Raven Stuff
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2002 1:04 am
Here is some Raven stuff:
A proving of the blood of a North American Raven (30c Quinn)
Greg Bedayn,RSHom (NA), Director, Author
Kim Baker, Assistant Director
Jessica Jackson,LAc, extraction of themes and rubric selection
-
Folklore
Few creatureshave been elevated to the status of Deity by the human
race as has been Raven, whose profound and seemingly divine influence has
encircled the globe since the beginnings of time. Considered by
ornithologists to be the most intelligent of all birds,Raven's mischievous
exploits are prolific, even legendary. The Bella bella,Kwakiutl,Tlingit,
Haida, and Tishman Indian tribes, of the Pacific Northwest coast (to name a
few) have countless legends about Raven on subjects from his being
responsible for creating the world, to many, many accounts of Raven's
behavior involving every aspect of tribal life. Raven wasfor the North
American Indian, after all, a God-like creature, and theirancient folklore
reflects a rich devotion both to Raven's colorful personality and to it's
idiosyncratic behavior.
-
The Legend of Bran and why the United Kingdom believes that Ravens have
successfully protected the entire British empire from attack and devastation
for over one-thousand years (as related to me in telephone conversation with
the Queen of England's own Ravenmaster; a Mr. Cope, onMarch 14, 1996): "
Well, itall started with the legend of Bran. You see, Bran was a
Celtic leader who was mortally wounded while fighting theIrish. His men
brought him back to Wales where he died in his wife's arms,Branwyn (for
" White Raven" in Welsh) was her name. She soon died of grief.
Bran's followers carried his body to London and buried him on WhiteHill where
White Tower and the Tower of London now stand. He was buried facing the
channel towards France. A sooth-sayer warned the king thatas long as Bran
lay undisturbed, all would be well with England, but adisaster would strike
if ever he was moved (During the ensuing decades, he wasrepeatedly moved.)
Around 1078 the Norman's invaded and built the White Tower(the oldest of
British Royal Palaces, inhabited from 1078 to 1605), overBran's burial spot
and he has there lain undisturbed in peace ever since, ashas the Crown of
England. There was rumored to have been a white raven in the flock of ravens
that lived atop the tower, that was the reincarnation of Bran's faithful
wife Branwyn, come back to look over him and the sanctity of the British
empire.
This tale wasrelated carefully to Charles the second, at the time of
his coronation in 1661. When he visited the Tower to see how the
preparations for his coronation were coming along, he asked the newly
appointed Astronomer-Royal what he was doing around the White Tower.
"Getting rid of all the birds around the Tower, Sir, as they are
interfering with my star gazing" replied the astronomer. "Stopat
once" ordered Charles, keeping heed to the grave warning in the legend
of Bran. Ever since and to this day, by royal command, six ravens are kept at
all timesat the Tower of London to " keep an eye on things."
Interesting to note that shortly after his admonishment of the astrologer,
and his granting the royal reprieve for Ravens, Charles was attacked by the
nefarious Oliver Cromwell. It is said the ravens flew in advance of the raid
and warned Charles'guards in time for them to successfully fight off the
attack.
Tower of Londons current raven personalities: "Rhys" lays on
his back and juggles cups and sticks. "Hardy" will barklike a dog
suddenly in a group of people and seems to be predictably entertained by
their alarmed retreat. Currently all the male Ravens are fighting amongst
themselves, vying for mates."
