March Full Crow Moon and Crow Medicine Bag

This article is part of Kallan's wonderful Sunday Stew. Please hop on over and read all the different flavors added by each chef. I know that you will love it!

Native Americans say that the end of Winter is announced by the cawing of the crow, which would have been in March around the time of the full moon, which is also near the Spring Equinox.

A beautiful Native American tale about the crow says that long ago the crow was not black, but was rainbow-colored. This was long, long, long ago, before there was Winter or the Snow Spirit. Ancient days.

Then one day, the Snow Spirit appeared.

"The Creator Who Created Us", Kijilamuh Ka'ong, needed to asked to think the world warm again. The animals were so cold that they decided to select a messenger from amongst them to go speak to Kijilamuh Ka'ong.

Finally they decided on Rainbow Crow because he was so beautiful and had such a lovely singing voice. They knew he would get Kijilamuh Ka'ong's attention. Rainbow Crow flew up into the sky for three long days. When he sang and captured the attention of the Creator, he begged for the warmth to come back to the Earth. However, the Creator said that he could not make it warm again, that he could not just un-think the Coldness. He did decide to think of something warm for the animals to help them with the Cold. He thought of Fire. The Creator took a stick and held it to the Sun and caused it to light. He handed the flaming stick back to Rainbow Crow so that he could take it to all of the suffering animals. Creator urged Rainbow to hurry or there would be no stick left.

With the burning stick in his mouth Rainbow Crow flew downward as fast as he could. Alas, his rainbow feathers became black and charred by the flaming stick and he breathed in the black smoke as he flew. It made his beautiful voice hoarse.

Forever after carrying the stick to warm all of his companions, Crow stayed black with a hoarse cawing voice. He was honored by his friends, for he had brought them Tindeh, Fire, to keep them warm.

To this day if you look closely at Crow, you will see the colors of the rainbow shimmering in his black feathers. Beautiful Crow is still honored by his friends and hunters for he is never hunted as food. 

I thought it would be nice to make a Crow Medicine Bag for the Crow Full Moon. They are quite lovely and it is a good way to honor Crow. You will only need a few things for a basic medicine bag. If you want to decorate it, you can get extra things like buttons and beads and feathers.

To learn more about medicine bags go here: MEDICINE BAGS and here: MEDICINE BAGS 2

Traditionally, the Medicine bag is 12-14 inches long. To find one that long in my area, I would have to full-blown make one. I didn't have time to do that so I've decorated a small 2 inch one that I purchased. Here I have two different types that I found. I'm going to use the one on the right.

I found a corvid skull charm and some feathers and I attached those to the outside for decoration.

You want to make sure that you put the 3 Sisters in your bag. One corn, one squash, one bean

Smudge all of your items that you choose. Your items should be sacred to you. It will be things that you connect with. You can use your bag during meditation. Ideally you want something from animal, mineral, and the plant kingdom. 

There I have a rough saphire, a labradorite heart, hematite, arrowhead, the 3 sisters, and owl totem, kyanite, a feather, a key, a cat claw, and cat whiskers.

Rose petals from roses that my husband brought me, rosemary, and some job's tears that I grew this past year.

And there it is.

As you find things that speak to you, you can add them to your medicine bag. It will help you to find your center and bring you peace and health.

Brightest Blessings,

Saga

Autumn Celebrations!

A pic of my backyard view, after a storm, a few years ago.

*This article is also part of Kallan's wonderful Sunday Stew. Please hop on over there (when you are finished here) and read all of my friend's contributions. Trust me, you will love the flavor that each chef has to offer :)


Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for your patience with me during my break. My best friends CT scan came back good, so even though she will still be having surgery, she does not have cancer. I will be celebrating with extreme thankfulness this Mabon. I am also looking forward to the birth of a 2nd grandson in less than a month!

So, can you feel Fall making its way to you? The mornings, this past week, have had a chill to them and they have been a bit foggy. I can't wait for the days to hear the leaves crunching under my feet. I made a batch of butternut squash soup and it brought fall happiness to my mouth. Just around the corner will be corn mazes, pumpkin patches and rides on my bicycle on the pathways with newly fallen leaves.

Since this is the Mabon edition of the Stew, I thought it would be fun to look at different celebrations of the Autumnal Equinox: 

Each year, crowds gather at the San Juan de Ortega Monestary in Northern Spain. The sun hits a column and lights up a perfect square that contains a relief of the Virgin Mary. This happens with the Vernal and Autumn Equinoxes. The Light Miracle

The ancient Mayans were extremely adept in astrology, accurately predicted the equinoxes. Today's Mayan still celebrate the turn of the wheel to Autumn. 
Mayan Celebrations.

Several Native American tribes celebrate what is known as The Green Corn Festival. While it doesn't fall exactly on Mabon, it is celebrated around this time. This festival date is up to the ripening of the corn. It is a time of thankfulness and forgiveness, and is celebrated at full moon. It lasts for several days.   

A yam harvest is celebrated in August or September at the end of the rainy season and when the crops are ripe. This is a celebration in Ghana and Nigeria. You can read more about it here: Yam Festival

Another holiday that is celebrated around the equinox is Michaelmas. It is also known as the Feast of Saint Michael. It notes the days getting shorter and common symbols are St. George slaying the dragon.  A very cute blog is here: Passengers On A Little Spaceship

Mehregan is the Persian Autumn Festival. and is held on October 2nd. It is celebrated in honor of Mithra.   Persian Autumn Festival site   

The Chinese Moon Festival which celebrates the birth of the moon, is also known as a mid-autumn festival. It is also one of their most important holidays. The Legend of the Moon Festival Also, here is a link to a wonderful little blog with Moon Festival Crafts: My Mommy Makes It

I hope you enjoyed my little "trip" around our beautiful planet highlighting the autumn celebrations. Please, if you would like, let me know how you celebrate.