Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1993 18:31:50 +0200
From: Thomas Eriksson <nephilim@solace.hsh.se>
To: ceci@lysator.liu.se


This article is excerpted from the Rocky Mountain Pagan Journal.  Each
issue of the Rocky Mountain Pagan Journal is published by High Plains
Arts and Sciences; P.O. Box 620604, Littleton Co., 80123, a Colorado
Non-Profit Corporation, under a Public Domain Copyright, which
entitles any person or group of persons to reproduce, in any form
whatsoever, any material contained therein without restriction, so
long as articles are not condensed or abbreviated in any fashion, and
credit is given the original author.!
 
                     CONCERNING THE HEYOKAH
                   Copyright 1987, T. W. Moore
 
     Hello, people!  Before I get to the subject of this little piece,
let me give you a bit of information as to its roots.
 
     Recently I have been doing a lot of writing, horror stories for
the most part, and this article grew out of that.  It is also derived
from a dream that I had not too long ago and something that has
puzzled me until recently.  Now, with all that out of the way, let's
get to it.
 
     Those of you who are familiar with Native American beliefs
already have an idea of what a heyokah is.  For the benefit of those
who aren't, I'll try to briefly describe him for you. Who knows?
There may well be a counterpart in your own tradition.
 
     The word heyokah comes from the Lakotah (Sioux) and is used in
reference to a particular type of shaman.  According to tradition, the
heyokah is one who has "dreamed of the Thunder Spirits."  This dream
bestows great powers upon the medicine man/medicine woman, one of
which is reputed to be an ability to influence storms.  However, these
powers have their price in that the shaman becomes a "contrary/" If
you've seen the movie Little Big Man, then you have seen a sample of
the heyokah's antics.  Of course, this was a parody of the real thing,
but our subject does do a lot of clowning around in reverse.
 
     Now I've read quite a bit on the subject (there's a lot out
there, too), but still couldn't put it together.  There seemed to be
something missing!  It's only in the last month or so that it's become
clear to me and I'd like to share my insights with you.
 
     Probably the greatest barrier to my understanding was the one
created by language.  Not being able to speak Lakotah, and
additionally not knowing the culture, I lost something in the
translation.  Here's the whole picture, as I see it anyway.
 
     In his vision, the heyokah comes into direct contact with the
life-force itself.  This is symbolized by the Thunder Spirits that he
dreams of.  When this occurs, a death/rebirth sequence is begun, which
gives the shaman the capacity to control some of the manifestations of
life-force.  This would include an ability to influence storms and, as
is typical of the shamanic experience, the power to heal.  He also
becomes a very potent teacher.  This last is where the "contrariness"
comes into focus, in two ways.  The first is that the heyokah is
teaching us about our selves.  By "mirroring" all of our doubts,
fears, hatreds, weaknesses, etc. he forces us to examine what we
really are.  For example, if you have any self-hatred (a common malady
in our society) this sacred teacher will make you look at it.  The
second aspect of his mirroring is that, as we are taught, the heyokah
heals us of our hurts.  This is the most important and remarkable part
of the holy man's clowning.  For this wonderful shaman takes our pain
and transforms it into laughter.  And what can heal a human beings
faster than to laugh at ourselves?
 
     As you can see, these "sacred clowns" had a very important role
in traditional societies.  And personally, I think we could use a few
more of them in today's world.
 
 
                        Suggested Reading
 
 
SEVEN ARROWS, Hyemeyosts Storm.
 
SONG OF HEYOKAH, Hyemeyosts Storm.
 
LAME DEER: SEEKER OF VISIONS, Richard Erdoes and Lame Deer.
 
SHAMANIC VOICES, Joan Halifax.
 
     If anyone would like to respond to this or has anything to share
with me, please write to me c/o Post Office Box 11125, Englewood, CO
80110
 
..........  FROM RMPJ, 2/3/1987