Heyoka Teachers

For those of you old enough to remember the 70s sitcom All In The Family, the main character,  Archie Bunker, was a man trapped by his cultural history that was based in fear, nationalism, and bigotry. He doesn't know how to handle this, so he loses his temper. He says ugly things and looks for others to blame for how uncomfortable he feels in society. For people of consciousness, Archie Bunker was a vile man. He's also one of our greatest teachers!

The Lakota Sioux might call Archie a Heyoka. A heyoka is a sacred clown. The one who does things contrary to what is considered right or acceptable. A heyoka makes us laugh and think through his/her outrageous, shocking, and sometimes inappropriate behavior.  With one uncomfortable, inappropriate act, a heyoka places a mirror in front of our faces. The laughter lightens the mood so we feel more at ease to open ourselves up to the truth. The Heyoka forces us to look honestly at ourselves. How we think, how we act, and how we hold ourselves in society. Is there any shred of Archie in ourselves? Hopefully not. But if there is, we have the heyoka to thank for bringing it to our attention so that we can heal and grow from it. If nothing is there, then we can at least say to ourselves...thank you Spirit that I'm not as bad as Archie!

Mitakuye oyasin means we are all related. We are part of the heyoka, and he/she is part of us. Honor your inner heyoka. Honor the heyokas in our lives, our community, our country, and our world.  Learn from them to transform this world into a place of peace, harmony, love, and acceptance.

Love yourself, your amazing!

Steven sometimes Wyse