Enright House Press- Red Horse, thanks for taking the time to sit down and talk with us about your new book DIRTY LITTLE GODS. Flying Red Horse- My pleasure. I'm glad for the opportunity. EHP- Before we get into the book, could you fill us in on your background? FRH- Sure. To borrow a quote, "What a long strange trip it's been!" I'm Southern born and bred. My birth name is Billy, not William. I was named after Reverend Billy Graham. I guess my path was determined long before I had any say in the matter! [grins] Not surprisingly I was steeped in the Southern Baptist church and even preached my first sermon at 16 years old. But, suffice it to say that, budding preacher though I was, I and the church came to a mutual and abrupt parting of the ways after I graduated high school. EHP- What happened? FRH- I had too many questions the church couldn't answer. That and the fact that something about the whole church scene just creeped me out. I don't know how else to explain it. Anyhow, after high school I joined the Air Force, did my time, then soon found myself slipping into the kind of life that I swore I would never live: the 9-to-5 grind. The only thing that kept me from going totally to the dark side [grins] during this time frame was playing guitar, writing music, and my interest in the martial arts. By the time I hit 30 I began to realize that something was really out of whack in my life...I felt like I was drifting. I did know that when I was on the mat practicing Aikido I felt at least something like direction. I felt peaceful. EHP- What was it about Aikido that helped? I wouldn't think the violence of a sport like Aikido would be at all peaceful. FRH- Well, you're wrong on two counts. Aikido is not a sport and it's not violent; in fact, Aikido is the most nonviolent Japanese martial art there is. The focus is on balance and harmony, not resistance or conflict. The discipline and focus I learned by training led me to explore Zen Buddhism. I read and studied informally for two years before I began sitting regularly at the Atlanta Soto Zen Center. EHP- So Aikido led directly to Zen? FRH- Pretty much. Like I said, I recognized that something wasn't right in my life. I considered returning to the Church for about two milliseconds but there was no way that was going to happen. Basically, I knew I needed to address some spiritual issues, but I was determined to go into what I perceived to be the absolute opposite direction from Christianity to do so. Zen was a good fit and it helped me tremendously. The strange thing was the longer I sat in meditation and studied, the more I recognized certain things I had been exposed to in the church. EHP- Wait a minute, I'm confused... You were taught Zen in the Baptist church? FRH- [chuckles] Uh...no...no!.. Maybe to say that I was exposed to them in the church wasn't the best way to phrase it. I had read the bible and, despite the church's best attempts to the contrary, I had learned and retained some things that had a ring of truth about them. After I began studying on my own in my 30's I made a conscious effort to delve into comparative religion and learn from the similarities of different traditions while ignoring the differences. It was this comparative approach that pointed me back toward Christianity. But I was determined to have nothing to do with any form of Christianity that would condemn my choices regarding Zen and the discoveries I had made about myself as a result of my practice. As it turned out I soon encountered a sect of Christianity that came to America by way of India rather than Europe. The St. Thomas Christian Church had a decidedly different view on worship and God from anything I had previously experienced. About the time I was being ordained as a Zen disciple I was starting seminary studies in the tradition of Thomas the Doubter. EHP- Seminary? Ordination? That seems a far cry from wanting nothing to do with Christianity. FRH- Uh...yeah... The weird thing is, from the moment I started studying Zen I knew I was going to be a teacher. At the time I had no idea why. Now, years later, I've come to understand that I learn the most when I'm teaching. It's completely selfish. I stopped trying to argue with myself about it long ago... [smiles] EHP- Okay, so what happened next? FRH- To put it bluntly, I came to realize a couple of years later that I just don't play well with others. [laughs] Organized religion and I don't get along, no matter what the faith or denomination. I stepped on a lot of toes and finally decided that the best thing for me to do was get out. About this time I began reviewing what I had learned and, though I'd learned enough to help me on my way, there were still some gaping holes that needed to be filled. As has been the pattern in my life, this was the time I became aware of the Medicine and of the Earth Teachers that shared these Teachings. I still had questions and I came to realize that Mother Earth had answers. EHP- So the Medicine is Native American, right? FRH- [hesitates] More or less. There are a lot of Brothers and Sisters that teach Medicine that is specific to one tribe or another. My teachers have all been of mixed-blood. The term is Metis. Earth Teachings, at least as I have been taught and now teach, are not about tribe or culture. They are about our Mother, the Earth. These Teachings come from Her. These are Teachings that reveal more about what it is to be human than anything I have ever encountered before. EHP- So have you renounced Zen and Christianity to practice these Earth Teachings? FRH- I suppose you could say I've renounced the organized forms inherent in Zen and Christianity, but I'm not silly enough to throw the baby out with the bath water. I'm very pragmatic; whatever works, I use. I find that the truths I encounter in one discipline only serve to reinforce the truths I encounter in the others. Are we ever gonna talk about the book?... [grins]   CLICK HERE TO GO TO INTERVIEW PAGE TWO