Ornithomancy: The Language of the Birds
“Why is a raven like a writing-desk? Have you guessed the riddle yet?” the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.
“No, I give it up,” Alice replied: “What’s the answer?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” said the Hatter.””
The Language of the Birds
Come April's full moon, the wildflowers are whispering. Our seasonal harbinger, the hare, trades its den for a shelter made of sun, and birdsong blossoms as temperatures warm. You remind yourself that in animistic communities, bird-watching is a form of divination. People from the ancient Greek world called it ornithomancy.
From the Greek ornis "bird" and manteia "divination," practitioners of ornithomancy (the Romans called it augury) noted a bird's arrival, appearance, demeanor, flight pattern, and even their conversations – the language of the birds.
Collectively, birds chariot the arrival of spring. Even the raven, a famously misunderstood messenger, is more lively in spring. Not only are ravens busy nesting right now, but as carrion birds, they're clearing away the remains of winter. A group of ravens is called an unkindness, and if you overhear these creatures 'arguing' over food or territory this month, consider their conversations through the lens of an augur. Ravens are symbolic of mystery, and like fellow springtime messenger, Hecate, ravens allude to unexpected insight and victory, obstacles as opportunities for transformation.
The Raven in Mythology
With mythical ties to deities like the Celtic Morrigan, Norse god Odin, the Valkyries, the harvest god Lugh, and Greek war goddess Athena, a raven (or its corvid cousin, the crow) was a symbolic promise of death. The raven is one of the three beasts of battle in Old English poetry. Alongside the wolf and the vulture (or sometimes, the eagle), the raven completes this triad of woodland scavengers. These creatures are opportunistic, drawn to Death's fields, hunting for sustenance amidst endings and entrails.
But did you know - the raven was also Apollo's attendant. A god of the sun and prophecy, Apollo was responsible for the raven's descent into darkness. As the story goes, once upon a time, ravens were white as snow. Each morning, while Apollo rode his golden chariot across the day, the raven searched the shadowy places where the god's light couldn't reach.
It was during one of the raven's nighttime journeys that the bird spotted Coronis entangled with a visiting prince. Coronis was Apollo's lover, a mortal princess who was pregnant with their child. The raven alerted the heartsick god of the betrayal, and Apollo became so enraged that he scorched the bird's feathers. No longer a herald of good tidings, Apollo cursed the raven to be the messenger of unwelcome omens.
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