crow

crows in the snow

photo from Bucks County Frames

I've decided that the crow is my animal totem for this new year. I've suddenly, quite out of the blue, begun to pay attention to the crows ... and they are everywhere. A bird as common as seagulls in this tiny seaside village and a bird that's been easy for me to take for granted. I think crow has been trying to speak to me for some time. Every summer crows build a nest at the very top of the large pine tree in our front garden. Just recently, after a wind storm and on a day in between winter's snow coverings I noticed their nest on the ground - beautiful and large, mostly made of mud and earth with bits of twigs and pieces of small branches - all carefully gathered by the crows and tucked into the mud giving the nest's structure strength. Now I remember watching them building their nest from my studio window or sometimes from my chair in the back garden - hopping along tree branches, selecting the most perfect twig for their nest and then breaking it off. Their fledgling, a beautiful fat black baby bird, died before he learned to fly - a cat the likely culprit. I found it's body near my front porch and I buried it in leaves atop Emma Jane's grave in our back small forest. I felt so sad for the parents who were frantic for days. Last summer, in the throws of Grief & Sadness I was forever coming across black feathers on my many walks out and about with Miss D. I collected them all convincing myself that each feather was a greeting from much missed big red dog. Lately, especially on our early morning walks, I've really been paying close attention to the crows. Such a handsome bird with their beautiful iridescent blue black feathers and coal black beaks, and so smart and cagey. I notice them using a stick or a rock as tools with their beaks. They're extremely social birds and if you take the time to listen to them their vocabulary is amazingly vast & diverse from gentle little cooing sounds and soft throat rumblings to the loud ruckus warning caws they're especially known for. I'm also on the look out for the raven, less common and basically a large crow, the shape of their tail feathers along with their size - the discerning factors in telling one from the other.

Crows are the keepers of the Sacred Law and to have a Crow totem is very powerful. Personal Integrity are your watchwords and your guide in Life. If you have a Crow totem, your prime path is to be mindful of your opinions and actions. You must be willing to walk your talk, to speak your truth and to know your life's mission.

Crow is an omen of Change.

Crow lives in the void and has no sense of time, therefore, it sees past, present and future simultaneously. Crow merges both light and dark, both inner and outer. It is the totem of the Great Spirit and must be respected as such. They are symbols of creation and spiritual strength. Look for opportunities to create and manifest the magic of life. Crows are messengers calling to us about the creation and magic that is alive in the world today and available to us.

8am - back from our walk around this little village in cold and wind and darkness. No crows, too early I think - they're sleeping in this morning. A 20 min. pilates flexibility workout on DVD, a delicious tropical smoothie of yogurt, fresh pineapple, banana, orange juice and coconut extract. Not a bad start to this new day. I noticed les Chats (Bleet, Oliver & Gus) were all settling in on my bed for their long mornings' nap and I thought to open the curtains so that the sun would shine in on them - and there on my windowsill was a ladybug.