4.10.1.5 Ducks Fly moon: Raven (Sun Bear MWEA 98-107)

• September 23 to October 23
• Mineral totem is jasper
• Plant totem is mullein
• Animal totem is raven
• Color is brown of the autumn earth
• Butterfly elemental clan
• 4.10.1.5.1 Mineral Kingdom: Jasper
  • A cryptocrystalline quartz; not chalcedony
    • Shows granular rather than fibrous pattern under electron microscope
    • Can come in many colors
      • Brown ~ Reddish Brown ~ Black ~ Blue ~ Yellow ~ Green
      • Also combinations known as picture jaspar
    • Bloodstone is form association with people of this moon
      • Green with red spots
      • Also known as heliotrope
  • Bloodstone jasper known to ancients around world:
    • North America, Egypt, Babylon, China, and elsewhere
    • Treasured as an amulet
      • Particularly if found in shape of a heart
    • Once believed to have power to give forth heat of the sun
      • Source of name heliotrope ~ "sun-reflecting"
      • Thought to cause water to boil if placed in it
    • Many magical powers attributed to this stone
      • Purported power to stop bleeding
      • Believed to make owner invisible
      • Carried to ensure a safe and long life
      • Said to draw the poison from a snakebite or restore lost eyesight
      • Also believed to bring rain if placed in water
    • Until modern times, physicians used bloodstone to stop bleeding
      • Pulverized, then mixed with egg white and honey
      • Given to stop hemorrhage
  • Bloodstone, along with other forms of jaspar
    • Believed to give wearer power over bad spirits
    • Thought to allow wearer to cast spells on others
  • All forms considered stones that give blessing to owner
    • All forms said to possess and attract earth energy
    • Jaspar placed in water, left in morning sun thought to have particularly beneficial effects
  • Like Jaspar, Raven people can come in a wide variety of forms
    • Dependent on mood and balance at any given time
    • In proper balance, most like bloodstone
      • Have a wide range of mystical attributes
      • Can be the most treasured amulet of their stone ~ all heart
      • Kind, loving, considerate and truly concerned with the welfare of others
      • When they have reached this state
        • Have power to absorb warmth of the sun
        • Able to reflect it to all those whom they meet
    • When not found in this state, also like bloodstone
      • They have the power to generate depths of depression or confusion
      • Could cause water to boil by their intensity.
      • Have tendency to fly from one mood or state to another in an instant
      • Whichever state seems best to them at the time
      • Once shifting to opposite pole, they feel quite comfortable
        • Cannot understand why other people seem confused by this maneuvering
  • Like bloodstone, these people have psychic powers
    • Regardless of attainment of the use of these powers
    • Sometimes gain use before arriving at a place of harmony when they will use them wisely
      • Like their stone, they will often find they have the power to influence the lives of others greatly
      • Temptation to use this power for personal gain
    • Raven people tend toward physical attractiveness
      • They can also use this to help them influence or manipulate those around them
      • This can most often bring pain, confusion and suffering to themselves and others
    • Those who have found the point of balance within themselves
      • Use their special powers for the good of those around them
      • Often talented healers or mediums for good forces of the universe
  • Jaspar is a valuable stone to the people of this totem to have around
    • Ability to attract blessings and energy of the earth to those who have it
    • Being of their own nature, and of the Butterfly Clan
      • Need to attract earth energy to become better grounded
      • And get on with proper work of their lives
      • Without this effort, they tend to to from one project to another
        • More likely than others of this clan
        • Never quite accomplish intended goals

