RAVEN

 ra'-vn (`orebh; korax; Latin Corvus corax): A large family of the smaller birds of prey belonging to the genus Corvus corax. The raven symbolizes filial gratitude and affection, wisdom, knowledge, hope, longevity, death, solitude, change, and fertility.  A bird of such universal distribution that it is known from Iceland to Japan, all over Asia, Europe and Africa, but almost extinct and not of general distribution in our own country. In no land is it more numerous than in Palestine In general appearance it resembles the crow, but is much larger, being almost two feet long, of a glossy black, with whiskers around the beak, and rather stiff-pointed neck feathers. A bird exhibiting as much intelligence as any, and of a saucy, impudent disposition, it has been an object of interest from the beginning. It has been able to speak sentences of a few words when carefully taught, and by its uncanny acts has made itself a bird surrounded by superstition, myth, fable, and is connected with the religious rites of many nations. It is noisy, with a loud, rough, emphatic cry, and its young are clamorous at feeding time (sound familiar?).

As adults, Aristotle wrote that ravens drove their young from their nests and territorial area and forced them to care for themselves from the time they left the nest, yet still brought food to them. Our ravens of today are, to all intents, the same birds as those of Palestine in the time of Moses, and ours still follow the young afield for several days and feed them until the cawing, flapping youngsters appear larger than the parents.

In Pliny's day, (Gaius or Caius Plinius Secundus, referred to as Pliny, (AD 23 – August 24, AD 79), better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote

Naturalis Historia. He is known for his saying "True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what deserves to be read".), ravens had been taught to speak, and as an instance of their cunning he records that in time of drought a raven found a bucket containing a little water beside a grave and raised it to drinking level by dropping in stones.

Raven creates the world

A raven story from the Puget Sound region describes the "Raven" as having originally lived in the land of spirits (literally bird land) that existed before the world of humans. One day the Raven became so bored with bird land that he flew away, carrying a stone in his beak. When the Raven became tired of carrying the stone and dropped it, the stone fell into the ocean and expanded until it formed the firmament on which humans now live.

Raven steals the sun

This is an ancient story told on the Queen Charlotte Islands and includes how Raven helped to bring the Sun, Moon, Stars, Fresh Water, and Fire to the world.^[1]

Long ago, near the beginning of the world, Gray Eagle was the guardian of the Sun, Moon and Stars, of fresh water, and of fire. Gray Eagle hated people so much that he kept these things hidden. People lived in darkness, without fire and without fresh water.

Gray Eagle had a beautiful daughter, and Raven fell in love with her. In the beginning, Raven was a snow-white bird, and as a such, he pleased Gray Eagle's daughter. She invited him to her father's longhouse.

When Raven saw the Sun, Moon and stars, and fresh water hanging on the sides of Eagle's lodge, he knew what he should do. He watched for his chance to seize them when no one was looking. He stole all of them, and a brand of fire also, and flew out of the longhouse through the smoke hole. As soon as Raven got outside he hung the Sun up in the sky. It made so much light that he was able to fly far out to an island in the middle of the ocean. When the Sun set, he fastened the Moon up in the sky and hung the stars around in different places. By this new light he kept on flying, carrying with him the fresh water and the brand of fire he had stolen.

He flew back over the land. When he had reached the right place, he dropped all the water he had stolen. It fell to the ground and there became the source of all the fresh-water streams and lakes in the world. Then Raven flew on, holding the brand of fire in his bill. The smoke from the fire blew back over his white feathers and made them black. When his bill began to burn, he had to drop the firebrand. It struck rocks and hid itself within them. That is why, if you strike two stones together, sparks of fire will drop out.

Raven's feathers never became white again after they were blackened by the smoke from the firebrand. That is why Raven is now a black bird.

Germanic paganism

An illustration from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript depicting Huginn and Muninn sitting on the shoulders of Odin.

To the Germanic peoples, Odin was often associated with ravens. Examples include depictions of figures often identified as Odin appear flanked with two birds on a 6th century bracteate and on a 7th century helmet plate from Vendel, Sweden. In later Norse mythology, Odin is described as having two ravens Hugin and Munin serving as his eyes and ears - Hugin being referred to as thought and Munin as memory. Every day the ravens fly out from Hliðskjálf and bring Odin news from Midgard.

Celtic mythology

In Irish mythology ravens are associated with warfare and the battleground in the figures of Badb and Morrígan. Welsh mythology features Bran the Blessed, whose name means "raven" or "crow". He is depicted as giant and the King of the Britons in tale known as the Second Branch of the Mabinogi. Several other characters in Welsh mythology share his name, and ravens figure prominently in the 12th or 13th century text The Dream of Rhonabwy, as the army of King Arthur's knight Owain.

There is a story that England will fall if ever the ravens abandon the Tower of London.^[3] Bran the Blessed is associated with the Tower of London in the Welsh Triads, which might be the origin of the story.

Jusisim And Christianity:

Palestine has at least 8 different species of ravens. This bird was the first sent out by Noah in an effort to discover if the flood were abating (Gen 8:6-8).  In 1 Kings 17:4-6, God sent ravens to feed Elijah the Tishbite by the brook Cherith during a long drought and, according to catholic tradition,  an attribute of several saints whom ravens fed in the wilderness, including St. Anthony Abbot, St. Paul the Hermit, and St. Benedict. . The raven has long been a sign of divine providence in Job 38:41, we have this mention of the raven, "Who provideth for the raven his prey, When his young ones cry unto God, And wander for lack of food?"  The answer to this question is in Ps 147:9: "He giveth to the beast his food, And to the young ravens which cry." Both these quotations point out the fact that the young are peculiarly noisy.

The Hebrew `orebh means "black," and for this reason was applied to the raven, so the reference to the locks of the bridegroom in the Song of Solomon becomes clear (Song 5:11).  The last reference is found in Lk 12:24: "Consider the ravens, that they sow not, neither reap; which have no store-chamber nor barn; and God feedeth them."