp
ected. We talk about a "bolt out of the blue." In American folk culture, there a
re a host of legendary stories of mysterious cures or transformations wrought by
someone being struck by lightning. It's at once dangerous, and a symbol of sudd
en, shocking revelation and inspiration. It's also the primary weapon in most pa
ntheons of the chief sky god (such as Zeus in Greek mythology.) For the Plains I
ndians, thunder and lightning symbolized the vast, uncontrollable energy of natu
re. It's not surprising, then, that the Thunderbird is connected with the strang
e, uncontrollable force of the Trickster figure, and his avatar, the heyoka.
Significance of the Trickster Figure and "Contrariness" in Plains Society
Psychological anthropologists, especially those oriented toward psychoanalytic t
heory and depth psychology, point to the Trickster figure as a sort of important
cultural "release valve." He represents the "return of the repressed," the Dion
ysian aspects of life only temporarily held in abeyance by the Apollonian forces
of civilization. The carnivals and feasts held in honor of fools in Europe, sug
gest some anthropologists, are "outlets," allowing people to invert the social o
rder temporarily as a way of promoting its continuity in the long run (avoiding
its ultimate collapse.) The ruler is dressed in peasants' clothes, and some igno
rant serf is crowned king. Symbols of authority normally held in extreme reveren
ce are mocked and desecrated.
Clowns and contraries in Plains societies do not just come out once a year, howe
ver. They are permanent parts of the society, and are seen as continual reminder
s of the contingency and arbitrariness of the social order. Long before French t
heorists came on the scene, the heyoka was reminding his own people about the so
cial construction of reality. By doing everything backwards, the heyoka in a way
is carrying out a constant experiment in ethnomethodology, showing people how t
heir own expectations limit their behavior. Like a good performance artist, the
shocking behavior of the heyoka is supposed to confront people and make them rec
onsider what they may have arbitrarily accepted as normal. It's to "jolt" them o
ut of their ordinary frames of mind. (Steward 1991)
More importantly, as a representative of Thunderbird and Trickster, the heyoka r
eminds his people that the primordial energy of nature is beyond good and evil.
It doesn't correspond to human categories of right and wrong. It doesn't always
follow our preconceptions of what is expected and proper. It doesn't really care
about our human woes and concerns. Like electricity, it can be deadly dangerous
, or harnessed for great uses. If we're too narrow or parochial in trying to und
erstand it, it will zap us in the middle of the night. Like any good trickster,
the heyoka plays pranks on others in his culture not to make them feel embarrass
ed and stupid, but to show them ways they could start being more smart.
The Account of John (Fire) Lame Deer: Heyoka and ASC
Lame Deer calls the heyoka the "upside-down, forward-backward, icy-hot contrary.
" He describes in detail one particular heyoka trick which may give some clues t
o the nature of their antics. Apparently, they would grab pieces of dog meat out
of a pot of boiling water, and fling them at a crowd of people, without being b
urned or harmed in any way. (Why dog meat? Lame Deer gives a clue when he says,
"For the heyoka, he says god when he means dog, and dog when he means god.") Lam
e Deer suggests before doing this they chewed a grayish moss called tapejuta. I
suspect that heyoka were able to perform this feat through going into trance, an
altered state of consciousness, by utilizing this and other psychotropic plants
on occasion.
More importantly, I think they induced trance in others through their contrary b
ehavior. Psychologists have noted that trance does not always occur through rhyt
hmic repetition. Another way in which it occurs (the "paradoxical state") is thr
ough a sudden shock to the nervous system. Ethnomethodologists have often noted
the blank, glassy stares and strange states produced by violating peoples' expec
tations - by, for example, getting into an elevator and facing the other people
in it. It's in such "paradoxical states" that people often may assimilate new in
formation quickly, without filtering. They also may be able to "abreact" psychol
ogical trauma. For these reasons, the heyoka may have been seen as a source of w
isdom and healing.
Lame Deer seems to suggest the power of trance is connected to the power of Thun
derbird. As a paradoxical state of consciousness, it ties into the paradoxical e
nergy of thunder and lightning. The crash of thunder can startle us and wake us
up out of dreaming sleep. The trance of the heyoka comes from sacred power. He t
ies it all together in a way that's fairly succinct:
" These Thunderbirds are part of the Great Spirit. Theirs is about the greatest
power in the whole universe. It is the power of the hot and the cold clashing ab
ove the clouds. It is blue lightning from the sun. It is like atomic power. The
thunder power protects and destroys. It is good and bad; the great winged power.