-
Ravens, Crows,Magpies, and Jays Author, Tony Angell writes:
"Many Indiantribes had special names for Raven, including "Real
Chief
(Haida) and "Great inventor" and "One whoseVoice is to be
obeyed" by the
Bella Coola). The Kwakiutl offered the afterbirth of a male newborn to
ravens to peck so that when the child was grown to manhood he would
understand their cries. The interpreter could respond to nearly a dozen
raven vocalizations that would tell him of a change in weather, the
possibilitys of attcack from enemies, warriors, an imminent death, or what
the hunting prospects would be (Boas 1913-14). Additionally,the Norse
God,Odin, sent a pair of Ravens out at dawn to fly world wide, and they
retured at noon to perch on his shoulders and whisper in his ears the
secrets they had learned. Other Norse God's heeded Ravens advice and Viking
soldiers followed his banners into battle. Biblical writers described
God-sent ravens sustaining the prophet Elijah during his retreat to the
desert, and the poet Poe employed the bird as a creative focus for his
turbucular-miasm inspired mad-lament. These are our North American Corvids.
To some they may be the apotheosis of Avian form and aspirit worth of the
highest artistic tribute. Others consider them competitors,more to be
destroyed than admired. It's hard to imagine that anyone professing
sensitivity would not recognize these birds as a mostremarkable
consolidation of highly evolved animal social systems,physical apparatus,
skills, and beauty. They also demonstrate directly that often the elusive
capability to sustain healthy populations within the carrying capacities of
their chosen environments. To some degree, perhaps greater than most of us
would admit, we find this intelligent family of birds are not too unlike
ourselves. Their foibles are our own. They squabble within their families
and wage battle with those clans that would impinge upon their home ground.
Their lives involve a struggle for identity in their social hierarchy and
survival in the biologic community of their choosing. Like us, they seem to
have fleeting moments of joy when the mate is won, the game is played, the
belly is full, and the sun shines on our backs. There is also that
intriguing element about corvids that is of the unknown.These birds are
more than descriptions by weight, measure, color and distribution, for
behind their amber eyes are answers to questions we maynever learn to ask.&
quot;
-
The proving
I have had alife-long fascination with Raven, and once, having taken
months to nurse a young road-accident-victim,"Juaquin," back to
airborne-health in the1980's, when I lived on Puget Sound'sSalmon Beach, I
developed a first-hand knowledge and appreciation of thiscreature of
global-fascination and lore. It was during Lou Kline'sMaster Clinician
course in Berkeley in 1996, that I first decided toorganize, then direct, a
proving on Raven's blood (Corvus corax principalis sanguis.I asked my
friend and colleague, Kim Baker, to assist me in theproving. The proving
went well and the final prover's meeting became more andmore fascinating
and as the evening wore on, mischevious-Raven finallyrevealed itself in its
it's medicinal form. I remember how the provers, one-by-one,got into the
"hot-seat" and reported their individualexperiences to the assembled
throng, and how most reported what became asimilarly-hilarious experience
for all. Each prover basically told his/her story of howtheir appetites had
GREATLY increased during the proving --one prover had even developed the
habit of standing in front of his open refrigerator,methodically eating his
way through it's contents, unable to stop until the last kernel of leftover
rice caserole (etc.) was gone. It wasn't actually funny until about the
second or third prover confirmed that same symptom and the provers-group
howled with laughter over the peculiar similarity --and then the next prover
confirmed it again, and so on. The next day I was driving into Berkeley,
deep in thought over what the similarity of increased appetites could mean,
when I suddenly realized the rubric was ravenous appetiteand I nearly drove
off the road when I just as suddenly realized the source of the word:
ravenous! I later decided I was too close to the remedy-source to be fully
objective during the extraction so I asked my colleague and fellow-graduate
from the Hahnemann College of Homeopathy, Jessica Jackson,to develop the
theme and rubric- extration sections. An objectiveextraction is a difficult
thing to performed by any account. I feel the high qualityof Jessica's work
speaks for itself.
-
Jessica Jackson writes:
"While doing the extraction on Raven's blood, I realized this was
not a simple remedy. There's a complexity and intensity to it thatI am in awe
of.
Spending time at the Grand Canyon over the holidays with myboyfriend, we
saw many, many ravens there. Now their countenance and manners are indelible
with me."
