Parallel Lives of the Pitying and Unkindness

The yellow, red and rust coloured leaves of autumn radiated the light of the sun that rose while facing the moon that set. Full blown roses sat in their splendor beside new buds, unaware of the harsh days to come. Kat walked past ancient stones that lifted like raised eyebrows.

These were times of great change. Planes crossed the skies above her. Kat noticed a path between 18 pines that led to an iron cemetery gate. It groaned as it opened, then slammed shut, echoing over the raised marble mounds shrouded in mists.

There were tributes to those who had died in battles of all kinds. Her shadow rested over a grave, that held a book of life, written in stone. She listened to spirits that fueled her thoughts. “AA says the first step to recovery is acknowledging the problem. The last 10 years have had visible changes on the streets of many countries in the world. Tourists, who once added temporary colour to streets, are now residents, who savour new lands that offer a haven of possibility. In economics and periods of environmental stress, diversity aids survival. Variations, in the intensity of speckles on peppered moths in England, changed the ratio of white to black moths as pollution increased."

Kat's thoughts resonated with Nature. A host of sparrows gave a warning call. Doves formed a group called a pitying, a bevy (a large group of ground feeders), a cote ( standing side by side for shelter), and a dule, ( a state of grief or misery). Their sad and sorrowful mourning cries for misfortunes or loss, held an implication of disdain or contempt. They were joined by the enthusiastic wild, incoherent, raspy rattling of a group of ravens, most commonly called an unkindness, conspiracy, treachery or rave.

Within the pitying and unkindness stood a white raven and black dove. Kat listened to their message.

The white Raven cawed. “We live within a schizophrenic reality. This is the time of thanksgiving for harvest, before famine arrives. We stand apart, rare and different. Our unique memories resonate with ancient awareness beyond the usual totems that inspire myths. "

The black Dove drummed. “We attend the university of life. The ‘uni’, the one, whole, entire union of species and nature, that seeks the ‘vers’, a thought worm that finds its way forward to penetrate truth, that often springs away from belief and precipitates a change of action. This forms the ‘ity’, the quality or state of what is within the mind. ”

White Raven laughed. “Ravens are said to be a transformer, who uses trickery to steal. Yet, in myth we released light that created the sun, moon and stars so humanity could see beyond the world where they hid within a clam. Raven showed humans how to make fire, then was burned, and turned black. Edgar Allan Poe portrays the raven as a grim, spectral presence associated with death. Myth says ravens taught humans about burial. We eat carrion, often the eyes first. Norse myths said we were the eyes of Odin."

The black dove chortled. “Doves also are transformational. Our mourning cries for what was, lead us to look within the darkness, where we find hidden wisdom that is needed to renew and transform the spirit. We are a spy, searching for hidden connections, even within organizations full of deceit and revenge. We uphold a moral code that is often associated with love.”

White raven cried, “The dark and white dove and raven have wandered the world together throughout time. Our roles have evolved. It is often a slow process, however the momentum for change can happen spontaneously with random events. We two are abnormal, and represent a point or base of alteration. Whatever we insert or delete, shifts the frame of how things are reflected and understood."

The black dove warbled. “ We are proof, that change can happen at lightning speed, poof. Our destiny is to live a different life."

White raven trilled, “ The bible says the devil appears as lightning. It is interesting to think that nature aligns to mark an event and pass on a divine message. Lightning struck John Caviezel, in 2004, during the last scene of Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ. In 2013, within hours of Pope Benedict announcing his resignation, lightning struck St Peter's Basilica. A lightning bolt struck the dome of St. Peter's, on the Cinco de Maio, 2025, dividing into three almost equal parts. This date featured the economic May Bank Holiday in the UK, the social Red Dress Day in Canada commemorating missing and murdered Indigenous females, and Two-Spirit People and the rare mathematical occurrence of Square Root day being 5/5/25. "

Black dove squawked, “ Globally, lightning strikes 100 times per second. If time is linear, individuals move in parallel, throughout an era, like photons in a wave of light. Sometimes, the pull of gravity causes a slight bend from the trajectory, causing the waves to attract and repulse each other then cross."

