Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 37

Thread: Animal Medicine - Animals As Teachers and Totems

  1. #1
    Senior Member Morocco modwiz's Avatar
    Join Date
    13th September 2013
    Location
    Nestled in Appalachia
    Posts
    6,720
    Thanks
    40,125
    Thanked 41,242 Times in 6,698 Posts

    Animal Medicine - Animals As Teachers and Totems

    This thread will be a labor of love and grow slowly. It will be written from my own hand and knowledge though supplemented with online material. Pictures will be sourced from the web because the art of drawing is not one of my talents. I know there will be 'messages' that come while writing and that will find its way into the text. One such message has come from Crow, wishing to show the way and it will be apparent why that is.

    The word medicine is one that will translate correctly as this unfolds. Loosely, it is what is good for us. This can apply to any level of our multi-dimensional being. However, for many it will be body/emotion, mind and spirit as this is generic 'map' of our multi-dimensionality.

    It is Earth/Gaian magic, as well.

    One reason for working to keep this mainly in my own words is to minimize confusion and provide a shamanic comprehension and synthesis. Crow is an excellent example of this because of Raven, another closely related corvine, (crow family, like equine for horses). Where Raven is related to Magic, Crow has been associated with Law, though that word has its problems in a Gaian perspective. Laws are archontic constructs, or misunderstanding/distortion of Way. A good example would be Tao/(the)Way and Torah/(the)Law. Remove the 'rh' from Torah and we get Tao. In my instruction, The Law is from beings who view us as monkeys. Hanumans. Remove the 'an' from that word and we get human. BTW, An is another rendering of Anu, head of the Annunaki.

    There are no laws of physics or thermodynamics, though we call then that. We observe the behavior or ways of heat or particles and call them laws. It is how they behave or operate in the observable world. How a school of fish or a murmuration of birds move in the sky is how they behave in Nature. Birds and fish are not following laws and neither are particles and heat/cold. Thermodynamics are the balance/homeostasis of heat and cold or, the Yin and Yang in their dance. The Yin/Yang symbol is the symbol of The Tao, statically represented.

    I hope it is clear that in Nature there are no laws. Laws are unnatural and an alien imposition/concept. Something from 'their mind'.

    So, Crow would be the agreements we make in how we live together in community. Our agreed upon Ways of interacting. The Ways of Nature and the Natural consequences, however small or great, when we stray from The Way of Nature or our agreements with each other. Consequences are great teachers and never punishment, another archontic, their mind, insertion into our psyche.

    Crow and Raven present a little challenge, to honor them both while allowing for some blending where it might apply.

    Crow


    Where there is only Crow and not Raven present in an environment Crow is both Way and Magic because our Way is Magical and our 'instruction' comes from our heart, the gateway to Sophia. Sophia is the Greek word for wisdom and Wisdom is the quality of the heart, it is not a form of logic/mental process but, a synthesis of proper alignment of the first three chakras which then allow full time residence in the heart space and Wisdom. Please note the nuance of 'full time'.
    Crow is guardian of the sacred. Crow and Raven speak from the black of the Void, where Creation emerged. Our agreements are all about integrity. Crow will always ask us to check there when it selects us or we select Crow in a Divination card set.

    Raven


    Where there is only Raven, double duty applies again. Where they are both present then they will signify the nuance and allow for each to Teach us to look at a specific part of our life. Crow will ask us to look at our agreements and in the modern archontic world, to be wary of that spider web of legality. Raven will speak to us of magic in our life. Are we ignoring it, doing bad magic? Raven could be alerting us that someone may be psychically considering us. That is, magic being directed towards us. Good or bad. The sounds and/or urgency, even directions can give clues. Hearing the caws speak to us, intuitions are another way. Raven is the mystic Crow. The above to Crow's below. Raven is the guardian of ritual(s) and ceremonial magic. It is a messenger from the void to us. Bringer of 'secrets'.

    This post took over an hour to compose and 'retrieve'. I do ask that respect be given for the efforts of this original content. The web is full of other opinions that may speak to one better. Feel free to share those others as a complimentary supplement if one really feels the need to.

