today is a new day, folx.
So much has been unfolding out there with the cosmic sky activities. We are in store for quite a ride this month, considering two eclipses (lunar and solar) and Mercury retrograde coming up! I’m grateful Venus is now turned direct since the 6th sept. Still, I can feel so much moving through out there.
I had a very close encounter with raven medicine last night. I had wanted to work medicine with it… However, due to no current space and tool kit to do the actual processing and work with the dead body, I decided to take it back to the place where I met it and returned it back to the earth with an offering of tobacco and two songs. It felt good in a powerful way for me to do this. I feel the Universe brought this experience to me for many different reasons.
It is no coincidence with raven medicine crossing my path at this time. It’s very clear from what it says in both of my animal medicine books; I’m truly grateful for this gift and am reminded again that Spirit DOES have my back; that I am held and taken care of, even if right now it feels a bit overwhelming with the intensity unfolding on my current path.
——-
Raven :
(from Lucy Harmer’s book “discovering your spirit animal the wisdom of the shamans”)
Raven is known for its magical powers. Its black plumage with a blue-green iridescence represents the void from which all things were created. For the Native Americans, the color black has no negative connotations; they consider it to represent the mysteries of life and the search for answers.
Raven is also a messenger who takes its healing messages to those who need it most. When Raven appears, it is usually a sign of change, or of impending danger. It is also able to go into the dark places in our soul and heal our pain. Raven also adores jokes and fun, and it loves to find shiny objects, which it will take and store in its nest.
Raven is intelligent and creative at using any tool, stones, or other items, to help it crack open nuts. It has immense creative power and teaches us how to understand and work the magic of the spiritual laws to our advantage. It can take what is yet unformed and shape it into what you desire. Raven often symbolizes death and rebirth, with the “death” purely meaning the birth of a new stage of life.
——–
Raven:
(book “Animal Magick the art of recognizing and working with familiars” by DJ Conway)
In Ireland, the raven was associated with the Morrigan and other battle or death goddesses. Badb, the Raven of Battle, was the goddess of war and bloodshed. The Morrigan was a Raven deity who gloried in battles; she could assume the forms of a hag, a beautyfull woman, or a crow or raven. The continental Celts had a goddess Nantosuelta whose symbols were ravens and doves. The god Lugh had two magickal ravens as companions.
In Welsh, ubran means “raven”, the name connecting it with the god, Bran the Blessed. One of the greatest heroes in Welsh legend was Owein, who had an army of magickal ravens that fought King Arthur’s men. Although an important totem animal of the Celts, the raven was considered to be of dubious reputation and they took great care when dealing with it. Ravens were scavengers, one of the birds that frequented the battlefields and feasted on the dead. If a raven had any white on it, the bird was considered to be beneficial and not malevolent.
Ravens were creatures of the Norse-Germanic Valkyries, who wore their black feathers when they fulfilled their task as Choosers of the Slain. The Germans called the raven ‘waelcesig’ meaning “corpse-choosing” and a Valkyrie ‘waelcyrge’. The skalds, Nordic poets, had a number of kennings (metaphors) for the raven: blood-swan, blood-goose. They also called dead warriors “feeders of the ravens”.
To Native Americans, the raven could see everything and had the ability to find hidden things. It was considered a magickal creature, with its black coloring symbolizing spiritual paths. The raven was a shapeshifter, a bird of ceremonial magick and healing.
Magickal attributes: Help with divination. Often represents the upset in life necessary to create something new. Wisdom, eloquence, magical. A change in consciousness. Messages from spirit; something unforeseen but special is about to occur. Magick of the Crone. Divination.
——
Crow (same book- Animal Magick)
In Native American legends, the crow could talk. Because of this, it was consider the wisest of birds. The sacred bird of the famous Ghost Dance was the crow.
A symbol of conflict, death, and ill-omens, the crow was associated with the Celtic goddesses Macha, Badb, and the Morrigan. The Irish word for crow is ‘badb.’ This goddess, in the form of a crow, appeared to the Irish hero Cu Chulainn as a warning of his coming death.
Branwen, sister of the god Bran the Blessed, was often portrayed in legend by a white crow.
Later, the Celts came to suspect and dread crows as a form taken by faeries to cause problems. They said the cawing of crows signified the coming of rain.
In North America, the crow was considered to be the keeper of all sacred law, the one who knew the deep mysteries of all creation. Seeing a crow in certain situations was an omen of coming change. Spiritual crow power could lead a seeker to the gates of the supernatural.
The connection between the crows foot sign and witchcraft began during the Middle Ages. People then said that magicians, and especially witches used this emblem to cast death spells. The description of crows feet at the corner of the eyes may be a remnant of this superstition, symbolizing the aging process.
Magickal Attributes: Thief, trickery, boldness, skill, cunning, single mindedness; a bringer of knowledge. Prophecy. Learn from the past but don’t hold onto it. Swiftness, eloquence. Shape-shifting. Letting go of past hurts. Learning to mentally shape-shift. Divination.
——
Crow: (same book- by Lucy Harmer)
Crow is a very powerful spirit animal. It is considered by many people to be able to be in several places at the same time. It’s eye is similar to that of the Raven and is considered to be the door to the inner realms. This makes Crow the messenger between the worlds of the visible and of the invisible. It knows the mysteries of creation and is the guardian of its laws.
Native Americans consider that Crow protects and keeps account of the sacred laws of the Great Spirit. Crow can see the past, present, and future simultaneously and is responsible for merging the world of the spirits and that of the earth. Crow demands total integrity in everything we do.
Crow has great intelligence and watchfulness and warns other crows and animals of threats and intruders. Crow always post a sentinel while feeding, and their piercing voice keeps order and carries messages.
It is the messenger of changing times and can help us see from which direction the winds of change in our lives are blowing. It shows us how to look at the magic in our lives and to learn to see events in a different way.
——-
thats my thoughts for now. More soon!
-mr. Thorne
❤