Raven Magic...

[~Sam~]

http://www.patrickcrusade.org/raven.1.jpg




Raven . . .
Black as pitch,
Mystical as the moon,

Speak to me of magic,
I will fly with you soon.

Throughout time, Raven has carried the medicine of magic. This has been true in many cultures across the planet. It is sacred, in the medicine ways, to honor Raven as the bringer of magic. If the magic is bad medicine, the carrier may be honored out of fear rather than out of respect. Those who fear Raven may do so because they have been dabbling in areas in which they hd no knowledge, and a spell may have backfired on them. Rather than analyzing the dark side of sorcery, realize that you will fear Raven only if you need to learn about your inner fears or self-created demons.

Raven magic is a powerful medicine that can give you the courage to enter the darkness of the void, which is the home of all that is not yet in form. The void is called the Great Mystery. Great Mystery existed before all other things came into being. Great Spirit lives inside the void and emerged from the Great Mystery. Raven is the messenger o the void.

If Raven crosses your path, you are about to experience a change in consciousness. This may involve walking inside the Great Mystery on another path at the edge o time. It would portend a signal brought by the Raven that says, “You have earned the right to see and experience a little more of life’s magic.” Raven’s color is the color of the void – the black hole in space that holds all the energy of the creative source.

In Native teachings the color black means many things, but it does not mea evil. Black can mean the seeking of answers, the void, or the road of the spiritual or nonphysical. The blue-black of Raven contains an iridescence that speaks of the magic of the darkness, and a changeability of form and shape that brings an awakening in the process.

Raven is the guardian of ceremonial magic and in absentia healing. In any healing circle, Raven is present. Raven guides the magic of healing and the change in consciousness that will bring about a new reality and dispel “dis-ease” or illness. Raven brings in the new state o wellness from the Void of Great Mystery and the field of plenty.

Raven is the messenger that carries all energy flows of ceremonial magic between the ceremony itself and the intended destination. For instance if a ceremony is being performed to send energy to a disaster area where people need courage and strength, Raven would be the courier for that energy flow. The intention could be to allow the people of the devastated area to feel the concern and support of the participants in the ceremony.

If you have chosen Raven, magic is in the air. Do not try to figure it out; you cannot. It I the power of the unknown at work, and something special is about to happen. The deeper mystery, however, is how you will respond to the sparkling synchronicity of this alchemical moment. Will you recognize it and use it to further enhance your growth? Can you accept it as a gift from the Great Spirit? Or will you limit the power of the Great Mystery by explaining it away?

It may be time to call Raven as a courier to carry an intention, some healing energy, a thought, or a message. Raven is the patron of smoke signals or spirit messages represented by smoke. So if you want to send a message to the Blue Road of spirit, in order to contact the Ancients, call Raven. Or, who knows, the Ancients may be calling to you.

Remember, this magic moment came from the void of darkness, and the challenge is to bring it to light. In doing so you will have honored the magician within.

[Southernman]

Wow, Sam has here own forum. Thus I know in the future, where to find you, I allways liked your stories, you know. Sorry for not answering emails at once, summertime, the Harley is fine and the computer has to wait until next winter. But at the moment is the Harley standing in the garage. My little Southernboy spends two weeks with me, on Saturday we're going to Austria, I got a little appartment for one week, if you want to see where, look at this Zell am See, Austria (http://www.zellamsee-kaprun.at/)
It seems, you have a lot of fun with your critters, I could see Raven moving the 1st time this bridge and how you managed it, that he did it, in my imagination.

Take care of you and greetings to Ken.

Jürgen aka Southernman

This pic I found in the web:
http://www.jimgizowski.com/raven.jpg

[~Sam~]

Awesome Picture!

Hello Jurgen... Very long time, no hear! And I'm so happy that you dropped in to visit this new forum of mine! That little Southernman must be growing bigger by now. Does he ride with you on your Harley? Makes me smile to think of the both of you.

It's nice to know that someone likes my stories... REALLY! And I DO have a lot of fun with the critters. They keep me on my toes, so to speak.

Raven Moon... yup, that's his name. I misunderstood the mind picture that he sent me. What I took for a storm, was the Moon shining on moving waters. And you know what's really, totally awesome? The night that he was trailered here from Lexington, KY and I met him for the first time, The Raven Moon was up in the sky. I didn't find this out until I started to search on the web for Raven Moon...

I actually named him Raven when I sent the man the Check to purchase him. Then everyone questioned me about it.

You know... when I asked him to cross the bridge with me, he first put his front feet on the first board. We stood there for a while, and I whispered to him and sent him a picture of what we were going to do... He thought about it, and across we went.

Austria! Oh Wow! I'm going to check out the hotlink you left with me... My Magyar blood is singing to me now... I'll have to get to Eastern Europe one of these days.

I'll give your greeting to Kenny too!

