Animal Medicine
"To understand the concept of medicine in the Native American way, one must redefine medicine. The medicine referred to in this book is anything that improves one's connection to the Great Mystery and to all life. This would include the healing of body, mind, and of spirit."
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(p13, Medicine Cards)
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Animal medicine entered my life fairly recently - mid 2013. A good friend of mine who had read an early draft of the first couple chapters of To Kill A Coyote, was familiar with medicine cards and thought I might find them interesting. She gave me a book on medicine cards along with a deck of 52 animal medicine cards. They have become great teachers in my life and assure me that I have unique talents that I am destined to share with the world. Each of us has unique talents that can serve humanity. All living beings are valued. Medicine cards and the animal medicine they describe sustain my faith in life while revealing insight and connection.
The underlying belief in oneness of the medicine cards along with the symbolic teaching style appeals to me, probably in much the same way that the symbols in myth have appealed to me from a young age. I researched coyotes online and found information on trickster archetypes and felt the tagline in my dream, “to kill a coyote,” connected to my love for myth by the coyote being a trickster archetype - the same archetype that Odysseus occupies.
Through the medicine cards and the animal medicine they describe a whole new world has been opened. This medicine speaks to me at a level that interests and intrigues me. I have gained much knowledge and insight by being open to instruction from the animal kingdom. I now not only stand in awe of nature but also am instructed by it. Nature is full of amazing creatures - including each of us - and the more we search for truth, the more we are able to learn from observing the world around us.
The underlying belief in oneness of the medicine cards along with the symbolic teaching style appeals to me, probably in much the same way that the symbols in myth have appealed to me from a young age. I researched coyotes online and found information on trickster archetypes and felt the tagline in my dream, “to kill a coyote,” connected to my love for myth by the coyote being a trickster archetype - the same archetype that Odysseus occupies.
Through the medicine cards and the animal medicine they describe a whole new world has been opened. This medicine speaks to me at a level that interests and intrigues me. I have gained much knowledge and insight by being open to instruction from the animal kingdom. I now not only stand in awe of nature but also am instructed by it. Nature is full of amazing creatures - including each of us - and the more we search for truth, the more we are able to learn from observing the world around us.
Top of the page: Costa Rican pizote (closely related to the raccoon) on the Arenal Observatory Lodge grounds in Costa Rica