The Five Huaquas
Humor and Death –
What’s the Connection?
by Jan Holmes
The Five Huaquas: |
 |
I find it ironic that announcements of death should find their way into this issue, juxtaposed with the theme of humor. There are no accidents, so what can we learn from this synchronicity?
Oxford English Dictionary defines “humor” thus: A quality of action, speech, etc. which causes amusement; facetiousness, comicality; the faculty of perceiving and enjoying what is ludicrous. It is a description of a mood or temperament.
I would like to explore humor in another context, drawing from ThunderStrikes’ teachings, his stories of Grandfather Two Bears and the Elders, as well as the writings of Carlos Castaneda. Castaneda often told how his mentor don Juan Matus and others of his sorcerer teachers would laugh uproariously at the most frightening circumstances, even in situations where his life might actually have been in danger. They saw and understood the incongruities and ironies in life and humans’ often foolish reactions to them.
ThunderStrikes recounts his experience with a “magickal elk” when he was twelve. He was caught in a thunderstorm and saw an elk in the distance lit up like a Christmas tree. He raced home sure he had seen a magickal elk! When he told his grandmother and clan uncle, they laughed until they split their sides. They knew that the elk draws lightning to it, as it is a natural transformer, and they delighted in his experience. Their response was contrary to most people’s usual reactions—fear, worry, and perhaps scolding.
ThunderStrikes has spoken many times of the Elders’ sense of humor. As we evolve and mature and our assemblage point moves up to the higher resonant stations, our metabolism increases and our bodies lose their density, becoming lighter and more porous. It seems reasonable, therefore, that our attitude and approach to life (and death) would lighten up as well.
The “Fool” in the 0 card of the Maya Xultan tarot stands in the mouth of the jaguar, about to be devoured. Is he afraid? Perhaps. But “humor” is his middle name. Not the kind of humor that cracks jokes, but humor that is a lightness of being, a joy for life and living, a charge, a high as one dances on the edges life and death present. The Fool courts chaos and death, knowing there is always rebirth. Sometimes when a person takes ayuhuesca in ceremony, he will be devoured by an animal, plunged into the shadow, and then shit out reborn. The enlightening Elders are the consummate Fools.
Humor is a state of mind, an attitude we develop as we make death our ally, advisor, and companion. It is a powerful and necessary ally in our soul’s great SunDance journey. To laugh in the face of death is to understand the dance.
The toliloquey, the “little people”, bring humor and teach us to lighten up in our seriousness. Humor is like the baking powder in a cake. It makes the cake rise, becoming light and fluffy. Humor is our ability to see the light within the dark, the light at the end of the tunnel, the gain within any loss.
That brings me to the loss we experience at the death of a loved one. We mourn the loss. Our feelings of sadness and pain are legitimate, and we must allow ourselves to grieve and move through the loss. As we do so, it is important to realize that every birth brings a gift(s) into the world, and every death leaves a gift(s) for us if we look for it.
The one who has crossed over has been a mirror for us, and if we are willing to look deeply enough, we will see the gift. The way in which the loved one dies also holds a lesson for us. I was present with both my mother and my father when they crossed over. My father was cantankerous and strong-willed to the end. There was no humor in him as he left with a lot of regrets. There was a lesson in that for me. My mother prepared for her crossing, meeting death with courage and conviction, and yes with humor. How she approached the next chapter in her soul’s journey showed me how death can be a gain, and my attitude about death changed forever.
In many cultures, burial is accompanied by eating, drinking, singing, dancing, and sharing stories about the deceased—a celebration of life in the face of death. Humor strengthens and anchors the other huaquas of health, hope, happiness, and harmony in our lives. It is essential that we invite humor into our lives at every opportunity.