The Heyokas: “Sacred Fools”

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[Necromancer9]

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[DarkRaine]

[redlotus88]

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[Jezabel]

Shoot, I forgot to mention this earlier, Madame X, you may find this interesting too since it definitely correlates with my journey work/ astral projection theory. (Those parts I have bolded). This was a wonderful essay on the Seventh Generation group that gives more insight on the Heyokas and other healers. Hmm, now how come the story of Anun-Ite kind of sounds familiar?;)

"Yuwipi & Lowanpi


One day, Iktomi was walking along and he decided to trick himself by doing something good for the Lakota Ikce Oyate. He decided to give the people two ceremonies. The first one is called Yuwipi, which means "to wrap or tie up", and the second one is called Lowanpi, which means "they sing".

Before he gave the people these ceremonies, he appeared in the form of a spider to certain men in their dreams and visions. Then he instructed them how to do the ceremonies. The men who dream of spiders in this way are then called Yuwipi Wicasa, and they can only perform these two ceremonies. Since these two Iktomi ceremonies are not a part of the 7 Lakota Ceremonies, the Yuwipi Wicasa cannot perform the 7 Lakota Ceremonies. However, a Holy Person may perform the Iktomi ceremonies, if he dreams of it.

When these men become Yuwipi Wicasa, Iktomi gives them a lot of healing power in the form of small circular stones. Yuwipi ceremonies are done for healing and for searching for something which may be lost, including people. When a Yuwipi Wicasa does one of these ceremonies, he loses some of the power which Iktomi gave to him because the power gets used up every time someone is healed. Eventually, he will lose all this power.

Every Yuwipi Wicasa receives his vision in a way which was meant only for him. And sometimes, different kinds of spiders will appear to different men, as well. This is why different Yuwipi Wicasa will do their ceremonies different from each other. This concept is also true for Holy People and Medicine People, as well.

The common attribute among most Yuwipi Ceremonies is that they are performed inside of a structure, and all light is blocked from entering the room where the ceremony will be performed. This is accomplished by putting materials to cover all windows in the room. Also, anything modern must be removed from the room, as well.

Then those who will be taking part in the ceremony are allowed to enter the room. The participants are instructed to take the sage, which was placed in front of them earlier by the Yuwipi Wicasa, and put it behind their ears because the spirits like the smell of sage. Food is then brought in and placed in the center of the room.

Like all Lakota Ceremonies, even those who are observing are considered participants. After everyone has entered the room, the doorkeepers will close the doors and seal them off so that no one can enter or leave the room without first notifying the doorman. People are also standing around the outside of the building so that nothing can enter or leave through the windows, as well.

Before the ceremony begins, the Yuwipi Wicasa prepares an altar on the floor upon which he places various items such as rattles. Then he lies down on the floor away from the altar. Usually he will have a helper who will now wrap a blanket or an animal robe around the Yuwipi Wicasa from head to toe. After this is done, the helper will now tie ropes all over the Yuwipi Wicasa's body so that he cannot move. From this position, the Yuwipi Wicasa will give directions to the singers, his helper, and to the participants. Then he instructs all the lights to be turned off so that there is total darkness in the room.

After several songs and even dances, a small light begins to appear in the room hovering in mid-air. During certain songs, beings can be seen coming out of this light. Some of these lights are the Tunkasi which live in the circular rocks. When they come into the room, they grab the rattles which the Yuwipi Wicasa left out for them to use on the altar he made earlier. Immediately, these spirits begin to shake the rattles very loudly. This cleanses the area for the ceremony to be performed.

The people can hear the rattles traveling everywhere around the room: on the ceiling, on the walls, the floor, everywhere. Some of these spirits are those who are now deceased who were once Heyokas. When a person dreams of thunder and lightning, that person is to become a Heyoka, who does everything in reverse which causes people to laugh. Just as the lightning cleanses the earth, a Heyoka brings cleansing to restore balance to those who are depressed, sad, lonely, etc. Hence, sometimes these Heyokas will say things to make the people laugh, as this starts the flow of medicine to transfer into all those who are in need of healing.

At a certain point in the ceremony, those who seek healing are asked to stand with their faces to the walls. Then the spirits shake the rattles all over the person's body. Sometimes the spirit will say something directly inside the person's ear, which will help this person, too.

