The Meaning of Owl & Crow
In my shamanic journey life, Owl sits on my right shoulder and Crow sits on my left. They are my spirit guides and show me the way when I am sitting in uncertainty or the unknown. Of course, sometimes I don’t need to go anywhere but need to just Be where I am in the stillness or the discomfort, or wherever it is I am sitting for that moment, until the path becomes clear. They are the yin and yang of my soul.
Owl is the dragoman (I love that word) of the night, the shadow, dreams, the invisible, underworld, the unconscious. Owl was the companion of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and as such, revealed unseen truths to her. Owl had the ability to shine light on Athena’s blind side, allowing her to speak the whole truth and not half-truths.
So you could say Owl helps keep me honest and guides me to the truth in a situation. That does not mean it is always wise to speak the truth that I see because I have learned that there is a time to be silent with understanding and a time to speak out. I think true wisdom comes from knowing when is the right time to speak your truth. Owl gives me courage to both accept and utter what is difficult. He is quiet and contemplative (the introvert), yet sure when he leads the way into the darkness.
Crow is the yin to Owl’s yang. She is surveyor of the light, daytime, all things visible, and she teaches about living in the world, about living in consciousness and about illusion—what you think you see is not always what’s real. She is talkative, inquisitive, impatient, crafty when she needs to be, and bold. She is the extravert side of me. Crow can be opinionated and speak with the force of her convictions, but the lesson for me is to be mindful of my opinions and actions. Sometimes Crow is impulsive and then I must pick through the carrion of my thoughtlessness and eat crow.
A New Life
Crow is also symbolic of the alchemical process of nigredo, the beginning state of a substance before it has been formed and reached its full potential. Therefore, crow is about the magical process of creating something out of nothing. Crow magic is about change and adjusting to shifts, and boy have I been doing a lot of that lately by moving across the country, and in effect, starting a new life.
In the wild, owl and crow are often enemies, but in my world they are companions who co-exist and work together to help me achieve the balance I need in life: the balance of masculine/feminine, light/dark, above/below, conscious/unconscious, inner/outer. On this blog, they are my guides and messengers of wisdom and truth shared amongst my sisters and friends: bringing messages of truth and wisdom in both directions.
Crow guides me through the outer world
Owl is with me when I enter the secret garden of my inner world
I love this. I recently had a dream about a crow attacking two owls in a cage and came across this website. The dream was a whiel ago but has stuck with me ever since. I have found my researcgh extremely interesting. I never knew these two birds were so closely linked.
If you, or anyone could shed any light on this I am open to all interpretations.
Thumbs up to you. This sight is great!
Hi. I’m glad you found my site through your dream! The questions for you to interpret the meaning of the dream are: How did you feel when the crow attacked the two owls? Where were you when it happened? what was your relationship to either the crow or the owls? What associations do you have to owls and crows? What associations do you have to being in a cage? Is there any part of your life that seems similar to what happened in your dream? If you were the crow, who or what were you attacking? If you were the two owls, who or what would be attacking you? Did the cage help or hinder the crow from hurting the owls? I also recommend a great book, Animal Speak by Ted Andrews, to learn more about the meaning of the animals. Which bird do you relate to the most; how are you like both the owl and the crow?
Thank you so much for yoru response Stephanie. Funnily enough i was neither bird but felt a great affinity and protection towards the owls. I guess I had stereotypical associations of both birds e.g crow- frightening/threatening/death and the owl symbolised perhaps wisdom and vulnerability. When the crow got inside the cage I felt panic as if I thought it would kill the owl. My aim was to protect and I had failed at that level. I tried to usher out the bird but I felt fear myself. I think subconsciously in my dream I recalled strange memory about learning about Jacob’s dream and being pecked on by birds whcih apparently symbolised death. Really starnge as I am not religious in any way and this was over 20 years ago but symbolically must have stayed with me. I guess I am liek both brids in real life. The crow- at times can be a cheeky opportunist, can be daring at times and risk my luck also like the owl, introvert, with inner confidence and honour my life experience so far as I believe it has given me a wisdom and insight that I am grateful for. The cage symbolised protection.
Perhaps it coudl relate to my life in the sense that I feel as though work it taking over and intruding in my life at this current moment in time. I am still unsure..
One thing is for certain I definitly have a new found respect for crows during my research!
Wow, I googled “connecting with the sacred feminine” and found your site. I love your artwork, your thought process, and the myths and stories you convey. I’m in the ongoing process of valuing my own yin traits, and traits in the world, such as quiet, darkness, inaction, peace, introspection, wisdom. One of my next tattoos will be an owl. Your work is an inspiration! I just subscribed to follow your blog. Thank you!!
I googled “owl and crow” to find out the symbolism of the 2 birds and was directed to your sight. The other day I was walking my dog in the morning and I heard a large group of crows flying overhead. I looked up to watch them and saw them land on a large tree. I then saw an owl sitting in the tree with them, as if the crows were almost admiring the owl. I was awestruck because I have never seen an owl in my city neighborhood! I felt there some meaning behind this moment as I have recently been learning alot about myself spiritually and my reason for being on earth as well as grieving the recent loss of my mother. Your words were so inspiring and eye opening to me and I’m so glad I landed here. Thank You!