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How to Seer, Part 20

copyright comidacomida 2023

When most spirits I met used to tell me they were surprised that Mitch was one of my cadre I didn't really respect their point of view-- mostly because I'd only ever known him as he was in the 21st century. I hadn't known much about the Raven trickster spirit of Native American folklore or the Hrafn known among the Norse, who considered him to be a speaker of prophecy (for better or for worse). They also considered him a protector and a helper.

The two different impressions were that way for a reason: Raven was who he needed to be to get what he needed out of Humans of old-- in that way, perhaps the Native Americans had it right. But, then again, the Norse did too. Despite the fact that Raven was a Trickster Spirit, no Spirit was required to serve a single function and, over time, he had held many roles within the world. I learned this in time.

Among the Norse, Hrafngud the raven god was said to have delivered messages as varied as life itself. He was associated with many aspects of life: healing, death, knowledge, royalty, battle, poetry, and sorcery. Odin, the "Father God", was even said to have been accompanied by two Ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who were his messengers and heralds. While I'd learned many times over that Spirits were not Gods, many Human cultures over the ages considered them the same. Mitch never spent much time talking about the centuries he existed among the Norse, but I'd learned enough during my subsequent studies. There was one story I asked him about.

The tale involved a servant girl at a farm owned by a wealthy man who was a tyrant who did not care for the welfare of his workers. He mistreated the men and women who served him mercilessly, and the owner forced them to work endlessly, often withholding food from them for any slight, real or imagined. Things got even worse when the countryside was struck by a famine, and what little the farm could produce went in near entirety to the owner, leaving next to nothing for the workers and the animals.

The girl in question got along well with all of the workers and all of the animals, but it hurt her to see them all suffer. The people and the animals were starving; the bodies of dead animals had been lain outside the farmhouse, butchered where they'd dropped in order to provide the offerings required by the owner... but they'd died of starvation and were little more than skin and bones. Even Hrafn, feasting on the minuscule amount left on the carcass couldn't scavenge enough for a proper meal, and the girl saw this.

Although she was not permitted to give food away, she was responsible for cleaning the cooking pots, and so she was able to scrape off some of the residue and offered that up to the hungry bird. Oddly, the Raven did not accept the food, choosing instead to flutter away several feet. The girl was surprised, as she was not used to an animal refusing fod, and so she took what she'd gathered and followed after the raven. Strangely, he continued to hop away from her, forcing her to go after him until she was quite a long ways from the farm house. It was only then that Raven stopped to accept what she had to offer... and that was also when the landslide struck.

There had been fourteen people at the farm, including the owner; thirteen died that day, with the only survivor being the young girl. While everyone else had been buried in the landslide, she had been led to safety by the raven. It was a story that struck with me for many reasons, not only because the many stories of Raven in Norse mythos spoke of the loyalty to those they favored, but because it felt the most 'real' out of them, based on what I'd experienced during my years with stories. Mitch ultimately did acknowledge that the story was very much real, if a bit embellished. He acknowledged that he'd saved the girl since she was the only Human on the settlement who was a goodly person... and she had also been a seer.

He and I had talked long into the night about what he'd done and why. He was completely honest and open about it; having found a source for spirit energy he sought to cultivate it and ensure that he would have a steady supply. Mitch also explained that what had started as a relationship of convenience for him had ultimately improved his impression of Humans and, later, ultimately resulted in a degree of adoration and, finally, love. For Mitch, it was the first time his eyes had ever been golden.

We spoke long into the night about that, and what had happened when she'd left his life. Mitch had explained that he had come to love her more than he thought possible, and that he stayed with her until she passed, serving as her guardian. Many spirits chose to adopt a Human family and become their guardian spirit, but that was not Mitch's way. Within a decade of her passing he had returned to his life as a trickster, and he'd remained that way, essentially unchanging until he'd chosen to skin ride a young Human and, about that time, he'd met me.

I laughed at the thought, pointing out that his eyes were still very much Amethyst and that everyone knew he was a trickster spirit-- I was surprised at how much that statement seemed to hurt him. In the early hours of the morning he reiterated his admission of love to me, and we finally made it physical. It was something that was long overdue and, as we moved in unison, the act intensifying, I knew that there would be no denying it, or holding back. Even as we both cried out in our euphoric release, he somehow managed to kiss me with his beak, and say that he was done with tricks. His Golden eyes told me that he spoke truth.