This summer solstice seems palpably resonant with reminders of the sun’s ultimate power, and the necessity to respect our relationship to it. 4.6 billion years ago, the sun and this solar system formed from a solar nebula, in it were the elements of life, such as hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon. The reason this planet, our water planet, became so abundant with diverse life is precisely because of our position relative to the sun, among other ingredients for life. These magic ingredients are rare in this universe, as we are now discovering, so rare that we would have to travel quite far to find another exoplanet where earth creatures could thrive. The sun has been our creator, our protector, our caregiver – like any powerful entity, it can also destroy us.
In my recently completed dissertation, Crow Cosmopolitics, I discussed the Asian mythology of the sun crow, specifically the Japanese sun God Yatagarasu, the three-legged crow (the Japanese Football Association mascot). The sun crow was seen as a guide, and a symbol of regeneration. In many eastern and western stories, the crow and raven are associated with the sun, and the light of creation, and regeneration. Perhaps because they adapt well, they are creative, and resilient. I studied crows because they are birds that tend to thrive in urban and suburban spaces; they make use of what we discard. They are culturally coevolved with humans, and also share cognitive convergent evolution that allows them to plan for the future, and think about thinking (theory of mind). Reflecting on these abilities that allow creatures to adapt to their circumstances, and to plan ahead, reminds us that we humans might benefit from strategizing with the sun, and our primordial elements in mind. We are born of sun and water, and sun and water will also determine earth’s entangled multispecies futures.
In my postdoctoral work, I will continue to think through the relations between birds, humans, and many other species in urban and suburban spaces—because these spaces affect climate drastically. The sun crow is said to appear as a guide and symbol of regeneration, so I will be turning to face the lessons of the crow, listening for other multispecies stories that hold essential lessons to elements necessary to flourish, stories that hold clues to adaptation and regeneration in a precarious time.