 Crows and Ravens. Are they birds of ill omen, clever tricksters, or messengers from the spirit world, or maybe all of the above and more? If you are finding yourself drawn to crows or ravens, or maybe you're somehow afraid of them, or maybe they've been showing up in your life lately. If this is true, then stay tuned because we're going to take a deep dive today into the symbolism of crow and raven and what they mean spiritually so you can figure out what their message is for you. So ravens and crows are similar birds and they belong to the Corvid family. It's a family of birds that includes magpies, rooks, and jays as well. And the ravens and crows are the biggest group of the Corvidae and they belong to a single genus known as corvus. So ravens and crows are very, very closely related and in fact there's not really we go species by species whether it's a raven or a crow. There's not a lot of distinction. I'll go a little bit into the difference in a bit. There are about 45 species of ravens and crows worldwide. They're found in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. And some are found in various islands in various places in the world. And we're going to, for this video, just refer here, we're going to be working with two specific species that I'm familiar with. These are the common raven which is found throughout the Northern Hemisphere and the American crow. And the American crow is found in North America, Canada, down through Mexico. And there are similar species in Europe, I think probably in Asia as well. I know in Europe they've got the carrion crow and the rook which are similar. And they'll have like similar meanings as well. And so these birds, these two types of birds, ravens and crows, the similarities are they're black, typically all black. Although there are some species of ravens and crows that may have, you know, some different colors. But we're going to focus on the ones that are black. They are omnivorous. Often they are seen as scavengers. They are also very social, highly adaptable, resourceful and very, very intelligent. And we'll talk about that in a bit as well. Differences between ravens and crows. Ravens tend to be bigger. Ravens tend to hang out. They're not quite as gregarious as crows. Crows will hang out in like pretty big flocks or families. And ravens are more often seen in either singly or in pairs. And you can hear the difference between them. Crows tend to have a clear caw. Well, whereas ravens have more of kind of a almost bell like croak. It's a croaking sound. So there's there's a definite difference in the sound. I have noticed that the crows tend to be very adaptable to urban environments, although ravens will sometimes be seen in cities, at least around where I am at. There's a lot of crows in the city or in the towns, but I don't typically see a lot of ravens unless I go out in the woods. I see more ravens in the woods and crows in town. So I don't know if that is a universal thing or not, but just something that I've noticed. Maybe the crows are more likely to take advantage of city life, you know, the garbage or whatever. Many cultures and throughout history have seen both ravens and crows as birds of ill omen. And this is doubtless due to the fact that they do eat carrion. They are scavengers and that they would hang out on battlefields. And they're they're really smart as well, you know, as we'll see later. So it's quite possible that they may have learned to recognize when people were preparing for battle and it may actually have gotten them excited. So that might be part of why people there's a certain mistrust that kind of surrounds the whole mystique of raven and crow. And this is reflected in the names that people have given to groups of these birds. A group of crows is often referred to as a murder of crows. Groups of ravens have been called variously an unkindness of ravens, a conspiracy of ravens, a treachery of ravens. So you can really see the, you know, the social beliefs that people have about these birds really is reflected in the names that we have for the plural of these animals. And it's true that they do, they can be, you know, they will eat almost anything and they will go after animals. They will hunt and, you know, often they'll dispatch a weaker or sickly animal, you know, pretty easily. So you can see them as it's easy to see them as just kind of murderous things. But as we'll see that they've got another side as well. So let's talk about some of the positive attributes of ravens and crows. And we're just going to start with their very high intelligence. Like all corvids, ravens and crows are extremely smart. And perhaps the ravens and crows, you know, the smartest of all the corvids, they are believed to be on a par with the great apes and the dolphins and whales, the cetaceans. So very, very high intelligence. And we're going to tell you some of the things that I found out as I was researching ravens and crows that are just astounding. First of all, they can solve all sorts of puzzles. They can understand basic physics, things like water displacement. So researchers have set up all sorts of tests for them to figure out, you know, kind of figure things out. And they are really, really good at just finding solutions to problems. They're really good problem solvers. So problem solving, you know, intelligence, high intelligence, craftiness, cleverness, any of these. This is part of this spiritual meaning of these birds. So researchers believe that they have the ability to plan for the future, that they can understand cause and effect. Some have even solved puzzles that baffled even chimpanzees and human children. So ravens and crows are really, really up there. They also have the ability to adapt to new conditions by developing behaviors that are not even seen in the wild when they're presented with unusual kind of artificial situations and research. So this is especially as we go into, as we're moving into a new phase of consciousness on the planet, or even a crow. I'm kind of feeling our hanging out with us here as spirit animals can be very helpful here in helping to, helping to adapt, helping to adapt to a changing world. So if you've had a lot of contact with Raven