Crow & Crone: Twin Archetypes

For most people, crows are the most commonly encountered wild animal. Crows and ravens are part of the same Corvidae bird family which also includes rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies and nutcrackers. Although in this blog post I am using the words crow and raven interchangeably, they are not exactly the same bird. Typically, ravens are much bigger than crows, and they tend to be a bit shaggier looking. The raven actually has more in common with hawks and other predatory birds than the standard, smaller-sized crow. However, crows and ravens are similar in that they appear to have powers of abstraction, memory, and creativity that put them on a par with many mammals, even higher primates. Crows and ravens appear frequently in myths and folktales often alongside crones, hags and witches. Although in recent history crows and ravens have been negatively associated with evil and darkness, looking more closely at the roles they played in ancient folktales and myths, we discover that they are imbued with divinity, prophetic power and omniscience during times of great change.

Crows and ravens frequently appear in myths and folktales and are often imbued with prophetic power, divinity and omniscience.

Crows and ravens frequently appear in North American indigenous mythology. The Tsimshian of the Pacific Northwest have a folktale about how it used to be that the tides never changed and were always high because of an old woman who held them high in her hand. It was the Raven who tricked the woman into letting down the tide twice a day and that is how there came to be two tides a day. The Inuit of Alaska have a myth of how humans were birthed from the pod of a pea vine which Raven planted, and it was Raven who first taught humankind all about the earth. The Haida of the Pacific Northwest tell the story of how in the beginning all is dark, and it is an old man who keeps the light hidden inside a box because he fears if he opens it the light would reveal the ugly face of his daughter. Raven disguises himself as a hemlock needle which he tricks the daughter into drinking and she then gives birth to Raven Boy who begs his grandfather to open the box. The old man yields and Raven uses this chance to grab the light and fly away causing light to spread throughout the world unexpectedly revealing that the old man’s daughter to be beautiful. As Raven flies away, Eagle sees him and tries to steal the light, causing Raven to drop some of it, which becomes the Moon and the stars. In all three of these stories Raven not only is a trickster but has agency to change the nature of the world, and also bring into being important features we are dependent upon today. Raven comes when the world or cosmos is undergoing transformation, signifying endings and beginnings.

In Asia, the Crow is imbued with similar kind of divinity, power and omniscience during times of great change. The Yogavasistha, the ancient syncretic philosophical Hindu text, includes the Story of Bhusundi, the immortal sage-like Crow who lives in a tree on Mount Meru where he witnesses the creation and dissolution of the universe, a succession of epochs in the earth’s history, and the birth and death of suns and moons, as described in Hindu cosmology. In Chinese legend, there is a sun crow or “golden crow” called the Jīnwū (金烏; jīnwū). Jīnwū is often depicted alongside the Chinese god of creation, Fuxi, who carries the sun, and the goddess of creation, Nüwa, who holds the moon. In Japan, Yatagarasu is a holy crow and a servant of the sun goddess, Amaterasu. Originally, in ancient times, Yatagarasu was depicted with two legs, but in the 930’s CE the Chinese myth of the three-legged crow merged into the story of Yatagarasu. Since then, Yatagarasu and the three-legged crow have been synonymous with each other, both are sacred, transformative and powerful.

The Celtic Goddess Morrighan appears in the form of young woman or a gray-haired woman during a battle or war in the form of a crow or raven.

Perhaps power is attributed to crows and ravens because they are extremely resilient and adaptable: they have found a way to survive in almost every continent and habitat including woodlands, grasslands, mountains, deserts, arctic tundras, beaches and urban centers, and remain in those places despite shifts in seasons. They are omnivorous and can eat almost anything including the remains of dead animals, and probably because of this, they are associated with death and transformation. Crows are also extremely smart: they are one of only four species that can craft tools, and they have the largest brain-to-body ratio of any bird, their brain-to-body ratio is even bigger than humans. In fact, crows have a special relationship to large predators like wolves (and perhaps even humans in the past) because as scavengers they benefit from the hunt, with their bird-eye-view they are able to forewarn wolves about the location of prey and maybe for this reason they were given premonitory powers in folktales and myths.

In many myths and legends with crows, there is often an old woman - or crone - who is depicted alongside the crow who also has similar characteristics. One example of this coupling is the Celtic legend of the Goddess Morrighan who appears in the form of young woman, or a gray-haired woman, or a crow during times of war. Baba Yaga is a Slavic Eastern European wild old woman and witch who lives in a house on stilts that look like chicken legs, and in some folktales about her, she turns into a crow. The Goddess Dhumavati from India is the Hindu crow goddess of “the void”, which is the place before time and the place after time ends and is often depicted riding a large crow. Nephthys is the Egyptian Goddess bears the crow as her symbol and also oversees funerary rites.

The word Crow and Crone sound very similar in the English language, and delving more deeply into the etymology of these two words, it appears that in Middle English the word “crone” was understood to be "a feeble and withered old woman”. Crone is also is derived from Anglo-French carogne meaning "carrion, carcass; an old ewe.” Crows are similarly associated with death most likely because they can be a scavengers, and also they engage in mourning rituals when a member of their flock dies. A group of crows is even called a “murder”.