You Take Care Now... Love Ya,

[angelgodiva]

Raven and the Man that sits on the tides
A Native American Tale


Long ago the oceans had no tides and the shores no shallows. Raven knew there was lots of food in the sea - oysters and clams, mussels and crabs. But how to get to it? He was lazy and preferred getting into mischief.. Raven wondered, "If only there was a way to move the water out of the way, so I could gather food from the sea!"
Raven, he knew nothing about the sea, but knew the Fog Man did. He would find the Fog man and ask him. Raven started asking around. He asked the sandpipers, and like a single bird, the flock darted and swooped this way and that, but Raven could not figure out which way they wanted him to go. Raven asked the gulls, but they seemed to be lost souls endlessly searching themselves. Raven asked the Cormorants, perched like lonely sentinels on the offshore rocks but they didn't know where The Fog Man was to be found either.

Finally Raven decided to look far to the north, where the fogs came from. He searched until one day he saw a island bouncing from wave to wave, like a raft free of its moorings. On it was a wrinkled old man with a long straggly beard. When he saw the Raven coming, he snatched up his hat and pulled it down on his head. Fog began to pour out from under it's brim, hiding the fog man and his island.

Raven swooped down and snatched off his hat. "What, do you throw a fog in a friend's face."
"Hey, Raven! Give me my hat, I've fog to make." He cried.
Raven asked: "Why do you make fog anyway."
"It's my job. It's what I do, I'm the Fog Man."
"Well do you know how the sea can be moved away from the shore?"
"I don't know, please give me my hat, the sun is getting too warm."
"Do you know someone I could ask?"
"Go ask the Man who sits on the Tide."
"What is the tide? And why does he sit on it? Where do I find him?"
The Fog Man pleaded: "Please leave me my hat, and go to where the sun sleeps."
Raven laughed "I'll just take your hat. It's time we had a sunny day"

Leaving the Fog Man cursing on the shore, Raven flew towards the setting sun. For many days, he pursued the sun and was just about to give up his search when he spotted a solitary Rock crag, with sea birds swooping around its head and shoulders. Raven was about to ask the birds, when the crag yawned, then it blinked. What looked like a rock, was a giant man, sitting in the water. Three times Raven asked him: "Have you seen the man who sits on the Tide?" with no answer, but the fourth the Giant roared "I AM THE MAN WHO SITS ON THE TIDE!!" His breath blew Raven back several miles.

Avoiding his mouth, Raven shouted in his ear. "Do you know the secret of how to move the sea aside?"
"I KNOW MANY SECRETS, BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER THEM"
"Well maybe if you told me one, it would jog your memory."
"GO AWAY I CAN'T REMEMBER ANY?"
"Well what is the tide, and why do you sit on it?"
"IT'S MY JOB, IT'S WHAT I DO. I AM THE MAN WHO SITS ON THE TIDE."
Curious, Raven tried to see what he was sitting on. "Maybe if you stood on it"
"NO, I HAVE ALWAYS SAT ON THE TIDE - IT'S WHAT I DO!"
"Come on, get up."
"GO AWAY, YOU BOTHER ME."

Raven began circling him. Raven spotted an exposed portion of his "backside" and got an idea. Flying up high in the sky, he pointed his sharp beak right at it and dropped like hawk, jabbing the giant real good. With a mighty roar, the giant rose up and started howling in pain, jumping around and holding his "backside". But his wail was drown out by the sound of a hundred waterfalls, as the sea poured into a large hole where he had sat. The giant danced around in pain. The sea was almost all gone, leaving sand and floundering fish as far as the eye could see. Finally, rubbing the "tender spot" the giant sat down. As he did the sea spurted up and refilled to its former water line.

Raven knew the giant's secret. "So that's what the tide is, now if we can just teach him some new habits."

Raven perched on his shoulder and with his most persuasive trickster voice suggested: "From now on, how about taking a little stretch twice a day - just a short one, so the people can gather food from the sea."
"NO, SITTING IS WHAT I DO, I AM THE MAN WHO SITS ON THE TIDE. I HAVE ALWAYS DONE THIS AND ALWAYS WILL. IT'S MY JOB."
"Come on, everybody needs a break now and then, just a short stretch twice a day?"
"GO AWAY, YOU'RE UPSETTING ME."
"I know, it's my job. It's what I do. I am the Raven. I upset things. I upset the darkness when I stole the sun and put it in the sky. I upset the cold when I stole fire from Owl and gave it to the people, and now I will upset you twice a day."


As Raven began circling for another jab, the giant roared "WHY I CAN SWAT YOU LIKE A MOSQUITO! YOU ARE NO BIGGER TO ME THAN A MINNOW TO A WHALE." He began to swing his arms wildly at the circling Raven. Giant waves were formed. As the two struggled, Raven trying to jab the giant, the giant trying to crush the Raven, a great storm struck the shores, and they say that this was when Mountain Goat first tasted salt and why sea shells are found in the mountains.

