Pallas
by Wild Thing
Title
Pallas
Artist
Wild Thing
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Yes, I know it's a crow, but I couldn't restrain from naming this after the bust in the famous poem by Poe. Even crows seems to be omens of darkness at times. As a part of my Irish mythology, crows are associated with our Goddess Morrigan, the goddess of war and death as well as one of our most powerful goddesses.
Corvus is a widely distributed genus of birds in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-sized jackdaws (Eurasian and Daurian) to the common raven of the Holarctic region and thick-billed raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents except South America, and several islands. In Europe, the word "crow" is used to refer to the carrion crow or the hooded crow, while in North America, it is used for the American crow or the northwestern crow.
The crow genus makes up a third of the species in the Corvidae family. The members appear to have evolved in Asia from the corvid stock, which had evolved in Australia. The collective name for a group of crows is a 'flock' or a 'murder'.
Recent research has found some crow species capable of not only tool use, but also tool construction. Crows are now considered to be among the world's most intelligent animals with an encephalization quotient approaching that of some apes.
In medieval times, crow were thought to live abnormally long lives. They were also thought to be monogamous throughout their long lives. They were thought to predict the future, to predict rain and reveal ambushes. Crows were also thought to lead flocks of storks while they crossed the sea to Asia.
In folklore, myth, and spirituality
In Ancient Greece and Rome, several myths about crows and jackdaws included:
An ancient Greek and Roman adage, told by Erasmus runs, "The swans will sing when the jackdaws are silent," meaning that educated or wise people will speak after the foolish become quiet.
The Roman poet Ovid saw the crow as a harbinger of rain (Amores 2,6, 34).
Pliny noted how the Thessalians, Illyrians, and Lemnians cherished jackdaws for destroying grasshoppers' eggs. The Veneti are fabled to have bribed the jackdaws to spare their crops.
Ancient Greek authors tell how a jackdaw (a passerine bird in the crow family), being a social creature, may be caught with a dish of oil into which it falls while looking at its own reflection.
In Greek legend, princess Arne was bribed with gold by King Minos of Crete and was punished for her avarice by being transformed into an equally avaricious jackdaw, which still seeks shiny things.
In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Crow is a trickster, culture hero, and ancestral being. Legends relating to Crow have been observed in various Aboriginal language groups and cultures across Australia; these commonly include stories relating to Crow's role in the theft of fire, the origin of death, and the killing of Eagle's son.
Crows are mentioned often in Buddhism, especially Tibetan disciplines. The Dharmapala (protector of the Dharma) Mahakala is represented by a crow in one of his physical/earthly forms.[citation needed]
In the Chaldean myth, the Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim releases a dove and raven to find land; however, the dove merely circles and returns. Only then does Utnapishtim send forth the raven, which does not return, and Utnapishtim concludes the raven has found land.
In Chinese mythology, the world originally had 10 suns either spiritually embodied as 10 crows and/or carried by 10 crows; when all 10 decided to rise at once, the effect was devastating to crops, so the gods sent their greatest archer Houyi, who shot down nine crows and spared only one.
In Denmark, the night raven is considered an exorcised spirit. A hole in its left wing denotes where the stake used to exorcise it was driven into the earth. He who looks through the hole will become a night raven himself.
In Hinduism, crows are thought of as carriers of information that give omens to people regarding their situations. For example, when a crow crows in front of a person's house, the resident is expected to have special visitors that day. Also, in Hindu literature, crows have great memories which they use to give information.[citation needed] Symbolism is associated with the crow in the Hindu faith. On a positive note, crows are often associated with worship of ancestors because they are believed to be embodying the souls of the recently deceased. However, many negative associations with crows are seen in Hinduism. Crows are believed to be connected with both the gods and goddesses, particularly the unfavorable or harmful ones such as Sani. They are often seen as dark and dangerous. Crows are also seen as being signs of bad luck or evil in some practices. Crows are also considered ancestors in Hinduism and during Śrāddha, the practice of offering food or pinda to crows is still in vogue.
In Irish mythology, crows are associated with Morrigan, the goddess of war and death.
In Islam, according to a narration in the Hadith, the crow is one of the five animals for which no blame is placed on the one who kills them. The Surat Al-Ma'ida describes the story of how the crow teaches son of Adam to cover dead body of his brother "Then Allah sent a crow digging up the earth so that he might show him how he should cover the dead body of his brother. He said: Woe me! do I lack the strength that I should be like this crow and cover the dead body of my brother? So he became of those who regret."
In Japanese mythology, a three-legged crow called Yatagarasu (八咫烏?, "eight-hand-crow") is depicted.
In Korean mythology, a three-legged crow is known as Samjokgo (hangul: 삼족오; hanja: 三足烏).[citation needed]
In Norse mythology, Huginn and Muninn are a pair of common ravens that range the entire world, Midgard, bringing the god Odin information.
In Sweden, ravens are held to be the ghosts of murdered men.
In Welsh mythology, the god Br�n the Blessed � whose name means "crow" or "raven" � is associated with corvids and death; tradition holds that Bran's severed head is buried under the Tower of London, facing France � a possible genesis for the practice of keeping ravens in the Tower, said to protect the fortunes of Britain. In Cornish folklore, crows � magpies particularly � are associated with death and the "other world", and proscribes respectful greeting. The origin of "counting crows" as augury is British; however, the British version rather is to "count magpies" � their black and white pied colouring alluding to the realms of the living and dead.
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August 3rd, 2015
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