[CreativeAcrobate]

i did this me self on lé compyooter. fractal 3rd eye in 6-pointed star. bitchin'!

[addyta.org]

wow, dgcrow, a crow kindrid spirit! i have loved crows since about age 10 when the sound of a crow put me into an altered state, bliss etc. so the sound of a crow is heaven to me.

a couple of years back i was working with a shaman lady who was helping me work through some blocks. i was on the roof of our apartment house feeding the crows that gathered there. she freaked out and said they were from the dark side, and forbade me to feed them anymore.

so i had to feed them in secret after that, she wasn't going to tell me what to do. i didn't like her attention to so called evil. my own belief system doesn't accept evil as real. she also didn't like dragons. i love dragons!!

so, whatever.... i believe each one of us has our own truth, and may be completely different from someone else's. for me truth is ever changing, in fact truth is change.

so, nice to meet you, dgcrow. i am larissa, lover of crows.

[stutnerman]

hi everyone.

to larissa (and anyone interested), here's a synchronicity. before checking this thread i was looking at a different one where you had posted. i had noticed that you live in south korea. in years past when i was in the army i was stationed there, and despite the military/political tension, i had some really fantastic times (as well as some big challenges).

anyway, last night i had a dream in which i was looking through an old (ie, from the past) garment bag. this was happening on a train. the young man next to me had just gotten out of the army and i learned he had been stationed in korea. when i asked him where, he named the exact same place that i had been stationed. if you are familiar with david's views on dreaming, you already know that he states everything in your dream is you. therefore, i guess i shouldn't be surprised at his reply. what is synchronous is that the specific location on the post is called dragon valley!

i've started studying feng shui and have learned that in chinese philosophy (and others) that dragons are associated with mountains. just thought i'd point this out as it ties in nicely with my view of these synchronous posts.

and here's some more: some years ago i had the opportunity/honor to participate in a lakota sioux inipi (sweat lodge ceremony). afterwords i spoke with the pipe carrier who conducted the ceremony. i described the event involving the crow dive-bombing me. he didnt' "warn" me or tell me anything negative about crows, but said my response showed i had been in touch with nature. so, only if my experience shows me otherwise, crows remain ultra-cool with me!

peace,
doug

(oh yeah: caw! caw!)

wait! more synchronicity: i read this post about avatars the evening it was posted. earlier that evening i stopped to drop off some materials to be recycled. i was doing this at a burger king which is adjacent to a mcdonald's. they both have some metal boxes for various things to recycle. (where i live, the collective view on recycling seems to be what-the-****ever.) well, unbeknownst a young crow had scored a chunk of hamburger bun and was flying with it in its mouth. i got out of the car, turned to walk to the trunk, and here he comes flying fast, directly at me, a little above my head. again, i dunked down but didnt' feel any malice from him; perhaps just a little message for me. thought i'd mention this as it happened same day as this thread went up. take care.

[Peterli]

hello!

when i studied french at the university of stockholm i stayed at "hugin and munin", studenthostel. they were the two crows sitting on odins (the zeus of nordic mythology) shoulder connecting him to the spirit world, strengthening his intuition. i love crows, they are funny and intelligent.

liliane

[kavaTeexy]

i have a saying, when you see or hear crows or ravens, there is magic in the air. did you guys know that at 1 time, the crows were actully white.

from animal speak t. andrews

in roman mythology raven and crows used to be as white as swans. in fact a white crow watched over apollo's prgenant lover at delphos. one day the crow brought bad news to apollo and was turned black.

both the raven and crow are said to have great mysticism and mythology..
crows have long been considered magical, and even finding a dead crow was a sign of good luck.

wherever crows are, there is magic. they are symbols of creation and spiritual strength. they remind us to look for opportunities to create and manifest the magic of life. the are messengers calling to us about the creation and magic that is alive within out world everyday and available to us.

i have always been a huge animal lover of all kind. i have come to learn and understand many domistic and wild animals and do my best to honor and respect them and their own way of life.

i have another saying, "where do all the birds go at night", i believe some cross the veil, get messages and return to spread them...... using all walks of life.

[mr.videomen]

both the raven and crow are said to have great mysticism and mythology..
crows have long been considered magical, and even finding a dead crow was a sign of good luck.
i have a saying, when you see or hear crows or ravens, there is magic in the air.
they are symbols of creation and spiritual strength. they remind us to look for opportunities to create and manifest the magic of life. the are messengers calling to us about the creation and magic that is alive within out world everyday and available to us.

i have another saying, "where do all the birds go at night", i believe some cross the veil, get messages and return to spread them...... using all walks of life.

