@theculturedump: RAVENS are associated with death. Their sombrous colouring, their diet of carrion, and the harsh, croaking sound of their call makes them the perfect ‘memento mori’ (a symbol meaning ‘remember you will die’).  But RAVENS are often more than just harbingers of darkness. Along with rooks and crows they are part of the highly intelligent ‘corvid’ family of birds. Like foxes and owls, they can represent wisdom, cunning, and insight.  In folklore and fiction, RAVENS often act as ‘psychopomps’: mediators between reality and the spirit world. We see this across cultures: 🐦‍⬛In Norse mythology, Odin has two RAVENS who act as his messengers. 🐦‍⬛The Hindu deity Shani is often depicted riding a giant crow. 🐦‍⬛In Inuit folklore the RAVENS manifests both as a creator and trickster god.  🐦‍⬛RAVENS carry shamanic status in some Siberian cultures.  🐦‍⬛…and many, many more (let me know in the comments⬇️⬇️) One of the most famous depictions of the RAVENS comes in the eponymous poem by Edgar Allen Poe. In this masterpiece of nineteenth century Gothic, the bird is a symbol of ill omen and an embodiment of grief. RAVENS are commonly depicted in graveyards, battlefields, or by gallows. The real reason for this is quite dark: it is because they like to eat human remains (they are scavengers!).  But this proximity to corpses has also given ravens a status of a ‘liminal’ creature. In art, they often occupy thresholds between life and death, light and dark. They are ambiguous creatures – neither outrightly bad, nor good. This duality is what makes ravens so intriguing.     And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;     And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,     And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor             Shall be lifted — nevermore! (Ending to Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Raven’ from 1845) #BookTok #bookstagram #raven #literature #symbolism

Dr. Rebecca Marks

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Monday 20 April 2026 06:58:11 GMT