Ornithomancy: The Language of the Birds
Why is the raven like a writing desk?
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.
In Step into the Night Garden, we mentioned that Apollo's Temple at Delphi was built atop the ruins of an older deity—a goddess. It was likely Gaia's temple or that of another ancient Mother goddess, so how interesting that at one time, Apollo's closest ally was a white raven. Birds with white plumage have been linked to the Goddess for thousands of years. A relic from the 6th century BCE shows Aphrodite sitting on her throne and flanked by swans. There is ancient artwork, tiles, and statues that show doves fluttering within reach of our goddess of love. Like the Goddess, the Goddess, whose temples were destroyed by the solar gods, and stories obscured by shadow, over time, the raven was cast out from society.
In tarot, the Rider Coleman Smith deck features birds throughout the suit of wands for their association with Air. But like the phoenix, the raven was reborn from the ashes of its destruction, linking this creature to the element of Fire. Spotting a white raven (similar to spotting a black swan) forewarns of something unexpected.
In our latest Little Witch Tale, The Witch & the Raven (download it for free here), you'll find whispers of the Brothers Grimm story The Raven, but these magickal birds are also perched throughout the pages of Snow White, The Seven Ravens, The Fox and the Crow (Aesop), and modern tales like The Raven & the Reindeer.
“Do you have a name?” asked Gerta.
“I do,” said the raven. Gerta waited. The raven fluffed its beard. “I am the Sound of Mouse Bones Crunching Under the Hooves of God.”
- T. Kingfisher, The Raven and the Reindeer
Sometimes, the raven is the archetypal trickster, and in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, the raven appears in an impossible riddle. As the Mad Hatter sips tea with Alice and the March Hare, he ensures that their conversation is nonsensical. At one point, he asks:
“Why is the raven like a writing desk?”
Carroll says the riddle was created with no answer in mind, yet in an 1897 revision, he offered, "Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front!"
Over the years, readers have offered explanations:
“Both the raven and a writing desk have quills dipped in ink.”
“One has flapping fits and other fitting flaps.”
"Because one is good for writing books and the other better for biting rooks."
“A writing desk is a rest for pens and a raven is a pest for wrens."
“With some skill, it will emerge from the wood."
Here at Pointy Hat Press, we’d also like to weave in our thoughts, that the raven, like the writing desk, is symbolic of alchemy, a magical practice that was, at times, feared.
The raven and the writing desk are also messengers, friends to witches. The raven is our familiar, and the desk, a sentient altar, a nest for our dreams.
The raven and the writing desk are scavengers, picking through entrails and abandoned pages, eternally composting and creating, composting and creating.
Both the raven and the writing desk are teachers, they speak in forgotten tongues. The raven shares its secret in the language of the birds, while the writing desk pens the language of the soul.
The Raven & the Moon
It's no surprise that the raven is in love with magick, riddles, and the moon. After all, a raven might be a witch in disguise. The Cailleach, our hammer-wielding giantess that delivers winter storms, dresses typically as an old woman or a deer, but she also appears as a raven. And on Walpurgisnacht (April 30th), keep your eyes peeled for other witches wearing the skins of their familiars. Legend says that on the eve of Beltane, witches fly to the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains - with help from the raven's inky cloak.
If the raven calls to you beneath April's full moon, the Pink Moon, perhaps spend some time in the company of the birds. Practice ornithomancy. April's Moon is also known as the Growing Moon and, sometimes, the Seed Moon, so plant your what-ifs in the garden and see which ones root. Do the blooms look like how you imagined? Consider what it would be like to have wings. Without feathers, a beak, or blessings from the night gods – how might you learn the language of the birds?
I love this! Such a beautiful article. Both my sons have Raven 🐦⬛ tattoos
Learned a new word today! Thank you! My familiar is indeed a Crow, Sweet Crow, who visits every morning and sometimes follows my dog and me on walks.