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Crow Folks: Keep Circling

I’m a few days overdue, but here is the belated poem, fruit of my most recent Dark Moon trip to see Na Morrigna:

A cart rushing,
Without knowing its direction;
It jolts, tipping.
Wolves run through the forest,
Paws touching earth gently,
Clear direction and purpose.
Purpose before going;
Direction before rushing:
Balance in movement.
Harmonious actions,
Togetherness in purpose,
Groups* moving towards balance.
Moving towards peace,
Peace without conflict,
Peace below skies.**
Through skies, clouds move slowly,
Turning though seasons,
Gradual changes.
Wind keeps blowing;
Rain keeps falling;
Ravens still circle.

The imagery here is that of regrouping, of making plans and being certain of goals before rushing headlong back into battle. The larger goal will take a longer journey; this is a marathon, not a 50 meter dash, and we’ll be meeting these challenges with lots of different groups of people. Teamwork is going to be important, and a certain amount of compromise, at least among those who are working in good faith towards common goals.

Notes:
*I think the Irish word here is buiden, which is a band of people, or like a military troop of people, but the context isn’t specifically military here and They didn’t mean just Their own people or I would have used “squadron” again. It means like, groups of activists from different organizations and callings, working together towards common goals, and taking on each other’s fights so we’re all in step together.
** This is, of course, an intentional reference to the Peace Prophecy, translated at the link here by Morgan Daimler.

Crow Folks: I behold them bathed in red

This dark moon, as I do every dark moon, I journeyed to Na Morrigna to ask them for an omen for myself and other devotees. While I normally expect that the message from them will be most valuable to those closest to me in geography and practice, this time I specifically mentioned the upcoming US elections, and so this message is mainly for those residing in the US. I was shown imagery in the cauldron, given wisdom, and distilled those into this inspired poem.

Uncertainty hangs in the air
Like smoke over a grease fire
Like a shroud over a corpse

Dark greasy smoke
Of discontent
Of malevolence

Water spreads a grease fire
Fire engulfing buildings and streets
Streets that glitter with glass in the night

Crows are gathered to face the onslaught
Each poised for easy flight
Ready to do their work

One darts out
Another takes their place
The first returns to roost

Be cautious as you defend
Beware deceit and trickery
A dishonorable opponent follows no rules of engagement

Tell me of the streets of this country, Fedelm;
Tell me what outcome you see.

Red with blood and fire I see them;
I behold them bathed in red.


Be careful out there, my fellow Crows. Things will get worse before they get better. This is a time of struggle; may we find ways to make the necessary changes.

Crow Folks: The Battle Still Rages

I did not really have the headspace to do the entire journey and ritual yesterday, and, feeling no intense pressure from Na Morrigna, I figured I had been granted an extension.

And then, the news came in. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, had died. On this, the first night of Rosh Hashanah. Not a very “sweet” way to begin a new year, though there is a saying that tzaddikim, greatly righteous people, die on Rosh Hashanah, because they are given the full measure of a year. That is certainly true in this case. May her memory be a blessing.

With that roiling in my head, I went to see Na Morrigna, to ask of them what they would have me tell their folk, for this moon cycle. And I came back with the following:

A Warrior dies
Disheartening news
The battle still rages

Raging on and on
The battling continues
We move forward slowly

Slow change frustrates
Forge your frustration into Will
Overcome your insecurities

Security is an illusion
You have more to lose
Than you might think

Rosc-like, but more raw this time, less poetic. Still, good advice for us, I think. Grieve, Crows – but do not give up the battle.

Additional note: a knowledgeable friend says that we ought to give RBG 7 days to complete her transition before attempting to honor her as one of the Mighty Dead. Seven days for her family to sit shiva after the burial, to observe the Jewish rites of mourning.

Crow Folks: Prepare for the Harvest

This dark moon, when I went to speak with Na Morrigna, they spoke to me of the importance of self-care to avoid burnout, the importance of continuing the fight and staying on target even as things appear to be settling down, as the ongoing struggles slip out of mainstream news cycles. Above all they stressed that the harvest would come soon. Lughnasadh is just around the corner: a time for renewed contracts, for the settling of legal disputes. A good time to clarify our purpose as we head towards Samhain, the month of November. The apple harvest is almost here, and with it will come a change, although the type of change still hangs in the balance, undecided, uncertain. One more push is needed, if we wish to reap the harvest we’ve been working for. Look to those on the peripheries for guidance as you move forward. The marginalized ones. They will know how to best achieve justice. Witches and apples have a long history, and acorns are not Macha’s only crop. There may be bloodshed yet to come, as the harvest comes in and the rents come due.

