symbolism ~ raven/crow

from the dictionary of symbols by jean chevalier and alain gheerbrant

"recent comparative studies of the customs and beliefs of a wide range of peoples would seem to show that the purely negative aspect of the symbolism of the raven is very late and an accretion almost entirely localized to europe.  in fact, here its appearance in dreams is considered of ill omen and allied to fear of misfortune.  it is also the great black bird of the romantics, hovering over battlefields to feast on the bodies of the slain.  such an image, it is worth repeating, is recent and highly localized, although it recurs in india, where the mahabharata compares ravens with messengers of death, and perhaps in laos as well, where water soiled by ravens cannot be used in ritual aspersion.  despite this, nearly everywhere, in both east & west, the symbolism of the raven is founded upon its positive aspects.

thus in both china and japan it is a symbol of filial gratitude, the han considering the fact that it feeds its parents as auguring the reinstatement of the social order.  in japan, too, it is taken as the expression of family affection.

in japan it is regarded at the same time as a messenger of the gods, while the chou regarded it as a bird of good omen, the herald of their victories and the mark of their virtues.  the bird in question was, it is true, a red raven, bearing the color of the sun, for in china ravens were solar birds.  the symbol of the ten ravens which flew from the mulberry-tree in the east to fetch light into the world, would seem to have passed into shintoism.  however, yi the archer shot nine with his arrows, otherwise the universe would have caught fire.

han dynasty stone carvings show a three-legged raven in the center of the sun.  it would seem to be the principle giving life to the sun and perhaps stands for yang (odd-numbered).  like the tripod, the raven's three feet, which became the emblem of the chinese emperors, corresponded to the solar symbolism of dawn, noon and dusk.

in the book of genesis the bird is a symbol of clear-sightedness, since it was sent out to see if the lowlands had emerged from the waters of the flood.  'and it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until all the waters were dried up from off the earth'.

in ancient greece, too, the raven was a solar bird sacred to apollo.  although plutarch says that eagles determined the sitting of the omphalos at delphi, strabo states that this task was performed by ravens.  at least both birds have this in common, that they acted as messengers of the gods and performed prophetic roles.  ravens were also attributes of mithras, and these were believed to be endowed with the power of casting evil spells.

ravens are common features of celtic legend, in which they play prophetic roles. . . in ireland, the war-goddess took the name of 'bobd' or carrion-crow and often appeared in this shape.  the crow is the nocturnal aspect of the raven and in ancient greece was sacred to athene while, as we have seen, the raven was apollo's bird.

in any case, ravens play a fundamental part in the welsh tale, 'the dream of rhonabwy': when arthur's men slaughtered owein's ravens, the surviving birds reacted violently and in their turn hacked the soldiers to pieces.  ravens still occupy a respectable place in folklore.  the birds were sacred to the gauls and in german mythology were the companions of wotan (odin).

in scandinavian mythology, two ravens perched on odin's throne, hugin (mind) and munnin (memory), and a pair of wolves crouched beside the god.  the two ravens stand for the creative and the two wolves for the destructive principle.

'among the tlingit indians (northwest pacific), the central divine figure is the crow, primeval hero and demiurge, who made the world (or, more precisely, set it in order, and spread civilization and culture through it), created and liberated the sun, and so on'.  the crow endowed it with the dynamic and regulatory element.

. . .

in the mandan spring festival, the 'first man', herald of renewal who commemorated the 'retreat of the waters', had his naked body painted white, wore only a cape made from the pelts of four white wolves and had two tufts of ravens' feathers stuck in his hair.

the messenger of the mayan god of thunder and the thunderbolt was a raven (popol-vuh).

from africa comes evidence of the raven's role of guide and guardian spirit.  the likuba and likuala in the congo basic regard the rave as 'a bird which warns men of the dangers threatening them'.

ravens may also be regarded as symbols of solitude, or rather of the deliberate self-isolation of the individual who has determined to live upon a higher level.  they may also be seen as emblems of hope with their constant cry, according to suetonius, of cras! cras! (tomorrow! tomorrow!).

. . . the bird is in any case a guide, and even guides souls on their last journey since, as a conductor of souls, his keen sight pierces the darkness and he is not led astray.  it would seem as if this positive aspect is linked to the beliefs of nomadic hunters and fisherfolk and that the raven only became negative when mankind settled and agricultural communities developed.

alchemists have always associated the stage of putrefaction, when matter becomes black, with the raven.  they call this stage 'the raven's head': it is leprous and must be bleached by 'bathing seven times in the waters of jordan'.  these are the imbibitions, sublimations, cohobations or digestion of matter, all practiced under the lordship of fire alone.  this is why the black bird is so often depicted on the pages of ancient treatises of hermetic lore."