I am working on a
new shaman drum, and although I don't usually like to show
my shamanic art before it is finished, I just couldn't wait to share what I'm making and seeing. This interlacement pattern is called the
Star of the Muses and is a triple trinity created from three interlaced triangles. But unlike a true interlacement pattern that is made from a continuous line, this one is in three parts. And here is where Coyote came in.
In a way I will probably not be able to replicate again, I found that if I also wrapped the hoop at the same time that I wrapped the pattern, I could keep making the triangles with one thong. I have been reading the books of
Bobby Lake-Thom and in
Spirits of the Earth, he shares many coyote stories in which this most ancient creator and trickster animal is full of magic, special powers and teachings.
Also very powerful is the Mannaz symbol formed by wrapping the intersecting lines with smoke-tan deer skin to make a comfortable hand-hold. This is a runic sign of creation that joins the male and female principles together, therefore standing for the "togetherness" of humanity.
My favorite discovery was seeing Coyote himself in the face of this new
journey drum. I find this quite amazing as I have not yet begun to paint the hide and yet there he is, his face looking straight out from the upper center of the drum, with the long curve of his neck to the left, as if he were just looking back over his shoulder at me, to see if I was following the path of magic he was revealing. Can you see Coyote?
