There are few animals that have as much symbolism, legends, myths and folklore as the crow.  Seen as harbingers of doom, despair and darkness to some, to others they are romantic symbols of decadence.  Commonly there are many different blackbird species that come under the crow name from the mystically inclined raven to the roguish jackdaw.

Like many animals the crow is seen in many folk divinations.  In Wales a crow crossing your path is considered unlucky but two crows crossing your path is the opposite.  In New England on the other hand a crow flying across your path from the right is good luck while if it flies across from the left it is bad luck. Maybe slightly more disturbing, in England finding a crow dead in the road was considered good luck while seeing one perched above a houses roof meant someone was going to die. Of course there are many ways to protect you from the evil influence of the crow.  Carrying an onion was supposed to ward off crows, as well as everything else. 

There are also many counting rhymes that exist in relation to the crow. One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding, four for a birth, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret not to be told. Eight for heaven, nine for hell and ten for the devil’s own sel’. Another popular rhyme is one for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding and four for birth, five for rich, six for poor and seven for a witch. 

The crow is so connected with the idea of death that a collection or flock of crows is called a murder.  In Celtic lands a connection to this idea was the goddess Morrigan.  Morrigan was a goddess of battle, strife and fertility who would fly over battlefields in the shape of a crow.  Another connection to crows and bad luck in relation to faiths is the Hindu god Shani. Shani rides a crow or rides a chariot pulled by a crow and is known for his evil influence.

However to many other deities the world over, the crow is thought of as a sign of intelligence. The Norse god Odin had two ravens called Huginn and Munin, or thought and memory.  It was these two birds that flew around the world and brought Odin information from all over the globe.  In the story of Bhusunda, a chapter of the Yoga Vasistha a crow turns out to be an ancient sage.

This idea of the crow and intelligence is even shown in Fables.  In the tale of the crow and the pitcher, a thirsty pitcher with water at the bottom, beyond the reach of its beak. After failing to push over the pitcher, it drops in pebbles, one by one, until the water rises to the top of the pitcher, allowing the crow to drink. 

To aboriginal people the world over, the crow is seen as a trickster deity.  Australian aborigines tell of how crow stole fire and how he was involved with the creation of death.  The Lenni Lenape tribe of what is now known as Delaware, tell a tale of how rainbow crow brought fire to the freezing animals of the earth but in the process losing his rainbow feathers and getting black ones instead.  There are many tales of the crow’s feathers turning black for some reason or another. Usually it has to do with being punished or burning.

There are so many tales, myths and legends of the crow that to document them all would take a book.  They are intelligent (topping the avian IQ scale), adaptable and social creatures that do not deserve the negative reputation that it has acquired. Like the wolf it has had a bad reputation for far too long and it is only today with scientists doing in depth work with the animal, that we are beginning to realise how special they truly are.