We draw the lightning as a forked zigzag, because lightning branches out into a
good and bad part... In our Indian belief, the clown has a power which comes fr
om the thunder beings, not from the animals or the Earth. He has more power than
the atom bomb, he could blow off the dome of the Capitol. Being a clown gives y
ou honor, but also shame. It brings you power, but you have to pay for it." (quo
ted in Erdoes 1972: 251)
Conclusion
The Thunderbird's association with heyoka clowns is not simply serendipitous. Th
e fact that the Thunderbird displays many paradoxical and contradictory attribut
es links it to Trickster figures and to the contraries of Plains Indians culture
. This culture complex probably resulted from Indian beliefs about nature and th
e ways in which thunder and lightning exemplified the manners in which it could
be at once capricious, beneficent, and destructive. The Thunderbird's own link t
o the original Great Mystery suggests that the role of the sacred clown was seen
as one of the highest in Plains society - like wandering fools in Europe, they
were thought to be touched by the Divine power itself. Like Thunderbird himself,
the heyoka was thought to be a conduit to forces that defied comprehension, and
by his absurd, backwards behavior he was merely showing the ironic, mysterious
dualities that existed within the universe itself.
There is much that we can learn from Native American traditions about the concep
t of "heyoka," that is, doing things in a backwards, or opposite manner to help
us stay energetically in a good state of flow.
If you've ever felt different, like you don't quite belong, then you may identif
y with the magic of the Heyoka story. Many of us will zig while others zag. We m
ay be happy at times when others are sad, and vice versa. We will be taking brea
th in when others are exhaling. We may even read books backwards; from front to
back, or even read from right to left. For the most part, these inherent "backwa
rd" urges are programmed in our DNA.
In some Native American cultures, the heyoka is honored as a sacred-clown who te
aches the value of purposefully acting in a manner opposite to our natural insti
ncts so that we don't get too serious. The heyoka is not comfortable with too mu
ch linearity, predictability, or social order. The heyoka has an intimate relati
onship with ambiguity and chaos as tools of spiritual advancement. If you have h
eyoka power, you may use this type of energy naturally, and often to your own em
barrassment! You may spill food all over your shirts during meals, trip youself
up at the most inoportune times, and/or constantly lose important items. These h
eyoka moments help us to take ourselves less seriously.
Even if you aren't Heyoka by nature, the universe will give us days to experienc
e the Heyoka energy. For instance, I recently asked a coaching client to tune in
to the energy that I was projecting toward her over the phone. When I asked her
to concentrate on the subtleties of the jangled, anxious energy I was sending (
as a teaching tool), she perceived it as completely calm and tranquil. When I pr
ojected feelings of being on a tropical island, it made her nervous and she felt
her heart chakra close. I got excited at this because it allowed for a discussi
on of heyoka.
I have been learning from some Native American elders for the last 5 years about
indigenous healing traditions (which is a very short time in that tradition, by
the way). My first teacher was such a clown. During spiritual ceremony, at the
end of important talks to the people, he would tell us that he based his lesson
on that morning's CNN broadcast. "I get my best material from CNN," he would cac
kle. This, of course, caused all of us to drop our ultra-serious spiritual warri
or attitude and see how easily we can give our own power away.
During another sacred ceremony, when the spiritual and emotional energy was so h
igh it seemed many of us couldn't take it anymore, he gave us each a bowl of gre
en jello and whipped cream and asked us to pray to our whipped cream. The result
ing laughter and ridiculousness was priceless.
In many indigenous cultures, heyoka power is associated with the animal Coyote.
This animal is full of tricks. Coyotes are notorious for zig zagging and fooling
even the most experienced hunters. If you need a good laugh, at your own expens
e, ask the animal spirit of the coyote to come into your life. You will be starr
ing in your own Candid Camera episodes before you know it! Do some additional re
search on this topic; you'll be suprised at how you may see yourself in what you
read.
Why is it important to know about Heyoka? Because there are times when our norma
lly reliable perception and trusty intuition may be purposefully fooling us. On
certain days, it may be best to do the exact opposite of what your empathic intu
ition tells you. With time and refinement, you will be able to discern when this
might be happening for you. It's random and unpredictable; and because of this,
it helps us pay closer attention and listen more carefully.

