Fresh start

    It serves me right for not posting for so long but I could not sign on to my blog and after hours of troubleshooting, I decided to just create a new one. What sparked an interest in re-dedicating my time to posting was in reading my old writings and papers. I wanted to share them with people and perhaps spark someone reflection. I came across today a short paper I wrote for my tribal religion class on clowns and thought it brought up some great points that we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, can take away. These include: what do you hold sacred and what do you worship. Read and enjoy!! ~~Jackie

Western thought on clowns is very different from the way tribal cultures view them. We hear that word and visions of Bozo, red-honking noses, balloon animals, fluffy red hair, crazy antics and painted on faces race across our mind. While we think of silly days at the circus or fair, clowns represent something much more deep and significant for the Indians. Clowns play a very important role in their religion. They are up there on the level of shamans, and one can venture to say that clowns surpass shamans in their duty. To be a clown is to be the mouthpiece of the ‘Thunder Being’, an awesome and awful task. It is the highest calling a man can have bestowed on him, but it also a calling to a hard life because of all the antics that separate him from Indian society. Clowns have several purposes. One of their goals is to get people to laugh, which open them up to the immediate experience. Another goal is to get people to see the ‘sacred’ in another light. A clown’s actions reveal much about the nature of God- spirits such as the Thunder Being- as the tribal culture understands it.

            It is not peculiar for a clown in the tribal culture to perform outrageous acts. Clowns will ride a horse backwards, wear winter clothes in summer weather, play out sexually vulgar acts and even mock a shaman during a religious ceremony. In fact, a lot of a clown’s antics occur during traditional and religious ceremonies. One reasoning behind this is that the clown will get the participants to laugh. To get someone to laugh ensures that they are fully present and engaged in the here and now. Performing or taking part in a ceremony means nothing if one is not focusing on the immediate experience; going through the motions on autopilot is not honoring the spirits for which one is doing the ceremony. If a clown can get someone to laugh, that person is opening himself or herself up to the experience. This should not be misconstrued to think a clown’s mission is to spread laughter and good cheer to all; that would a tragic misinterpretation of their very important role in religion. The happiness and jolly feeling one gets from laughing at the clown opens them up and makes them vulnerable enough for the spirits’ power to come into them. A clown’s role is very important in preparing the people to participate in religious and traditional ceremonies.

            In tribal culture clowns do things that mock what is considered sacred. They will follow shamans while mocking them, making profane gestures, or even become violent. A clown’s main enemy is religion, the idolatry and misplacement of reverence and awe. They want for people to question what they consider sacred and why certain things are held on a pedestal. In belittling a shaman, sacred tools, and defying tradition, they are pointing out that these are NOT the spirits to which honor should be given. Yes, tradition and ceremony are important but they are not what should be worshiped. The point of sacred items and traditions is to point to the spirits; the spirits are what are divine, not earthly things. The reason traditions, ceremonies, shaman, and certain items hold power and significance is because the spirits give them that importance. What is sacred about these things is that the spirits- the true divine beings- spoke their importance. Clowns point this out to people and keep them focused on what is truly to be worshiped and held in high regard. Never mistake what is put in place to help you worship and honor the spirits for the spirits themselves. This would be like Christians worshiping a prophet or the communion elements instead of God. That would be considered blasphemous, idolatrous, and not in the spirit in which God sent these things to the people. This is what clowns are trying to do when they perform such ‘irreverent’ acts. They cause people to step back, examine their actions and reconsider what they hold sacred.

            The roles of a clown reveals much about the nature of the spirits -including the Thunder Being- as the Indian culture understands it. A clown performs many irreverent, seemingly disrespectful acts that show no regard for the sacred. It should be noted, however, clowns with all of their ‘sacrilegious’ behavior are not considered to be ‘sinning’ when they mock the sacred. It is not considered evil to do what clowns do; unlike in Western culture where mocking or doing anything contrary to religious beliefs is evil and wrong in the eyes of God. In fact, the reason the clowns do such backwards things is that a god of theirs, the Thunder Being, instructs them to do so. The Thunder Being, being the source of such behavior, reveals much about its nature. The Thunder Being is not concerned so much with the traditional acts but in the spirit of which things are done. One could be sitting alone thinking about how generous and wonderful the spirits have been and be honoring them more than a shaman performing a religious ceremony with no regard to the meaning behind such a sacred act. Acting religious or going through the appropriate actions is not what the Thunder Being is pleased with but with the spirit in which things are done. Clowns play a key role in dethroning the sacred that are sometimes placed above or equal to the truly divine. 

What plays the role of 'clown' in your life?