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This Totem is Raven
There are many stories about Raven.
Raven to me is the ethereal spirit. He is known as a prankster.
His pranks were not mean spirited. He was fond of humans and did
many things to help them. One of the main stories of Raven is when
he stole the sun moon and the stars. He stole them to put them back
in the heavens so that they may give light to all creatures.
A spirit had
stolen them and kept them locked away in a box. Raven became a pine
needle and dropped into a jar of water the spirits daughter was drawing
from a stream.
When the woman drank the water
she swallowed the small pine needle. Raven became her child and thus the
grandchild of the one who stole the lights from the heavens. When
he was born the grandfather was delighted to have a grandchild. As
raven grew older he asked his grandfather about the box that had the lights
of the heavens. At first his grandfather would not show him. Raven was
patient, and finally his grandfather relented. He took out the box and
let his grandchild see the treasures he had hidden. When Raven took them
out he turned back into a Raven.
He grasped the moon in his claws and the sun in his beak. The stars he
carried in his feathers and he immediately flew up the chimney and out
of the house. Raven put the sun the moon and the stars back in the heavens
so that man would not have to stumble around in the dark. This story
to me has a number of things that are typical of the stories of the Pacific
North West. Raven used cleverness, and though the grandfather might
have thought it was mean, it was not. Raven was being generous.
Generousity is highly prized in the stories and culture of this area. Raven
did not get back the lights by fighting or mustering great armies. He went
into...became something in the situation over which he desired to have
an effect. He became the object of affection. He was never an adversary,
even though he got what he wanted. Though Raven is not the
same thing as the bird the raven, the raven has a special connection. I
do not know what the relationship is between the bird and the Raven of
stories. I have always had a fascination with ravens. They live in the
dry desert and by rivers and lakes. They live high in the mountains
and along the ocean. They live far north in near the arctic and spend the winter
there. They will eat many things and will wait patiently. They are
curious birds who will watch, quietly sometimes, but are not shy about
making their presence known. They can be quit noisy when they are in the
mood, especially when they are together. When you caw to them they will
often answer and come close to see what you are up to.