Trying as hard as he could Raven could not get near a tender spot on the Giant. Then Raven remembered Fog Man's hat. Raven pulled the hat down on his head. Fog began pouring out, thicker and thicker. A fog bank enveloped the Giant. He looked around, trying to spot Raven, but all he could see was Fog. Then, "YEOWWW!" Raven jabbed him good. For a little while, he jumped and danced around, then settled back on his spot.

Meanwhile as the waters receded, Raven was able to gather food from the sea shore. The waters were shallow enough to fish, and there were oysters and clams and mussels and crabs. The Sandpipers and gulls and cormorants found plenty to eat. Then as the giant had settled down, the waters returned to their former level. Raven began to visit the giant twice a day at different times to catch him by surprise, upsetting him each time. Sometimes he used Fog Man's hat, or came in the dark of the moon. And as the tide went out and came in, there was plenty of food to eat.

Finally, one day, as the Raven was about to pull on the fog man's hat, he saw a surprising sight. All by himself, without Raven's reminder, the Giant stood up, stretched, looked around and after a bit, sat down. Raven was puzzled. He disguised himself as a sea bird and flew to the giant's shoulder. "Why did you just stand up and sit down?"
"IT'S MY JOB. IT'S WHAT I DO. AS LONG AS I REMEMBER IT'S WHAT I HAVE DONE. I AM THE MAN WHO MAKES THE TIDE GO OUT AND COME IN."


And as Raven flew off, relieved he would have to upset the Giant no longer, he laughed. "I am the Raven. I upset things. It's my job. It's what I do!"

© 1996 Barry McWilliams

[~Sam~]

What a wonderfully clever story, Angel. A Fine way to start the day. I wonder if this is where Foghat took their name from... hmmmmmm.

I do believe that I'll put my fog hat on and go out and "upset things"...

It's what I do.

Angel... expect that package tomorrow... Love Ya Today,

Sam

Quadruplicity (Quality)... Mutable Pisces is receptive, intuitive, and emotional... imaginative, romantic, impressionable and mystical. Adaptable and very changable. That's me too... it's what I do... always have, always will.

[~Sam~]

Raven's Wisdom Includes:

* Rebirth without fear
* Ability to tear down what needs to be rebuilt
* Renewal
* Ability to find light in the darkness
* Courage of self-relfection
* Introspection
* Comfort with self
* Honoring ancestors
* Connection to the Crone
* Divination
* Change in consciousness
* New occurences
* Eloquence

~ Taken from: Shamanism Animal Spirit Guides Core

Sam

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our souls
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are One and One is all
To be a rock and not to roll
Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying the stairway to heaven

[white ginger]

hello!
I felt a need to share this with you all. About five months or so ago I went through some very... 'traumatic' experiences involving drugs, sexual abuse, and general abuse. anyway, in the past few months I have decided to heal, and healing I am. It is slow and frightening, but also refreshing, invigorating and conciousness expanding.
A few nights ago I was out a good part of the night with a new friend whom I don't fully trust yet, (trust is one of the things I lost and am trying to find), but I am starting to trust. We'd wondered why it was so bright that night, and on the way home I saw that it was a full moon. Today as I was with this friend again, I saw a raven and it flew to a tree farther down the hill we were on, and I ran after it, rather spontaneously, and calling after it. I thought I'd lost track of it, but then I saw it again and watched it manoeuver through branches, and listened to the thick slap of it's wings on the air. On the way home I felt like a crow was telling me to follow it, or trying to communicate something to me. It was acting kind of oddly.
Another spontaneous act I did today was click on 'Sam's Place.' I rarely click on links like that, especially in people's signatures... and then as I was about to close the browser, the word 'Raven' caught my eye—and all of a sudden I was reading about the Raven's many layers. I am a Pisces.
That was long-winded... but I'm excited.

[~Sam~]

Ahhhhhhhh... a Fellow Piscean! Yes, Raven Magic is good for us Ginger. Especially in the healing department.

I, too, come from an abuse filled past. I'm 58 now and I still have to deal with the pain that I dredge up from my memories once in a while. It gets a little easier as time passes, so hang in there.

Glad the Raven caught you eye... and your interest, Welcome!

Sorry for such a short reply, but I've allowed myself to run late today and I have those goats hollerin' for me to get out there and throw some grain around. But I'll be back to talk more if you'd like.

Love,
Sam

[cerridwen]

those are very poetic stories and beautiful pics you guys! Thanks for posting!

[~Sam~]

You're very welcome, Cerridwen. I'm glad you like them. And Hey! Thanks for dropping by to visit. I noticed your posts over at Old Crone's Place and got a real good feeling from them.

How's it up in Canada these days... I mean like the weather and stuff. I'd like to hear from you again...

Sam