Let’s Talk: Ravens
Given the current season and the holiday that just passed, ravens are practically the complete opposite of what I should be talking about. Ravens are dark, mysterious, and have been established as an omen of death. They are not representative of the light and life that the spring season is affiliated with. However, some cultures see ravens differently. For example, Native Americans and Vikings. Native Americans saw (still do I’m not too sure) the raven as a protector of humankind and a symbol of the Creator. Vikings used ravens similar to how Moses used the dove in the sense that the raven would be sent out by Viking explorers to find new land. Therefore, in knowing this, some cultures saw the importance of the raven equal to that of an eagle (per say).
Ravens were also prominent symbols of intelligence. This perhaps came from the fact that “its voice carries a surprisingly human inflection and tone”. Humans tend to think of themselves as one of the smartest creatures, therefore people assumed that ravens are/were all-knowing. Ravens being symbols of intelligence can be observed the best in Greek and Norse mythology. In Norse mythology, the god of war, death, deviation, poetry, magic, and wisdom’s symbol was a raven. I am of course referring to Odin. You see, Odin had these ravens which spent their days pretty much spying on humanity. At night, they would return to Odin to tell him what humanity was up to. This is where Odin got some of his wisdom and his nickname/title as the Raven God. Aside from knowledge, Odin had daughters called Valkyries which would take the form as ravens. (If you follow Marvel, you probably recognize the word “valkyrie” from thehot alcoholic.) Other than Odin, the other war and wisdom god ravens are affiliated with is Athena from Greek mythology.
Greek mythology also had ravens as a solar symbol. As such, they were also affiliated with Apollo.
Surprisingly while doing my research, I noticed how a lot of societies/cultures saw ravens as protectors of humanity. Native Americans, England, and some Northern Europe. I talked about Native Americans already, so I’ll talk about Europe instead. The Tower of London has ravens because they are seen as protectors. If they leave or die, it is believed that England will be invaded. Winston Churchill had the ravens imported to London during WW2, actually.
“What about the ‘some of Northern Europe’ you mentioned?”
Hold your horses and calm yourself.
My book was pretty vague about this. All it said was something along the lines of how some of Northern Europe saw the helpers of humanity as ravens. I didn’t feel like investigating further, so you do it if you’re interested.
Despite all of the given “goodness”, how come ravens are seen so negatively?
There are actually pretty decent reasons to support this. For one, the Celtic battle goddess Morrigan’s form is a raven. A more common believe can be in the Mahabharata where “the bird is a messenger of death”. The battle goddess and messenger of death tie together because do you know what happens during battles? Death! Ravens eat like any living creature and went to (and still go to) places of dead bodies to find food. Ravens would show up at sites of battles and around where dead animals would be, so people took it as “oh ravens are a sign of death”. Because of this, they got a bad rep. To add to all of their negative image, witches were said to take the forms of ravens. I don’t think I have to remind you about all of the trash that history has dumped on witches and the superstition that witches are evil.
Also it’s not ravens fault that their feathers are all black and they just so happen to enjoy the taste of dead meat. How about some raven positivity? They’re pretty dang smart.
——
Source for all the quotes and information (that you should check out)
Nozedar, Adele. The Illustrated Signs and Symbols Sourcebook New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 2010. Print.
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© InsideSofisBrain
insidesofisbrain.blogspot.com
I had some pretty nice transitions.
Ravens were also prominent symbols of intelligence. This perhaps came from the fact that “its voice carries a surprisingly human inflection and tone”. Humans tend to think of themselves as one of the smartest creatures, therefore people assumed that ravens are/were all-knowing. Ravens being symbols of intelligence can be observed the best in Greek and Norse mythology. In Norse mythology, the god of war, death, deviation, poetry, magic, and wisdom’s symbol was a raven. I am of course referring to Odin. You see, Odin had these ravens which spent their days pretty much spying on humanity. At night, they would return to Odin to tell him what humanity was up to. This is where Odin got some of his wisdom and his nickname/title as the Raven God. Aside from knowledge, Odin had daughters called Valkyries which would take the form as ravens. (If you follow Marvel, you probably recognize the word “valkyrie” from the
Greek mythology also had ravens as a solar symbol. As such, they were also affiliated with Apollo.
Surprisingly while doing my research, I noticed how a lot of societies/cultures saw ravens as protectors of humanity. Native Americans, England, and some Northern Europe. I talked about Native Americans already, so I’ll talk about Europe instead. The Tower of London has ravens because they are seen as protectors. If they leave or die, it is believed that England will be invaded. Winston Churchill had the ravens imported to London during WW2, actually.
“What about the ‘some of Northern Europe’ you mentioned?”
Hold your horses and calm yourself.
My book was pretty vague about this. All it said was something along the lines of how some of Northern Europe saw the helpers of humanity as ravens. I didn’t feel like investigating further, so you do it if you’re interested.
Despite all of the given “goodness”, how come ravens are seen so negatively?
There are actually pretty decent reasons to support this. For one, the Celtic battle goddess Morrigan’s form is a raven. A more common believe can be in the Mahabharata where “the bird is a messenger of death”. The battle goddess and messenger of death tie together because do you know what happens during battles? Death! Ravens eat like any living creature and went to (and still go to) places of dead bodies to find food. Ravens would show up at sites of battles and around where dead animals would be, so people took it as “oh ravens are a sign of death”. Because of this, they got a bad rep. To add to all of their negative image, witches were said to take the forms of ravens. I don’t think I have to remind you about all of the trash that history has dumped on witches and the superstition that witches are evil.
Also it’s not ravens fault that their feathers are all black and they just so happen to enjoy the taste of dead meat. How about some raven positivity? They’re pretty dang smart.
——
Source for all the quotes and information (that you should check out)
Nozedar, Adele. The Illustrated Signs and Symbols Sourcebook New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 2010. Print.
_________________________________________________________________________________
© InsideSofisBrain
insidesofisbrain.blogspot.com
I had some pretty nice transitions.
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