Life with the Navajo—Part V. Spirit Guide

The last manmade structure shrank to a black dot in my rearview mirror as I drove down the cracked and pitted paved highway without a car in sight. The unmarked turnoff to the left was barely visible between juniper trees and sagebrush, the place where the pavement turned to dirt. I had already explored this region once before during my time off from teaching, but this particular turnoff had escaped my attention.

Although I spent most of my weekends taking the students in my class to their remote homes, this particular weekend I decided to return to Utah to explore the backcountry.

After leaving the paved highway, the next forty miles of deeply rutted tract led me into vast stretches of high desert wilderness in southern Utah. Red rock slabs, towers, pinnacles and cliffs soared into the cobalt blue sky. The crisp air smelled pungent with essence of piñon pine and cedar.

I could tell from the faintness of the ruts that this stretch of road had not been traveled for a long time. Other than the ruts, I saw no evidence of human activity. My 4-wheel-drive Bronco kicked up clouds of rust-colored dust as I meandered along, daydreaming about my life with the Navajo people.

I loved participating in Navajo culture and learning about how my students saw their world, a view that bore little resemblance to that of white people. The culture was earth-based with a strong relationship to the natural world. Animals were seen as kin and embodied special powers. They bore messages for the people they encountered.

Just as I was drifting deeper into these reflections on my life with the Navajo, I saw something tan out of the corner of my eye. A medium-sized coyote with a long bushy tail darted in front of my slow-moving Bronco. In Navajo culture, when a coyote crosses your path, it means something big is about to happen. I couldn’t remember if it was something big in a good way or something big in not a good way. Before I could give it more thought, crimson red buttes and other fantastic geological formations started filling my windshield from both sides, pushing aside all concerns about the meaning of the coyote crossing my path.

Further down the road I remembered what one of the kids in my classroom had told me during our informal discussion about Navajo mythology. He said, “If Coyote crosses your path, turn back and do not continue your trip. If you keep traveling, something terrible will happen to you. You will get in an accident and get hurt or killed.”  I thought about those words and wondered if I should turn around and go home. I decided that the Navajo cultural beliefs didn’t apply to me.

I was the only person around for miles and miles. Of course, if the car had broken down, I probably would have died from dehydration. But I was not thinking about those things. All my focus was on this magical place I had entered.

The rutted tract ended at a little spring. I kept driving a few more miles until I came to what looked like a sanctuary of rock formations, a perfect place to stop and explore.

Feeling certain that no one else was in the area, I took off my shoes and all my clothes, relishing the warm air caressing my skin. I climbed up the sandstone slabs with my bare feet, entranced by the red rocks, the enormous sky, the incense smell of cedar. After scrambling around the rocks, exploring caves and crevices, I came upon a little pool of water, a catchment basin for the infrequent rains—a natural bath in the middle of the desert. I cupped my hands and splashed my face, soothed by the cool water. I slipped into the pool and pointed my face directly at the sun with eyes shut but still feeling the brightness streaming in.

After what seemed like a long moment of timelessness, I lay down on a warm slab, spread eagle on my back. All my senses were alive. I turned onto my belly and spread out my arms, crazed with love for the land—and grateful for the solitude.

When the sun went down, a chill quickly settled over the rocks. I put my clothes back on, but not the shoes. I wanted to continue feeling the rocks on my bare feet every moment. I hopped from one slab to the next, on a path that seemed to be laid out for me, keeping clear of the sharp spines of the cactus.

Having no flashlight, I wanted to be sure to find the perfect sleeping spot on a flat rock to spread out my pad and sleeping bag before it got dark. But it actually never got dark—the moon was full overhead, bright and electrifying.

I sat up in my sleeping bag and sang love songs to the moon until sleep overpowered me.

I dreamed that I was in one of the sheep and goat corrals belonging to the family of a Navajo student. We were in the corral looking for a sheep to butcher for a ceremony. There were a few goats, including a Billy goat that smelled rank with the strong scent of musk they have during sexual maturity. We moved through them, trying to catch one of the sheep. The smell of the Billy goat grew stronger and stronger.