White raven rasped, “Black or white, dove or raven, when our paths cross, we create new patterns that sometimes constructively amplify a movement or destructively annul it. Either way, the effects ripple out as a movement that reforms all the rest of space, time, energy and matter.”

Black dove cooed, “Exactly. We are electric. We share a common resting voltage in each neuron. We flow as electricity in a parallel circuit. Together, combined resistances diminish to a smaller, total resistance. Currents in each branch sum together to create a larger total current. High current can induce a freezing response, making it impossible to let go. This is sweeping us into a flood. ”

White raven rattled, “ Noah navigated a flood by sending our ancestors on reconnaissance missions. Your white ancestor came back with an olive branch of peace, while my black ancestor flew off, suggesting the possibility of an unexpected, unscripted future.”

Black dove chirped, "Noah’s ark showed that cohabitation, of ravens with doves, serves a purpose. Both must withstand the physical and psychological effects of traditional roll, pitch, yaw, bending, torque, and shear of the waters.

White raven cheeped, “Before Noah, Gilgamesh built a boat for a flood and first released a dove and a swallow, that returned because they could not find a perch, then a raven was sent and did not return suggesting the waters had receded. Translating messages is not exact. The Torah said black ravens were vice and white doves were virtue."

Black dove twitted, " The myth of Jonah, whose name means dove, recounts how Jonah ran away from delivering a warning to his enemies, the Assyrians in Nineveh. He was swallowed by a whale and returned to fulfill his purpose, to ask his enemies to repent. When they did, Jonah was angry that repentance can happen to anyone. So much for love and virtue.”

White raven clicked, “ We are used for reconnaissance. We are entering an era that uses artificial intelligence, creating a flood of thought that is far more dangerous than the waters of the past. Quantum solutions for questions are based on the most commonly written work, irregardless if it is true and false. Biased accessible information can generate revenue and direct ethical and societal movements. What is good or bad, a curse, or a blessing depends on knowledge, and trust in traditions that are rapidly changing. Our gifts of finding stable ground are needed."

Black dove cooed. “I enjoy thinking like a Black raven. The raven connects the physical and spiritual worlds through divine thought and memory and prophecy. In Celtic myth, the black raven represents both intellect and mischief. Indigenous peoples associate black ravens with tricksters and heroes and white ravens with new creations. Kabbalists associate the black raven with aggression, strength and sternness. "

White raven tweeted, “An Indigenous myth recounts how a white raven sat like snowflakes on the White Buffalo. When man destroyed the Buffalo, the white raven cried, and a flood happened. A kind man cared for the white raven, dirtied by mud. This raven went to the Great Spirit, leaving only black ravens, to remind man of evil. When the white raven appears, it is time to stop evil ways and respect the Great Spirit.”

Black dove whistled “ That raven myth rivals those of white doves associated with fertility, peace, love, reconciliation and protection. The black dove represents mourning, that holds the mystery of hidden wisdom and hope. The black Raven, once considered unclean, was sent to feed Elijah, who then cared for the homeless and unfortunate. Black and white, dove or raven, organize thoughts with associations. "

White raven had the last call. “We are here, in this changing time and space, following parallel paths that converge and diverge. The biochemical messages are coded in antiparallel, opposing base pair configurations of double stranded DNA, that fit together as they run between the 5’ to 3’ ends. Natural variability, with cis and trans configurations and right and left chirality, carries the same information, but the effect is totally different and often just what is needed. Let us hope that we can be of service to whoever is steering this new ark and help them find a stable comforting dreamland and not a haunting rolling nightmare, in which to settle."

Kat left the cemetery interpreting the message of the black dove and white raven, searching for hints about how to navigate through the changing days ahead.