wakinyan II

 Sun 6.20.21

      The Lakota people have this to say about Wakinyan:

Inyan, Spirit of the Stone created Wakinyan, who became the Thunderbeings, the force of electricity on the earth.  Wakinyan is the spirit who controls the essence of the clouds, the motion of hurricanes, tornadoes, and storms.  In the language of the Lakota, wa is the flying of the snow and inyan is stone.  Wakinyan is the physical electricity that comes from the water, the earth, and the air, building up to create thunder and lightening.

      Thunderbeings, represented as the Thunderbird, are honored by many tribes.  Wakinyan flies without eyes, without ears, without mouth, without nose.  Even in visions, no one can behold Wakinyan whole.  Those to whom he comes in dreams become heyoka, sacred clowns who do everything backward.  Wakinyan is the force of truth: he strikes down anyone who lies while holding the sacred pipe.  His spirit eye opens with the flash of lightening and the sound of thunder.

Wakinyan is similar to the 15th atout in the deck of Tarot, The Devil, in that he also represents a jolt of energy.  And in both cases that power is dangerous and mishandled, can cause a person to regret their intemperate actions.  Think of the time you were smacked down for some ill-considered action and know that Wakinyan is real.  I have more respect for this mysterious bird than the Christian Devil who is prepared to inflict everlasting pain.  And worse, he never forgives.  There’s no hope for you; you’re a lost cause might as well give it up.  Christianity has inflicted its share of pain, humiliation and hopelessness on the human race.

      Wakinyan is Wakan, it is holy. There are many stories in Native culture about encounters with the Thunderbeings.  It is similar to the ancient Jewish G-d who is so sacred that even its name may not be spoken.  At some point in our evolution, we lost sight of the magical world and replaced it with a punishing god that imposed its will creating obedient servants or rebellious ones in thrall to The Devil.  We now live in a binary world, split, as we are split.