Friday, October 10, 2008

The Power of Heyoka
DOING THINGS BACKWARDS; TEACHING US ABOUT OPPOSITES.
What is heyoka? Heyoka has it's roots in Native American culture and is all abou
t the power of doing things backwards to help us stay energetically in a good st
ate of flow.
In addition being empathic and having a sensitive nervous system that is program
med
to pick up all sorts of nifty energy, many of us are energetically hard-wired "b
ackwards." If you've ever felt different, like you don't quite belong, then you
may identify with the magic of the Heyoka story. Many of us will zig while other
s zag. We may be happy at times when others are sad, and vice versa. We will be
taking breath in when others are exhaling. We may even read books backwards; fro
m front to back, or even read from right to left. For the most part, these inher
ent "backward" urges are programmed in our DNA.
In some Native American cultures, the heyoka is honored as a sacred clown who te
aches the value of purposefully acting in a manner opposite to our natural insti
ncts so that we don't get too serious. The heyoka is not comfortable with too mu
ch linearity, predictability, or social order. The heyoka has an intimate relati
onship with ambiguity and chaos as tools of spiritual advancement. If you have h
eyoka power, you may use this type of energy naturally. These heyoka moments hel
p us to take ourselves less seriously.Even if you aren't Heyoka by nature, the U
niverse will give us days to experience the Heyoka energy.
For instance, I recently asked a friend to tune in to the energy that I was proj
ecting toward her over the phone. When I asked her to concentrate on the subtlet
ies of the jangled, anxious energy I was sending, she perceived it as completely
calm and tranquil. When I projected feelings of being on a tropical island, it
made her nervous and she felt her heart chakra close.
Why is it important to know about Heyoka? Because there are times when our norma
lly reliable empathic perception and trusty intuition may be purposefully foolin
g us. On certain days, it may be best to do the exact opposite of what your empa
thic intuition tells you. With time and refinement, you will be able to discern
when this might be happening for you. It's random and unpredictable; and because
of this, it helps us pay closer attention and listen more carefully.
"The elders speak, too, of the 'heyoka', a person who, in vision or dreams is vi
sited by the Thunder Beings, and who assists humanity in it's exploration into t
he new worlds. The 'heyoka', too, becomes one who is contrary to the accustomed
and accepted rules of society. The 'heyoka' does so precisely to push the fold
of accepted reality, to sound the wake-up call. According to Ogalala Sioux Eld
er, Looks-for-Buffalo, "The Heyoka is the counterpoint to the Thunder Beings who
repeatedly dissolve the existing order and fashion a new arrangement from the p
ieces.
"Not all 'heyokas' are indigenous peoples, many are living among modern society.
Modern day heyokas are charged to live as witnesses against the corruption of
the Fourth World and to assist the shift into the Fifth World, as planetary midw
ifes."
From Lame Deer Seeker of Visions:
"Another kind of medicine man is the heyoka, the sacred clown."
"To us a clown is somebody sacred, funny, powerful, ridiculous, holy, shameful,
visionary. Fooling around, a clown is really performing a spiritual ceremony.
He has a power, it comes from the Thunder beings, not the animals on earth."
"It is very simple to become a heyoka, all you have to do is dream about the lig
htning, the Thunderbirds, you do this and when you wake up in the morning, you a
re a heyoka, there is nothing you can do about it."
"It is not easy to be a heyoka. It is even harder to have one in the family. ..
. the wise old people know that heyokas are thunder-dreamers, that the Thunder b
eings commanded them to act in a silly way."
"The heyokas get their power from the wakinyan, the sacred flying ones, the Thun
derbirds. These Thunderbirds are the wakan oyate - the spirit nation. If the T
hunder-beings want to put their power on earth, they send a dream to a man, a vi
sion about thunder and lightning. By this dream they appoint him to work his po
wer for them in a human way."
This is what makes him a heyoka. Every dream which has some symbol of the thund
er powers in it will make you into a heyoka.
"A clown's work is sacred, it's a medicine man's job."
