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Scent of Light Episode
by Ken Norton
Crow Medicine
Broadcast on February 9, 2020
Mp3 Player
The audio file above is the spoken word recording
without background music provided to Radio KOWS 92.5 FM broadcast of the
Scent of Light episode for insert into the Radio Spotlight Magazine
with host Andre Marc.
In this episode on the Scent of Light I will speak on
Crow Medicine.
On the day after Republican Senators voted to have a
trial without admitting witnesses or evidence and subsequently acquitted the
President who was earlier impeached by the House of Representatives, I
noticed a wounded crow taking refuge in our backyard, with the help of our
barking dog. The bird, about a foot in length, dragged its left wing, that
appeared to be broken, while strutting its black feathered body to a darker
corner to avoid me walking slowly towards it. Realizing the predicament of
the crow I ordered Rosey not to attack the bird, but to rather consider
herself a nurse and protect the crow's life. I don't know how much the
reasoning helped, but Rosey was obliging and kept a safe distance from the
crow.
I turned slowly and walked back to the house where I
filled a little bowl with dried dog food, and then returned to the yard to
place the bowl on the ground in the middle of a patch of grass. I made sure
it noticed my action and hoped the crow would accept my offerings. I
retreated to the back door, and the crow, after hesitating, hopped over to
the bowl and pecked at the dog food.
A neighbor’s brown and white cat suddenly jumped onto
the top of the fence and eyed the wounded crow. The crow hopped over to the
other side of the yard and down a walkway on the side of the house which was
gated at the end. The cat scurried along the fence top until it was at near
the beginning of the walkway in which the crow fled to dead-end. I
intervened by walking slowly up to the cat, and engaged in an eye to eye
conversation similar to the one I had with Rosey, and after a couple of
minutes persuaded the cat to turn around and proceed another direction along
the fence top.
I was pleased that some communication of food and
safety was apparently being understood between four species: cat, dog, bird
and human. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” at least in this moment.
Rosey and I returned to the house and alerted my wife
Elaine to the wounded crow's presence. She spotted the crow from the back
door window, expressed sorrow at seeing the displaced wing, and then walked
to the nearby book shelf, scanned the titles with her right index finger
until stopping and pulling from the shelf her sought treasure.
“Let's look up what the Native American elders
consider the importance of Crow as related to our encounter in my
Medicine
Cards* book,“ Elaine said as she joined me at the dining table.
We learned that Crow signified conscience of right and wrong even if
contradicted by human laws, and to speak and act with integrity. Knowing
this the crow is considered to be a master of shape shifting and illusion.
During the next two days the crow began adopting
favorite resting places in the garden. One was on top of the 3-foot high
compost pile near the bee hive. There was probably some food wastes it
found. After crow gingerly stepped down the compost pile slope, it hopped 20
feet to our plum tree’s broad bottom branch where it rested by the garden
statue of St. Francis holding in his hand a dove. It's left wing hung a bit
lower than its right wing.
Crow left our garden sanctuary on the 4th day while
we were away from the house. Elaine told me that she saw the crow flap both
of its wings earlier that morning. I did a careful search of the backyard
and looked over the fence to the neighboring properties, and could see no
sign of a carcass or strewn black feathers. Later at dusk I was alerted by
many caws of crow’s circling around a neighbor’s tall maple tree. I hope it
was a celebration of reunion of the wounded crow to its flock. The crow's
fate is ultimately a mystery, but it has left us with the experience of
relating to it and the timeliness of the Crow Medicine.
This is Ken Norton on the Scent Of Light. You can
contact me via Ken at KennethENorton.com and I would be glad to hear from
you. The Scent of Light episodes are archived on the web at
kennethenorton.com.
Thanks for listening.
*
Medicine Cards - The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals, by
Jamie Sams and David Carson, Bear & Company, Santa Fe, 1988.
Wounded Crow and Rosey in the
Garden - 2020 and 2017 Photos by Ken Norton
About the Author and Producer
Ken Norton earned his master's degree in Materials Science from Stanford
University as the Vietnam War was ending. During that time Ken served as the
personal assistant to a poet/sociologist Dr. William Hermanns as he prepared
his writings for publication, exposing Ken to not only the sciences but also
the humanities and comparative religion for making conscious and
conscionable choices.
Ken is a regular contributor to Radio Spotlight Magazine with his episodes
on the Scent of Light.
Ken Norton in practice of Tai Chi Chuan
2018 Photo by Elaine B. Holtz
I co-produce Women's Spaces Show with my loving partner and its host
Elaine B. Holtz. Take a visit. All the shows are archived on the website.
----
I am the Trustee and Archivist. Visit the website I built in honor of my
mentor.
----
Be still and know,
We're in the flow
Of Love to grow
From seeds we sow.*
Kenneth E. Norton
* stanza from his poem Intuition's Joy
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