    This thread will most likely get one animal a week from me because 'retrievals' can be both fun and a little taxing. So, thoughtful comments and other definitions should allow this thread to have some life. Also, input can trigger the animal that wishes to speak next.
    Last edited by modwiz, 30th April 2018 at 14:02.
    "To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize" -- Voltaire

    "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."-- Eleanor Roosevelt

    "Misery loves company. Wisdom has to look for it." -- Anonymous

  2. The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to modwiz For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (30th April 2018), Dreamtimer (1st May 2018), Elen (30th April 2018), enjoy being (30th April 2018), heyokah (4th May 2018), Kathy (30th April 2018), tarka the duck (30th April 2018)

  3. #2
    Retired Member
    Join Date
    6th August 2015
    Posts
    1,853
    Thanks
    4,608
    Thanked 11,685 Times in 2,094 Posts
    Thanks, interesting. If I may, a question and offering.
    Here in this country we only have the introduced, Rook. Which is a fruit eating crow? The NZ raven went extinct in the 1600s.
    We also have the Australian magpie.
    A check of totems online, seems to link magpies as being in this same group, but not necessarily as closely related?

    http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/rook
    http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/new-zealand-raven
    http://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/spec...tralian-magpie


  4. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to enjoy being For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (30th April 2018), Dreamtimer (1st May 2018), Elen (30th April 2018), Kathy (30th April 2018), modwiz (30th April 2018)

  5. #3
    Senior Member Morocco modwiz's Avatar
    Join Date
    13th September 2013
    Location
    Nestled in Appalachia
    Posts
    6,720
    Thanks
    40,125
    Thanked 41,242 Times in 6,698 Posts
    Quote Originally posted by Nothing View Post
    Thanks, interesting. If I may, a question and offering.
    Here in this country we only have the introduced, Rook. Which is a fruit eating crow? The NZ raven went extinct in the 1600s.
    We also have the Australian magpie.
    A check of totems online, seems to link magpies as being in this same group, but not necessarily as closely related?

    http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/rook
    http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/new-zealand-raven
    http://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/spec...tralian-magpie

    OK. Checked the links, read about their behavior and waited for 'incoming'. The Rook would be Raven ('R's being a cornerstone letter match too) and the Magpie would be Crow. Law/Way=Yin/Yang was also a visual clue. The black and white shouts Yin/Yang.
    "To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize" -- Voltaire

    "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."-- Eleanor Roosevelt

    "Misery loves company. Wisdom has to look for it." -- Anonymous

  6. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to modwiz For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (30th April 2018), Dreamtimer (1st May 2018), Elen (30th April 2018), enjoy being (30th April 2018), Kathy (30th April 2018)

  7. #4
    Retired Member
    Join Date
    14th September 2013
    Posts
    1,477
    Thanks
    19,167
    Thanked 6,144 Times in 1,444 Posts
    My understanding of Law is that it is Sovereign, coming to us from on high. Statutes are man-made Law of the Land/Sea are man-made. Sovereign Law is simple. Do no harm is basically what is instructed.

    Crows gather around magpie nests, and grab the eggs and young ones, if they can get them. Magpies gather together and chase the crows away. When they decide where to build nests, they first have a conference. I've watched all of this behaviour.

    Crows pick food from dustbins, if available, at least in London where I live, especially outside of Hammersmith Hospital where I used to work.

    I love birds and have made lots of observations about them. I sort of have an affinity with them.

    Strangely, The Tower of London grounds is where only Ravens inhabit, as far as I know.
    Last edited by Kathy, 1st May 2018 at 16:26.

  8. The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to Kathy For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (1st May 2018), Dreamtimer (1st May 2018), Elen (1st May 2018), enjoy being (1st May 2018), modwiz (1st May 2018), palooka's revenge (3rd May 2018)

  9. #5
    Retired Member United States
    Join Date
    7th April 2015
    Location
    Patapsco Valley
    Posts
    14,610
    Thanks
    70,673
    Thanked 62,025 Times in 14,520 Posts
    In Europe and Russia the crows often had two colors, black and grey. Some would be just black. There were crows on the west coast of Ireland that had much smaller beaks and almost blue iridescence in their feathers around the head.

    They compete with gulls on the coast. We saw many on the beach dropping clams to break them like the gulls do.

    In California we saw Ravens. They look very much like crows, though they are bigger.

    I see many birds in my dreams but not usually crows or ravens. Usually it's birds of prey, vultures, or song birds.

    Ravens don't live around here except for the western part of the state, in the Appalachians.

