The Meaning of Seeing a Crow in your Dreams

A lot of people get to my blog because they want to find out what it means to dream with a crow, so I am going to tell you. The first thing you need to know about dream interpretation is that all of those cheesy dream dictionaries are usually humbug. I say “usually” because I’ve never seen one that I can take seriously, but you never know. Maybe some one out there got it right, but I doubt it. So I’m telling you right now. You will not find answers in the New Age or Religious section of your local bookstore. Cognitive science, psychology, and myth may be better guides.

Dreams are very important though, but maybe not for the reasons you think.

There are many theories about dreams. They vary, but most authors assume that dreams mean something. Some, like Freud, think of dreams as the gateway to the unconscious mind. Others believe that dreams are messages from a supernatural entity, or psychic premonitions about the future. The first view is not completely right, and the second very possibly is wrong.
According to Robert Ornsitn, dreams are what goes on when your mind has nothing better to do than to simulate a made up world. Dreams are stories we tell ourselves as we enter REM state. I believe stories are very important, especially the ones we tell ourselves, and since we make them up, they must mean something to us. We derive and create their meaning.

To me, crows are awesomelly cool. If I was a bird I’d be a crow. To other people, crows are the carrion eating bastards who feast on the fallen warriors in the battlefield. To others, they are the mythical birds who betrayed Noah, yet, some think of corvids as the creators of the universe.

Your dreams are based in your mind. They are not sent from the outside to warn you about upcoming Egyptian plagues. They are not filled with symbols that mean the same to everyone, but they are filled with the universal elements of a good story, because they reflect the most important story you have to tell, and that is the story of your life. Do not ignore them, because your dreams take up a huge part of your time.

So, now lets get practical. Lets say you just dreamed of a crow. If it was a great dream you might be thinking about golden pots and make overs. If it was a bad one, you might be laying awake in cold sweaty fear. Either way, don’t worry. All of it happened between your ears, but it matters a lot.

Here is what you need to do (you do not need to do it all):

1) Take out a piece of paper and write the main feature of the dream in the middle of it. It could be the word “crow.” Then draw a circle around it, use clustering or mind mapping to brainstorm on whatever the dream may mean to you.

2) Since dreams are about your inner story, you might want to spend some time continuing the story. You could write it or draw it. you could have an imaginary dialog with the crow in question. Do not worry about “getting it right,” because the dream is a part of you, so you can change it. If your dream scared you, a story about it could fix it.

3) Learn lucid dreaming. It is fun and easier than going to the movies. Plus, it gives you something to do as you sleep.

4) Keep a dream journal. Some of my best ideas happen in my sleep.

5) I like to create dreams by writing stories before I go to sleep. I don’t know if this is scientific, but if I start something and I don’t finish it, I will often finish it in dreams.

Reading List

These are the books where I got most of my ideas about dreams. You should check them out, but stay away from superstition.

1 ) Anything by Joseph Campbell. Try “The Power of Myth” first. He sees dreams as mini personal myths. Campbell is one of my heroes. He uses old psychological ideas, but the core of his philosophy of story is really amazing.

2) “Lucid Dreaming,” by Steven Laberge. It’s nice and scientific.

3) The Evolution of Consciousness, by Robert Ornstein. A good introduction to the scientific view of the brain and to evolution. It provides a compelling theory of dreaming.

Learn about your brain, which is where your dreams live. Learn about stories. They are the stuff that makes dreams and the context of our lives. Read stuff by Clarisa Pinkola Estes, Neil Gaiman, and Carol S. Pearson. They really get what stories and dreams are about. In some cases, they even get what crows are all about.

Dreams are a good to get to know yourself.

Your dreams are yours. They are the places where you are the hero, and everything around you is your myth. They are the places where fantasies come true and where monsters can be vanquished. They are fun and silly, but they do not mean anything you don’t understand. They are not messages from the depths, but stories you tell yourself. As such, they are important, because everything you tell yourself about life is also a story that puts reality in to context. I hold the scientific method to be the most accurate way to see reality, but in dreams I suspend disbelief and fly, because I do not need to be accountable to reality. That is the ultimate freedom.

I hope this helps.

Disclaimer: I am no a psychologist or a doctor. This blog is not intended to cure or diagnose anything. 🙂