The Solstice Sitter

Notes from a Pagan (crow) God-Mother

The solstice is here.

After weeks of the days stretching further and further into the night, the light and energies are at their peak.

It’s suddenly natural to be watering the garden under a crescent moon in the half-light of 9 PM. The strength of the afternoon sun pushes us to be crepuscular beings and I really love that dusty in between light.

If there is a time of year that feels dream-like, these twilights and dawns are it.

Herbal Teas like mint and chamomile and baking with rhubarb so perfectly encapsulate Solstice Season.

Everything is alive with a pulsating energy: the birds’ chorus greets the sun before 5 AM, swallowtails float along and the osprey returns to northern shores to raise their young.

Nature is abundant and alive with so many fleeting markers of this enchanting time. Reassuring us that deep down, all shall be well (thank you Julian of Norwich for these words).

The natural world is available to all of us. We do not have to quit our jobs and move to the mountains (although, it’s a very relatable dream and if it’s yours, I hope it happens for you). If there are birds and plants, we can connect.

Lately, I’ve been struggling with the constant push online of hearing about “success”, billionaires and now, trillionaires. This is such a fallacy - how can we let people who have insatiable appetites for attention, wealth and power define our notion of success? It’s poison to the human soul and to the younger people growing up under this banner.

I feel intensely that true happiness and success comes from living in alignment with yourself, others and your surroundings. As an introvert, observing nature and the wheel of the year is one way to achieve that. Let’s start flipping the script against what the media tells us will make us happy and feel fulfilled.

And this is where the connection with crows comes in. In my case, it’s Corvus brachyrhynchos (short-beaked raven), common throughout North America (the video I created shares this story).

Here in Nova Scotia, during the fall & winter, 8500-9000 crows descend upon the university campus of MSVU to socialize and sleep. Every single twilight, thousands of crows fly toward the campus, using the shoreline as their guide. The university nestled within beautiful mature trees, celebrates this murder with a crow as their official mascot.

A strong gesture toward the widespread love for the common crow. Something that makes me happy to be a Haligonian, for Haligonians love the natural world.

A family of crows that join this roost, live here in our tree canopy. Over the last 5 years, I have patiently formed a distanced relationship with this family, feeding them peanuts (and occasionally dog food) on an old beech stump.

One summer, they built their nest in a tree that towers above our deck. One winter, they left me an animal bone in return for peanuts. Both of these experiences, I cherish.

But this year… was even more transformative.

While I was sitting on the deck overlooking the garden, the adult crows brought their hopping fledgling to my fenced-in garden.

I was now the babysitter and my garden, the safe nursery.

I froze and could hardly believe I had been entrusted with their most precious fledgling. It was official, I could not leave the deck, I was on duty and their fledgling would be safe with me.

My heart was on the verge of bursting with happiness. Is this a sign that I’m a distant human Pagan god-mother?

After around 2 hours, the sleeping fledgling became restless and began to charge toward the fence. Hitting the deer netting, I thought I may have to go help them get out, but thankfully they learn quick and eventually dipped under the netting.

Immediately, 3 crows came swooping toward the fledgling. They had been watching, obscured from my view, all along.

I felt like I had passed the Pagan God-mother test. I didn’t interfere, I babysat from a distance and felt properly introduced to their new family member.

I was elated after this experience, but quickly the anxiety kicked in. A crow unable to fly, hopping along an urban (albeit quite wild) area with owls, eagles, cats, dogs off leash… the predators here are endless.

But crow families are fiercely defensive.

A few days later, the fledgling was in a tree by the feeding station along with 3 family members.

Something amazing happened again…

The sound of a seal, mixed with a dog, mixed with a raven rang out:

“AHROO, HROO, HROO, HROO”

Even the crows looked around confused.

It sounded like someone pretending to be a dog.

And then it happened again, and this time Jamie heard and saw who made this strange vocalization.

Come to find out, while fledglings are learning how to use their vocal cords, they can mimic sounds that stand out in their immediate environment.

Realizing that Henry’s bark is engrained in this wild creature’s world, how entwined we all are - just profoundly moved me. We are all connected and life is so much more than what we’re being told.

All of this came from simply observing birds, watching the natural world, and the seasons.

Now, this beautiful crow has fully fledged, flying through the tree canopy. We can release a sigh of relief, they made it and a new chapter begins.

A very blessed turn of the wheel to you and Happy Solstice <3

Time to start sketching from the garden

P.S. I realize that I hardly took any photographs these past 2 weeks - instead I took some footage and made a video for you. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. It has been a really special few weeks and I hope you get that sense. You can see footage from some of my recent hikes and the crow family.

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