The Dream
Last night I dreamt of a crow in a microwave.
When the door was opened, it was still whole—intact, but brittle. Hollow. A red bow around its neck, holding a slight smile.
I lifted it, and in my hands it crumbled into dust.
Beneath the ashes, a red heart remained.
Alive. Beating. Waiting.
Later this morning, I drew my oracle card, and it pulled the Crow. The teaching of the crow archetype is below.
The crow was the FALSE I appearing as shadow—heavy, ominous, and unfaceable. Yet when touched with presence, it dissolved. Its weight was never real.
Sometimes we make mountains out of molehills. Each time we deny the shadow’s presence, we reinforce THE FALSE I. It’s akin to adding another layer of wrapping paper to the gift that is being presented. So the next time it takes a bit longer to unwrap the essence of the shadow and what it is really doing for us. The shadow is a gift when it shows up again and again. It’s not wanting to make you miserable
life miserable; it’s the key to dissolving the pain and taking back the power that we banished because we were told or treated so poorly. The shadow represents a core wound that we sustained. A core wound is a lie we accepted about ourselves so we could feel safe in the environment we found ourselves in.
Prompt: If this dream were yours, what part of your life would the crow represent?
Shadow
The crow shows us how shadow forms. It is born from lies we once believed about ourselves: that we were too much, not enough, unsafe, unworthy. For a time, shadow feels dense and threatening, a weight we cannot carry.
And yet, when faced directly, shadow collapses under its own falseness. The crow turns to dust, and what remains is truth.
Prompt: What old lie still gives weight to your shadow? If you met it directly, could it crumble?
The Bow and the Smile
The red bow tells us that even within shadow, a gift has been kept safe. Shadow’s role is not only to obscure, but to protect until the moment of readiness.
The smile is a quiet recognition: the shadow has done its work. It has held what we were not ready to face until we became willing and able to release the heaviness.
When the bow is untied, the gift emerges. What returns is our power—our ability to create, to dream, to live without the distortion of old lies. The illusion of safety is no longer viable, and it crumbles away.
Prompt: What gift might your shadow be holding in safekeeping for you?
The Heart
When the crow turned to dust, the heart remained.
This is the essence of who we are. Whole. Complete. Perfect in every way. Shadow cannot destroy the heart; it only hides it until we are ready to reclaim it.
Prompt: What part of your essence—your heart—is ready to be lived more fully now?
The Crow’s Teaching
The Essence:
“Crow is the keeper of universal law, the law of truth. Crow teaches us to walk our talk, to find congruence between who we say we are and who we really know ourselves to be. This winged one insists that we speak truth, that we create truth instead of searching for it, and that we bring truth to every situation we find ourselves in.”
The Invitation:
“When you speak the truth and practice truth, eventually everything you say becomes true. Your power to co-create with the truth is the universal law. Correct what is untrue in your life without judgment. Let the truth set you free!”
The Alchemy
Shadow feels heavy until it is faced. When it dissolves, the energy that was tied up in its weight returns to us as freedom, relief, and creative power.
This is the alchemy of integration. The crow turning to dust was not an ending but a completion. Shadow handed back what it had been keeping safe.
And what remained was the heart—our essence, ready to create the life we dream.
Prompt: Where in your life do you need to let truth dissolve shadow, so the heart of your power can return?
BE Well
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