In many myths and folktales, crows are prophetic, and are sometimes a sign of a transformation, endings and beginnings. Check out this piece entitled Sun Circle, from my Solstice Series.

We can see this theme of death associated with Crows and Crones in all three myths just mentioned. The Goddess Morrighan can come in the form of a crow, and it was thought that when crows are seen on a battlefield, they foresaw the death of a warrior. Baba Yaga actually lives in a house surrounded by a fence of human bones topped with skulls. In fact, Russian archeologists have dug up houses on stilts similar looking to the house on chicken legs that Baba Yaga is known to live in, and they have identified these as Slavic houses for ancient funerary rites. The Goddess Dhumavati is associated with death and transformation. Many depictions show Dhumavati on a cremation ground looking like death itself (decaying teeth, long fingernails, hag-like appearance). She carries the death god Yama’s horn, and sometimes wears a garland of severed heads. Nephthys is the Egyptian Goddess of the Dead who bears the crow as her symbol and also oversees funerary rites.

When we think of the word crone, it has a negative connotation, when actually looking at the etymology of the word, crone also refers to “crown” which is a much more positive symbol of power and dominion. “Crone” is derived from the word cronus which means time, and points to the wisdom gained through life experiences; hag comes from hagio meaning holy; and witch comes from wit meaning wise. So contrary to the idea of a Crone being a withered old feeble and frail evil woman, historically, a crone referred to a wise old woman, a crowned woman, or a powerful woman.

In fact, in ancient times, crones, hags, and witches frequently were leaders, midwives and healers in their communities. In the Paleolithic era (c.30,000 – 10,000 BCE) the goddess was revered as one all-encompassing mother goddess who controlled birth, death, and rebirth. However, the importance and value for crones was reversed during the 300 years of the Inquisition when the male-dominated church wanted to eliminate women holding positions of power. Older women identified as witches were tortured and burned, and the words “witch”, “crone”, and “hag” took on the negative connotations that continue to this day in the English language. Crows, similarly, have had a negative connotation historically in many books and poems. Only recently have scientists discovered the intelligence and skills of crows and and the way they work collaboratively with other species, and so the meaning and value of crows is beginning to shift to something more positive.

Crow Linocut carving process.

Renowned mythologists Jean Shinoda Bolen, Clarissa Pinkola-Estes, and Sharon Blackie all discuss how the positive archetype of the Crone is re-emerging in their writings and their work, as older women today are reclaiming their power. Like the new scientific evidence that shows Crows to be much more intelligent and important than was thought before, the revival and retelling of ancient myths like the ones described in this blog post allow for more positive representations of the Crone to become popular again and normalized. There is a burgeoning interest in this ancient part of women’s Herstory, and the Crone archetype is resurfacing as a model for women as they achieve their deserved status as valued elders. When archetypes like the Crone are activated, they energize us and give us a more empowering sense of being in the world as older women. It is delightful to see how the word “Crone”, in some circles, has come to mean a crowning inner achievement of the third phase of life. Women can now more confidently wear their crowns unabashedly, and coincidentally, we can, like our ancient grandmothers, have Crows as our companions.

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References:

Blackie, Sharon (2022). Hagitude: Reimagining the Second Half of Life. Tewkesbury: September Publishing.

Bolen, Jean Shinoda. Goddesses in Older Women. Harper Collins

Bruchac, Joseph “How Raven Made the Tides”, Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children. Wheat Ridge: Fulcrum Publishing.,pp. 103.

Buxton, Nicholas. (2006). “The Crow and the Coconut: Accident, Coincidence, and Causation in the ‘Yogavāsiṣṭha’.” Philosophy East and West, 56(3), 392–408. (Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4488034).

Feher-Elston, Catherine. (2005). Ravensong: a Natural and Fabulous History of Ravens and Crows. New York: Penguin.

Judson, Katharine Berry (Ed.). (1911). “The Raven Myth”. Myths and Legends of Alaska. Chicago: A.C.McClurg & Co.

Hamilton, Virginia (1991). In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World. Clarion Books

Haupt, Lyanda Lynn. (2011) Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness. New York: Back Bay Books.

Meyer, Mathew. “Yatagarasu” (Retrieved from https://yokai.com/yatagarasu/)

The Otherworldly Oracle (aka Kitty) “Raven Gods & Crow Goddesses Around the World” (July 8, 2019). (Retrieved from https://otherworldlyoracle.com/raven-gods-crow-goddesses/)

Pinkola-Estes, Clarissa. (2010). Dangerous Old Woman: Myths and Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype. Louisville: Sounds True. (Audio CD).

Reid, Bill (1994). “Raven the Trickster”. Website of the American Museum of Natural History (Retrieved from: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/totems-to-turquoise/native-american-cosmology/raven-the-trickster).

“Three Legged Crow” (Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-legged\_crow).

Wigington, Patti. (2021, August 31). “The Magic of Crows and Ravens”. (Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/the-magic-of-crows-and-ravens-2562511)

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