The White Crow and the Crow-Foot Lights

Long ago, in a northern forest, the White Crow guarded five eggs in a high nest. She shaded them with her wings, flew out to find food, and returned each evening to sing softly to the children inside.

One day, a fierce storm shook the branches and rainwater carried the five eggs in different directions. A hen, a naga, a turtle, a cow, and a lioness each found one egg, brought it home, and lovingly raised the child who hatched from it.

When they grew up, the five children sought wisdom and became young hermits. One day they met beneath a bodhi tree. As each spoke about the mother who had raised him, they realized that all five had been found after the very same storm.

Together, they turned their thoughts to their birth mother. Soft white light filtered through the leaves, and the White Crow flew down. She told them how the storm had separated them and how glad she was that each child had been loved by a foster mother.

“When you miss those who cared for you, let a small light remind you of their love,” the White Crow said. The five children twisted cotton into three-pronged crow-foot wicks, then gave them to the community elders to place in little clay lamps.

On Yi Peng night, adults lit the crow-foot lamps while children watched from a safe distance. Hundreds of small flames shone by doorways, wells, and rice barns. The five remembered the White Crow, their foster mothers, and everyone who had given them love. The lights were beautiful because so many memories glowed together.