Faith and Coyotes

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but for all my tracking, studying and researching coywolves (eastern coyotes) over the years, I hardly ever see them (not counting trapped & studied individuals).  I’ve seen my share of western coyotes (see my article on Coyote Morphology for the physical differences between coywolves and western coyotes) but here in the northeast, I had only ever seen 2 out and about (and hardly saw one of them, just from the corner of my eye) as of last winter.

So in frustration, I turned to Coyote – one of my animal spirit guides – and made an appeal to finally see some of his eastern kin.

Less than a week later I was driving home late one Saturday night from a gig with my band. I caught a glimpse of an animal leaping out of the woods into the road, and had only a moment to register that it was a coyote (and to try swerve out of its way) before it hit my car. Afterwards, it was tempting to say, “I hit a coyote with my car” (and I did for a day or so) because that’s what we usually say.  But I know I tried to get out of its way and I’m telling you, this coyote hit my car.

Naturally, I felt awful.  Horrible, even.  But the irony of this encounter didn’t go unnoticed  for more than a few seconds once I got over my shock.  Seriously?  The woman who LOVES coyotes, studies and tracks them but never sees them, manages to hit one with her car. Nice job. It was clear to me that Coyote was saying: “You want to see a coyote?  I’ll give you a coyote…”

After pulling over, I got out of the car to see if the animal ran off (it had) and how badly it might have been hurt (probably not very). The coyote didn’t leave much blood behind, and talking it over with a naturalist friend later, we came to the conclusion that it probably hit nose-first (I saw some saliva or mucus near the small blood trail) and overall was fine. Which made me feel a little less horrible.

Four nights later, a friend was driving me home from a fundraiser and we were talking about spirit animals.  I had literally just finished telling her how Coyote had become my spirit animal and my subsequent run-in, when, cresting the hill just before my driveway I saw two canine figures crossing the road a few dozen yards ahead of us. My friend turned on her high beams and we clearly saw two coyotes, reddish in color, dash into the woods. A third was on the opposite side of the road but I didn’t get a chance to see it (my friend did).  We were ecstatic – the timing was uncanny, and they were so beautiful.

So what am I supposed to take away from these encounters? The science-loving naturalist in me is tempted to say that these were just what they were – two coyote spottings that happened close together. That’s all. The deeply spiritual part of me – the part that connects with Coyote, and not just coyotes – knows intuitively that there was more at work.  There are many cultures – ancient and modern – who revere animals for their spiritual energies, and they often tell of the importance of physical connections with spirit animals, familiars or totems. That is, when you experience a physical encounter with an animal that you connect with, it’s worth paying close attention. So I’m paying attention, and wondering if these two moments were a blip in the coyote silence I’ve been living in, or a newer trend…

I’d love to know if anyone has a totem or spirit animal(s) that they’ve had a direct encounter with.  How did it affect you? Did/does it change how you see this creature as part of the natural world? How do you reconcile your view of the spiritual and natural side of the animals/creatures you’re close to?