Dog, Coyote and Dog Star

I’ve been walking my friends' dog Nalla for several months. I was thrilled the first time she greeted me in recognition. The other night I had a dream about two dogs at the exit of an underground passageway.

Thursday early in the morning I was riding my bike home and up ahead I saw a dog walking the gravel road. Was it alone?  I pedaled faster staring at it. The dog stopped, turned around and looked…looked…looked…and trotted on. I got closer and yes it was alone. By now I was talking to it. Again the dog stopped, turned around looked…looked…looked…and trotted on. I started to feel as if dog and I were communicating and once again the dog stopped, turned and looked…looked…looked.  Closer now I could see that it was no ordinary dog…it was coyote who now turned calmly toward the creek and into the tall canary grass near my home.  Wow! That was a fun moment in time with coyote!

I looked up Coyote in Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams & David Carson.  Coyote is the great trickster.  If coyote is in your cards  “…you can be sure that some kind of medicine is on its way—and it may or may not be to your liking.  Whatever the medicine is, good or bad, you can be sure that Coyote will teach you a lesson about yourself.  The medicine is in laughter and joking so that new viewpoints may be assumed. 

I looked up Dog who is loyal:  Dog has been considered the servant of humanity throughout history.”  “..you might find that you have fond personal memories of owning and loving Dog as a pet.”  “…you must delve deeply into your sense of service to others.

Yesterday I fasted to get back on track. The sugar cravings are intense and I go into  a self-sabbotage mode.  The other day I thought about those who "cut" themselves.  When I get caught in sugar's web I feel like I am hurting myself but cannot stop and in fact I sabbotage myself.  Yes, Carolyn Myss, I will read about this archetype!

Yesterday during the fast I ran across an article about Dog Star Sirius.  I thought this significant due to my recent dog and coyote interraction. 

EarthSky.com

By Deborah Byrd in
Tonight | Brightest Stars on Feb 19, 2012

Sirius is always easy to find. It’s the sky’s brightest star! Plus, anyone familiar with the constellation Orion can simply draw a line through Orion’s Belt, to the left. This line will point to Sirius, which is roughly 8 times as far from the Belt as the Belt is wide.

History and Myth
Sirius is also well known as the Dog Star, because it is the chief star in the constellation Canis Major, the Big Dog. Have you ever heard anyone speak of the dog days of summer? Sirius is behind the sun as seen from Earth in Northern Hemisphere summer. In late summer, it appears in the east before sunrise – near the sun in our sky. The early stargazers might have imagined that the double-whammy of Sirius and the sun caused the hot weather, or dog days.

The Egyptian god Osiris

Sirius has been known since ancient times, and its name signified its nature as “scorching” or “sparkling.” It was associated with the Egyptian god Osiris and other gods. Ancient Egyptians noted that Sirius rose just before the sun each year immediately prior to the annual flooding of the Nile River. Although the floods could bring destruction, they also brought new soil and new life. Fittingly, Osiris, whom Sirius may have represented, was a god of life, death, fertility and rebirth of plant life along the Nile.

In India, Sirius is sometimes known as Svana, the dog of Prince Yudhistira. The prince and his four brothers, along with Svana, set out on a long and arduous journey to find the kingdom of heaven. However, one by one the brothers all abandoned the search until only Yudhistira and Svana were left. At long last they came to the gates of heaven. The gatekeeper, Lord Indra, welcomed the prince but denied Svana entrance. Yudhistira was aghast and told Lord Indra that he could not forsake his good and faithful servant and friend. His brothers, Yudhistira told the Lord, had abandoned the journey to heaven to follow their hearts’ desires. But Svana, who had given his heart freely, chose to follow none but Yudhistira. The prince told the Lord that without his dog, he would forsake even heaven. This is what Lord Indra had wanted to hear, and then he welcomed both the prince and the dog through the gates of heaven.