Impersonating Heyo'ka
the role of the sacred clown
"Only those who have had visions of the thunder beings of the west can act as he
yokas"
by Mark Caron
People think that the clown is just nothing, that he is just for fun. That is no
t so...Many people who know about these things say that the clown is the most po
werful.1
The Lakota, or Sioux as they are more commonly called, are a Native American nat
ion who flourished in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. They live in the mid-we
stern plains. In the Lakota society the heyoka, or 'sacred clown,' is viewed as
a very powerful and important person.2 When one has a vision of thunder-beings h
e is called by Wakinyan, the Thunder Being, to be a heyoka. With this duty, he m
ust do everything in contrary to what is meant. This often means violating socia
l norms.3 This contradiction causes many observers to feel that the heyoka pract
ices are foolish and sac-religious. Moreover, in the 1920s these 'obscene' cerem
onies involving heyokas have been 'principal targets' of the Bureau of Indian Af
fairs.4 However, the heyoka play a very vital role in the religion of the Lakota
. This importance can be seen in their participation in ceremonies, the reverenc
e shown to them by their people, and their healing practices.
To understand the heyoka, one must first understand from where their power deriv
es. J.R. Walker explains the origins of the heyoka power according to the mythol
ogy of the Lakota. Once there was only one chief, and this chief had a daughter.
She brought water to the camp from the lake every day. One day, Inktomi, the tr
ickster, told her he was thirsty, and offered her advice on how she could get mo
re water in exchange for a drink. His advice was for her to urinate in the water
bark every night. The chief, unaware of who did this, became angry. His daughte
r had listened to Inktomi. He threatened to throw whoever did this into the lake
. Inktomi told the cheif it was his daughter, and so he threw her into the lake.
The chief of the beavers captured her and hid her in his tipi under the water.
Unktehi, the water monster, told the chief where his daughter was and offered to
"put the seed of things that are good to eat in the water and in the earth" if
he could have her for his woman. Meanwhile, Inktomi apologized to the girl and t
old her that he would take her back to shore, but he led her to a place so far a
way that she would never find her way back to her father. When Unktehi came to f
ind his woman, the beaver told him that Inktomi took her. The chief didn't belie
ve Unktehi and accused him of trying to trick him, so he asked Wakinyan to help
him find his daughter. Wakinyan was unable to find his daughter, and when the ch
ief criticized him, Wakinyan became angry. He said, "This is the last time I wil
l try to help man. Forever hereafter, when I speak to a man he will be like you.
He will stay apart from all others and be sad and do strange things."5
When someone has a vision of Wakinyan, he is heyoka forever. Not only did the fi
rst heyokas, but all those thereafter, gain their power from Wakinyan. This powe
r is to do everything in contrary to the normal way of doing things.6 Walker say
s that the horrible person of Wakinyan causes the dreamer to act foolish in this
manner.7 Anyone who does not act in this way is not performing his duty. The ne
glect of this way of life is punishable by death, where they are struck down by
lightning.8 Part of his duty is to perform a ceremony for the people because a m
an is not able to use his power until he has performed the ceremony for the comm
unity.9 The heyoka have a sacred power and they use it to benefit the people thr
ough 'funny actions.'10 It is believed that through laughter the people can be o
pened up, so the power can come to them. In Black Elk Speaks, Black Elk says:
When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the West, it comes with terror li
ke a thunder storm; but when the storm of [the] vision has passed, the world is
greener and happier; for wherever the truth of vision comes upon the world, it i
s like rain. The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the storm.11
In these words Black Elk explains part of the importance of the heyoka's role. T
he heyokas act as a balance to keep the Lakota people in check, primarily in the
ir ceremonies. Holding to the heyokas abilities of contradiction, the happiness
can often preced the storm.12 In other words, religious ceremonies can often not
begin until the people have laughed.13
Black Elk describes a particular vision performance where two heyoka are measuri
ng how deep a puddle is so they can cross. They pull out long crooked arrows and
put them into the puddle. Instead of holding the arrows upright to test the dep
th, the proceeded to hold them horizontally and stick them in that way. Of cours
e the whole arrow became wet. Then they measured the arrows against their bodies
, showing that the water was well over their heads. After they determined that i
s was deep, one jumped into the puddle headfirst and began to swim violently as
if he was drowning. The people laughed at this bazaar display.14
