Crow and Snowy Owl Prophecy

Things have been very pitched in San Francisco and around the U.S. recently: Halloween, the Giants' victory, the volatile and destructive weather, the lagging economy and of course, the campaign(s) and upcoming election. Being lucky to work outdoors, I've been quick to track strange animal and elemental behavior and ponder its relationship to the topics covered on NPR and FrontLine. Native American and Celtic philosophy doesn't sever the affairs of humans with that of our finned, furred and feathered brothers and sisters. Animals, plants and elemental forces are just persons in different forms.

Photo by Francois Portmann

As a fledgling "out" psychic, a particular situation keeps interrupting my dreams. It's the image of a snowy owl seated in a courtroom of crows. Now before you reach for that comment button warning me to get my ass home (before the land of fruits and nuts spoils me for good!), just do me a favor and observe if anything you have read here may reveal some later truth. Here is a menu of likely scenarios that I see over the next 90 days but possibly much sooner:

•  LEGAL: At face value, there is going to be a high profile court case that is going to have a serious racial element and unfortunately, it's going to make the O.J. Simpson trial look like an episode of Judge Judy. With this upcoming case, however, there may be no known villains and/or racial prejudices may be confounded. Here are some more specific examples of what this vision could legally represent:

1.  Affirmative Action. Here is an October 10th CNN article about the issue although I'm predicting that what will transpire will be more turbulent than this.
2.  Terrorism. There may be some terrorist activity in one of the northern states, regions or countries. It could involve Islamic Terrorists or Aryan, right-wing militia groups causing trouble in states like Wisconsin, Montana, Minnesota, Idaho, Montana or Alaska or countries like Canada (Quebec is represented by the snowy owl), Germany, Norway, Finland or Sweden.

• CEREMONIAL: I'm not going to predict the election and I'm also savvy enough to defer to Nate Silver's New York Times political column and blog, FiveThirtyEight, instead of relying of my fickle, psychic temperature. As of today, November 1st, Silver declares that Obama has a 79% of winning the election. I do worry about the president's safety though. I often think that the snowy owl could be a solemn Joe Biden being sworn in by a solemn Supreme Court (the crow often symbolizes law). This makes me sick to my stomach but I feel the need to share it.
 

• ENVIRONMENTAL: Last winter there was a major irruption of snowy owls looking for food as far south as Hawaii. The New York Times reported that one possible cause was a crash in the population of lemmings (a dietary staple) in the northern lands. Might we be in for a consecutive-year irruption?

•  SYMBOLIC: Just for the record, I'm not kicking myself everyday for being part of white, dominant culture (many historians say that the Irish didn't become "white" until they solidified political power in U.S. cities in the early 20th century). I do think, however, this recent vision could symbolize that the dominant, northern, capitalist way of doing things will be put on trial in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Is it time to prosecute American policy towards global warming and the environment? Crows, while symbolizing law and lawlessness, also bring to mind families, clans, loyalty, hooliganism, intelligence and the spirits of the dead or disenfranchised. There may be some sort of rising up of people of "the South" (the meaning here refers to disadvantaged, poorer nations usually south of the equator who are growing demographically and economically). Is this a geopolitical turn of events of Northern rule? The Snowy Owl is undoubtedly a beautiful, impressive predator, symbolizing wisdom, power and deception. And he very well could be the hero of our story. But there's going to be some sort of clash coming. Let's hope that a court of law can contain tempers!