I Love Crows

This past few weeks have been unusually hectic, leaving me no time to myself. But I have noticed one really happy change since I last wrote.

For those who do not know, West Nile Virus has been decimating the crow population. I believe Washington, DC, where I live, may be the hardest hit as 90% of the crows have died. This is a full blown crow holocaust.

This has been really upsetting to me (as well as even more upsetting to the crows). I used to have two crows that lived in the tree right outside my window and they would wake me up really early every morning. And I would get mad at them and tell them to go away. And then one day, right when West Nile began to hit and I didn't even know about it yet, my crows weren't there in the morning and I got really worried about them. I think they probably died and I was so sad that I had been mad at the crows and I want them to come back. They can wake me up whenever they want.

Crows can live for a very long time and are extremely smart. I had not seen a single crow in the District for a couple of years, where they used to be all over the place. About a month and a half ago, I started trying to think information about West Nile Virus from my research towards the crows...or, more accurately, towards the spirit of "Crow" but mostly I have just been trying to intensely wish that the crows will be okay and safe from West Nile and come back to the District and flourish.

Since the last time I wrote, I have seen or heard four crows. This makes me so happy. I love crows. So, if anyone else sees this and wants to think good thoughts towards crows, that would be great. While you're at it, think good thoughts towards the bluebirds (also being hit by West Nile) and polar bears who need more ice.

This is an important polar bear picture that I want to print out and put by every light switch.
Polar Bear Picture

Exploring Elementals by Painting

In DC we have several of those "paint your own pottery" places. I'm sure they are all over the country now. Anyway, I am in the midst of a project to explore the nature of the elemental spirits through painting pottery. Now, I am not particularly artistic, but I am playing around using some techniques that I learned at Rudolf Steiner College.

The nice thing about the pottery places is that it's pretty close to wet on wet water colors...a VERY forgiving medium. If you do something you don't like, just paint over it. So, each week for the past three weeks I have been going and painting a plate and trying to experience the essence of the elementals through the colors.

The main guidance that I got from my painting class at RSC is to trust the colors. Perfect Love and Pefect Trust. Trust the colors. You just start laying them on and see what arises. Once you see it, all you do is to to work with it.

So far, I've done a Salamander...not the amphibian, but the man of fire. I painted some fire and then a man of flames kind of came out of it. He really kind of formed himself. And then I did Sylphs...white forms on blue background. Here's the wildest thing about those. There is one that as I just splashed the brush down carelessly, a very delicate fully formed face was there. I certainly didn't make it. I don't have that kind of skill. The one I made looks like I made it. But there on this plate is a little Sylph with a fully formed beautiful face made up from how the background blue happens to show through the white. I also did an Undine that I have yet to see how she came out. She will be fired this week. Next week, gnomes.

My recommendation is that others should try this. It's fun and in both the Salamander and the Sylph, things came out of the process that I certainly didn't consciously intend, they were just there. They arose. It was a cool form of meditation.

Trust the colors.