-
" Eachindividual symptom must be considered. Every symptom must be
examined to see what relation it sustains to and what position it fills in
the totality in order that we may know its value, whether itis a common
symptom, a particular symptom, or whether peculiarly acharacteristic
symptom." --J. T. Kent
-
"When aperson presents a peculiar symptom, a dream, a modality, or
an experience, clearly, intensely and spontaneously:
--find itdirectly in the materia medica or repertory.
--see thefeeling it creates and connect it with the overall case.
--it isdirectly connected to the source of the remedy.
Any marked thingcan be understood in this way."
--Dr.Rajan Sankaran
-
An interestinganecdote: A special albino Raven was hatched in the
spring of 1996 at Port Clements in western Canada's QueenCharlotte Islands,
to black raven parents. It was the only baby in the nest.Human
companionship and feeding seemed important to"Lucy" and her
survival. Lucy
was very tame and gave islanders and visitors much pleasure!Lucy's habit of
frequent hiway-walking caused "White RavenCrossing" signs to be
erected on
both sides of the town. It seems that crows used him as ameal-ticket and
were with him when he flew into a transformer on November30, 1997. He died
instantly.
The Haida peoplestell us that in the beginning all ravens were white.
-
The extraction ofthe rubrics is by Jessica Jackson, LAc
Plain typeindicates one prover, italics indicate two provers, bold
indicates three or more provers, a bullet indicates newunique rubrics.
All from ReferenceWorks:
; cold, hard
DREAMS;conspiracies
DREAMS; crimes;committing
DREAMS; cruelty
DREAMS; cutting;knife, of being cut with a
DREAMS; danger
SADNESS,despondency, dejection, mental depression, gloommelancholy
SENSITIVE,oversensitive; criticism, to
SENSITIVE,oversensitive; emotional
SENSITIVE,oversensitive; external impressions, to all
SENSITIVE,oversensitive; light, to
AFTERNOON, one pm -six pm.; two pm.
AIR; open; amel.
COLDNESS; icy
EATING; after;amel.
EATING; frequent
FOOD and drinks;fresh food, desires
FOOD and drinks;fruit; desires
-----
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
A proving of the blood of a North American Raven (30c Quinn)
Greg Bedayn,RSHom (NA), Director, Author
Kim Baker, Assistant Director
Jessica Jackson,LAc, extraction of themes and rubric selection
-
Folklore
Few creatureshave been elevated to the status of Deity by the human
race as has been Raven, whose profound and seemingly divine influence has
encircled the globe since the beginnings of time. Considered by
ornithologists to be the most intelligent of all birds,Raven's mischievous
exploits are prolific, even legendary. The Bella bella,Kwakiutl,Tlingit,
Haida, and Tishman Indian tribes, of the Pacific Northwest coast (to name a
few) have countless legends about Raven on subjects from his being
responsible for creating the world, to many, many accounts of Raven's
behavior involving every aspect of tribal life. Raven wasfor the North
American Indian, after all, a God-like creature, and theirancient folklore
reflects a rich devotion both to Raven's colorful personality and to it's
idiosyncratic behavior.
-
The Legend of Bran and why the United Kingdom believes that Ravens have
successfully protected the entire British empire from attack and devastation
for over one-thousand years (as related to me in telephone conversation with
the Queen of England's own Ravenmaster; a Mr. Cope, onMarch 14, 1996): "
Well, itall started with the legend of Bran. You see, Bran was a
Celtic leader who was mortally wounded while fighting theIrish. His men
brought him back to Wales where he died in his wife's arms,Branwyn (for
" White Raven" in Welsh) was her name. She soon died of grief.
Bran's followers carried his body to London and buried him on WhiteHill where
White Tower and the Tower of London now stand. He was buried facing the
channel towards France. A sooth-sayer warned the king thatas long as Bran
lay undisturbed, all would be well with England, but adisaster would strike
if ever he was moved (During the ensuing decades, he wasrepeatedly moved.)