• 4.10.1.5.2 Plant Kingdom: Mullein
  • This plant totem is an exceptionally helpful and versatile herb
    • Also called velvet leaf, flannel leaf, woolen blanket herb, candelwick plant, velvet dock
    • Alternate names give good description of the plant
  • Large, light green velvety leaves in column from stout, erect, woolly stem
    • Leaves basal, narrowing at base into wings
    • Plant may grow to 5 or 6 feet in height
    • Topped with spikelike central column from which flowers grow
    • Flowers usually yellow, red, purple or brownish red
    • Fruit is a capsule or pod; also grows from this central spike
    • Widely distributed throughout all areas of the U.S. ~ rural and urban
    • Also found in many other countries worldwide
  • Mullien widely used for many years in all places where it is found
    • Leaves can be made into a tea
      • Soothes mucous membranes
      • Helps relieve bladder, kidney and liver problems
      • Helps in nervous conditions
      • A general astringent
    • First thought as a remedy for problems of the lungs and heart
      • Through its soothing action on these organs, relieves kidney and bladder problems
      • Tones the nervous system
    • Natives smoked leaves rather than tobacco in many areas
      • When smoked, helps relieve lung congestion
      • Also its resultant maladies, as asthma and bronchitis
      • Leaves also burned as incense to relieve these conditions
    • Oil made from the mullien flowers has long been used as eardrops
      • Also as a wart remover
      • And to relieve bruises, sprains and chapped skin
    • Externally, the tea is used to treat hemorrhoids, ulcers, tumors
      • Also swelling of the throat and muscle tenderness
    • Mullien was also credited with having antibiotic qualities
  • From the Mullien, Raven people again reminded of their many versatile and helpful talents
    • Also ability to shift and change
    • Some names for this plant are descriptive of these people in their various stages of being
      • Can be scratchy as wool on eday and soft as velvet the next
    • When in woolen stage, sometimes difficult to be around
      • Scratching themselves as well as others
      • Requires large amounts of attention to help them get over the soreness they feel
    • When like velvet, they are soothing and gentle and a pleasure to be near
    • When Raven people like themselves, they ar capable of making others feel simply wonderful
      • They will go far our of their way to show those around them how very special they are and how lovable
      • In contact with such, you will feel like you are the nicest, most important person in the world
        • And you will love them for making you feel thus
    • Raven people, like the mulleinm can be very soothing to any ills, no matter the cause
      • Their true concern will often give you the push you need to get on the road to recovery.
      • When they are in a good frame of being
        • Will generally listen to all of your problems
        • Really try to help you solve them, or at least feel better about them
      • Their openheartedness will sometimes make you feel as though you really don't have any problems at all.
      • Like their plant, they can soothe you
        • Often in a very physical way by hugging or caressing
        • Raven people do like to give and receive physical affection
    • People of this totem would do well to keep some mullien around for their own use
      • They prove prone to problems with bladder and kidneys; nervous conditions
      • Mullien can help relieve all of these
      • These problems only arise when in states where they have lost touch with their central balance
        • At such times, they get high-strung, irritable, given to paranoid thoughts
        • If not able to bring themselves back into balance, physcial problems as these are likely to ensue

