There are many stories about the Coyote as being a trickster. Don't let that fool you, because Coyote protects the home and the people in it from foolishness. Living in hills or underground dens, Coyotes always make sure the family is fully protected. He helps to keep the family close.Learn from coyote in negotiating a difficult situations. He can help you to discover a trap that you are caught in, or show you how you might be fooling yourself.
The animal totem of the Coyote is prominent in the religion and folklore of the Native American culture, the Coyote stories centre in the area of North and Central America. From a hunter and prey standpoint the Coyote would have posed no real threat to adult Native Americans, so its legend is not one based in violence and consumption. Like all animals in the Native American world view the Coyote is an animal to be respected and feared, although not a brutal killer the wild animal could devour the body of a dead member of the tribe or take a small baby or child.
The main abilities attributed to the Totem animal is that of a trickster or a deceiver, which would usually paint a human with those characteristics as been quite malevolent or unsavoury. In the shamanic interpretation of the Coyote trickster , the Coyote sees humour in every avenue of life, and this is maybe a good thing to take on board when we make important decisions or just continue in our normal everyday lives. The Coyote teaches us the lesson that if we live life without seeing the bright side of existence then we shall dwell on the cruelty and unfairness constantly. And ultimately what kind of existence do we lead with that mindset?
The Coyote and that of other Trickster entities in Shamanism and world religions, makes us remember that in order to experience true peace there must first be order to be rectified by our own endeavours. Comparing the Coyote with Loki is a good example as Odin represents order and Loki represents chaos. Without some form of conflict or spark of life things would remain stagnant and we would not grow as people either mentally, spiritually or emotionally. The Coyote does what it does as it is a force of nature and is not ruled by a system of malicious ideals...read more...