A standard action heyokas must perform involves a sacrificial dog. The dog has b
een killed in a sacred fashion, quickly without any marks on its body. This is s
ymbolic of the way lightning kills.15 The dreamer then boils the sacred dog meat
. Next the heyokas plunge their hands into the scalding water and pull out the d
og meat. They are able to do this without any burns.16 The reason there is no ef
fect on the heyokas' hands is that they use a special herb that is rubbed all ov
er the arms and hands before and after.17 But, the people believe that since the
y do not scald their hands, they are wakan, or sacred.18
The heyokas are considered wakan by the Lakota. In spite of the heyokas' spiritu
al power perceived by the Lakota one must be careful around them. When a heyoka
says, "I'll help you," he is really saying the opposite. Also, sweat lodges can
never be hot enough for a heyoka. An ordinary person can end up with second degr
ee burns and blisters from being in one with them.19 More examples of these cont
rary actions are riding horses backwards, wearing heavy rags and blankets in the
summer and complaining about how cold it is, and saying 'yes' when they mean 'n
o.'20
Many people question how heyokas could help their religion. Nothing they do conf
orms to the rules. When they are supposed to move clockwise, they move counter-c
lockwise. They cause people to laugh at shamans and other authoritative figures
in society. This is how the heyokas can fill that certain gap in Lakota society
as Black Elk explains in his quote about the storm. Furthermore, Tedlock made th
e statement that this "might appear to weaken the very fabric of his society's r
eligion, [but] he may actually revitalize it by higher truths."21 They serve as
a buffer between the truth and the people. Black Elk continues:
The truth comes into this world with two faces. One is sad with suffering, and th
e other laughs; but it is the same face, laughing or weeping. When the people ar
e already in despair, maybe the laughing face is better for them 22
Today, something seems to be missing in Lakota ceremonies without the heyoka to
perform his duty. Severt Young Bear says that everyone is very serious and busin
ess like. "The humor is no longer there; the heyoka is missing...that funny midd
leman isn't there to use humor to keep respect and honor in balance. The funny s
ide of it is all gone.23
Similarly, this sacred role of the clowns can be seen in other Native American r
eligions also. For example, the Pueblo clowns sometimes throw ashes and plaza sw
eepings at the katsina instead of corn. This seems to be a very rude thing to do
. However, Tedlock describes this as having a deeper meaning. She says that the
Zuni women save their cooking ashes and sweepings to plant in the family cornfie
ld every winter solstice. These ashes are to return to them as meal. So, in fact
, the clowns are throwing that which gives them the corn.24
This is not to say that heyokas and their foolish behavior are always bad to be
around. Young Bear tells of a story where a bear was attacking some Lakota and a
heyoka got in the way. The people were yelling, "Run heyoka! He's going to kill
you!" But the heyoka continued to stand there. The bear was about to attack him
, but he turned around, holding a porcupine quill pointed at the bear's stomach
and simply said, "bzzz." The bear screamed and fell over. Then the bear ran away
.25 Such actions are perceived to be the result of sacred powers. Instead of run
ning this heyoka had the power to stand his ground and fend off the bear by doin
g the opposite of everyone else. He did not panic; instead he remained calm. The
abilities of this particular heyoka, as with other heyokas, derive from his spi
ritual power. Thus heyokas use spiritual power to help the Lakota people.
Because they use their powers to help the people, they are viewed with great rev
erence. Animals and children are kept away form them so the heyokas would not be
bothered, and elders talked to them in "subdued voices."26 Calling someone a he
yoka is not a funny compliment; instead it can bring bad luck. They have the mos
t sacred of all powers, the power to restore like Wakinyan. Wakinyan restores th
e earth with his rains.
The power to restore is used in human form. Similar to how Wakinyan restores the
earth, the heyoka restore people. They would rejuvenate the people with laughte
r, and sometimes they would even scare them. This is believed to cure them of an
y negative thoughts. The clown is a medicine man without any medicines. He uses
his behavior to delight and intrigue the sick.27
In some cases, though, the heyoka can have medicine. An example of such a healin
g is when Black Elk had a vision of a "four-rayed herb." He knew he was to use t
his herb to heal. This herb was sacred and he knew that it would be hard to find
. He prayed to Wakan Tanka, the Great Mystery, to send him voices so he could fi
nd this plant. He looked up and saw where it would be. After gathering the herb
it came time for him to heal Cuts-to Pieces' son. He performed his ceremony usin
g the herb that was in his vision, and he healed the boy.
