Snips – Thoughts from Jim

Whistle Stop Tiny Locomotive time for telling of stories

If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive.
Barry Lopez, in Crow and Weasel

Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, the power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts.
Salman Rushdie

God made man because he loves stories.
Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlev (as quoted by Steve Sanfield)

I was showing a cabin that had a lot of ties to the past recently that involved a road trip. On the way there, coming down into Council Bluffs at 3AM, I hit a brush wolf/coyote. It was dark and it just appeared in front of the bumper in an instant. There was nothing to do, but hear and feel the bumps as it rolled under the truck and hit the cabin. I felt sorry for it and wondered what it would mean metaphysically. And lost track of that thought in the hum of the road until we got to our destination. In backing up the cabin, I saw that there was blood and tissue on the front of the cabin and the right rear wheel hub inside was coated red. No damage to the truck. Interesting and now I was really curious.

That got me to thinking and researching wolf meanings revealed some insights that made sense to me. Wolf comes with a warning that we are stuck in a rut, comfortable and have decided to sit on the sidelines. Wolf also calls us to expand our horizons, seek new adventures, learn a new skill, and put the past behind us.  Wolf is always telling us to seek the teachers and mentors to take our/my life to a new level. Lots of messages there for me!

Another name for a brush wolf is a coyote. And a coyote is a trickster, someone that cannot be trusted. Who will lure you in to spring a trap – to make you a captive. So, hitting the brush wolf/coyote was …well… symbolic of old thoughts and friends that had been part of my life. What this was saying to me was to close the door on the past, and yet be aware that the coyote lives, for it is a trickster and it can do some really comical things. The roadrunner cartoons of the coyote laying traps to catch the roadrunner for dinner to only get himself caught in them is running through my mind as I type this. There are 2 meanings to a coyote; from the front is one coyote meanings and when they approach you from the side, it is a contrary coyote. The one that I hit came from the left side.

This is what the book, “Medicine Cards” says about a contrary coyote.

“IF coyote appears in the reversed position, you can be assured that he is going to be contrary and a pain in your side. If coyote approaches you from the outside, beware of this master of illusion. Coyote may put you under his spell and take you to the brier patch to pick berries. It will be a painful lesson for you if you follow him. Coyote reversed can appear in your life as a supposed all-knowing teacher, a scam artist, a get rick quick business partner/planner, a rare coin door to door salesperson, a femme fatale, a movie producer, a television evangelist, a swamp land dealer, a politician, or anybody who wants you to follow their lead. Coyote is not a recommended business partner or lover.”

The coyote also shows us some of our comic foolishness; Coyote is you, me, booby traps, jet airplanes with toilets that don’t work, blind dates, and all the humorous and whimsical things we encounter along life’s way.

Snooze time is over if you have pulled a coyote medicine card or have a coyote dogging you. Be wary of the coyote and brush wolf, for they are cunning, devious and full of tricks. It pays to keep a fire lit and spirits love in your heart, for once encountered, they are always out there beyond the fire lights, lurking in the darkness thinking no one sees them, while we know their games of cunning. They seek out prey that is weak, and by surviving our encounters with them we become stronger.