good evening,

This is what I found in different sites about totemanimals.  Hope you learned something from it.

Martine


1.Crow/Rook's Wisdom Includes:




Guardian of the place before existence

Ability to move in space and time

Honoring ancestors

Carrier of souls from darkness into light

Working without fear in darkness

Guidance while working in shadow

Moves freely in the void

Understands all things related to ethics

Shapeshifter




2.



CROW

 

Keeper of the Sacred Law

Crows are the keepers of the Sacred Law
and to have a Crow totem is very powerful.

Personal Integrity are your watchwords
and your guide in Life.
If you have a Crow totem, your prime path
is to be mindful of your opinions and actions.
You must be willing to walk your talk,
to speak your truth and to know your life's mission.



 
Crow is a omen of Change.  
Crow lives in the void and has no sense of time,
therefore, it sees past, present and future simultaneously.
Crow merges both light and dark, both inner and outer.
It is the totem of the Great Spirit
and must be respected as such.

They are symbols of creation and spiritual strength.
Look for opportunities to create and manifest the magic of life.
Crows are messengers calling to us
about the creation and magic that is alive in the world today
and available to us.



3.
The Crow

Crows are very vocal birds.  They are sly and often deceptive in their actions. Crows have been known to build false nests high in treetops to confuse predators.  The height of their nests give them the opportunity to watch everything that is going on around them.  Many cultures think of crow as the keeper of knowledge for nothing escapes their keen sight.

Crows travel in groups and make mischief in teams.  As one crow explores something new, others will watch closely to see what happens and then learn from it.  In this way they seem to always be in council with each other.  They often raise a ruckus when hunters are around, warning deer and other birds.  Crows recognize possible danger and always post lookouts when feeding---thier most vulnerable time.

Their language is complex and they have a remarkable voice range.  Each caw has its own meaning.  Sometimes crow warns of impending danger.  Other times it signals a time to join in council and make decisions.  Listening to crow can teach those with this medicine how to hear the truth of what is being said.

The striking black color of crow represents the color of creation.  It is the womb out of which the new is born.  Black the color of night gives birth to the light of a new day.  Crow is a daytime bird reminding us that magic and creation are present in both.  Their ability to shift between the known and unknown world indicates new journeys.

Because crow is adaptable to all environments and will eat almost anything they can survive in almost any situation.  Crow is associated with magic, unseen forces and spiritual strength.  If crow flies into your life, get out of your familiar nest, look beyond your present range of vision, listen to its caw and act accordingly.

Thanks for your info Martine.

The above accounts of the totem representation of Crow are great but they have ommitted as far as I can tell one of the traits of the crow.
Crow also has a very nasty habit of being too picky and the bald head representation that you make reference to is one sign that you or someone very close to you is being extremely picky. It is good to see that you noticed the bald head.
This can mean that you are looking to hard at a problem/question that has been asked and overlooked their answer.
Now when you see a crow in groups of three this represents Law and is an immediate warning that something having to do with Law is about to happen.
Now the sighting of the animal must be out of context of normal everyday life where you would not expect to see such an animal.

Here is an example of being to picky.
There was a Crow who one day found a very beautiful stone/crystal and was taking it back to his home as he liked it for the beauty it shows. On the way home he was flying by some puddles of water and looking down saw another crow with a shiny stone so he lands.
While looking at the other crow he suddenly drops the shiny stone to try and take the one from the other crow, Now when he realized that he could not grab the other shiny stone and after doing so the other crow no longer had his shiny stone and neither did he and he could not find the one he dropped as it went into the puddle of water never to bee seen again. Now the Crow had to go home empty handed never realizing the other crow he saw was himself.
This is but one story told to me by my ancestors about crow.

Hope this helps

Odin specifically kept Ravens ... same family but may be an important distinction?  I dunno... throwing it out there jic it's relevant

I am interested in your experience. It sounds like it really had an impact.

peace

I don't know about crows, specifically (so many different cultures have so many different interpretations of animal symbolism, it seems!), but I've often had birds of various species fly over and then just sit  close by for an extraordinarily long time, just watching me, and seeming completely unafraid (I think I have some kind of weird affinity with birds, anyway!).  Sometimes it's happened shortly after someone I love died, so I've always had the strong sense that they did have something to do with a person's spirit coming around to just say hello and let me know they're OK before "moving on".  (Of course, that was before I started being able to talk to some of the spirits themselves...)

In any case, my feeling has always been that it means something good.  (By the way, I love your description of your "prayer ritual"--that sounds like a beautiful way to do it.)

Doe