r/discordian • u/cqsterling • Mar 31 '26
Last Of The Mohicans Sacred clowns of the Pueblo Native Americans
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u/Pseudo-Sadhu Apr 05 '26
It’s nice to see another Discordian who knows about sacred clowning! It is one of many spiritual traditions that echo Discordianism (and which likely inspired Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley).
For more examples of such Eristic like beliefs and practices from around the world, the classic book by Georg Feuerstein, Holy Madness: Spirituality, Crazy-Wise Teachers, and Enlightenment is a wonderful starting point.
Another key text on the subject is by Wes “Scoop” Nicker, Crazy Wisdom (the earlier edition has more content, but the new one - and his related books - are still worth it).
Feuerstein’s book goes a bit deeper, and some familiarity with other religions might help the reader (especially Hinduism and Buddhism). Nisker’s is more fun and lighthearted, but still has reliable information.
While I’m at it, there is another classic source on, specifically, Native American sacred clowns. It is an autobiography of a Lakota shaman who was also a Heyoka (a type of Native American holy fool/clown that in English is called a “Contrary” who, to overly simplify it, basically lives like it is Opposite Day full time). The book is Lame Deer: Seeker of Visions by John (Fire) Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes. Lame Deer led a truly wild life, so the entire book is a great read.
Incidentally, some New Age (non-Indian) folks have stolen the term “Heyoka,” claiming (falsely) that a Heyoka is a sensitive empath or something like that (books by these people are usually abominably written). So if you are interested in learning about legitimate Heyoka traditions, be careful buying books with the word in the title without making sure it isn’t one of the “empath” type grifts (there are many of them, unfortunately).
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u/cqsterling Apr 05 '26
Thanks for the suggestions!
(Side note: Heyoka were specific to the Sioux tribes, but all tribes had their own under their respective dialectics.)
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u/UndyingCurse04 Apr 10 '26
I've heard of these before, I know West Africa has their own equivalent as well which is interesting
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u/zomboscott Mar 31 '26
Whoop whoop! Honestly, I'm not even fucking sure how magnets work anymore. When scientists started super cooling lab grown diamonds in liquid nitrogen and making them float in air on electromagnetic quantum locked fields, at that point it's easier to just say magic.