Often during my animal sessions, other animals connect that are in some way related to the animal for whom I am holding the session. They can either be housemates or an animal that has crossed over. Sometimes, it is an animal from their past, if they lived in more than one household or situation. An animal that spent a lot of time in a shelter, for example, may allow one of the other shelter animals to come in to chat. Animals understand that energy does not die but simply changes form. They connect with other animals all the time using the natural gift of telepathy. Energy connects to energy, after all.
While speaking with a client the other day, the human brought up the coyote. She mentioned that where they live there are bears, deer, foxes, and coyotes, not to mention all the smaller animals typical in suburban and rural areas. While she was speaking, I pictured in my mind the animals (as I usually do, since I am visual by nature). I could see all the animals clearly while still holding space for my client, a lovely athletic dog. There was one that stood out and begged for attention, however. The Coyote.
The impression I got was not of just one coyote in particular, but Coyote as the Spirit Animal. Of course, I focused in to hear what needed to be said by this beautiful, misunderstood creature. The Coyote in my mind's eye was strong and healthy, but emotionally somewhat distressed. Tired of being painted as ruthless murderers of house animals and strays, the Coyote felt compelled to explain their behavior. Here is the message I received:
"Yes, we do attack small animals who are in our path when we are hungry. We do not kill for the sake of killing. We have been driven out of our lands and chased away from potential living areas by humans and are now left to hunt for food in your areas- areas that were once full of trees and wildlife. We are not used to all this noise and the earth feels different under our paws. We are nervous here, it doesn't feel natural. When we feel threatened or followed, we will fight back because we have to protect ourselves and our pack. If you see us outside in daylight, we are not sick or rabid. We are hunting when it is safe to leave our pups alone. We are sorry for any loss you feel; we too have suffered a great deal of loss at your hands. We used to stay within the boundaries of our own land, but you {humans} keep taking more and more and there is hardly a place left for us to live."
When you study Spirit Animals, the Coyote represents lightening up or changing your perspective about something. The reminder that Coyote as Spirit Animal brings is to keep things simple and be open to new possibilities. While Coyote is known through fairytales to be a trickster, this trait is also symbolic of playfulness, cunning, witty, and also uncovering hidden pearls of wisdom.
After the message was given, Coyote left my mind and I was able to continue the session with my client and her dog companion. We were able to see how the message was pertinent to a question about her dog's behavior which she had asked earlier in the session. Coyote helped us in our session, but gave me (and hopefully my readers) something important to think about. How much land do we really need to take? Why is everything we don't understand immediately deemed as evil or a threat? Why can hundreds of species learn to live together, take only what is necessary, share resources, and respect boundaries but humans cannot even live harmoniously with our own kind? Why do humans continuously destroy wildlife, and then point our greedy fingers of blame on the victims of that destruction?
Every session I have teaches me something more about animals. This session was particularly special to me because it brought in an animal in the wild, a representative of a species through Spirit. I now have a better understanding of the animal and respect for it as well. I hope we, as human beings, can learn to become better stewards of the earth for our sake and for the sake of the other beings that share the planet with us.
