File:
The Willow Ptarmigan (:>)
 Lagopus Lagopus

Names:
     
English:
  Willow ptarmigan (from Gaelic "tarmachan"-could somebody please tell me what 
  that means?),
  snow grouse, red grouse (Scottish)
    
Welsh:
  Grugiar ("grouse"), iâr y rhos ("moor hen")
     
Irish:
  Cearc fhraoich ("heather hen")

German.
    Schneehuhn

 Finnish:
  Riekko (onomatopoetic, equivalent of "screeching","raving"), metsäkana ("forest 
  hen")

Japanese:
  Raichyou

Swedish:
  Ripa

Czech:
  Belokur rousny

Polish:
  Pardwa


Close relatives: Rock ptarmigan, white-tailed ptarmigan  

Appearance:
  Willow ptarmigans are plump, chicken-like birds of the grouse family. Like 
most arctic animals, they change colour according to season: the summer plumage 
is reddish-brown with black speckles. In the winter, the birds turn completely 
white, except for the black tail feathers. The longest wing feathers stay white 
throughout the year. Males have red "eyebrows". The willow ptarmigan is the only 
bird that can grow "snow shoes": a fluffy white down between their toes which 
makes it easier for them to walk on the snow. Even their closest relatives, the 
rock ptarmigans, don't have this ability. 

Voice:
  "Pot? Potpotpoot?" (a flock of females, apparently discussing the day's 
weather)
  "Go baack, go baack, go baackk!" "mumble grumble"
  "Cshackkkakkkakkkk!!!!" (when leaping into flight. This, paired with the 
whirring of the wings, is something of a spooky sound...)
  "Njau?" (the female, mating season)

  The ptarmigan's voice has been described as "like a couple of old reindeer 
herdsmen cursing, mumbling and grumbling away in the bushes" or "like an old 
witch hag mumbling her incantations over a boiling cauldron and then bursting 
into a loud, cackling laughter"(I like that one!;)) or "a Russian merchant 
counting his copecks" (the "go back" sound could be interpreted as "copeck", an 
old Russian copper coin)

Habitat:
  Ptarmigans are mostly arctic animals and are found everywhere in the Far 
North, from Scandinavia through Siberia to Canada. They don't migrate (either 
they really ARE stupid or perhaps they're just stubborn. Both are common traits 
for *all* creatures living in cold climates, including yours truly). 

  They like to live in marshy lands and in willow (well, DUH) thickets by the 
waterside. 

Diet: Berries and leaf buds. Baby ptarmigans feed mostly on insects for quick 
protein.

Nature:
  -Paradoxical. They can be as calm and serene as the snowy hills, but when 
fighting for mates or protecting their nests, they can be really aggressive. 
Ptarmigans have been reported to attack even *grizzlies* if the poor bears have 
wandered too close to the nest.    
  
  -The way these birds go to sleep in the winter is interesting. They fly around 
looking for a suitable snowbank. Then they plunge right into it and burrow 
themselves under the snow. This is all in the name of safety: the temperature 
can never drop under the freezing point under the snow even if it were much 
colder outside. Also, diving in straight from flight leaves no tracks for the 
predators to follow.
 
 -Some ptarmigans (especially the females)like to live in flocks, but others 
prefer loneliness.

 - During their mating season, the ptarmigans are very, VERY noisy. People can't 
sleep because these birds' parties go on through the night...

*FOLKLORE*

Symbolic meaning: The ability to travel between worlds, shape-changing, 
visionary dreams, prosperity, survival, spirals, dancing, shamanism, ancient 
wisdom, blessings, purity.

Deities associated with: Mader Akka (the Sámi Mother Goddess)

Properties associated with:

 -In the olden days, the Sámi people (also known as the Lapps, the people 
inhabiting the northernmost areas of Scandinavia [Lapland] ) used to hang a pair of 
ptarmigan wings over a baby girl's cradle to protect her (and later, "to make 
her a pure and chaste young woman").

 -Ptarmigans, like many other birds, are thought to be messengers of the dead. 
If a ptarmigan is seen perched on the top of a house, it's believed that someone
in the house is about to die soon.
Their ability to blend into the snowy landscape, suddenly appearing or 
disappearing, has also added to their ghostly reputation.

-Luck: If you see three ptarmigans on yyour way to some special meeting,
the results will be fruitful. Seeing three ptarmigans three times means even better luck!  

-Not so good luck: there's a Sámi sayinng that someone's "lifebreath is as loose as a
ptarmigan's", i.e. someone who's at the brink of death. According to Sámi hunters,
a ptarmigan can die from a single shot (single lead pellet of a shot of many, that is). 

-The Spiral Dance (actually more relateed to other species of the grouse family): 
the grouse birds' spiralling mating dances have earned them a sacred position in 
some Native American traditions. The spiral symbolizes the wheeling dance of life,
death and rebirth in cyclic world views.

You might have the willow ptarmigan as your spirit animal if:

- You dive headfirst into projects (sommetimes bumping your head when not 
thinking), but that can help in a sense: diving deep always gives better insight 
into things than just a little scraping of the surface. It has its risks, but 
sometimes it's worth it.

- You're *really* noisy. You may not thhink so yourself, but ask your friends: 
they really do know better. Also, if your voice is quite low and matches any of 
the descriptions above, well...
 
- Shamanism appeals to you, especially  the idea of moving between the worlds. 
Your unconscious speaks to you strongly through dreams. 

- The constant changing of plumage : yoour ideas, feelings (and occasionally, 
your tastes in clothing) are varying and changing. Always.

- You like to dance and live your life  as a dance. (Well, I don't...in *my* case 
it's more of an awkward hobble)

- Your physical features may -or may noot- include: certain roundedness of form, 
a wobbly walk, and very hairy legs. A continuously amazed, wondering expression 
(more commonly known as The "Huh?" Expression) is also a very distinctive trait 
of the ptarmigan nature. 

***********************************************
Willow Ptarmigan Ritual(c)Auntie Krizu 1999
 
1. To achieve the ecstatic state needed for the Ptarmigan Spirit to enter your 
being:

On a cold winter night, consume a flask of The Famous Grouse Whiskey. Sooner or 
later, your legs start to feel all wobbly. Fear not, for this is a sign of true 
possession.

2. Hobble into the nearest wood (any bush of willows will do). Invoke the 
Ptarmigan Spirit further by mumbling and swearing (the words don't necessarily 
have to make any sense)and banishing possible passers-by by shouting "go baack! 
go baack! go baack!" and flapping your arms to give an illusion of your great 
size.

3. Make a couple of random, spiralling circles around the bushes and try to 
locate a suitable grounding space. A nice and big snowbank would be ideal. On 
finding one, jump, scream with joy and dive deep into it.

4. Pass out. 

5. Wake up in drunktank, not remembering how you got there. This experience is 
necessary to heighten the feeling that you have just gone through something 
magickal.
 
6. Bail out. Thank Gods. Go home, ground and share some frozen berries.

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