Coyote has been with me for several years now. I danced Coyote in the last Masked Trance Dance I led (when you read this I might even have danced her again this year).

Everybody knows Coyote is a trickster. In Cuyamungue I could hardly believe how tricky he can get, the song the Coyotes sang there made me think of fire brigades, sirens howling and other things. I had wild dreams because of Coyote’s howling.

The following stories came out of trance journeying I did with a friend recently and were written down by Shining Coyote:

Coyote singing

Like a wave the drum beats against the borders of reality and the sound of the rattling surf sings along the beach. Coyote checks the night wind. The salty smell of the Great Waters brings with it a longing for the dusty plains. But there is something else: out of a distant valley there is the smell of the two-legged ones drifting down into her nose. There is a smell of confusion, coldness and fear.

“Jipp Jipp Jaap Wahouou,” Coyote sings her hunting song but she waits in vain for a reply from her companions.

Coyote hunting

Shining Coyote knew she should go back again. But the distant roar of the surf and the rattling of the foam still held the gate between the worlds wide open. The song of a hunt came floating down the mountains and morning was still far away………….

Her paws hardly touched the earth. The woods, the distant mountains…… in a heartbeat she flew over it all and the ancient songs of her people carried her up to a place where the spirits meet. But when Shining Coyote reached the snow covered top of the holy mountain, she just saw flashing shapes jumping onto the back of High Winds and vanishing into the darkness.

Shining Coyote got really upset: “Once in a long time I get the chance to catch a spirit personally and shake all his secrets out of him …………but no ……too late!”

All her curses were of no avail. The spirits were gone, but the tempting smell of sage, lightning medicine and great power was still hovering in the air. Unhesitatingly Shining Coyote lowered her nose onto the Path of The High Winds. The spirits might have escaped for now, but she would sniff out the path to their huts.

Coyote dancing

Between the huts made of willow shoots and turf a huge fire was burning. Seven small branches fed the flames without being consumed by the fire. Around which the shining shapes of Bear and Badger, of Snake, Rabbit and Wolf were dancing wildly. Beaver and Mole were jointly beating the huge drum and Raven, Hedgehog and Fox were singing scurrilous songs.

“Dear me,” Shining Coyote murmured quite shocked. ” These guys are completely drunk!”

In this state Rabbit would be an easy prey, but what secrets could a drunken spirit reveal? Disappointed, she was about to start her way back, when all of a sudden she saw the pieces of spirit wood which burned without being consumed.

This too would make a wonderful prize! Coyote took her moonlight coat, stolen from one of her two-legged woman’s stories, stood upright and threw the coat over her back. Now her shape flashed as brightly as the spirits and nobody noticed beautiful Coyote-Woman dancing with all the others.

“I haven’t seen you here before,” said Badger, as she entered the dancing circle. “I am sure you are looking for an experienced guide to show you around.” Shining Coyote smiled at him and, as if by chance, the edge of her coat brushed Wolf’s feet.

“Don’t talk rubbish,” he interrupted Badger. ” Don’t you see that this woman is only looking for a place to sleep peacefully after her long journey. Luckily, the largest and nicest hut belongs to me.” Badger threatened him with his fist and Shining Coyote pretended to recoil in shock, but actually she took a few steps nearer the Spirit Fire.

“Get out of my way!” Badger threatened “If you don’t, I will pull out your shabby tail and use it to sweep the dust from the dance floor.”

“Get out of here,” growled Wolf “or I rip off your mangy fur and use it as a doormat in front of my hut.”

“Don’t put up with that sort of talk, Badger!” croaked Raven, who found a good fight much better all the songs he knew so well.

“Wolf, show him what’s what!” barked Fox, who was wondering how he could approach this beautiful stranger, without getting beaten up by the others.

Coyote running

When the noise of the fight drowned out the great drum, Shining Coyote dropped her coat, snatched a piece of wood from the fire and ran with it into the darkness of the night.

Behind her she heard the spirits shouting angrily, they were not going to let this impudent thief to escape unpunished. Luckily they were so drunk that they got in each other’s way and were soon left behind.

When Shining Coyote had left the spirit world, she found out that her piece of wood had started to burn up. The quicker she ran, the bigger the flames got and the higher the sparks flew. Even her whiskers started to glow. However, the huntress had no intention of letting go of her precious loot. If she managed to bring at least one spark from the spirit fire into the world of the two-legged beings, this would remind them that the same fire burns in their souls too.

How exciting their world could be if she was able to bring to the old flames new life and the world rediscovered the power of its old magic!

Shining Coyote ran as fast as she could. She ignored her smoldering whiskers and the burning pain. The woman who had sent her spirit on its journey was still floating on the rattling rhythm of her dream, but there were still other two-legged ones…

Coyote laughing

From a distant valley the smell of confusion, coldness and fear drifted towards Shining Coyote. She followed the smell and found a man sitting with half a dozen younger men on the banks of a small lake. It was dark, rain had fallen, and they were soaked through. They could have warmed each other, but getting that close was even more frightening for them than the cold of the night.

Shining Coyote had the impression that the woman who sent her traveling had a special connection with these two-legged people. Without making a sound she stole into the camp of the little group and put her precious loot onto a stone at the side of the tall gaunt guy. Smelling that everybody here felt cold, she softly guided his attention towards the seed of fire which she had carried here out of the spirit world. First the man got a little shock but then he seemed to understand. Carefully he took the smoldering piece of wood, blew softly into the dying spark and used it to light a small twig from his world, which he took from his pocket. Soon a fire would be burning to warm them all……………

This was a normal Trance-Posture journey. A friend had asked me to do soul retrieval with her and Shining Coyote slipped in for the remaining part of the Trance.

A few days later when she rang me up to report what had happened to her afterwards, she sounded shaken: “I can hardly believe this!” she said. “When I unpacked my blanket, you know that one with all the animals on it which I used when you rattled for me, I found a piece of burnt coal in it………………………………………………I actually think we should give that back to the spirit world. Maybe when you go to Turtle Island soon you should take it with you, have a little ceremony there and thank the spirits for everything”.

And that is what I am going to do.

©Annette Ki Salmen

View more from the June 2007 Newsletter