The greatest of all fortunes: know laugh at the dance of the five poisons (anger, hatred, envy, greed, desire, commitment, pride, ignorance) whose only consistency is in tears that you weep. Do not follow in the mazes they weave for better fascinate you. Throw in their faces that laugh resounding gong powerful as the thunder clouds which open a flash of light.
In shamanism, the burst of laughter is equivalent to the gap of lightning in a stormy sky. The burst of laughter belongs to the brilliance of the immediacy which causes the positive reversal of a situation that seemed to have no positive out come.
It is the prerogative of the sacred clown, he was named Heyoka among the Lakota people of the Seven Fires Council is an Indian Nation of South Dakota. Heyoka society are feared and respected, while their mere presence in a ceremony cause the burst of laughter from all participants, and is irresistible. Heyoka on the contrary, it is upside down. For example, spontaneously then it is very hot he will say: the air is fresh, his bodily sensations are reversed, but not all the time.
The power of Heyoka proceeds from the mystery it promises by dreams where he heard a thunderous roar, the flash of lightning or a storm that clears the images of his dream or it is a dapple-gray horse of white appears. This spontaneous state is given by any initiation is caused by the Thunder-beings so named because they move in thunderclouds where they would roar like thunder .There are nuances, all the storms are not the costume-Thunder beings and they are also in some rainbows in the sky.
Whether he accepts or refuses, he becomes the Heyoka has no chance to escape: it’s like that. This movement of energy otherwise manifest its presence through this person, but not that of a trance or possession. As long as the power is with this person, Heyoka speaks and acts in reverse. He can not help but to never be taken seriously, to provoke laughter and to be ridiculous. However, it is feared because the power of Heyoka interferes with winds, rain and cloud formations. In ceremony, his presence is the guarantee of good weather conditions. All accounts speak of his ability to carry thunderclouds for none of them sailing the Sun. He mounts his horse and take them off or if the cloud layer is very wide, it opens to release the sky.
Prior to beginning the Sun Dance, one of seven rituals given by White Buffalo Woman, the chief ceremonial Heyoka asked to go off of the dance that they outweigh the clouds: they will return to participate, but walking backwards. All are dressed and painted in black, their faces completely hidden by a black hood, and say that therefore the thunder-beings do not see them.
There are famous Heyoka, as Hehaka Sapa, Black Elk was a Wicasa Wakan of the Oglala Lakota Nation. When Heyoka tradition teaches you can not know if you speak in reverse. My spiritual brother Hunka Archie Fire Lame Deer Wicasa Wakan Nations Mniconjou Lakota and Brule was Heyoka, but not all the time. In these societies, often Heyoka teaches the wisdom of his people to Westerners. It was chosen because no one can know if Heyoka when he speaks, the whole Native American humour, in all sincerity the Heyoka gives instruction in reverse therefore unusable. There are people who use rituals of Indians who are upside down and they do not know.
In the sacred circle of the Medicine Wheel there are eight powers medicines; the Wicasa Wakan is the holy man who embodies all by himself. It is spiritually responsible for his Nation. I remember Archie Fire Lame Deer had told us that his father Wicasa Wakan John Fire Lame Deer had told him at twenty-four medicine men, and all he had to return to collect him the power of his father .This can not be invented and everyone knew, so it was a highly respected ceremonial leader. He was also ambassador of his nation to near United Nations, was travelling on a diplomatic passport, in this capacity that he came to Europe to teach the sacred rituals told his people by White Buffalo Woman. While we were in ceremony in the ritual Inipi when his power was Heyoka, steam no longer escapes from the hut so that the door had just opened. It turned back and all we could see and when the heat was really intense, he was cold. If at this point, one of the participants of the ceremony had the potential to be affected by this power is irresistibly communicative, and the ceremony ends in a roar of laughter.
The shamanic being accompanying the Heyoka is the dappled horse and a spider. The spider is a very sacred being respected; she wove the cloth that contains the world. The presence of this spider ceremony causes a reversal as soon as it touches the Heyoka. Ceremonies taking place most often in nature, as soon as I saw the spider approached Archie Fire Lame Deer, I could see his transformation and the effects of contagion. The result was a spontaneous burst of laughter from all participants.
Traditionally two characters collide, Heyoka who sits facing west, but he looks at the sun, and Wapiya who sits facing the north, he prefers the atmosphere of the night, the subway and travel to down. The Wapiya power over the disease, he gives or takes away from retribution and is often very rich. He loves the colour black, but black is not that of the Heyoka, whose dress is streaked with lightning. The Wapiya is a character who takes himself very seriously and it is very powerful but at the Heyoka its power is neutralized. The presence of Heyoka protects the ceremony interference caused by the greed of Wapiya. Nothing can resist the burst of laughter is also the weapon of the sublime goddess Tara, the echo of his laugh drives away all demons.
The power of Heyoka causes a fracture and a reversal of energy. The burst of laughter as the lightning comes from the Wheel of movements of energy, whose root is in the north-east of the Medicine Wheel, but the anchor is at the center and it is driven by four spirals. One that goes from left to right, the other from right to left horizontally, the other two are vertical, then mix laughter and tears. When you are overwhelmed with sadness one antidote is to laugh. The burst of Laughter, reverse the movement of the spiral of sadness that is a weapon used by Wapiya who likes to make cry the little children; while the Heyoka will laugh.
In societies of ancient traditions, in major ceremonies are the sacred clowns who go and come first in the village streets to provoke laughter. The burst of laughter causes an opening and a rest of mind is a bracket that supports your openness and your receptiveness to extrasensory perception, but also the path that opens equanimity.
– For further shamanism: http://stores.lulu.com/floradesondes.
