My aunt sent me a sweet story recently about an Indian woman in the US who returned to India for her father’s funeral with two siblings. She said that following the rituals for burial, the priest had given each of the three siblings a chunk of food, telling them to go up in the house to a high spot and look for a crow. As the three siblings came out onto the balcony, there were THREE crows sitting on the railing. They did not make any attempt to fly. The three siblings were tearful as they held out their offering. Afterwards, the priest told them that one of the crows was the father, and that they had fed his soul and he was not lost anymore but had been sent on his way.
I do see crows being fed quite often. It makes sense that they would be spirits of the ancestors, as crows are so intelligent, and there are so many crows in India and so many ancestors! Their dark color connotes the new moon, death and perhaps mystery? I need to work some of this material into my novel…
This video helps to explicate the relationship of crows to astrology as well. It also gives you a sense of the power of astrology in India. Very interesting!
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Add Yours →Fascinating! I never knew the significance of crows. I had always put them in the same category as seagulls on the beach, the scavengers that wait nearby hoping you will drop food, leave it behind or feed them.
I’ve loved crows because they have that sort of dirty reputation as scavengers but they have some kind of spiritual intelligence with their eyes and their families and their communication. Perhaps ancestor souls really do inhabit their hearts! Cynthia