Around 1078 the Norman's invaded and built the White Tower(the oldest of
British Royal Palaces, inhabited from 1078 to 1605), overBran's burial spot
and he has there lain undisturbed in peace ever since, ashas the Crown of
England. There was rumored to have been a white raven in the flock of ravens
that lived atop the tower, that was the reincarnation of Bran's faithful
wife Branwyn, come back to look over him and the sanctity of the British
empire.
This tale wasrelated carefully to Charles the second, at the time of
his coronation in 1661. When he visited the Tower to see how the
preparations for his coronation were coming along, he asked the newly
appointed Astronomer-Royal what he was doing around the White Tower.
"Getting rid of all the birds around the Tower, Sir, as they are
interfering with my star gazing" replied the astronomer. "Stopat
once" ordered Charles, keeping heed to the grave warning in the legend
of Bran. Ever since and to this day, by royal command, six ravens are kept at
all timesat the Tower of London to " keep an eye on things."
Interesting to note that shortly after his admonishment of the astrologer,
and his granting the royal reprieve for Ravens, Charles was attacked by the
nefarious Oliver Cromwell. It is said the ravens flew in advance of the raid
and warned Charles'guards in time for them to successfully fight off the
attack.
Tower of Londons current raven personalities: "Rhys" lays on
his back and juggles cups and sticks. "Hardy" will barklike a dog
suddenly in a group of people and seems to be predictably entertained by
their alarmed retreat. Currently all the male Ravens are fighting amongst
themselves, vying for mates."
-
Ravens, Crows,Magpies, and Jays Author, Tony Angell writes:
"Many Indiantribes had special names for Raven, including "Real
Chief
(Haida) and "Great inventor" and "One whoseVoice is to be
obeyed" by the
Bella Coola). The Kwakiutl offered the afterbirth of a male newborn to
ravens to peck so that when the child was grown to manhood he would
understand their cries. The interpreter could respond to nearly a dozen
raven vocalizations that would tell him of a change in weather, the
possibilitys of attcack from enemies, warriors, an imminent death, or what
the hunting prospects would be (Boas 1913-14). Additionally,the Norse
God,Odin, sent a pair of Ravens out at dawn to fly world wide, and they
retured at noon to perch on his shoulders and whisper in his ears the
secrets they had learned. Other Norse God's heeded Ravens advice and Viking
soldiers followed his banners into battle. Biblical writers described
God-sent ravens sustaining the prophet Elijah during his retreat to the
desert, and the poet Poe employed the bird as a creative focus for his
turbucular-miasm inspired mad-lament. These are our North American Corvids.
To some they may be the apotheosis of Avian form and aspirit worth of the
highest artistic tribute. Others consider them competitors,more to be
destroyed than admired. It's hard to imagine that anyone professing
sensitivity would not recognize these birds as a mostremarkable
consolidation of highly evolved animal social systems,physical apparatus,
skills, and beauty. They also demonstrate directly that often the elusive
capability to sustain healthy populations within the carrying capacities of
their chosen environments. To some degree, perhaps greater than most of us
would admit, we find this intelligent family of birds are not too unlike
ourselves. Their foibles are our own. They squabble within their families
and wage battle with those clans that would impinge upon their home ground.
