Sean @ Paganarchy

Link: http://www.fiu.edu/~mizrachs/thunderbird-and-trickster.html

An interesting article on Thunderbird and Tricksters mentioning Heyoka - the Lakota sacred clown. Interesting in how much of it overlaps our own tradition of Holy Fooling here...

However insulting or sacrilegious heyoka [sacred clowns] actions might be, they were tolerated, since it was assumed they were acting on the higher and more inscrutable imperatives of the Great Mystery. Heyoka were freed from all the ordinary constraints of life, and thus were usually not expected to marry, have children, or participate in the work of the tribe. Despite their bizarre acts (such as dressing in warm clothes during summer or wearing things inside out), they were trusted as healers, interpreters of dreams, and people of great medicine. Whenever they interrupted 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 thought to be the keys to enlightenment - much like the absurd acts of Zen masters in Japan.

more at http://www.fiu.edu/~mizrachs/thunderbird-and-trickster.html