The various Holy Fools

The Holy Fool, the Sacred Clown, the Jester and the Heyoka:

What do they all have in common? This article will explore these subject and what they have in common in various sub - articles

Holy Fool by

by the Rev. Linda Hoddy
Some version of the fool appears in virtually all cultures, as it is an archetypes, one of the universal patterns that arises out of our collective unconscious. Wes Nisker has written a book about the crazy wisdom which comes to us through our holy fools. He says that the fool is the "most potent of the archetypes" (30), and also "the capable teacher of crazy wisdom." There are actually two kinds of fools: "the foolish fool and the great fool." The foolish fools are inept and silly. They are the ones we see "every day when we look into the mirror or walk down the street."
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Path of the Sacred Clown

By xxxx

What is truth? This question propels the Clown into the sacred dimension. The Truth the Clown intuits is the interconnectedness of all life. She KNOWS (although she cannot prove) that no part is more important than any other part - no matter how big or how small - and that the tiniest change in one part produces a profound change in the Whole. She SEES (although she cannot explain) that imbalance or blockage of the Life Force is the result of a person or group believing themselves to be more important than another. And she can't help puncturing that over-blown self-importance with her sharp humor!

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The Thunderbird and Trickster

By Steve Mizrach
Lame Deer calls the heyoka the "upside-down, forward-backward, icy-hot contrary."
More importantly, I think they induced trance in others through their contrary behavior. Psychologists have noted that trance does not always occur through rhythmic repetition. Another way in which it occurs (the "paradoxical state") is through a sudden shock to the nervous system. Ethnomethodologists have often noted the blank, glassy stares and strange states produced by violating peoples' expectations - by, for example, getting into an elevator and facing the other people in it. It's in such "paradoxical states" that people often may assimilate new information quickly, without filtering. They also may be able to "abreact" psychological trauma. For these reasons, the heyoka may have been seen as a source of wisdom and healing.