The fox is a fascinating symbol, a cunning predator whose small size makes it both predator and prey in the great pyramid of the hunters and the hunted. Not at the apex as a killer, but never to be taken lightly as a carnivore or omnivore. Shape shifter, cunning trickster, and traveller of the twilight hours, the fox emerges as a symbol of magic and luck, both good and bad. Men have often identified with the fox and its cousin, the coyote. Never as powerful or as omnipotent as apex predators like the wolf, the bear, the lion and the shark, like the fox we humans succeed by our wits and skill, our cunning and our guile. Mental agility trumps brawn. The success of the fox can be judged in part by its widespread distribution all over the world.
Intelligent, agile and charming, the fox became a symbol of wildness and diplomacy. Being a nocturnal creature, adept at maneuvering in the dark, and in the twilight hours of dawn & dusk, the fox entered myth and folklore as a messenger of the gods and as a communicator between souls of the living and the dead. The fox was the great go-between and intermediary. The ability of the Arctic fox to change its coloring with the seasons, brown in Spring & Summer, white in Fall & Winter, made it a familiar of shamans and medicine man and leant greater credence to the foxes' reputation as a messenger between the conscious & unconscious worlds, the Spirit World and Reality.