"keeper of the sacred law" : ) : ) : )

[Peterli]

gosh!

i was just going to tell you that a craw was "crawing" several times this morning outside my bedroomwindow and here it is!!! by the way odins birds were ravens of course, not craws

liliane

[Peterli]

...but!.......this is a raven!!

liliane

[Peterli]

hi dave vogel!

"vogel" isn't that "bird" in german?

liliane

[CreativeAcrobate]

hi dave vogel!

"vogel" isn't that "bird" in german?

liliane

well 'hello!' to you too, liliane! indeed, "vogel" is "bird" in german and is pronounced "fogel." you will find numerous anglicized spellings in english-speaking places and other variations like "fogelsang" and soforth. birds are rather unintelligent creatures, so i'm not so sure how much i like being associated with them :d but i am quite musical, so maybe i have a great vocalist in my distant lineage.

[SpeavaJap]

is it possible to have sounds, music as an avatar?

i have always been passioned by music and inspired musicians! my parents told me that when i was a baby i used to sing instead of crying!

now... i am incapable to play a door bell..... but syncronicity brought me beautiful gifted people, and i have always been surrounded by musician friends (fortunately i seem to attract them somehow...)

here goes one that i found in youtube this week! (yann tiersen cover - la noyee solo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi76sklmkmu

[stutnerman]

i wanted to thank everyone for sharing the info on crows and ravens.

i found a site that discusses the use of tools by crows:

www.jcrows.com/crow.html

here you will find an article written by richard karel ("psychiatirc news", march 1, 1996) where he cites research conducted by gavin hunt, ph.d. of massey university in new zealand (from "nature", jan. 18, year???):

"crows were observed employing two distinctly different kinds of tools to forage for invertebrates such as insects, centipedes, and larvae...hunt observed both manufacture and use of a hooked tool made by plucking and stripping a barbed twig. he also observed the use, but not manufacture, of what he described as a 'stepped cut tool' with serrated edges......

gregory ball, ph.d., is a behavioral neuroendrocrinologist and associate professor of psychology at johns hopkins university in baltimore. from the perspectice of neuroanatomy 'people often talk about bird brains as if birds have small brains, but certain orders of birds have quite large brains for their size,' said ball. corvids, the family of birds that includes crows, ravens, and jays, have large brains for their body weight, ball noted."

below is a link to a video of a crow using a tool to get at something (food?):

uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ttmlvpohvdg

peace,
doug

[9mm_fan]

birds are rather unintelligent creatures, so i'm not so sure how much i like being associated with them :d

hey, hey! easy now! i have an african grey parrot that would beg to disagree! he has a vocabulary of about a hundred words and phrases, plus every different telephone ring, bird call, doorbell, siren, alarm, etc. that he's ever heard. and he doesn't just repeat them to hear himself, he actually associates the sounds, i.e. says "goodby" when i pick up my keys to leave; says "goodnight" when i turn off the lights; says "come in" when someone knocks, etc.

[Peterli]

music!!!

i haven't been singing or touched my guitar and fiddle for 2 months...i'll do it today..thanks for the music...

the day before yesterday after posting here i took a dog-walk and there was this young crow following us for a while, totally unafraid.. next i sat down on a bench in our yard, opened a newspaper and there was this advertisment for a play "the raven" with the actor and a picture of a raven and at the same time a crow was "crowing" like mad from the rooftop...

liliane

[SimSlim]

hey, hey! easy now! i have an african grey parrot that would beg to disagree! he has a vocabulary of about a hundred words and phrases, plus every different telephone ring, bird call, doorbell, siren, alarm, etc. that he's ever heard. and he doesn't just repeat them to hear himself, he actually associates the sounds, i.e. says "goodby" when i pick up my keys to leave; says "goodnight" when i turn off the lights; says "come in" when someone knocks, etc.

that's awsome manny . to me, bringing incremental levels of consciousness in our interactions with domesticated animals serves the ultimate purpose. i love stories about how pets sometimes, even for a brief moment, seem to have a conscious thought. it's almost like animals can have mini eureka moments or even go through something similar to what we refer to as an awakening (or enlightenment). who knows, maybe this helps them grow on their own spiritual level.

is it possible to have sounds, music as an avatar? hi lala, i cannot think of a better expression of an avatar, sound along with color, texture, odor seem to have a profound connection with our soul. maybe it helps us familiarise ourselves with vibrations of all sorts.................sylvain..................... .