and crow, this may be why, because we are, you know, our world is changing in ways that, you know, it's unprecedented change that we're going through. So this can be a very, very good spirit animal right now at this time. They have amazing memories. So if you're kind to a crow, they're going to remember it. So they remember people who are kind to them. But be careful because they'll also remember it if you mean to them and they will harass you for it. Okay. And they'll, they can pick out not just, not just that it's a human being that was mean, but they can pick out specific individual human beings. Okay. And what's more, they're going to tell your friends about you too, whether you've been kind to them or not. Right. They're going to be able to communicate specific information with each other. And they're very socially adapt. So really, this is about, you know, discerning the truth and communicating it, right. So, so they, they are very, very bright and very observant. So awareness is another one, another meaning that I can see in crow and Raven. Awareness and also social kind of keeping social checks and balances. You know, having that, that, that social justice aspect, they are very aware of justice, these, these animals, these birds. And this is not just, you know, between them and humans, but with each other, they're, they've done researchers have done studies that's indicated that crows or Ravens understand when another bird is trying to pull one over on them and they will choose to just to maybe avoid or they will sometimes exhibit shining behavior in kind of behaviors that indicate that there's some sort of social law that, that takes place within a flock of Ravens or crows within their society. So, you know, truth justice law, I'm seeing as definitely an aspect of this spirit animal. They communicate very well with each other, they've been shown to they've been observed to use gestures with each other, such as pointing with their bills, or they show objects to each other. So communication is another aspect that comes forward. They seem to be self aware. So again, this awareness, and they have, they do show empathy as well. So even though, you know, there's that whole idea of a murder of crows or that murderous aspect, but they do have are capable of deep empathy with each other, crows have actually been observed to hold funerals, so loudly crying and gathering around their dead flockmates, you know, so that they're aware of life and death. And, and they're, they seem to be very moved and even disturbed by it. They do have trickster elements that in many cultures they are seen crows or Ravens as a trickster animal. And they have actually been observed to trick other animals, like distracting an animal and working in teams to do this so that maybe one or two birds distract the animal and the others go sweep down to get their food. They have also been observed to kind of call the attention of bigger predators to a carcass that they couldn't, like sometimes it's not so easy for them to open a carcass, right? Because they don't have the big teeth and claws that something like a wolf or a cougar or something might have, but they've been seen to sort of tell or show or call the attention of something like a wolf to a dead animal. So that the, the, the predator will be doing the hard work of ripping open the carcass and then when the predator is done, the Ravens and crows can go down and get it. So very, very smart and able to manipulate their own environment. So this is a manifestation animal, okay? The ability to think ahead, they, they've been seen to kind of be able to plan ahead or the ability to kind of see opportunities and then cause things to happen for that opportunity to, to actually panel. Okay, so the, the highly intelligent, they are also really, really playful and this may actually go along with high intelligence, okay? Because we see this in dolphins too. We see this in monkeys, this playfulness aspect. If you've ever observed, like I was out in the woods the other day and observing Ravens and it was a really windy day and I noticed them just playing in the wind. They'd kind of close their wings and fall and then open their wings again and get buffeted back up and it looks like they were just having a great time. This is not behavior that I've ever seen like a raptor do but the crows were just like almost somersaulting the wind and, and they have been observed to do somersaults or even fly upside down, that kind of thing. So they, they really, if Raven or Crow is coming forward of feeling too, are you being asked to enjoy life a little bit more because they've got both these aspects, okay? They've got this aspect of, you know, kind of heaviness or depth but they also got this playful behavior. So sometimes this might be an invitation to rise above, rise above the, you know, whatever depression you may be feeling and, and play. Sometimes the reason we're feeling depressed is because we haven't allowed ourselves to play. To get out there and actually dance, move your body in a playful way can actually help to pull ourselves out of, you know, some of these denser emotions. Okay, so another very universally accepted meaning of Crow and Raven is that they are seen to symbolize magic, the magical realm, intuition, the other world, there's a connection with the other world. They are often seen as a messenger between worlds. Okay, and this makes sense. This is, this is something that I see in symbolism that comes up a lot with scavenger animals because they are consuming the dead, right? And in so doing and consuming the dead they're bringing that, that whatever it is from the dead back into the world. So there's that messenger aspect that, that idea of communication between the worlds or going from one to the other and back, which makes them a very magical and it also adds to both their mystique and this fear that surrounds this animal, right? And sometimes the fear of death that's coming forward. So I would encourage you to kind of, you know, if this, if this animal is coming forward, you know, explore the idea of, you know, is it death or is it just pointing that there's, there's something beyond death? Okay, that there's life beyond death, that