Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
John Two-Hawks
Three Minutes, Three Questions
Fans in Eureka Springs, across the country and around the world expect to see John Two-Hawks with a flute in his hand — whether solo or joined by an ever-changing cadre of collaborators. But his music, with echoes of both his Lakota Sioux and Celtic heritage, has always gone deeper than entertainment. It both celebrates what he has overcome and seeks to help lift up those who listen.
“Nothing means more to me after I’ve played my music than to have somebody standing in front of me who was touched in a way that heals them.”
When the coronavirus pandemic shut down TwoHawks’ touring, he turned to another medium to share his thoughts. His book “Of Mist and Stone” has just been released, and in between signing copies for an event June 4 at the Eureka Springs Community Center, he took time to answer three questions for What’s Up!
Q. What inspired this book and made this the right time to create it?
A. Interestingly, it took the complete stoppage caused by the pandemic for me to hear the whispers that eventually became this book. I think something beyond my own creativity inspired this book, something beyond me. Having said that, in addition to what I had absorbed vicariously through my lifelong experience with both peoples, I did a ton of research for this book. And at every turn I became more and more amazed by the commonality of these two very distinct cultures. I think this pandemic has given humanity a window, a chance to reevaluate our priorities and to reemerge with a deeper sense of what really matters. This book invites people to step into that reemergence.
Q. How does this book look at the synchronicities of time and faith as they apply to the mess we have in the modern world?
A. This book is over 25 years in the making. The seeds for it were planted in my youth, learning and hearing about our Indigenous and Irish family lineage. Those seeds began to sprout when I met my dear friend Seamus Byrne from Ireland back in 2001, and we became like brothers, even creating a music album together the following year.
Since that time, my travels have taken me to ancient, sacred places all over Ireland. Those experiences began to reveal a mysterious parallel between the Native and Irish cultures I descend from. I was repeatedly astonished by how much each had in common with the other, especially where the ancient things are concerned. Generally speaking, our modern world has lost touch with mysticism. For most, it is seen as little more than superstition. But I believe we have lost something in our collective forgetting of these ancient powers. We long to reconnect with the sacred knowledge of celestial alignment, and to touch and understand once again the astronomical power these forgotten peoples knew and harnessed to great affect, building astonishing places like Newgrange, Medicine Wheel and Stonehenge.
Q. What lessons do you hope to convey to readers?
A. My hope is that the reader will allow themselves to walk into the mist of a nearly forgotten time, and slip through the veil to look into an ancient world of synchronicity that has answers for us all today. Through the exploration of the incredible oneness of these two ancient worlds of Indigenous and
Celtic people, we can see the indelible thread that binds us all together like the circular power of the Celtic shield knot and the sacred hoop. We truly are related and connected in ways that go far deeper than we often imagine. These lessons from the ancients are hidden in plain sight, and beckon us all to extend a hand to one another and return to a place where harmony is the vibration that can move the greatest of stones.