Not only was Black Elk able to heal the boy, but for doing so he became revered,
even at the age of nineteen.28 Also, Young Bear has explained how the heyokas a
re missing from today's ceremonies. Their laughter is no longer there to calm th
e people before the truth of the ceremony. Therefore, one might say that the hey
okas' importance to ceremonies, the reverence shown to them, and their healing p
owers demonstrate their religious contributuions to the Lakota society. They pla
y a vital role in their religion and should be viewed in the highest regard. The
ir comical behavior, as grotesque as it may be sometimes, is used to liven every
situation to open the people up to the power of Wakan Tanka. Every society need
s laughter, according to Black Elk:
The Six Grandfathers have placed in this world many things, all of which should
be happy. Every little thing is sent for something, and in that thing there shou
ld be happiness and the power to make happy. Like the grasses showing tender fac
es to each other, thus we should do, for this is the wish of the Grandfathers of
the World.29
The heyoka are just another way to bring this laughter to people. They sacrifice
themselves, and take the hardest and the most sacred duty for the good of the p
eople.
Heyoka, roughly translated, means "Clown". INNER Heyoka as used on this website,
refers to works more in the Spiritual (soul) area. The "Essenes" of the North
American Natives.
________________________________________
Sacred Fools and Clowns Clowns Names for clowns are heyoka, chifone, koshare, ban
ana ripener, kwirana, and blue jay . There are both humorous and serious clowns. Ser
ious clowns of the medicine society maintaining the continuity of fertility, rai
n, crops, health, and the various orders of Creation. They are the guardians of
the ritual, ready with yucca plant lashes to catch a child and throw him in the
river.
Whenever the clowns enter the stage of drama in a ritual and wherever they are f
ound in the oral histories, stories, or songs, the clowns have something in comm
on. Scared clowns from different tribes can recognize another scared clown witho
ut word passing between them, they would be able to know who the other one was;
what he represented and what he was placed on earth to do.
Early histories of oral tradition introduce the concept and the techniques of cl
owning. When clowns appear in the creation stories they play important roles dur
ing the emergence of The People into the present. Sacred clowns have a special rel
ationship to the sun, almost like sons. Particularly in the southwest there is o
ften more than one clown society. Example: Pueblos divide clowns into summer and
winter clowns.
Clowns have several different aspects. Clowns are sometimes guides to the indivi
duals whose dreams and visions take them to the World of Souls or the Land of th
e Dead. Clowns have a widespread association to water places such as mist, drizz
le, rain, clouds, storms, steams, thunder and lightening. Clowns are mediators f
or rain. Sacred Clowns: Their Relationship To Scared Knowledge One of the unique
features of Native American sacred ways is the important place of humor, and la
ughter in this aspect of The People s lives.
Sacred clowns portray and symbolize aspects of the sacred in a special way, a wa
y in which their teachings get through to us without even thinking about them. Clo
wns in their actions don t seem to care about concepts. They are not concerned abou
t definitions but at the same time they define the concepts at the root of triba
l cosmologies, the guidelines for moral and ethical behaviors, and the theories
of balance and imbalance.
Clowns are the only ones who can ask why of dangerous subjects or ask why of those p
eople who are specialist in advanced sacred knowledge. They ask in their backwar
ds language, through their satire, and their fooling around. They ask the questi
ons others would like to say they say the things others are afraid to speak Joke
s, puns, and satire are forms of humor that are important teaching tools. By rea
ding between the lines the audience is able to think about things not usually th
ought about or cause them to look at some things in a different aspect.
Clowns have an important role in terms of portraying and symbolizing concepts. C
lowns portray the boundaries and the limits of the world by going beyond them, a
cting in a non-ordinary way while doing so, and in this way contrast they own co
ntrary behavior with the orderly ritual directions and scared worlds.
Clowns dramatize the powerful relationships. They show the dark side, the light
side, they show us life is hard, and that life can be made easier. Sacred clowns
integrate modern-day elements into aboriginal rituals keeping their dramas effe
ctive from year to year. Most obvious characteristic of sacred clowns is that th
ey are full of contradictions. They have a mixture of innocence and wisdom, and
they speak like wise-priests .
Acoma Medicine Society- The Chaianyi, are some of the most powerful members of t
he tribe. Koshare- one of the groups of clowns, were to know no sadness and to k
now no pain even if they were hurt. The Koshare was described as different from t
he other people because he knows something about himself . The sacred clowns make
people aware of their pain and sorrow but they also relieve them from the though
t of it. The Sioux clowns derive their power and wisdom from an experience of sh
ame. The power originates from the experience of an individual vision or dream f
rom the experience of shame.