[SpeavaJap]

man…. there has been a change of internal perspective here…. how can it be that i call sound or music my avatar when i love it that much to the point that i can even have it for what i call moment??????? that cannot be an avatar in this case, could it? i can call it anything but an avatar…!!!!!!!!!!!

so, for now, i’ll change it

i feel that my avatar is, for that reason, silence

[Agrisalia]

hey, hey! easy now! i have an african grey parrot that would beg to disagree! he has a vocabulary of about a hundred words and phrases, plus every different telephone ring, bird call, doorbell, siren, alarm, etc. that he's ever heard. and he doesn't just repeat them to hear himself, he actually associates the sounds, i.e. says "goodby" when i pick up my keys to leave; says "goodnight" when i turn off the lights; says "come in" when someone knocks, etc.

supermanny! african grey parrots are cool! they are suppose to be not only the smartest birds in the world but arguably the smartest animal in the world. they are thought to have the intelligence of a 5 year old and the communication skills of a 2 year old. very cool.

this is weird. my friend has a deck of american indian totem cards and she had me pull out 3 cards, yesterday, to tell me a little somtehing about me. i really don't understand how it works but the 3 cards i pulled out was the crow, raven and the hawk! and then i read this thread and there is a lot of talk about crows. weird.

here is what the crow symbolizes in the american indian totem:

shadow self
shapeshifter
messenger
romantic
intelligent
tricky
magic
element
air
lesson

crow is the keeper of sacred law and knows the mystery. she teaches us that there are not one two or three worlds but many.
the laws of sacredness
to balance our need for partnership with other areas of our life
to be at peace with our own company as well as within a group
psychic protection
to value ourselves giving ourselves the best
the joy in exploration here is a few avatars i have used over the last 7 years or so. they are just meant to be humorous:





@ lala: i love music too. i have always liked pan for an avatar because he seems to just love to play his flute all day and enjoy his life. as well as occasionally getting into mischief. here he is:

[SimSlim]

hi everyone,

this thread is for sharing "an embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life". which is one of the descriptions of an avatar. here we can openly share what we or our ego might view as a wishfull image or true reflection of our spirit. sometimes we playfully take on a divine character or contemplate a mystical possible figure.

mine just happen to be my given name sylvain st-germain which i have translated into latin " silvanus sanctus germanus " which basically means that we are all holy brothers and sisters:d , lesser gods when separated (named individually) and that we come together as a complete (whole) god when united in oneness. at least that's how i love to interpret it.:d .........sylvain............

[Blolover11]

do you mean the avatar we use here?

i use onething on a couple of forums. it refers to a huge spiritual breakthrough i had many years ago, in which i got hooked up to the divine energy, the living water of life, love and wisdom. it taught me many things, and teaches me still. one day i stood out on the lawn thinking of the judeo-christian concept of the potter-and-clay god and universe, of the catholic stance that god created the world "ex-nihilo" - out of nothing, and i saw with my third eye that this was not so, or at least not in the way i had previously understood it, but rather that god can be the only source of everything and that therefore everything arises out of god. it may have seemed to be a nothingness, maybe it was just a thought that gave rise to heavier matter - but it all comes out of god and i also realized that god must be connected to everything or otherwise that would mean something could be cut off and outside the influence of god, which is impossible, for nothing can exist on its own. so therefore, as i said it to myself at the time, "all there is, is one thing." and all things really are god, because they are of god.

and almost twenty years earlier, when i was a teenager, i had read in a book that an indian hindu person was enlightened as a child. he was asked about his moment of enlightenment. he said that he watched his baby sister drinking milk out of a cup and suddenly realized that it was like god pouring god into god. and this phrase disappointed me at the time because it seemed idiotic and meaningnless. this is how dense i was.

but now i couldn't imagine how anyone could see it differently, if only they thought about it a bit. that is why i love the law of one. it happens to be true.

there was an american indian chief commenting, i believe, on western worship traditions. he said, "every pine needle is holy and every step is a prayer." this means to me that he was very spiritually advanced and lived in a world saturated with divinity and holiness, where one's awareness is elevated to god, (which they call the great mystery) such that there isn't a division between prayer and nonprayer.

[KinicsBonee]

i have been inspired by the movie *the day the earth stood still* this movie changed my life when i was a child and i have always identified with it.

if i could have one wish in this world it would be for a ship to land and someone from another planet to step out and stop the world and make us listen. the concept that gort was there to entice positive behavior and act on the thought of violence and harm was something that would not be tolerated made a very big impact on me.

the speech that klatau gives at the end of the movie is something that should be ringing in our ears. it is time to evolve to the plateau where we can be considered intelligent enough to know how to act in a respectable manner in the universe.