• 4.10.1.5.3 Animal Kingdom: Raven
  • The animal totem for those born under the Ducks Fly Moon is the raven.
  • Raven is usually an all-black bird with a wedge-shaped tail
    • As large as a red hawk, about twenty-nine inches in length
    • Wingspan up to fifty-four inches
    • Wings are long and pointed
    • Bill is large and heavy
    • Nostrils covered by bristly feathers called filoplumes
  • Ravens usually have a tuft of feathers at their throat
    • In the species known as the white-necked raven, this tuft is white
    • This white is only seen when feathers blown by the wind or when courting
  • Ravens found worldwide; in the U.S., most often in the western states
    • Song is a loud croak
    • Omnivorous, eating vegetables, small mammals, young birds, garbage and carrion
    • Flight pattern is a "flap, soar, flap" pattern
      • Capable of riding the winds with as much enjoyment as their hawk brothers
      • Aerial displays are particularly dramatic during mating season
  • Ravens sometimes aggressive, but most often wary
    • Intelligent birds who know how to drop shellfish from air to break shells
    • Group oriented and very defensive of their territory
      • Will attack hawks, owls, and even eagles who intrude upon their space
  • Gypsy people particularly admire crows and ravens for their loyalty to their tribe
    • It is said that these birds have tribal councils
    • If you've ever seen a flock of them sitting on a fence or pole talking with each other
    • Even said that if these birds go against the laws of the tribe
      • They will commit suicide by dropping from a high place
  • Some ravens pair for life; others don't
    • Build large ensts of sticks on ledges or near tops of trees
    • Lay five to seven eggs, greenish spotted with brown
  • Ravens fly with mouths open during hot weather
  • To the Native people, ravens are thought as birds of balance between man and nature
    • Almost all tribes have a legend about the raven, explaining why he is black
      • In all of these, he begins as a white bird whose color was changed
      • Either as punishment for wrongdoing or in an effort to help man
        • Usually by trying to put out a fire that threatened the people
    • To some, the raven is a bad omen; to others a god one
    • To the Pueblo peoples, raven is connected with the kachina spirits
      • Protect the villages and bring the rain
    • Ravens have been attributed with
      • bringing the dark clouds that bring rain
      • Holding the dark rain clouds away
      • Raven also credited with bringing the game
      • And with holding the game away
    • Whatever the tribal position, the raven was intimately linked with the world of humans and nature
  • Like the raven, people of this totem are capable of soaring to and fro
    • Of winging down to a place where they can absorb the good energy of the earth
    • They are comfortable in both the realms of the earth and the realms of the sky
      • How far they can soar depends on the state of balance achieved within themselves
    • More than with any other totems of the Medicine Wheel
      • A state of balance is crucial for those of the Raven
      • Like their bird, they are capable of quickly soaring from one position to another
      • If they have not come to a point of knowing themselves enough to know where their center point really is, this soaring can be exceptionally confusing to them and those around them
      • When they have achieved this balance
        • They are capabe of soaring from one realm to another
        • Without ever losing sight of their own center
        • Raven people in this condition are some of the most helpful people you can know
        • Since they have suffered to get them to this point of harmony they are capable, and willing, to help others achieve it
  • The Raven totem is a paradoxical one
    • Raven people exemplify the paradoxes of life in their own emotions
    • They are capable of soaring high
    • They can see both the good and the bad in any viewpoint
      • Sometimes difficult to to see one is really preferable to another
    • They are not quick to make decisions, until they have come to harmony
      • Before this, the decision of one day will often change by the next
      • Frequently indecisive, sometimes irresponsive
    • Like the bird, they are wary, and with good reason
      • They have probably been hurt by being gullible in the past
      • They will tend to withdraw from a situation at any sign of danger
    • Intelligent people, able to learn from all of the views and ideas they are capable of seeing
    • Since used to living in an emotional world of change,
      • Changes in the physical world don't bother them greatly
    • They tend to be group oriented
      • Happiest when with a group of people who share enough of their ideas that they feel secure
      • When they have found such a group, they will be very cooperative with it and loyal to it
      • They will also exhibit a spirit of defensiveness about this group and its territory
        • Whether philosophical or literal
    • If they feel those they love are threatened
      • They will defend them against anything else, whatever its size or strength
    • Because of their group loyalty
      • They feel very bad if anything happens to make them go against a group they have joined
      • Such a situation will knock them temporarily off balance, no matter how centered they are
    • Like their totem, some Raven people pair for life while others don't
      • If they have chosen a mate before they have coem to know their own harmony
        • They sometimes find it difficult to keep up the relationship
        • Frequently change their mind about their choice; whether right or not
        • This constant ambivalence is enough to drive off any but the most determined mate
    • Home is important to these folks
      • Have an eye for attractive settings
      • They are sure to place themselves in one
      • Having a proper home important factor in determining state of harmony
      • Also important for them to have animals in their household
        • A concrete way to experience the link they have with nature
    • As parents, raven people are very warm, loving, and soothing
      • Difficult to be consistent with their children
      • Feelings about discipline can change as quickly as their feelings on anything else
      • The balanced Raven person is an exception to this
        • Usually a model parent
        • Gives their children the correct balance of love, discipline and independence
    • Raven children, unless truly exceptional souls, usually have some difficulty
      • They must test all possible ways of being in order to determine how they want to be
      • They should be given some leeway to do this
        • It will help them fidn their balance later in life
        • But they need consisency from those around them
        • They this need to experience the peace this can bring to others
      • They are always very loving children
        • Often very physically beautiful
        • Always ready for a hug and kiss
    • When Raven people have reached their personal balance
      • Have ability to seek out all kinds of hidden things
        • Both on this plane and on others
      • At this point thay are able to personify the paradoxesof living
        • Without being thrown by them
      • They are capable of teaching others how to combine energy of earth and sky
        • By doing so, they help to bring a balance between man and nature
        • Just as the Native people credited ravens with doing
  • People traveling around the wheel who find themselves in this position
    • Will find the experiences of paradoxes in their own lives
      • Much more direct and intense way than before
    • By experiencing them, they will often find capability of resolving them
    • They may discover how they can help to bring about a balance between themselves and nature
    • They can explore their feelings about participating in and being loyal to groups
      • Any groups with which they have wanted to become involved

• 4.10.1.5.4 Color: Brown of the autumn earth
  • Brown of the autumn earth
  • Mother Earth has given so much to everything during summer season of growth
    • She readies herself for a season in preparatin for the time of rest and renewal
  • Brown has the ability to help people unite the power of earth
    • With the power of the spirit through their own beings
  • It is the color of being groudned and stable on this plane
    • Also prepared to reach to the realms above
  • Raven People seek to be in this state
    • Are of great service when they achieve it

• 4.10.1.5.5 Moon: Ducks Fly Moon
  • Born under the first moon of Mudjekeewis, Spirit Keeper of the West
    • Position helps Raven people to find balance
    • Gifts of Mudjekeewis are strength and introspection
    • If Raven people use these gift to look within
      • They will come to a point of balance much faster
      • Will be able to reach out and help others
      • This goal they always carry in their hearts
  • The Ducks Fly Moon follows the Autumn Equinox
    • Brings the season of slowing down from the rapid growth of the season that has passed
    • If Raven people learn to slow themselves down
      • This too, will help them reach their point of balane
• 4.10.1.5.6 Elemental Clan: Butterfly
  • Raven people are compatible with their relations in the Butterfly Clan
    • The people of the Otter and Deer
  • Also with those of the Thunderbird clan
    • People of the Red Hawk, Sturgeon and Elk
  • They find their complement in the Red Hawk people
    • The winged ones of the Thunderbird clan