Crow spirit

[fagins girl]

 

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[AnjelWolf]

 

xx

 

 

That was interesting...thank you for posting this.

[nikkipurple]

Thanks for posting that. Informative and interesting. I learned somethings I did not know about crows and ravens.

[owlblink]

Thanks for this. Have forwarded it on to my friend who is also Craft, he has a bit of an affinity with crows at the moment. We keep going down to the local park and watching them, and they are starting to get REALLY close to us now !! Here's one of em!

[nikkipurple]

I have noticed an increase in crows around here where I live. Including having one land within 10 feet of me and just sat there watching me intently for like five minutes. Not sure what that could mean though.

[Jason]

Really interesting and enjoyable link. Thanks for posting up.

[Morgana]

Interesting...I always thought that crows and ravens were the same, just named different depending where you lived.

[Guest ThePopeVI]

Interesting...I always thought that crows and ravens were the same, just named different depending where you lived.

I thought that too but when I learned different, I TRY to tell which is which.... I am not good at it though! And I always thought that crows were bigger than ravens. But in reality ravens are bigger.

I think its because I never see them at the same time to compare the two.

 

crows and ravens I see more in town.

interesting link

[Morgana]

WE have crows here. My favorites are the red-wing ones. They have a red spot on each wing. In fact, I have a crows nest in my tree and love watching them.

[twitch]

Crows are different to rooks. crows are bigger and more solitary. Rooks tend to stick together. . crows are different to ravens, Ravens are much bigger and have a slightly scruffier look to them. Ravens have a much deeper call than both rooks and ravens. Here’s a little myth about ravens. In the Mabinogion the king of the Britons was called Bran the Blessed, his totem animal was the raven which is called in Celtic Bran. Now Bran lost his head literally in a war with the Irish which was no problem because it kept talking all the way home.” Bury my head on Tower hill said Bran so I can keep an eye on our enemies the French.” Which he did until his head was dug up in 1065. The French duly invaded the very next year and William the winner, built his castle on the site of Bran’s grave. This is why Ravens have always been kept at the Tower of London and that if they ever left then England would fall.

[Phoenix]

that was a good video, enjoyed watching.

[Guest Grimr]

Crows and Ravens have been a common theme for me these past couple of years. However an interesting bit of lore: There is a practice in Ireland called Bahb which bears many similarities to HedgRiding and Witchery. I believe (my own personal analysis) it as its connctions with both Bahb as in Crow and Bahb as in the goddess due to the Crows ability to travel between the realms and Bahb's connection with Blood and War - but more interestingly with the connection between Bahb and the Valkyries. Perhaps the form of Witchery called Bahb had to do with choosing who would die and who would live in times of war? I'm still researching this one. :)

[owlblink]

Wow, thats interesting....... I am told that watching the movements of birds (in particular Corvids) has always been a sort of divination (in particular the omen of death) so this would make a lot of sense. Would love to know more about this.

 

There is a practice in Ireland called Bahb which bears many similarities to HedgRiding and Witchery. I believe (my own personal analysis) it as its connctions with both Bahb as in Crow and Bahb as in the goddess due to the Crows ability to travel between the realms and Bahb's connection with Blood and War - but more interestingly with the connection between Bahb and the Valkyries. Perhaps the form of Witchery called Bahb had to do with choosing who would die and who would live in times of war? I'm still researching this one. :)

[froglover]

Yeah great video.....

 

Melbourne Australia, where I live, is waa or "crow" country according to the Wurindjeri who are the locals. (I don't know if crows and ravens are distinguished for this purpose, or if both are waa) According to my understanding the death bird is the willie wag-tail, the willie wag-tail visits to bring news of dead relatives and this aspect of traditional culture is still believed in. The wag-tail seems to dance on the ground in a free-form way that might be thought to carry messages if only one could read them....But getting back to crows....

 

Once when I was on a railway platform coming home from visiting my wife Karen's grave a crow perched on a telephone pole very obviously (as it seemed) attempted to talk to me. It fixed me with its beady eye and went waa waa and would not stop. My children who were with me were a little spooked; until I turned that into embarrassment by going waa waa back and attempting to have a conversation.

 

The bird got frustrated eventually and left. "that man is talking gibberish" I suppose it thought. Or maybe it didn't actually think what with being a bird, I have no stable framework for interpreting these things. Quite striking while it was happening though. Then the train came.

