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Isnala Mani

Isnala Mani is a name from the Lakota language. It means "Man Who Walks Alone".

This is not my birth name...
the name was given to me during a spiritual experience which changed me forever.
I am not Lakota nor of any other tribe or Nation of Native American.
The name is used in such a manner as to show profound respect to the People who have taught me so very much about what it means to be a man.

The name does not have the sad connotation that one might assume.
When I was given the name I was at a low point in my spiritual life and I felt that the name indicated that I must forever walk through this life alone...a man destined to sometimes touch others but ultimately to return to aloneness and solitude.

I was given the name when I was instructed to go into the West on the Medicine Wheel, the Great Hoop of the People. The West...the Place of the Shaman's Death...the cave of self-knowledge, of introspection.
When my time of trial had passed I realized that Isnala Mani does not mean a man cut off from others.
My little brother told me that a man must sometimes go into the West...
but he cannot live there. He was wise beyond his Elder Brother.
I now know that the name indicates a man who is strong within his own
truth...a man who owns himself...a man who is complete within himself.

If we would give ourselves to another... totally and without reservation... we must first own ourselves.

My Tsisqua Liha, I give myself to you.
Thank you for giving me Forever.
I have loved you before...I will love you into eternity.

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