Sprinting Backwards to God

In the beginning . . .

of the Cherokee Creation Story, all the plants and animals were settled on earth before the first man and woman arrived in the Great Smoky Mountains. Nearly all such narratives, including the Genesis story, agree that human beings were the last created and the most in need of help. From the beginning Grandmother Earth has had to succor us in special ways.

Sometimes our help comes in a Sign. Most western, technological, science-ridden people are blind to Signs, but a bird, tree or event may portend something important. Native Americans expect and watch for them, but also have the wisdom to discriminate. Not every sign is a “Sign.” Sometimes the hawk is simply looking for food rather than revealing himself as a medicine animal.

Guiding Signs may also come from the Spirit World. The closest analogy in Judeo-Christian tradition would be the Legion of Angels. American Indians have legions of Spirits, some of whom previously led human lives, but many of whom did not. My own Teacher, who introduced himself during a healing ceremony and revealed himself more fully during my fourth Vision Quest, lived hundreds of years ago as a Lakota.

Spirits can be helpful, provocative, or destructive. There is a constant struggle between Good and Evil Spirits to control human endeavors. Knowing that, Native Americans start every sacred ceremony with a rite of purification and protection. They understand that anything worth noticing will inevitably attract both kinds. All reality is fueled by the interaction of opposites: male/female, positive/negative, light/dark.

Then there is the separate class of Spirits that are neither good or bad. Known as Trickster Spirits, they teach wisdom through foolishness. Exemplified in American Indian stories by Rabbit, Raccoon, Coyote, Raven and Spider, it is Coyote that represents the prototypical Trickster.

Coyote is an incredibly complex fellow; a nere-do-well, sly and cunning, with an avaricious appetite for women. Even when he does good, it is usually in service of his sensuality. Yet, as you will learn in the story, How Coyote Got His Name, Creator pitied poor Coyote and empowered him to restore balance to Creation whenever necessary. So that is how Coyote works, albeit in fits and starts. At the Creator’s request, he enters our lives whenever we get out of balance.

There is a little Coyote in all of us and a lot of Coyote in some. Truly troublesome, our own human perversity becomes Coyote’s best tool. Consider the number of national leaders who have worked hard for the people but allowed lechery, greed, and egotism to tarnish their image and render them foolish. This is the way of Coyote.

Story-telling has always been a great past-time in my family. So it was natural for me to become a story teller. I love the Cherokee legends and animal tales; in fact, stories are my favorite form of teaching. Honed by my life-long teacher, Professor Coyote, I haven’t lost my trickster personality. My stories, many autobiographical in nature, may be strange and sometimes embarrassing, but they are always true and thereby important to anyone walking the sacred path. The following stories are from my repertoire of teaching tales which reveal Coyote’s meddlesome assistance in my life.

Here then is my personal history, important only as it reflects a chapter of the Creator’s story, laid out like a medicine wheel. These stories aren’t meant to be taken at face value. As you move along in the four directions, South, East, North and West, unanswered questions may jar your awareness. They certainly did mine. Be patient as each tale discloses its own truth, and meanings emerge from the maze. There are spiritual teachings in even the most unseemly of tales. Each level of learning marks a milestone of my path of vision quest And always remember; regardless of whether we notice it or not, life is sacred, but sometimes we must walk backwards to God. Duncan Sings-Alone