Whenever I hear the call of crow it strikes a cord in me. Part memory perhaps but more than that - a resonance I cannot properly explain.
It has always seemed to me that crows take notice of us in a way other birds don't. When I hear their call, I look up and see them watching. They seem wise and curious and wild. And I am always glad to see them.
My friend feels differently. He is more focused than I on what they eat and sensitive to color. When a crow crosses his path, he thinks of ill luck and death.
Which is not to say that he dislikes crows, only that they make him uneasy. He does in fact love all animals and was understandably upset to kill a crow quite by accident several weeks ago while driving. Sadly, the bird flew into the side mirror of his car and died apparently on impact.
It was an unusual accident. Doubly remarkable because the short of string of events it set in motion caused a delay and that kept my friend just far enough behind a freeway pile up to avoid it being part of it. For this, he is grateful.
In Native culture, per Jamie Sams, the crow or raven is said to bring the bringer of magic. The color black, in this context is not evil instead it can mean the search for answers or a call to walk "another path at the edge of time." (Sams)*
My friend is not spiritual inclined but I can tell this event gave him pause.
It may be arrogant to think of the death of any animal as a message for a human being or an intervention in a human life, but this death did serve in that capacity. It makes me wonder if this particular crow was carrying a message. Did a miscalculation mid-flight result in the sad circumstance of its delivery? Or was that miscalculation was the message itself?
I don't know, but I can say that the crow's untimely death has made me wonder about other things too.
There are many carrion eating birds and animals, so why has Western culture come to associate crows with bad luck and death? Is this symbolism its own type of miscalculation? And what does this say about signs and superstition and the relatively subtle difference between omen and warning?
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*From the book Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams
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