As stated earlier, the Yuwipi ceremony can also be performed for someone who is searching for something or someone. For example, if a woman's horse was stolen, she may have a Yuwipi ceremony performed. During this ceremony, she will bring forward something which is connected to her horse like the horse's saddle or blanket. Then the Tunkasi will examine the item because it has the horse's tun all over it. Tun is the essence of someone and is also contained on that which belongs to him/her.

Since the Tunkasi can sense things everywhere, they will follow the tun which was left behind within the trail of the horse. This means our tun is also left behind where we have been and recent trails may be easier to follow than the trails we made long ago. Within seconds, the Tunkasi return and will tell the Yuwipi Wicasa exactly where the horse can be found. This same process can also be performed for someone who is lost or missing. For example, if someone has been kidnapped, a relative of this missing person's family would ask a Yuwipi Wicasa to perform a Yuwipi ceremony to locate this missing person. And like the previous example involving the missing horse, the relative would bring forward clothing or hair or anything which belongs to this missing person. The Tunkasi will examine the tun and within seconds they will locate the missing person. Sometimes this missing person may be dead and the Tunkasi will reveal exactly where the missing person's body can be found, even if the body is underwater, underground, in pieces, burned up, etc. When the missing person is dead, the Tunkasi may bring the soul of that person to this Yuwipi ceremony so that the soul's relatives may speak with him/her.

When the ceremony is over, the spirits take the tun (essence) from the food and then they leave in the same manner as they appeared. While this is happening, the singers sing certain songs because the spirits like these songs. And when the spirits have all left, the singing stops. Then the Yuwipi Wicasa in a very tired voice instructs his helper to turn the lights on.
When the lights come back on, everyone notices that the alter is all messed up and that there are rattles lying everywhere. However, the people also notice that the Yuwipi Wicasa is now untied and the blanket is neatly folded up. The ropes are also very carefully wrapped up in such an intricate pattern that would be very difficult to accomplish in total darkness.

A Pipe is then passed around, followed by a container of water. After the people have all smoked the Pipe and have replenished their thirst, the Yuwipi Wicasa instructs the people to go ahead and eat the food. As stated previously, every time a Yuwipi Wicasa does this ceremony, he loses some of his medicine. Also, it takes a lot of strength from him; thus, he becomes very tired. A good Yuwipi Wicasa will lose his power fast and will gain a lot of weight from all the feasts which take place after these ceremonies.

A Lowanpi Ceremony is like the Yuwipi Ceremony; however, the difference is that in a Lowanpi Ceremony, the Yuwipi Wicasa is not tied up. Such are the ways of Iktomi.

"Iktomi Perspective"


Iktomi represents everything a Lakota is not supposed to be and he (Iktomi) has no established 7th Direction. His virtues are dishonesty, disrespect, greed, lack of humility, lack of wisdom, lack of compassion, lack of spirituality. His number is 3. His colors are black, red, and white, all combined together. Oftentimes, he focuses on only certain colors so they will cause others' colors (medicine circles) to weaken which then leads those others to become diseased. This is one way he gets his victims.

Iktomi is lazy and when he does work he overdoes it. He thinks he is above, better, smarter, wiser, than others. His communication is the transfer of bad medicine (i.e. jealousy, revenge, hatred, ignoring others, etc.), and he tells people what they want to hear, instead of the truth.

Iktomi creates duality by trying to separate everything into two opposing extremes. These two opposing extremes create tensions which then create addictions. These two opposing extremes become the oppressor (Iktomi) and its victim. In a duality, both the oppressor and its victim have no established 7th Directions because they are creations of Iktomi. As a result, both the oppressor and its victim need each other to exist. Sadly, the victim may also oppress those who are weaker than themselves.

Iktomi continually tries to prove himself right in all matters which indicates a lack of respect for others' rights to think, speak, feel & act acccording to their free will. As a result, Iktomi desires to manipulate his victim into what he thinks the victim should become. Iktomi would say, "If you do not agree with me, then you are wrong. I know what's best for you because I am smarter and better than you, and because you cannot think as good as me". This reveals his need to control what he does not and refuses to understand; thus, his society is based on fear and control.

He says that if he cannot prove that something exists, then it does not exist. When one reacts against Iktomi, he/she remains Iktomi's victim. The description of the Iktomi perspective can continue on and on. The main point is that his perspective is everything a Lakota should not be.