The smell was so strong that it began overpowering all my senses. When I felt my back on the hard rock, I realized that I was not in a corral, but wide-awake and in my sleeping bag. Yet the smell of musk had followed me out of the dream and was still filling my nose. Before I could open my eyes, I heard a sniffing sound right next to me.

Without moving, I opened my eyes, and— Oh My God, I am being sniffed by a mountain lion, inches from my face!

His head was so close that I could see his black whiskers in the moonlight, the white fur around his mouth, and the tawny colored hair on the rest of his face. I closed my eyes, frozen in fear, waiting for his claws to dig into my skin and tear me apart. Nothing happened.

Why doesn’t he hurry up and eat me and get it over with?

I barely breathed while my heart pounded loudly in my chest. I stayed paralyzed for what felt like hours. But nothing happened.

By the time I found the courage to open my eyes, it was daylight; the sun had already appeared on the horizon. Amazed that I was still alive, I looked around. There were no tracks visible on the sandstone rock. When I began stuffing my sleeping bag into its sack, the hair on my neck stood up. The distinct scent of musk wafted up to my nose—the only remaining evidence of the lion’s presence.

I drove to the nearest town forty miles down the road and, at a gas station, I told the attendant of my experience. He said, “Ma’am, you’re one lucky gal to be alive. Them cats can rip you to shreds in no time. The reason that damn cat didn’t kill you is cause you were too scared to move.” The attendant said that if I had fought the mountain lion or tried to get away, I would for sure have been killed. “Mountain lions go after things that move.”

For months I remained obsessed with thoughts of mountain lions, seeking any information I could get from hunters, park rangers, biologists and other people who had close encounters with them. Mountain lions populated my dreams night after night for weeks. I awoke from the dreams with the feeling the mountain lion was trying to communicate something to me that I didn’t fully understand. When I drove to Gallup to go grocery shopping, I stopped at the library and checked out books about mountain lions. All the stories I read confirmed what the gas station attendant told me. I knew it was true what I was being told, but something was missing.

After my close encounter, I became obsessed with mountain lions. I dreamed that the mountain lion that sniffed me wanted to tell me something very important.

Why did that mountain lion sniff me up close—right next to my face? Is there another reason he didn’t rip me apart and eat me? Am I still alive simply because I didn’t move?

A few weeks after the encounter with the lion, one of the Navajo teacher aides in the boarding school invited me to visit her grandmother who lived alone in a hogan deep in the canyon where she tended her sheep.

We spent the afternoon sitting outside eating mutton stew and fry bread. My friend and her grandmother caught up with each other’s news, which included the story of the mountain lion.

The old Navajo woman took a few puffs from her tiny hand-carved pipe as my friend told the story. Toward the end of the story, she looked at me with a toothless smile that lit up her ancient and deeply lined face. Her dark eyes were laughing. For the first time during the visit she looked right into my face and spoke directly to me, no longer diverting her eyes in deference. My friend translated her words.

The old woman said that I was “really lucky” the lion came to me. He was my spirit guide. He came to give me his courage, strength and intense focus because I would need that for what lay ahead later in life. She said I would face obstacles in my life, some big and life threatening, and, if I lived through them, I would have “a strong heart and powerful medicine to give to the people.”

The three of us sat in silence as we watched the sun drop behind the canyon wall, followed by the fading light.

When I returned home that evening, I wrote down what the old woman said in my diary. Many years would pass before I recognized the truth of those words.

 


Comments

Life with the Navajo—Part V. Spirit Guide — 22 Comments

  1. Erica,
    I came across your story as I was searching for some thing else. Wonderful! I too spent time with the Navajo around Rock Point. I was there to play with the children. I was fortunate to be able to share time with a medicine person in the desert.
    Among the animals I have played with are two coyotes and a mountain lion.
    Thank you for sharing.
    Best wishes
    Fred

    • What a story you have!! Did you read the whole book, “Medicine and Miracles in the High Desert: My Life Among the Navajo People?” I think you would enjoy it. It’s for sale on Amazon. Through my blog posts, I have run into quite a few people who have lived on the reservation and had very memorable experiences, like you, Fred. Thanks for you comments. Many blessings, Erica