Heyoka is another name for a clown. Thought of as being upside-down, backward-fo
rward, and says things like yes when he actually means no (for humor). They teac
h backwards through nonsense, jokes and threats. The Heyoka perform The Cleansin
g Ceremony as follows: They kill a dog and put it in a boiling kettle, then they
dance, sing and act around the kettle. The climax of the ceremony is when the H
eyokas dance and take out the dog meat with their bare arms. Then they give it t
o the poor and the sick, which then cures them of the sicknesses that they have,
a good medicine. The Heyoka are not scalded because of a herb- Tapejuta. They c
hew it and smear it on their arms; therefore the boiling water won't hurt them.
Other activities performed by the clowns include the Zuni clowns imitation of Sa
tataca, The Bow Priest, in his Night Chant Prayer. They make obscene remarks in
the place of original lines, this symbolizes the importance of language and all
that it allows us to do. Additionally, some clowns even pose as Blue Jays and Cra
zy Dancers.
Generally, most clowns participate in backwards talk, jokes, satire, lots of foo
ling around, contrary behavior, the singing of shameful events in their lives, a
nd asking and begging for food. The MAIN GOAL is to teach by bad example and cau
se imbalance at the ceremonies. The clowns have many roles and functions. First
and possibly foremost is to prepare the people for disaster (this shows that col
laboration is needed by everyone to maintain a life that is frequently challenge
d by catastrophes.) Also, many clowns are considered to be healers. Some may eve
n feed medicine to the sick out of their own mouths.
Yet another role is to show preventive medicine to the people, and this may incl
ude good eating and health tips. At the end of a ceremonies, everyone, adults an
d children alike, should understand the concept of balance. Additionally, those
who need to must share their shame. And finally, other concepts to be understood s
hould be; personal responsibility is at the heart of social order and survival a
nd sacred power. This is all concluded in the finale of the ceremony when there
is a cleansing act performed on the clowns.
=-=============-=-=
The Heyoka
"Heyoka" is the Centaurn term for Clown-Shaman Sorcerers, one of the Archetypes
unique to the Sunsmen. Heyokas are all males, and all participants in the Sundan
ce - it is there that the receive their calling. They can be Twomen or Fourmen,
but not Watchers. Coyotes have a special talent for this type of magic. If a
Dancer's Vision guides him to become a Heyoka, he must first symbolically die. H
e will be given a full funeral ceremony, complete with real grief, as he is trul
y leaving behind his former world forever. It is the nature of Heyokas to do eve
rything backwards - the term itself is a reverse pronunciation for the Centaurn
term for Backward. Thus the Funeral Ceremony, in addition to servering his ties
with his former tribemates, also serves as a rebirth. When a Heyoka actually die
s, the event is recognized with a Birth Ceremony.
Heyokas take apprentices - a newly called Heyoka will be shown in his vision whe
re he must go to get his training. Heyokas learn many skills - Performance - Phy
sical Comedy, ReverseTalk (which is the skill of speaking in reversed work order
M/E), Heyoka Language (which is fully reversed, with the words being pronounced
backwards M/H), Dream Interpretation and Undead Lore. The Physical Comedy is pa
rt of the way they stay in the favor of the Tribes - Heyokas, for all their stra
ngeness and death associations, are *funny*, and much loved. The Comedy has anot
her use - though Heyokas have no power over the Chepis of the Waters and Stones,
their antics can, at times, distract and pacify these Beings. A troupe of Heyok
as might spend an afternoon clowning it up on the bank of a flooded river - only
to have the river subside over the coming night. Likewise, they can calm Wildfi
res and Storms.
Dream Interpretation is based on the idea that since Heyokas live backwards, the
y may have some vision of the future. One cannot ask a Heyokas a question about
the future - unlike regular Diviners or Shamans, but when a Heyoka back-walks in
to the firecircle and proclaims "Storm terrible a be not will there tomorrow!" -
you can count on everyone paying attention. Note - in addition to speaking in r
everse word order, Heyokas ALWAYS lie.
The Sunsmen call the Undead and the Misborn "Chixu". Heyokas are dead, or haven'
t yet been born, or something in between. In any case, they have power over the
Chixu that plague the Sunsmen. In many cases, Heyokas are immune to power of the
se Monsters, and can even repel them if they know the name of the Being. These d
uties, along with Thanotology and Death Rites are the Sorcery part of a Heyoka.
Few Beings manage Sorcery and Witchraft without being Evil - and the Heyoka do h
ave a certain taint about them. When the Altzataurs see a Heyoka forgetting his
taboos and still having power, they know they have a Witch on hand.
