Raven's Watch

 

 

 

"Raven was not thought of as a god. He was thought of as the transformer, the trickster. He was the being that changed things—sometimes quite by accident, sometimes on purpose."
—Christian White, Haida artist

Once the world was inky black because there was an old man, down by a river, who had a big box.  In that box were so many smaller and smaller boxes with the tiniest box holding all the light the universe would need.  You see, the Old Man stole the light because he thought his daughter was ugly and she was so sweet a girl that he did not want others to see her and judge her.  Well, raven, the Trickster, decided he was going to trick his way into stealing the boxes and, eventually, the light.  He hatched up a plan to make himself so little that he could hide in the drinking water so that the girl would swallow him.  And that happened.  When she swallowed him, he became a human child in her belly and when she gave birth to him, the Old Man took him as his grandchild.  But the child was always hungry and always begging the old man to open a box.  The Old Man could not refuse this sweet child so he opened the boxes one by one for him.  Finally, the Old Man opened the box with the light and Raven changed himself back to a raven and quickly stole the light.  As he took the light, the light shone on the daughter and she was not ugly at all, she was beautiful beyond words.  Eagle, who was always sitting high up, saw Raven steal the light and he swooped down to grab some.  As he did, raven dropped some of the light in his maneuvering to get away.   Wherever the bits of light escaped there came stars and the moon. 

Raven has been thought of as negative and bad omens and death for they are scavengers and seen on the battlefield after the wars were over.  But they are fascinating messengers who can be taught to speak.  They, also, have incredible gestural language, including pointing with their beak, and retrieving gifts for other ravens, and people, sometimes.  They have been known to throw stones to ward people and other birds or animals away from danger or from their nests.  They have been known to play dead and steal fish.  Their intelligence is up there with the apes and teenagers.

The teenager comes out in ravens in their mischievousness.  And hang out in teenaged gangs until they mate.  Because they are seen as shape-shifters, Medicine people honor the raven, use the raven in some of the healings they do, and are used to discern truth that may be hidden.  They are considered big magic.  They give messages to those who are worthy to know them.  It is interesting to me that the raven is a long-distance healer and many of the Medicine people are using the raven during covid-19.  We can call on raven during this time for those of friends and relatives that are sick and in need of healing.  It can also heal us as the isolation causes us to become aware of our own hidden truths and secrets that need brought to light in order for us to be healed. 

Another wonderful gift the raven carries is the gift of empathy.  They congregate towards a downed raven, they respond aggressively to group enemies, or perceived enemies.  They remember those who do good for and to them.  They can develop strong ties with humans.  Funny that a flock of ravens is called an “unkindness”.  Many tribes really honro them because of the gift of light and the treasures they will bring a human that they have a tie to. 

Raven is all about kindness and gratitude, for they do, indeed, show gratitude, as well.  They remind us to do good to others, to create good memories with other, to be of service to others and, as for this gift-giving time of year, to find ways to give gifts. 

With this being a very hard year, what kindnesses have you received this year.?  If we focus on the kindnesses, we will forget to feel put upon over covid 19 and find ways to be grateful for this time we have to listen and learn…and receive.

©Carol Desjarlais 19.12.20