  2. Really great stuff. I respect coyote but have not always turned around, when I first learned that I did turn around but then I just lived in Eldorado……but did hear that. Got out my Medicine cards from Jamie Sams and card #17, mountain lion fits you perfectly.
    jim

    • I’d love to look at those Medicine Cards sometime, especially the one about the mountain lion. That’s interesting that it fits me perfectly!! Thanks, Jim. Love, E

  3. My first spotting of a mountain lion was while hiking in the Gila Wilderness. It was not so close so I didn’t worry. The next spotting was in MT. The cat was apparently stalking a deer nearby ( we were taking pics of the deer) and I saw the cat’s face in the brush. We walked backwards towards our tent and nothing bad happened. I was anxious all that night and figured I would see this encounter as a positive one and decided the mounlion would be a spiritual guide for me. Thanks for reminding me of a not so scary as yours encounter. The SW has surprises doesn’t it?

  4. What a coincidence, I just finished reading Oliver LaFarge’s “Laughing Boy”, a book I am sure you know. First published in 1929, my issue dates from 1963 courtesy of Marcia’s library. Reading it filled me with curiosity and awe similar to what you describe about your life with the Navajos. Your personal account is so alive as if it just happened because of your gift as a storyteller.
    Memories like this want to be shared, specially in our world where the chasm between Natives and Non Natives remains forever sensitive.
    gratefully, Gabrielle

    • I loved that book, “Laughing Boy.” Thank you for what you said about my writing. When I prepare to write about my life long ago, I go into a trance-like state of reverie and relive the scenes that I write about. Maybe that’s why the stories are alive for the reader. Warm wishes to you, Gabrielle. Erica

  5. Dear Erica,
    We, your friends and well-wishers, have certainly experienced your strong heart and powerful medicine! Thank you for sharing these gifts with us. And thank you also to your spirit guide Mountain Lion…..

  6. Dear Erica,

    I’ve heard this story before but it’s powerful to read again, with as usual, such evocative writing. May the spirit of the mountain lion continue to protect you and give you strength and courage.
    Much love,
    Linda

    P.S. walking barefoot out in nature has always been one of my most favorite things to do. I’ve always taken my shoes off wherever and whenver I can. I miss doing so outside here–it’s a little difficult in Eldorado…

    • Linda, I’m not surprised to hear that you like to walk barefoot in nature. You strike me as a nature girl. I’ve been a barefoot lover since I was a little girl. I walk in the riverbed behind my house barefoot almost every day—except when the ground is frozen or covered in snow. Thanks so much for your comments. Love, Erica

  7. What to say! This repost is so powerful and pivotal in your life. And moving for me, because it shows the benefits of fully and freely engaging in nature– returning to our source– and told in such a sensuous way that I at 77 want to and will take off my shoes today and go explore. Your passionate fully lived life serves as an exemplar or touchstone for others (and when will your book be released?). On a personal note, I just got diagnosed as having polymyalgia rheumatic. 15mg of prednisone has released pain and restored life. Now, the adventure of detoxing and discovering and resolving the causes begins. We all get opportunities for adventures.

    • Thank you, dear Bob. To know that my story inspires you to touch the earth with your bare feet makes me smile. That is the purpose of finally telling my story. I’m sorry to hear that you have polymalgia rheumatic. May you find the silver lining in this turn of events. You might discover that you were exposed to something, or ingesting something,that is not in your best interest. My motto is “never waste a bad experience!” Blessings, Erica

  8. Erica, you do have a strong heart and powerful medicine! Great (but very frightening) story. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

  9. Oh, Erica, I am in tears. So glad the lion gave you the courage to face your many challenges and to communicate that courage to all of us. Thank you for sharing this story. Love to you.
    I was just going to your blogs to get the name of the elephant sanctuary that u visited when I saw this new blog. Justine and I are headed to Chiang Mai next week.

    • Thank you so much for your comment, Susan. I hope you can get to the elephant sanctuaries that I visited in Thailand. I think you will love them and be very moved by the experience. Much love and safe travels. E

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