THE FATE OF GNAS
Gnas soon had no one to trick because everyone avoided him, also. So he decided that the greatest feat he could ever perform was to try to trick himself, and this drove him crazy. Sometimes he would enter inside another animal and then this animal would become crazy. And so there are stories about killing animals which have seemed to lost their minds. After killing such an animal, the hunter soon discovers that while butchering this animal, that this crazy animal would be entirely empty: no flesh, no bone, just empty space. He is also known as Gnaskinyan, or Gnaski.

"IKTOMI & CAN OTI"


Since Iktomi was now known for tricking anyone he could, every member of creation did his/her best to keep away from him and to not listen to what he says. Soon he became lonely and he longed for companions. So he made a feast and invited the raccoons to come. The raccoon leader was concerned that Iktomi may trick them. But some raccoons went to Iktomi's feast anyway.

When the feast was over, Iktomi told them about the Pte Oyate. He said the Pte Oyate walk upright and that they have hands to hold on to things. He said the Pte Oyate were almost like the Wakan Tanka. All this information really captured the raccoons' attention. So Iktomi continued on by saying that he knew how to make any animal become like the Pte Oyate. Then he said that all the animals stayed away from him, and that this caused him to be sad all the time. But if one animal nation were to help him cure his sadness, he would always help that animal nation and he would never trick them. Then he said he was sleepy, so the raccoons went to their homes even though they were astonished by what he had said.

When these raccoons arrived at their homes, they talked amongst themselves for a time. Then they agreed to help Iktomi so all would benefit from this decision. The next day they returned to Iktomi and they told him they would help him, as long as he would keep his promise to them that he would never trick them. And so Iktomi agreed.

Iktomi asked them to bring him two of their babies, a male and a female. He covered these two raccoon babies with a material, then he performed a ceremony. Next he sprayed some water on top of the material. A little while later, he removed the material and the raccoon babies now appeared as small Pte babies. The Pte Oyate are not human, nor are they animals. However, they resemble humans.

The mother raccoon of these babies was worried because her babies now had no fur to protect them from the elements. Also, their ears were no longer on top of their heads, which meant their hearing would not be as good as a raccoon's. And they no longer had snouts so they would not be able to sense approaching danger. The mother realized that now she was no longer capable of teaching these babies to survive as raccoons.

Iktomi said he would raise them and that they would become his helpers. He said he would still keep his promise to them that he would never trick them. Then the raccoons returned to their homes with various emotions concerning what had just happened.

Iktomi took these babies to Anun-Ite. However, she really got mad at him because when she agreed to follow his plan to make her become part of the Wakan Tanka, she lost her own children. Then she announced that she would do anything to trouble all babies and pregnant mothers of all nations. She also announced that since she unknowingly contributed a role in the formation of creating the woman's cycle (when she tried to steal Hanwi's husband who was Wi), that she would also bring menstrual pains to women when they get their menstruation. She also has extremely good hearing so she can hear things which are very far away. And she uses this ability to create gossip to influence contention among women. In this way, they would become her servants.

So then Iktomi took the babies to Wakanka. As grandmothers share a special connection with young children, Wakanka said she would raise these two babies. Since she can foresee certain events, she said that these babies would only grow to be as tall as adult raccoons and that because Iktomi made them, they will also share his disposition. She also said that when they are older, they will live in the trees, and that their pleasure will be to make people become lost. And thus, Wakanka's prophecies concerning these two babies came true.

When Iktomi returned for his helpers, they came to him and made him become lost. And so these two little people became known as the Can Oti (Wood Dwellers). Even today, their descendants still live in the trees. They are also known as the little people, and their pleasure is still making other people become lost. Many live in the trees which are beside the waters.

And so Iktomi joined the Second Wakan Tanka, which is led by Unk. Many times, Iktomi and Iya journey together trying to deceive people. Many times, it is Iktomi who uses the people to scare and deceive Iya. Iktomi and Iya are half-brothers, as they both have the same father. Iktomi used to be known as Ksa and was known for his wisdom. His parents are Inyan and Wakinyan. Iya's parents are Inyan and Unk. " (http://groups.msn.com/SeventhGeneration ... moies.msnw)