Coyote’s Revival
I live at the base of hundreds of acres of protected open space. From my house I gaze out at East Canyon Creek that collects snowfall runoff from the mountains and winds it down through the suburbs and ranchlands of Summit County. Shooting right out of the other side of the creek is the northern section of Swaner Nature Preserve.
This open space was preserved 30 years ago to permanently protect wildlife, habitat, and watershed critical for this ski town and natural environment. Recently, our neighbors have reported coyote sightings along the creek, meaning they have returned to the Preserve.
As I sit outside in the evening autumn chill hoping to catch a call from the coyotes, my attention tunes and the realness of this place envelopes me into full sensory awareness. Coyotes have lived here for a million years as the land took many shapes, morphing into the form it is today. Over the last ten thousand years, Native Americans made this land their home - and Coyote a deity figure.
This is their place, and I am a visitor. How can I learn from them?
A coyote sighting is generally a message to take a look within and learn to laugh at ourselves and our mistakes
In Western Native American folklore, Coyote is an important messenger of personal transformation through self-reflection. And the signs of transformation are everywhere; both broad and internal change is imminent. Transition weighs heavy in the air - palpable, like the incoming Autumn and all the markers it brings of an inevitable seasonal shift.
Colossal environmental and social breakdowns have been increasing across scale, e.g., climate change, mass migrations of people, and global pandemic. These crises are the fracturing of rigid, over-stressed and badly designed systems. For those of us who studied sustainability, we knew this day would come. Our human systems have surpassed the carrying capacity of the planet, and we are witnessing the fallout.
Rather than welcoming a new, healing, and regenerative way of living, though, we are refusing the change. Climate anxiety grows ubiquitous, while we, as a society, cling to the traditional paradigm. What delusion is this?
It is time to grapple with our stubborn resistance and reconcile with the absurdity of the old way.
Coyote reveals the truth behind illusion and chaos
I’ve been inauthentic. I ran up a massive carbon debt while working in impact. I eased my anxiety with Netflix while ignoring Nature all around and within me. I was tunnel-visioned in the “busyness” of artificial urgency, created by artificial scarcity. Life moved faster and faster, and before long, it become a race to save the planet - so I worked even harder, faster, and stronger.
But can we truly save the Earth with the same frenzied and chaotic ambition that created this mess? The way of the old paradigm had me frantic to build climate solutions, but turning a blind eye to the destructive thinking that continues to perpetuate the problems. The old paradigm is an illusion in which we only see what we want to see.
Now is time to gather the wherewithal to confront our contradictions and the courage to see reality as it truly is.
Coyote is both the reason why there are so many mistakes in the world and a spiritual healer
I didn’t know I was racing on a hamster wheel until I was thrown off in wild confusion.
Mistakes - there are plenty. Not just mine, but those of my grandfathers’ and their grandfathers’ before them. Their choices may not have been mine, but the fallout is my responsibility.
Now I pause. Reconciling our mistakes begins with presence. Disrupting the increasing velocity of destruction begins with stillness. Healing the human and ecological spirit begins with slowness.
Coyote has a symbolic role of representing the cycle of life and death in nature
In order for something to die – an attachment, a memory, a story - we must determinedly let it go. In order for something to be born, we must succumb to the discomfort, disorientation and fear for the new to break through.
The destructive, dominating, and wasteful way we’ve been living cannot continue. The paradigm of this modern culture must now be fully laid to rest in order to create anew.
Coyote is associated with a deep magic of life and creation
I woke in the night to hear the coyotes yipping and howling on the preserve. They were so loud; it sounded like they were surrounding me. Their wildness sent a shiver of fear through my chest, but I soon felt my heart slow down and come into a peaceful rhythm.
The wildness of this place has become visceral like I’m remembering something playful and invigorating deep inside. Why did I ever turn away from this enlivening realness?
Coyote is like a way-maker of new direction
Now I begin a new way. The new way returns to nature’s rhythm, knowing, and power in order to grow more powerful with Her - rather than over Her.
This way is about slowing down, releasing the artificial stressors, and letting the extraneous noise fade away. It is about letting go of my cynicism, rekindling the joyful and spiritually vitalizing relationship I once had with nature, and embracing the virtuous qualities I admire so much in Earth: humility, patience, and serenity.
This way is about heeding the call of our times and welcoming the changes as they come. This way embraces a deepened consciousnesses to move wholly into a healing, regenerative era.
I sense the Coyote is revived.
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