Here is a slip of a poem, inspired by my visit:

Crows gather in fields
Perching on straw men
Eating the corn

Apples ripen on trees
Dripping with syrup
Sweet-tasting deception

Poisoned apples
Bloody acorns
Swirling murders of crows

Otherworldly battles
Faction against faction
Spilling over the border

A queer wit sees more truth
The worlds entwined
A struggle for control

The people gather a harvest
Each one gets their portion
Long-due debts will be paid

Crow Folks: What will you Keep?

This time, when I went to visit Na Morrigna, they spoke first about the healing ritual I led earlier this month, how necessary it is for those doing battle to stop and be healed, to stop and get clean again. And that will also be necessary, they say, as we move into the phase where we decide what comes next. As movements asking for change gain momentum, those who rose up are asked: but what changes? What will that look like? They gave me visions of imagery, and words to share, almost a poem, inspired by them but still in my own voice. Questions to ask ourselves.

Statues pulled down,
Institutions crumbling,
Foundations uprooted.

What will you save?
What will you keep?

Seeds from a bad harvest,
Planted in better soil,
Trained into new shapes.

What can be fixed?
What can be used?

When the tower has fallen,
When the fires are banked,
When it is time to rebuild:

What will you use?
What will you keep?


Meditate on these questions, fellow Crows. Find your own answers, and then add to the growing discussions in your own communities. Some things are surely beyond repair, beyond saving, but others may be salvaged if they are stripped back far enough, like a house with “good bones”. Make sure you are contemplating the bones of even the largest of institutions: what to destroy, and which to salvage for building materials. The fight goes on, but we need to think about a way forward, as well. Clear goals and objectives to aim for, to focus on.

Be well. May strength, courage, and clarity be yours.

Crow Folks: What Power?

This is the second dark moon since I was recalled to service, and one of many that I have served the role of messenger for Na Morrigna, messenger mainly to those whose practice is most similar and location is most proximal to my own, but perhaps the message will find resonance farther afield as well. I write because I am told to, and this small platform is as good as any – my community knows where to find me.

This time, as many others, I journeyed to my usual meeting place with Na Morrigna, the three Daughters of Ernmas. They met me there, and a fire was already lit beneath the great cauldron, though it was not full. I poured water to fill it from my own jug, and they added herbs, stirred it together until it was steaming, and then bade me look.

I saw violence, turmoil. barely contained. The water and herbs in the cauldron seethed and roiled though the surface was calm. Likewise, violence boils beneath the surface of our society. Things are tensed, straining, and something will have to give, for the pressure will not let up, cannot let up – it has gone to far, and we are past the point of turning back, past the point where we might have been able to settle it back down. We cannot stop the rising flood, though there are better and worse ways of dealing with the flood as it spills over. As a society we’ve laid poor foundations, and we have not restructured them properly or even maintained past partial fixes, and we’ll find ourselves facing disaster. A harvest of disasters, grown from poisoned seeds in unmaintained fields. I look again, deeper, and it gets clearer. I see riots, I see burning, I hear gunfire, screams, I smell smoke. It looks to my untrained eyes like war.

They tell me to say: “Do not look to the King for justice. His Ways are not Just. But those among you who are warriors, guard your communities during the turmoil. Healers, heal. Others, look to your crafts. What power will you wield in the battle to come? Not hard to say.”

Note: those last two sentences in the quoted section come from the Cath Maige Tuired, somewhat paraphrased, from when Lugh is asking each person what they will do in the battle.

Crow Folks: There is New Work to be Done

I have been recalled early. For two years, I served as an oracular priestess of the Morrigna, the Daughters of Ernmas, every Dark Moon from Lughnasadh until Imbolc. But I find myself called back to duty before Beltaine this time.

I imagine many of you are finding the same to be true. If you have been on standby, consider this your activation, your incitation. If you have been doing Their Work, you may find you are being called to work Deeper, to work more Often, to work more Directly.

But first, the message:

You are surrounded by a sea of lies, deceit, delusions of imposterhood, illusions that things will, or can, ever be “normal” again. Swim to shore. Wave-chariots will carry you if your stroke falters. Reaffirm your commitment to change, to the Work. Reaffirm your commitment to me, and join me and the Crow Fianna on shore. Regroup your squadrons. Make plans. Be ready. More work is coming, more change is coming, more tests of will are coming. You are prepared. Be ready for the Call.

I suggest you all make witchy go-bags and carry them with you, or put them in a place in your home you can get to easily and begin quickly, if you suddenly feel that you need to act. Get in contact with your closest allies in your community, whether locally or online. If you feel called to work together, do that. If you feel called to work alone, do that. If you’re not sure: ask, and LISTEN.

