My New Hobby: Crow Divination

There have been several big black crows hanging around our yard lately. As a somewhat superstitious person, whenever I see a group of them I do a quick head count and attempt to apply the old rhyme to my current circumstances. "One crow sorrow, two crows joy, three crows a girl, four crows a boy" and so on.  (Before I knew the sex of the baby, I was particularly interested in groups of three and four.) But I can never remember the entire rhyme and sometimes there are a lot of crows. So I just looked it up. There are a couple of interesting versions here. Unfortunately, there's quite a bit of variation -- for instance sometimes seven is for a secret, sometimes it's for sickness. Eight's even more contradictory -- sometimes it's for a wish, sometimes it's said to mean death. And subsequent investigation only served to confuse the matter further. For example, this page entitled Crow Divination asserts the following principles:

1. Crows are of varying distinction and intelligence, therefore notice must be taken of the varying classes of crows.
2. Crows respond to events with characteristic behavioral patterns, therefore by noting the character of the response one may learn the character of the event
3. Crow behavior and response differs according to time of day.
4. The angle of direction between the observer and the crow has significance.

I'm particularly fond of the first principle. Since some crows, like people, are clearly better than others this gives you a potential out when you are confronted with the ominous, such as the lone crow ("one crow sorrow"). Take a very close look -- does this particular crow look kind of dumb? If so, you can totally discount its prediction.

The Crow Divination page goes on to divide the day into a number of "watches" and provides explanations for the meanings of the calls of crows, depending on the direction from which they emanate. So, for example, if between 6 and 9 am you hear a crow's caw from the "Zenith" direction (whatever that is), a demon will appear. But if you hear that same caw from that same direction between 9 am and 12 noon, you can expect a fulfillment of your wishes.

This is all too complicated and, it seems to me, rather random. So I've decided to begin my own list of meanings. Here's a start:

One crow staring at your feet in surprise, as if you are wearing two different socks: You are wearing two different socks.

One crow approaching from the northeast: Remember to renew your newspaper subscription.

One dimwitted crow looking bashfully in your direction and smiling moonily: You are particularly attractive today. If you do not have a romantic partner, expect to meet someone of mediocre quality who will express an interest in your physique. If you do have a romantic partner, he or she may perform a small household chore, like washing the dishes, unasked tonight.

Two crows tugging at a plastic bag: You are conflicted about recycling. On the one hand, it’s good for the planet. On the other, it’s sometimes a dirty and time-consuming task. (Can also be interpreted to mean rebirth, literally or figuratively, or afterbirth, or as a suggestion to use up leftovers for dinner.)

Any number of crows rearing back their heads with looks of mild disgust when you attempt to converse with them: It’s probably nothing but you might need a breath mint.

Any number of crows rearing back their heads with looks of utter disgust when you attempt to converse with them: You are a bad person.

Note: it can be difficult to distinguish between expressions of mild and utter disgust on the face of a crow. Actually, it can be difficult to distinguish between any expressions on the face of a crow or, indeed, even identify an expression. This can complicate matters. And one must never forget to take into account the class of the crow – does a distinguished crow of great intelligence looking at you with mild disgust outweigh a dim-witted crow looking at you with great fondness? You see how tricky this can get.

Comments

[Maud]

This is the best thing ever.

[Stephany Aulenback]

Aw thanks, Maudling. Try it! It's fun!

[victoria]

"a dim-witted crow looking at you with great fondness"

this, I love

[Sean Carman]

Did you know that crows living near roads will learn to place nuts in the paths of cars as a way to crack them open? I've seen crows do this. They wait until there's no traffic, then swoop down and fling the nut on the road, then swoop down again after a car has passed. Strangely, though, they just fling the nuts down anywhere on the road, as if they don't understand that the car wheels are doing the work. It's like they don't quite get it. Crows will also fashion elaborate hooks from paperclips to retrieve objects from glass bottles. If one of them does that, it means you're about to obtain something elusive, like a winning lottery ticket or the love of a shy poet.

[Stephany Aulenback]

And we don't want to know what it means if a crow starts cracking nuts in your vicinity.

(Thanks for that, Sean, about the crows using cars to crack nuts -- I had no idea! Just looked it up and it is fascinating.)

[123oleary]

I was attacked by crows walking down the street one day.
I saw one crow struck by a SUV and the rest of the flock (murder?) started dive-bombing my head, refusing to accept my assurances that I was an innocent bystander.
What do you suppose this means? Hitchcock & du Maurier had it right?

[magpie]

What's the difference between a crow and a raven?

I rather love this post - I love the convoluted way that your mind works.

[Steph]

Sara, I think it means that a flock of crows is aptly named!

And magpie (great name!),thanks. This page from Cornell explains the difference between crows, ravens, magpies and so on: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/crowfaq.htm#raven

Although this one features the comment of an anonymous poster who claims he or she once heard a raven say "hello." I'm not going to get into what means if crows and ravens actually start talking to you...
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-raven-and-a-crow.htm

[Loth]

It's magpies that you use for divination over here in the UK, and since there used to be a popular children's TV programme called "Magpie" which used the rhyme as a theme tune, none of us who grew up in the 1970s can ever forget it! (5 for silver, 6 for gold, 7 for a secret never to be told. 8's a wish and 9's a kiss)

Found you via your comment on Daysgoby and will now go off and rummage in your archives!

[Sue]

Have you seen this video on the intelligence of crows?

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/joshua_klein_on_the_intelligence_of_crows.html

[Steph]

Welcome, Loth!

And thanks for the video, Sue. Very interesting stuff.