Mistaken as bad omens, ravens throughout the ages have had a mixed interaction with humans.
Even in Edgar Allen Poe’s poem he refers to the visiting raven as a “Prophet! ….thing of evil!…if bird or devil!” and the poem reads:
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
Cultures have also recognized ravens as intelligent and skilled problem solvers, able to solve puzzles and communicate outside their species.
Associated with prophecy, insight, connecting the material world with the world of spirits, supernatural powers, keen eyesight, clarity, and the ability to perceive things beyond the obvious, connecting with the unseen aspects of a situation. Ravens are enlightening and mysterious all at once.
Amazingly, a group of ravens, if and when they come together, is called an “unkindness”, where their cousin’s, the crows gather in “murders”.
Ravens are highly intelligent and can use their beaks to rip objects open, helping them find food and shelter. They are also able to use tools, defend their territories, recognize individuals who feed them and those who do them wrong. Ravens communicate and can mimic other species and sounds, enabling them to interact across unexpected boundaries.
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In Irish folklore, the proverb “to have a raven’s knowledge” means to have supernatural powers.
In Viking lore, ravens were considered wise and knowledgeable helpers and messengers. Odin, the ancient Norse god of wisdom, knowledge, and victory, was believed to send his two ravens Huginn and Muninn to fly the world daily so that they could report back to him all that occurred that day upon their return.