My work is that of a Hayoka. I did not mean it to be. Perhaps survival, perhaps the Thunder Gods spoke to me in the womb, and I cannot remember. The Navajo believe that only when the Thunder Gods speak to you do you become a Hayoka.She was a Thunder Goddess, the one who officially gave me this name. We were crossing the deepest lakes east of the Rocky Mountains. I believe the West Coast of Canada is home to Deep Spirit—certainly the oldest tree people, the largest seashells I have ever seen, the biggest, smelliest ferns, and the coldest glacial lakes.There, I was named Hayoka, cautiously. Trickster is its original meaning—one who does things backward. But the Trickster keeps the dogmatic rules and orientation of fundamentalism out of living. They shake things up. They do not exclude. They do not follow rules, not because they want to rebel, but because they see, feel, and hold deep empathy for truth. Structure can crush a spirit.There is a time and a place to flip things upside-down and walk backward. There is a time and a place in all religious and spiritual practices when ancient methods and approaches need to be shifted, flipped upside-down, to receive the gifts of their essence. These essences or truths bring us face to face with God, with our hearts.It is only when we accept that no one way, no one approach is the right approach that we truly become free. Hayoka I am, and shall be, until I stand on my head and yell for Green Eggs and Ham.Maybe then, I will no longer be. Don’t take advice too seriously.Don’t practice too rigidly.And most importantly—trust the tree people, for they are made of us, and we are made of them.

 

The Gift

The gift is within you.How do you call it?Holly, Om, Namaste, Omsit Nogama, All My Relations, Angel, Warm Water, Amen, Mary.These are some of the words of Spirit, Universe, God, and Goddess.But what are your words?This Divine within you, this force that surrounds you, that you see in nature, in creation, in death, in the depths of your soul—what name does it whisper to you?Find your words.The ones with deep meaning for you, that resonate in your bones, that carry the voices of your ancestors.Still your mind.Find your virtue.And sit within it.