=============-=------------------------=-=-=-=--=
The Thunder Beings, or Wakinyan Oyate, defies any logical description. In most c
ases they have been described to me as beings without form, with a body which bi
llows and changes form like clouds. They have claws, but no feet; beaks, but no
head; wings, but no shoulders; and a voice like thunder, but no throat.
In order to remain invisible, Wakinyan cover themselves in robes that are as sha
peless as itself, or what we would call clouds. Some large, some small; some bla
ck, some white.
The Wakinyan also live in an anti-clockwise dimension and cannot be understood b
y ordinary people because they speak backwards. It is said, that this is why Hey
oka speak and act in an anti-natural manner, as they become relatives of the Wak
inyan.
In the Lakota tradition, one of the main purposes of the Wakinyan is to purify t
he world from all filthy things. They sweep it with wind, wash it with water, or
burn it with lightning. They cause all that grows from the ground to flourish a
nd grow leaves, flowers and fruits, and give nourishment to all things that brea
th. They enjoy the smell of cedar, and it is said that cedar trees are never str
uck by lightning. They control water in all it's forms, which is why cedar is pu
t on the first 7 rocks brought into a Lakota sweatlodge, in part to thank the Wa
kinyan for giving their blessing to the water that will be used.
My understanding, based on the ways I have been taught, is that a few people are
chosen to receive dreams or "working relationships" with the Wakinyan who are o
ffering to help them in some way. However, only a small percentage of these few
are called to serve as Heyoka in the Lakota way of being. When they are, they mu
st go through special ceremonies to share their dreams/visions with other recogn
ized Heyoka, to receive special instructions, and to make a vow or committment t
o serve the people that will affect the rest of their lives. Until this is done,
they are a not considered recognized Heyoka in the community.
A recognized Heyoka becomes a servant of the people. His life is no longer his.
He makes this committment, which is expressed to the community, by participating
 in a "Kettle Dance" ceremony.
The recognized Heyoka, (the implied meaning is "fool"), act sometimes in an anti
-natural way, which makes them seem foolish. They do things to draw criticism, s
corn, or ridicule to themselves, but have the spiritual strength to endure these
things, and purge themselves of the negative energy. The community wil often fo
cus these negative energies on the Heyoka, rather than on each other. In this wa
y, the Heyoka helps prevent the destruction of the harmony and balance in a comm
unity when negative energies are focused on each other.
The Heyoka also helps to create laughter, by being foolish, especially during in
tensely serious, or stressful, or anxious moments during a ceremony, a council m
eeting, or something like that. The Heyoka instictively knows when it is time to
say or do something funny to relieve the tension and cause people to relax a li
ttle. He may fart on purpose in a sweatlodge; or crack a joke during a ceremony
by saying something like, "I hope this doesn't take too long, I forgot to go pee
"; or he may stand up during a council meeting that is getting heated and change
the subject saying, "You guys got any good recipes for commodity cheese...I got
a bunch I want to use up before it goes bad". You get the idea.
Heyoka are also considered Pejuta Wicasa or "medicine men" or healers, as some o
f them are given instructions on how to heal people.

In the buffalo days, Heyoka were sought after before a buffalo hunt or a war rai
d to communicate with their "friends" the Wakinyan in order to insure the desire
d weather would take place. Sometimes this would be a request for clear weather;
sometimes this would be for rain to cover tracks after stealing horses, for exa
mple.
Because they sometimes acted in an anti-natural way, Heyoka would also be very f
earless warriors on the battlefield, often taking great risks, which may be cons
idered another version of "foolish." However, it was known by many, that Heyoka
had the spiritual power of the Wakinyan, which helped them overcome their enemi
es.
Heyoka did not seem to care about social taboos or boundaries, but paradoxically
, and simultaneously, help to define the Lakota guidelines for moral and ethical
behavior, and the way a community looks at balance and imbalance. The Heyoka ar
e usually the ones who could ask why of dangerous subjects, and could question p
eople in positions of authority or leadership. They "asked" sometimes indirectly
by their satire, or by fooling around. They would ask the difficult questions,
and say things others would like to say, but were too afraid to speak.
By understanding the Heyoka's role in the community, Lakota folks have been able
to think about things not usually thought about, or cause them to look at thing
s in a different way. It is said that a Heyoka "restores" the community in a sim
ilar way that rains will restore the land.
I hope this helps a little bit in your understanding.