ONYX THE CROW & OUR BRAND
Please take the time to meet Onyx the crow! Onyx is the inspiration for our Haunted History BC logo and she’s a regular who will keep you company while you drink your morning coffee. She comes around several times a day to perch on the railing to relax. When it’s hot she loves to take a bird bath in a nice water feature and sometimes she comes by to get a snack. Occasionally she brings some crow friends around until she flies off at dusk towards her roost, where we are sure, she takes her place on her favourite branch in a nearby wooded area. We wanted to get a picture of her but timing is everything and the opportunity doesn’t always present itself. Then one day, there she was. She perched on the railing of the patio long enough that Victoria could go into the house get her camera, return with it in hand and the bird was still there! Onyx is now our creative muse. This was no coincidence!
The crow is a creature commonly associated with mystery, magic and death. Shrouded in mysticism, the bird is seen as having a connection to eternal life and in many legends it is a prophetic symbol of clairvoyance and omens moving fluidly between the realms of life and death. In Chinese, Japanese and Korean folklore the crow is believed to inhabit the sun and is depicted as a three-legged god. Legends suggest that Sun crows descended upon earth from heaven to feast on grasses of immortality and symbolized great power, intervening in human affairs specifically for guidance. In Irish mythology the crow is seen as a manifestation of The Morrigan, a goddess who flew over battlefields in crow form casting spells, summoning poisonous fog and rains of fire upon the enemy. In Native American culture, the sacred bird of the Ghost Dance, the crow symbolizes wisdom and good fortune. Used as a spirit animal in shamanism, the crow is regarded as one who offers insight into light and dark, right and wrong and has the ability to see beyond illusions.
For centuries crows have been closely connected with death because they are scavengers and feed on the flesh of the dead. This cleaning of the bones can also be viewed as a process of purification and renewal. As the crow travels effortlessly between the world of the living and the dead, it is believed that if one appears to you in a dream it may bring omens of death which can mean shedding something encumbering in favour of a rejuvenation or transformation. Crows are extremely intelligent and social birds. Wild crows have been known to create and display artwork and adult crows teach their young all they know. So whether we consider life to be a circular path, linear or parallel one, if we consider each crow to be a vessel of knowledge of all that has passed, perhaps the crow also has a prophetic glimpse of what is yet to come.