They asked me to end with one of their poems, a rosc from the Cath Maige Tuired, translated by Morgan Daimler:

Arise, kings to battle here!
Seizing honor,
speaking battle-spells,
destroying flesh,
flaying, snaring,
seizing battle [plains]*,
seeking out forts,
giving out a death feast, 
fighting battles, 
singing poems,
proclaiming druids collect tribute
around in memory.

Bodies wounded in a rushing assault,
pursuing, exhausting, breaking,
prisoners taken,
destruction blooms,
hearing screams,
fostering armies battle,
occupants moving,
a boat sails,
arsenal cuts off noses.

I see the birth of every bloody battle,
red-wombed, fierce,
obligatory-battlefield,
enraged.

Daimler leaves the missing word untranslated, but the image I was given when I asked indicated terrain, which Morpheus Ravenna discusses on pg 145 of The Book of the Great Queen. I’ve also broken up the lines here to fit the rhythm communicated to me. I don’t claim that either of those additions are “more correct”, but it does seem to be the way Na Morrigna would like them to be presented here and now, for Their own reasons.

I suppose I’ll be seeing you all next Dark Moon. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out, especially for my usual offerings on Their behalf: distance energy healing, and divined guidance.

Crow Folks: A Vision of Battle

As I have from Lughnasadh til now, on the Dark Moon I went to see the three Morrigna. It was hazy and I was ill, and I was told to come back again after sunset on January 31st, Imbolc Eve. Apologies for the delay, fellow Crows, but here is what I learned.

This time the message was largely visual. I joined the Morrigna at their cauldron, they bid me to drink of it, and then took my hands in theirs, a circle around the cauldron, and thus supported I leaned forward, seeing in the waters, then with my face submerged, seeing under the waters.

I saw civil disturbance, resistance, unrest, war. All too close to avert now, but that was never the plan. Timelines are hastening, change is coming and with it, renewal. Shadow puppets of the Fomori, a comparison to today’s unjust leaders. The downfall of Unrighteous Kings. We need to ride the currents of chaos, and press forward, push the seams of our society, break the bonds that hold us back. We Crows will fly the airstreams above the battles, inciting others to join us, swooping low to turn people towards the paths that will lead us forward into a better world.  Some will be at the forefront, some further back sheltering other beneath their wings. Most will move between roles, as circumstances allow. Darting back and forth, a mob of crows, difficult to tell apart, moving as one mass, one organism.  Each squadron keeping perfect time with the others, balance in chaos, intuitive movements allowing us to find ourselves exactly where we need to be.  Individually, we have achieved certain mastery and maturity in our craft but there is always more to learn from experience. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Don’t cut corners; there are no quick fixes. There will be temptation to give up, to give in to despair: Do Not. We are building for a long future. Trust yourself, trust your intuition, trust your gods. These will guide you true.


With this last message, the cycle of my oath is fulfilled. Unless they ask more of me before then, I expect I will continue these messages next Lughnasadh. In the interim I am still “on call” for divinatory and healing services to those joining in this great work, and I’ll be presenting a healing ritual at the Morrigan’s Call Retreat in June.

Crow Folks: Do Not Fear the Dark

The Dark Moon this month brought me once again to the cauldron of the three Morrigna, and what I saw and was told I relay to you. There’s a sense of urgency here, of difficulty on the horizon, that I’m not sure quite comes through in the words below, though that is the fault of the messenger, not the Goddesses.

Embrace the night-work, do your spellwork in the gloaming, and do not fear the dark. Keep the work you do a secret among yourselves. It will prosper better in darkness. We work to topple unjust Kings, to dismantle structures of oppression, and the wheel turns slowly, but the balance is currently in our favor. It is time to fight to redress wrongs and injustices and for you to reestablish right relationship with your gods, your not-gods, your communities, and yourselves. Transform the pain of your past, and the rage of your present, into war-tools. Let the heat of your emotions be a bladesmith’s forge. You have been called by Goddesses of War!

The next Dark Moon is January 24th. Look for the next message around then.

Crow Folks: Do the Work

Here is this recent Dark Moon’s message from Na Morrigna, as I was told and shown in their steaming cauldron.

Release the last of your fears, doubts, and insecurities. They do not serve you well. Let them shrivel and die in the frost. Turn inward, and take stock of yourself. You have been training, and you are ready. You do not feel ready yet, but you never will. It is time to take action. You are a fully formed blade, and half sharpened, but your edge will only be honed to razor sharpness by doing the work. Focus, and act. You know what needs to be done. We will join your workings together as a rope of ivy, enveloping all obstacles in our path, growing ever greener and ever stronger.

Short and to the point. If you need more direction for how to do the task before you, I suggest asking for a little more guidance in journey work or via divination. As before, I’m happy to offer my divinatory services free to those who feel unable to do their own, as that is one of my own tasks I’m oathed to perform. Be well, Crow Folks, and I’ll be back with another message next Dark Moon.

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