  10. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Dreamtimer For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (1st May 2018), Elen (1st May 2018), enjoy being (1st May 2018), Kathy (1st May 2018), modwiz (1st May 2018)

  11. #6
    Retired Member
    Join Date
    6th August 2015
    Posts
    1,853
    Thanks
    4,608
    Thanked 11,685 Times in 2,094 Posts
    That painting,was made over a few sittings of painting everything but the birds, to look like a dream. There was always going to be an animal in there. A horse in the paddock, a dog on the brow.
    But it wasn't right, so 12 months later I completed it after having the thought come to me. Titled, Running the Gauntlet. Didn't consciously choose the number of them, just allowed aesthetic response. Seems to have once again painted itself and named itself.

    One for sorrow - One for sorrow
    Two for joy - Two for mirth - Two for luck
    Three for a girl - Three for a wedding - Three for a funeral
    Four for a boy - Four for a birth - Four for a death
    Five for silver - Five for heaven
    Six for gold - Six for hell
    Seven for a secret never to be told - Seven you'll see the devil himself
    Sometimes the following are added:
    Eight for a wish - Eight you live
    Nine for a kiss - Nine you die
    Ten for a surprise you won't want to miss - Ten for a time of joyous bliss
    Eleven for health
    Twelve for wealth
    Thirteen beware it's the devil himself.

    Interestingly Modwiz, that poem was first made for magpies, then adopted for crows.

  12. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to enjoy being For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (1st May 2018), Dreamtimer (1st May 2018), Elen (1st May 2018), modwiz (1st May 2018)

  13. #7
    Retired Member
    Join Date
    14th September 2013
    Posts
    1,477
    Thanks
    19,167
    Thanked 6,144 Times in 1,444 Posts
    Further experiences with birds in London:

    One day, I heard birdsong overhead and looked up. Quite high in the sky was a single plump bird pirouetting on the spot.

    This was followed on another day, after I bought a camcorder which I had set up outside, when an entire swarm of birds dropped into a formation of a bead curtain. But, as soon as I pointed the camcorder in their direction, they dissipated, flying in all directions.

    Quite often thereafter, in a field called Old Oak Common behind Hammersmith Hospital where I would sit for lunch, looking up at the sky, literally out of the sky, not from the distance, birds would come in a straight line from left to right, maybe four lines deep, one line after the other. They would then return and disappear before my eyes. Amazing.

    These experiences may not seem believable. Even so, they did actually happen.

  14. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Kathy For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (1st May 2018), Dreamtimer (1st May 2018), Elen (1st May 2018), enjoy being (1st May 2018), modwiz (1st May 2018)

  15. #8
    Senior Member Morocco modwiz's Avatar
    Join Date
    13th September 2013
    Location
    Nestled in Appalachia
    Posts
    6,720
    Thanks
    40,125
    Thanked 41,242 Times in 6,698 Posts
    Quote Originally posted by Kathy View Post
    Further experiences with birds in London:

    One day, I heard birdsong overhead and looked up. Quite high in the sky was a single plump bird pirouetting on the spot.

    This was followed on another day, after I bought a camcorder which I had set up outside, when an entire swarm of birds dropped into a formation of a bead curtain. But, as soon as I pointed the camcorder in their direction, they dissipated, flying in all directions.

    Quite often thereafter, in a field called Old Oak Common behind Hammersmith Hospital where I would sit for lunch, looking up at the sky, literally out of the sky, not from the distance, birds would come in a straight line from left to right, maybe four lines deep, one line after the other. They would then return and disappear before my eyes. Amazing.

    These experiences may not seem believable. Even so, they did actually happen.
    I love that you share experiences that you have. You have not lived an ordinary life, IMO.
    "To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize" -- Voltaire

    "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."-- Eleanor Roosevelt

    "Misery loves company. Wisdom has to look for it." -- Anonymous

  16. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to modwiz For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (1st May 2018), Dreamtimer (1st May 2018), Elen (1st May 2018), enjoy being (1st May 2018), Kathy (1st May 2018)

  17. #9
    Retired Member
    Join Date
    14th September 2013
    Posts
    1,477
    Thanks
    19,167
    Thanked 6,144 Times in 1,444 Posts
    Did you know that swifts dip in and out of the sky? I observe this when skywatching. They come to London May to June/early July.
    Last edited by Kathy, 1st May 2018 at 16:31.