[Guest Nightscent]

Here in the West Country some traditions make use of "Crow Ash" made from the corpse of a Crow and because of it's associations with the death realms, the ash would be used in necromantic workings and spirit contact.

[Guest Grimr]

Here in the West Country some traditions make use of "Crow Ash" made from the corpse of a Crow and because of it's associations with the death realms, the ash would be used in necromantic workings and spirit contact.

 

I use Crow Ash quite regularly for my workings of the ancestral shades and also for traveling "oot and aboot"

[LDG]

WE have crows here. My favorites are the red-wing ones. They have a red spot on each wing. In fact, I have a crows nest in my tree and love watching them.

 

Wouldnt that happen to be the red winged black bird? They look like crows but are much smaller. They are beautiful but can be quite annoyingly loud in the morning, i have a large group of red winged black birds in my area.

 

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/rwbb/Redwing_NeighborhoodWatch.html

[Abraxia]

While watching that I had a crow outside cawing away :) They congregate around here a lot, partly because of a high school over the road & free food, but I usually have one sit on my balcony railing or tree just next to it and look in the window at me. We also get a few cockatoos and the odd kookaburra around here.

[LadyShalott]

Interesting video..

 

The Corvidae (Crow) family are a creature of many superstitions here in Appalachia. Although the Corvidae family includes ravens, magpies and jays, most are referring to the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and not the North American Raven (Corvus corax). The way I was taught to differentiate between the two was the Raven is larger and has undertones of almost purple and the Crow is a smaller bird with almost green undertones. Crows are scavengers and like the fields as where Ravens are solitary in the woods or quiet areas..

 

Thanks for the link...

[Gramayr]

Interesting vid as said. I find them fascinating birds and love watching them in my garden (which backs directly onto farmland). You can see them working things out in the way that they move and their head movements. They've always appeared to be very intelligent birds to me. I find this with magpies also.

 

Reading this thread also reminded me of the film 'The Crow', anyone seen that?

Edited May 25, 2011 by Gramayr

[ilexys_morighanan]

Thanks for the video. I learned a lot of folklore and myth that I didn't know about. :)

 

 

I've known the difference between a crow and a raven since I was a kid, when we went on a field trip to a zoo and a woman (who had a trained raven) explained the differences. Ravens are quite a bit bigger than crows, and their feathers are much fuller-looking and not as streamlined as that of a crow. Their tail feathers are also a different shape. Crows' tail feathers line up straight, and resemble a fan. Conversely, ravens have wedge-shaped tails.

 

More info here --> http://depts.washington.edu/natmap/facts/crow_vs_raven.html

 

I rarely ever see ravens. We DO have a lot of crows in my area, though.

[Abraxia]

Pretty much the only difference between the crow and native raven here is the eye colour, one is white and the other yellow, I just forget which is which.

[8people]

I know Australian True Crows (Corvus) are difficult to differentiate between size and the easiest wat to tell them apart is by call, but I thought everywhere else was relatively easier because of the size and plumage differences? Beaks I think can be a tell as well, Ravens tend to have more of a 'roman nose' with it sitting a little higher on the skull at the base while crows have a slightly more slender base.

[CelticGypsy]

Crows and Ravens have been a common theme for me these past couple of years. However an interesting bit of lore: There is a practice in Ireland called Bahb which bears many similarities to HedgRiding and Witchery. I believe (my own personal analysis) it as its connctions with both Bahb as in Crow and Bahb as in the goddess due to the Crows ability to travel between the realms and Bahb's connection with Blood and War - but more interestingly with the connection between Bahb and the Valkyries. Perhaps the form of Witchery called Bahb had to do with choosing who would die and who would live in times of war? I'm still researching this one. :)

 

 

Grimr, clear this up for me, I was always under the impression that Bahb was one of the 3 faces of the Morrigan, Goddess of Battle. Would love to know what your researching regarding this. This would be an interesting post in itself.

 

Regards,

Gypsy

[Babooshka]

Thanks for the video, ive been drawn to crows and ravens for a while now, that call makes something inside me shiver!

 

We've got a new bird table outside and its attracting allsorts, We've had stupid amount of crows come in , and a massive raven ( i think) who's lovingly been named Sarg. He's come in (or most likely she lol) with his baby and was feeding it mouth to mouth (or should i say beak) from the feeder. beautiful birds to watch!