My Zuni Fetish animal is the Coyote. My first experience with Zuni Fetish carvings was in Santa Fe, New Mexico many years ago at Keshi. http://www.keshi.com/. It's a small shop right across from the St. Francis Hotel where we were staying. Out of curiosity one morning after breakfast I walked in. I started browsing all of the cabinets where the fetish carvings were displayed. The Native American shop keeper, a young girl, walked up to me and quietly said, "one of them will speak to you, listen carefully, you will know." I smiled and thanked her, not quite sure I actually believed her but it was fun to play along with the "spirituality thing". As if one of these carved rocks would actually speak to me, yeah right. Maybe after a couple of margaritas at the Coyote Cantina Rooftop bar, which by the way is my favorite place to hang out in Santa Fe, I might hear things from carved rocks, but not sober on a Thursday morning. There were only a couple other "touristas" in the shop as I slowly browsed. The carvings were actually really nice, each artist having their own style. The eagles were cool, as were the owls and snakes, but they weren't speaking to me. The old silent treatment, which by the way I've received many times from various wives and dates, but never from a carved rock. Anyway, it was fun to just wander around acting as if I was really into all of this animal spirit hocus pocus. As I rounded the corner at the end of the long display case in the middle of the store, I simply just stopped in front of a tall cabinet. Don't know why, just knew that I had to. I looked at the animal carvings that were now in front of me and they were all coyotes. I knew. This was it, this was to be my animal spirit. It was a feeling, a connection. Now I had to figure out why. In Zuni lore, each fetish animal means something, it's unique spirit symbolic of something. What was the coyote all about?:
Traditionally most interpretations say that the Coyote is called “the trickster” in numerous cultures. Life, however, is the real trickster and Coyote understands this. By accepting situations as they are and dealing with the unexpected willingly and eagerly, Coyote survives. Coyotes shows us that life is unpredictable and uncontrollable and that unexpected occurrences can be viewed as opportunities, not misfortunes. Coyote’s wisdom teaches us to live in the moment and wonder at it all.
But this wasn't me, old Wylie must be mistaken. If anything I was just the opposite. I was a worrier, always worrying about the future and regretting what I had done in the past. Me live in the moment? I don't think so. The young girl came over to me and said, "You have found your guide, your animal spirit. It is Coyote, you are lucky. He will teach you many things."
"But that's not me, everything I read about him is the opposite of who I am"
"And are you happy with who you are right now?"
I didn't answer her right away. I knew. Coyote knew.
"No I'm not happy. I would love to view life as the Coyote does"
"Then he is here to guide you, he chose you for a reason. Listen carefully."
She was right. I picked one particular coyote fetish that I knew I had to have. Funny, since it sometimes takes me a long time to make a decision, but I just knew. I bought a small leather pouch for his home and put some ground corn in it. For those not familiar with the size of one of these fetishes, they aren't very big, maybe an inch or two tall, if that. Here's a photo of a coyote carving. I initially wrote "typical carving" but then realized that there is nothing typical about any of the fetish animals. Each one has it's own spirit, although the one pictured below looks a lot like the one that I adopted. Possible that the same artist carved it.
Fast forward to today. It's been a long journey and I still have a lot to learn, although I'm getting much better at living in the moment. My Coyote fetish and also my wife Julie have been amazing teachers over the years. Live in the moment and wonder at it all - the Coyote way. The Coyote is a survivor and an optimist. Cool. I'm trying to be and getting much better at it.
One nice thing about living in Colorado is that there are a lot of coyotes around as reminders. When I lived in the mountains, at night I would hear them down by the lake howling and yipping to each other. A very magical sound that went straight to your core. You don't often see them out and about in the daylight, they are survivors and try and stay away from man, which is why what happened to me last weekend while I was hiking the back trails makes it all the more ominous.
There are miles and miles of mountain trails within a few minutes drive of where we live. It is possible to take any one of a number of trails and be in complete solitude, not another hiker in sight or any animals for that matter. Eagles and hawks circle overhead, a few mule deer now and then, but that's about it. The mountain lions, bears and coyotes (lions and coyotes and bears, oh my!) are there, you just never see them. Just you and nature and silence. I like that. Last weekend I was on one of my favorite remote trails and was starting up a gentle climb in a nice valley. I had hiked this trail many times before. As I hike, I tend to look down to check my footing and this particular stretch was narrow with lots of ankle twisting rocks so I wasn't looking up at the trail ahead of me. I reached a level spot where I usually stop for a drink and as I was drinking I happened to glance up the trail and saw a large adult male coyote, literally not more that 100 feet away from me in the middle of the trail. Totally silent, it was as if he just appeared and our paths crossed. He was older and his coat wasn't in great shape. He looked tired. Both of us stopped and made eye contact. Both of us just staring at each other in a very non threatening or fearful way.
He then spoke to me, not audibly, of course, but I honestly felt a spiritual connection and communication. It was as clear as if we were speaking. Telepathic communication. What he told me was very unsettling. They are afraid, their earth mother is dying, they don't know what to do. It is very difficult for them to maintain their coyote optimism. They see no opportunity anymore. They are sad. They are feeling beaten down. They don't know what to do. Much sadness.
We stood and did this for probably 5 minutes, not a real long time but a long time for a wild animal to stop and make contact with a human. After he had spoken, he slowly moved across the trail and headed up the side of the mountain, still visible in the tall grass. As I was about to continue on my way, another coyote appeared and also crossed the trail again no more than 100 feet away. This one was smaller and probably the female companion of the first one. Her coat was also very bad and she walked with a noticeable limp. She did not stop to look at me but just continued on her way to catch up to her mate who was waiting on the side of the hill, just off to the right. She did not communicate with me, her mate had said enough. The two of them slowly and sadly made their way in the tall grass on the side of the mountain. I stood and watched them until they were out of sight. After they had gone, I simply stood there, closed my eyes and reflected on what I had just heard and what had just happened. It is something I'll never forget.
My hero has always been Pete Seeger. Over 46 years ago, I bought my first Pete Seeger album called "God Bless The Grass". My favorite song on the album was one called "Coyote, My Little Brother." The chorus to the song is "He's warning the human race of his death". How ironic.
Please take the time and listen to this song recorded in the early 60's on Pete Seegers "Rainbow Quest" TV show. Please pray for the coyote - please pray for our earth.
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