Three Crows?
I have always admired the crow. Inquiring and intelligent, interacting as a family or community. Leary of human ways, yet adapted to participate in them. Always around as if trying to figure out what in Odin’s name these humans are doing down there? Guffawing from above.
I remember trying to get close enough to pop one with my BB gun as a kid, and of course, that never happened! Their caution is well-founded and has served them well. From there, I grew my casual yet lifelong admiration and respect for these birds. My love for the natural world and my beliefs.
Today looking at my family, I see a bit of crow-like behavior in them. The branding of our website, “Three Crows,” symbolizes my family: my wife, son, and myself. Additionally, Chloe. But 3 is the root of my family, and I am happy to have this excellent person in our household and family.
Crows however, seem to come with a bit of a bad rap.
As I worked out the name of our first website from the get-go, I needed to decide about using Three Crows as a name (Then it was Three Crows Homestead). With all the negative lore and mythology behind crows and ravens. But it also contained a kind of “Coolness,” I guess… and I have a family of crows who live on the land that I steward, and I wanted to tribute them.
Our old web… Three Crows Homestead could’ve been a title of a horror movie or novel? 3 or more crows are a Murder! Yikes! The mixed irony is my reasoning for dropping the word homestead.
“Homestead” had a warm and nostalgic meaning then. Rather than a reference to these birds, often depicted as scoundrels, tricksters, and bad omens, I found that this word has cultural baggage weighted in colonialism. “Three Crows Homestead” the “Murder Homestead.” Had to be changed.
Some readers might think this act is ridiculous… I see it as an act of responsibility outside the sort that compels responsibility to of an errant baseball breaking a window.
It is an example of “Transitional thought” that creates a shift in awareness needed to genuinely recognize the diversity that has come to be the population of this continent. A small step in dominant cultures, perceptions of our world that even IT sees symptomatic change in the air, and Bill Mollison’s “Prime Directive of Permaculture.”
“A fish doesn’t know it is in water until lifted out of it.” a phrase I like to use when it fits. I am raised out of the water by podcaster and fellow permaculturalist Dan Wahpepah. Whom I have great respect for his views and work. Thank you, Dan.
I recommend giving him a listen.
What about the Woo?
In mythology and legends, stories of crows and ravens abound.
In Norse mythology, Odin had two crows who gathered news from around the world daily and reported to him. One is called Huginn, whose name means thought, and the other is called Muninn, which means memory.
In Irish mythology, Morrigan, the warrior goddess, would appear with crows/ravens, or a nearby crow might give assurance that Morrigan was watching over a young Celtic warrior. Welsh texts portrayed the crow as a harbinger of death. Yes! The foreboding imagery seems embedded in the Corvidae family in many cultures worldwide.
In North American indigenous cultures, a quite different perspective is seen. In one story, The Rainbow Crow, a crow brings fire, a gift from the creator that would keep creatures warm. The crow is considered good luck by many tribes, and the intelligence of crows is portrayed as their most important feature.
Crows are clan animals in some Native American cultures. Tribes with Crow Clans include the Chippewa. Whose Crow Clan and its totem are Aandeg. The Hopi, whose Crow Clan is Angwusngyam or Ungwish-wungwa are examples of the importance of the crow.
Modern spirituality Crows and 3
Seeing three crows is positive energy in the melting pot of modern spirituality; we can see cows positively. Threes can be seen as representing traditional holy trinities. The “Mind, Body & Spirit.” “Heaven, Earth, and the Great Spirit.” Christianity sees three as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and non-religious spiritual people have seen a more ‘female including’ characteristic understanding. – Unity is the common factor
Crows show up to guide you onto a path of healing, growth, and cooperation. To remind you of the power of healing your whole self, mind, body & spirit. Adopting a worldview that considers the heavens and celestial energies, energies that science fails to label and document. As well as the earth and elements below, on earth. The Great Spirit or the energetic ethereal consciousness that flows through all that is Gaia.
It’s all pretty interesting the connections made with this positive imagery.
In one bout of research on “Woo,” I found the sighting of three crows as a signal for transformation, of significant positive change. This is the hope embedded in the name picked for this website. I hope the Rainbow Crow will light fires of change and transformation as we rebuild our circles. Thank you for visiting our website. This is what’s in a name 🙂
Be Cheerful,
Darren