Their lives involve a struggle for identity in their social hierarchy and
survival in the biologic community of their choosing. Like us, they seem to
have fleeting moments of joy when the mate is won, the game is played, the
belly is full, and the sun shines on our backs. There is also that
intriguing element about corvids that is of the unknown.These birds are
more than descriptions by weight, measure, color and distribution, for
behind their amber eyes are answers to questions we maynever learn to ask.&
quot;
-
The proving
I have had alife-long fascination with Raven, and once, having taken
months to nurse a young road-accident-victim,"Juaquin," back to
airborne-health in the1980's, when I lived on Puget Sound'sSalmon Beach, I
developed a first-hand knowledge and appreciation of thiscreature of
global-fascination and lore. It was during Lou Kline'sMaster Clinician
course in Berkeley in 1996, that I first decided toorganize, then direct, a
proving on Raven's blood (Corvus corax principalis sanguis.I asked my
friend and colleague, Kim Baker, to assist me in theproving. The proving
went well and the final prover's meeting became more andmore fascinating
and as the evening wore on, mischevious-Raven finallyrevealed itself in its
it's medicinal form. I remember how the provers, one-by-one,got into the
"hot-seat" and reported their individualexperiences to the assembled
throng, and how most reported what became asimilarly-hilarious experience
for all. Each prover basically told his/her story of howtheir appetites had
GREATLY increased during the proving --one prover had even developed the
habit of standing in front of his open refrigerator,methodically eating his
way through it's contents, unable to stop until the last kernel of leftover
rice caserole (etc.) was gone. It wasn't actually funny until about the
second or third prover confirmed that same symptom and the provers-group
howled with laughter over the peculiar similarity --and then the next prover
confirmed it again, and so on. The next day I was driving into Berkeley,
deep in thought over what the similarity of increased appetites could mean,
when I suddenly realized the rubric was ravenous appetiteand I nearly drove
off the road when I just as suddenly realized the source of the word:
ravenous! I later decided I was too close to the remedy-source to be fully
objective during the extraction so I asked my colleague and fellow-graduate
from the Hahnemann College of Homeopathy, Jessica Jackson,to develop the
theme and rubric- extration sections. An objectiveextraction is a difficult
thing to performed by any account. I feel the high qualityof Jessica's work
speaks for itself.
-
Jessica Jackson writes:
"While doing the extraction on Raven's blood, I realized this was
not a simple remedy. There's a complexity and intensity to it thatI am in awe
of.
Spending time at the Grand Canyon over the holidays with myboyfriend, we
saw many, many ravens there. Now their countenance and manners are indelible
with me."
-
" Eachindividual symptom must be considered. Every symptom must be
examined to see what relation it sustains to and what position it fills in
the totality in order that we may know its value, whether itis a common
symptom, a particular symptom, or whether peculiarly acharacteristic
symptom." --J. T. Kent
-
"When aperson presents a peculiar symptom, a dream, a modality, or
an experience, clearly, intensely and spontaneously:
--find itdirectly in the materia medica or repertory.
--see thefeeling it creates and connect it with the overall case.
--it isdirectly connected to the source of the remedy.
Any marked thingcan be understood in this way."
--Dr.Rajan Sankaran
-
An interestinganecdote: A special albino Raven was hatched in the
spring of 1996 at Port Clements in western Canada's QueenCharlotte Islands,
to black raven parents. It was the only baby in the nest.Human
companionship and feeding seemed important to"Lucy" and her
survival. Lucy
was very tame and gave islanders and visitors much pleasure!Lucy's habit of
frequent hiway-walking caused "White RavenCrossing" signs to be
erected on
both sides of the town. It seems that crows used him as ameal-ticket and
were with him when he flew into a transformer on November30, 1997. He died
instantly.
The Haida peoplestell us that in the beginning all ravens were white.
-
The extraction ofthe rubrics is by Jessica Jackson, LAc
Plain typeindicates one prover, italics indicate two provers, bold
indicates three or more provers, a bullet indicates newunique rubrics.
All from ReferenceWorks:
; cold, hard
DREAMS;conspiracies
DREAMS; crimes;committing
DREAMS; cruelty
DREAMS; cutting;knife, of being cut with a
DREAMS; danger
SADNESS,despondency, dejection, mental depression, gloommelancholy
SENSITIVE,oversensitive; criticism, to
SENSITIVE,oversensitive; emotional
SENSITIVE,oversensitive; external impressions, to all
SENSITIVE,oversensitive; light, to
AFTERNOON, one pm -six pm.; two pm.
AIR; open; amel.
COLDNESS; icy
EATING; after;amel.
EATING; frequent
FOOD and drinks;fresh food, desires
FOOD and drinks;fruit; desires
-----
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]