  18. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Kathy For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (1st May 2018), Dreamtimer (1st May 2018), Elen (2nd May 2018), enjoy being (2nd May 2018), modwiz (1st May 2018)

  19. #10
    Administrator Aragorn's Avatar
    Join Date
    17th March 2015
    Location
    Middle-Earth
    Posts
    20,240
    Thanks
    88,437
    Thanked 80,969 Times in 20,255 Posts
    Quote Originally posted by Kathy View Post
    [...]

    Strangely, The Tower of London grounds is where only Ravens inhabit, as far as I know.
    That may have something to do with the sheer number of beheadings that have taken place there.
    = DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR =

  20. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Aragorn For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Dreamtimer (1st May 2018), Elen (2nd May 2018), enjoy being (2nd May 2018), Kathy (2nd May 2018), modwiz (1st May 2018)

  21. #11
    Senior Member Morocco modwiz's Avatar
    Join Date
    13th September 2013
    Location
    Nestled in Appalachia
    Posts
    6,720
    Thanks
    40,125
    Thanked 41,242 Times in 6,698 Posts
    I was doing a fair amount of 'work' (runes) last night and ended with drawing a Medicine Card for some further/different guidance, and got Snake inverted. It was exquisite guidance and it looks like it will be the next one up in a few days. (Unless another insists otherwise.)

    Snake inverted was a special message for me and is different than Snake upright, which is much more about Snake Medicine itself and those with it as a totem. Reversed it is much more about leaving no longer useful habits and getting out of ruts. (Shedding skin) It was very personal so, that will not be discussed beyond what has been shared.
    Last edited by modwiz, 1st May 2018 at 18:50.
    "To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize" -- Voltaire

    "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."-- Eleanor Roosevelt

    "Misery loves company. Wisdom has to look for it." -- Anonymous

  22. The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to modwiz For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (1st May 2018), Dreamtimer (1st May 2018), Elen (1st May 2018), enjoy being (2nd May 2018), heyokah (4th May 2018), Kathy (2nd May 2018)

  23. #12
    Senior Member Morocco modwiz's Avatar
    Join Date
    13th September 2013
    Location
    Nestled in Appalachia
    Posts
    6,720
    Thanks
    40,125
    Thanked 41,242 Times in 6,698 Posts
    "To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize" -- Voltaire

    "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."-- Eleanor Roosevelt

    "Misery loves company. Wisdom has to look for it." -- Anonymous

  24. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to modwiz For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (2nd May 2018), Dreamtimer (2nd May 2018), Elen (2nd May 2018), enjoy being (2nd May 2018), Kathy (2nd May 2018)

  25. #13
    Retired Member Norway
    Join Date
    2nd July 2015
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    5,065
    Thanks
    73,935
    Thanked 23,318 Times in 5,067 Posts
    Quote Originally posted by Kathy View Post
    Strangely, The Tower of London grounds is where only Ravens inhabit, as far as I know.
    Is this what you were talking about Kathy? A Pringle-eating raven...here it is:


  26. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Elen For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (2nd May 2018), Dreamtimer (2nd May 2018), Kathy (2nd May 2018)

  27. #14
    Senior Member Morocco modwiz's Avatar
    Join Date
    13th September 2013
    Location
    Nestled in Appalachia
    Posts
    6,720
    Thanks
    40,125
    Thanked 41,242 Times in 6,698 Posts
    "Is that Bill Gates?"



    Same question.

    Last edited by modwiz, 2nd May 2018 at 10:58.
    "To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize" -- Voltaire

    "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."-- Eleanor Roosevelt

    "Misery loves company. Wisdom has to look for it." -- Anonymous

  28. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to modwiz For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (2nd May 2018), Dreamtimer (2nd May 2018), Elen (2nd May 2018), Kathy (2nd May 2018)

  29. #15
    Retired Member
    Join Date
    14th September 2013
    Posts
    1,477
    Thanks
    19,167
    Thanked 6,144 Times in 1,444 Posts
    Quote Originally posted by Elen View Post
    Is this what you were talking about Kathy? A Pringle-eating raven...here it is:

    If the raven is eating Pringles, it is not exercising any intelligence, and woe betide humans who eat them. Just set fire to one and it will flare up.

  30. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Kathy For This Useful Post:

    Aianawa (3rd May 2018), Aragorn (2nd May 2018), Dreamtimer (2nd May 2018), Elen (3rd May 2018), modwiz (2nd May 2018)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •