Shapeshifting coyotes, or how I received a new name
Back in January 2012, when I first started this blog and my professional shamanic practice, I asked my Spirits for a magical name. This name would symbolize my work, my personality, and help me retain some careful anonymity when working in public mental health.
I remember how Coyote barked, "Lonely Coyote!"
I recall how stunned I felt; how quickly the name came, and not really understanding what it meant. I liked the "flow" of it, and how it rolled off the tongue. And so I took the gift of my name, and spent the last four years learning its lessons, its benefits, and its restrictions.
This year, the lessons have been heart-breakingly painful. I have separated from my ex-husband, separated from my former teacher, and separated from a few small-yet-damaging magical communities. The loneliness I felt was overwhelming, but stripping everything away helped me to hone my skills and focus fully on my healing work.
A month ago, I traveled to the desert; to heal, and to really "dig into my loneliness." There, I discovered that I was no longer "Lonely" at all-- Spirits were everywhere, and kind strangers too! As I worked during daily rituals and walking meditations, I felt the peaceful balance of true healing return to me. And a new name:
The synchronicity of this name has been the most wonderful trick! As you may have observed, my website domain name is "healingcoyote.com" and has been since 2012 (back then, "lonelycoyote.com" was taken by another business). A similar trick happened with my Twitter domain name, "@healingcoyote" (since "@lonelycoyote" was already taken, too).
The final "aha!" moment came during a Reiki healing session from dear friends; Coyote confirmed the name himself, and rolled his eyes at my hesitant acceptance. Apparently, this metamorphosis of mine has been planned out for the past few years (what a long trick)!
I look forward to learning the new lessons, benefits, and restrictions of this magical name, and I am very excited to hopefully put it on my book. I give great thanks to the Spirits, and lots of joyful laughter for this Two-by-Four!
I remember how Coyote barked, "Lonely Coyote!"
I recall how stunned I felt; how quickly the name came, and not really understanding what it meant. I liked the "flow" of it, and how it rolled off the tongue. And so I took the gift of my name, and spent the last four years learning its lessons, its benefits, and its restrictions.
This year, the lessons have been heart-breakingly painful. I have separated from my ex-husband, separated from my former teacher, and separated from a few small-yet-damaging magical communities. The loneliness I felt was overwhelming, but stripping everything away helped me to hone my skills and focus fully on my healing work.
A month ago, I traveled to the desert; to heal, and to really "dig into my loneliness." There, I discovered that I was no longer "Lonely" at all-- Spirits were everywhere, and kind strangers too! As I worked during daily rituals and walking meditations, I felt the peaceful balance of true healing return to me. And a new name:
Monika Healing Coyote
The synchronicity of this name has been the most wonderful trick! As you may have observed, my website domain name is "healingcoyote.com" and has been since 2012 (back then, "lonelycoyote.com" was taken by another business). A similar trick happened with my Twitter domain name, "@healingcoyote" (since "@lonelycoyote" was already taken, too).
The final "aha!" moment came during a Reiki healing session from dear friends; Coyote confirmed the name himself, and rolled his eyes at my hesitant acceptance. Apparently, this metamorphosis of mine has been planned out for the past few years (what a long trick)!
I look forward to learning the new lessons, benefits, and restrictions of this magical name, and I am very excited to hopefully put it on my book. I give great thanks to the Spirits, and lots of joyful laughter for this Two-by-Four!
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