there's consciousness beyond death and that these animals are asking us to look beyond just the body or the physical death to see that there's something more there, that there's an aspect of individuals even when they pass that transcends the physical that, that, you know, is, is, is always there. Speaking the truth is another one. They show us things in art necessarily sometimes things that we don't want to see, right? So there's, there's so many aspects to Raven and Crow that you kind of have to look at this bird and see all the aspects, right? And to, to see that it's got all these positive attributes, it's also got the more ones that are perceived as negative, and that we have to kind of look at everything that's going on. Okay, so just not hiding things but just accepting that life has both dark and light to it. The eating of Kerry and getting down to the bones of things, right? Speaking the truth. And also their loud, clear cause, their big loud croaks, they reveal what's going on. If there's something, if there's a predator in the area, sometimes the flock of crows will, will actually reveal that they will shout it out. You maybe have seen them mobbing, mobbing raptors, right? They're the kind of, they show what's there. All right, so I actually see Ravens and Crows as the closest birds to humans because we think they're reflecting all the aspects of humanity back to us. Okay, and it's sort of ironic that they're a black bird, but, but I almost see them as a mirror bird. In fact, they are thought to be attracted to, to mirrors or to shiny objects. And in that regard, you know, that's another attribute of humans just being sort of like wanting to collect things. So they reflect both positive and negative aspects of us as humans. Maybe that's why people have such strong feelings for them, right? People tend to either love them or hate them. And maybe because they're, they're really close to us. They're really close to home. So whatever, you know, they, they are likely to kind of show us the truth about who we are and make us come face to face with that, which isn't always comfortable. So they can take us out of our comfort zone. And as far as, you know, I'm actually seeing Crows as almost more like the adolescent version of, they really remind me of groups of teenagers and in good ways and bad ways, right? Good or bad or whatever, you know, positive, negative. I'm seeing Ravens a little bit more mature. And this is me anthropomorphizing. That's just kind of the way I see it. But the, the groups of Crows do gang up to sort of like teenagers, hang out in gangs, right? And sometimes this is bullying behavior, right? Sometimes you see gangs of Crows kind of beating, you know, bullying, you say bullying, but they'll prey on kind of the helpless animals, but they also have anti-bullying behavior, you know, they'll go after the raptors and so forth. And as stated before, they, they are actually very apathic with each other. So this is sort of like both, both positive and negative aspects of this tendency to have tribes or to, you know, gang up in families, right? That can manifest in very, very positive ways. It can also manifest in negative ways. So Crows and Raven are coming forward for you. Look at like how you and your community or your connections are relating. Is there tension there or are you actually supporting each other? And how can we expand so that maybe all of humanity belongs to our tribe, right? So that we expand that empathy. So basically Raven and Crow really ask us to accept all of ourselves, to acknowledge both dark and light so that it's brought up in truth, because if we are able to see both dark and light aspects of ourselves, then we can start to fully integrate. So, you know, so Raven and Crow can really stand for the shadow aspect of ourselves, right? But when we bring those to light, and that's what they are good at doing, they're good at bringing things to light, right? They're good at being messengers. So they can show us, they can show us our own weaknesses, they can show us our shadow aspect. And that is so important for achieving autonomy, for achieving sovereignty, for knowing oneself so that one can move forward and be able to choose proactively. Choose proactively, you know, those things, those parts of us that are more positive that we can start maybe living from that aspect of ourselves. And, you know, recognizing the dark aspects but not necessarily being controlled by them, right? Okay, so I hope that you have enjoyed this video. If you feel like it's helped you, I would love to hear about it. Put your comments below. And also additional insights that you may have about Raven or Crow would like to hear that posted below, because if it's not something that came up here in this video and you think it's important, somebody else is going to get benefit out of that too, so please do post that. And if you would like to receive more of these videos, I post about spirit animals a lot. I do a lot of spirit animal readings, you know, for the lunar new moon's foods and so forth, as well as artwork and spirit animal artwork. I'm going to leave links below to those things. I do appreciate your likes and if you'd like to receive notification of new videos, be sure to hit the bell when you hit the little like button. So thanks so much for watching. Much love and we'll catch you again later. I just hope that you enjoy Raven and Crow in one final word. Really trust your intuition because this is a lot of information, but some of these pieces of information are going to jump out at you a little bit more with your particular relationship with Raven and Crow. So after you've had time to listen to this, maybe listen to it again once or twice, and then feel it and start asking Raven and Crow, you know, what is it that you're here to tell me? And you may get the answer right away or you may have to kind of listen for it or maybe journal with it or meditate with this animal. But I, you know, just rest assured if you've been drawn to this video and if you've stuck through it, there is something here. They've got a message for you and they can really help you on your journey. So much love and many blessings and we'll catch you again soon.