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Throughout mankind’s history, different cultures followed the idea of having a guardian spirit – that embodied an animal form. Through hard times or spiritual practices, it was common to pay respect to a “spirit animal” – the greatest protector of all time.
Spirit animals are closely tied to our authentic self, and once you find the connection to your own guardian, that will be presented in an animal form, you will have the opportunity to further develop your spiritual and intuitive side.
Each spirit animal has its own meaning, as they represent different characteristics. Once you thoroughly understand what each spirit animal symbolizes, you will have a better understanding of what might feel closer to you, and which animal protector might be your true spirit guardian.
One of the most mystical and powerful spirit animals is the RAVEN. As they have very complex and interesting essential qualities, we will try to guide you through each feature and give you an unabridged perception of them.
Meaning and Symbolism of Raven as a Spirit Animal
Raven represents prophecy, higher intuition, and intelligence. Because of their dark appearance, ravens are often misunderstood and are symbolized as bad omens, but when it comes to their true nature, these spirit animals become manifestations of strong spiritual power and clairvoyance.
Ravens as spirit animals play some type of role of mediator between unknown realms and their host. Their energy shapeshifts into different forms and it allows them to access higher frequencies.
Raven spirit animal guides you through transformative periods of your life, it gives you the energy to foresee potential changes and helps you to rationally assess meaningful events.
These spirit animals also symbolize psychic abilities, so people who have raven as their spirit animal – will often receive future visions from the universe. They will have the ability to recognize different energies in an instant, as they are sensitive to different vibrations. This will give them the upper hand to assess their surroundings accordingly and leave toxic environments behind.
During a lifetime each of us has to go through some type of metamorphosis, whether it is changing career path, moving on to the next relationship, cutting ties with unwanted experiences… Having raven as a spirit animal gives you the inner strength to move forward and deeply understand what your soul really craves.
Characteristics and Personality
Ravens symbolize divine power and the ability to interpret the future at ease. Their nature is very complex and they possess different traits, such as:
- Versatility
- Mindfulness
- Mysticity
- Prophecy
- Independency
- Sturdiness
- Flexibility
- Intelligence
Raven spirit animal gives you the privilege to adapt to your surroundings easily. Even though they tend to prefer quiet places and solitude, people with the raven spirit animal are very flexible to merge into unknown environments. Their trait of adjustability comes from the intelligence they possess. Having knowledge of how to act in different settings and receive the best out of their involvements in different circumstances, gives people with this totem upper hand to be perceived as diplomats. They know how to deliver the right words in the right context, so they can benefit from any type of situation.
Prophecy is a gift that people with the raven spirit animal have. They have the natural ability to intuitively guess the outcomes and choose the right path to achieve goals set in their career or personal life. Once you manage to “activate” your raven spirit animal, it will guide you through the most intense crossroads of your life.
Raven spirit animal embodies independence. Even though ravens are very flexible and open characters, they prefer independence more than anything. Their craving for freedom overshadows the need to mix in with groups of people. Raven spirit people don’t like when they have to be dependent on someone and don’t have autonomy of free will. They do their best not to engage with toxic personalities, as they find emotional attachments unfulfilling and draining.
Raven Spirit Animal Positive Powers
Raven spirit animal is known for its diverse positive powers.
Understanding – their power to be fully conscious of surroundings, people, and even their own self, might be the greatest virtue of this animal. Having raven as your spirit animal gives you the opportunity to deeply analyze other actors like an experienced psychologist. Sometimes it is very hard to guess the true intentions behind someone’s actions but with the power of understanding, the spirit of raven helps you to pinpoint the most hidden and secret wishes and intentions of another person.
Healing – tending wounds, healing from traumatic experiences, and also giving other people the strength to rejuvenate, is the most positive power of raven spirit animal. People who have raven as their spirit animal are more accepting and open to recognizing and classifying their own traumatic experiences and that’s why they are able to quickly get to heal them. Not only do they have the power to heal their own selves from bad energies, but they also help others in need, to fully embrace their painful occurrences and teach them methods to tend to those wounds.
Freedom – having free will and an open mind is commonly associated with raven spirit animals. They are lovers of freedom, be it either freedom of mind, or freedom of being – they love it all. People with the raven as spirit animal thrive for freedom with much passion. They want to fly along with the tides, cross boundaries and be tied to nothing. It gives them space to fully enjoy themselves and find pleasure in independence.
Raven Spirit Animal Negative Powers
Even though raven spirit animal has very uplifting traits, it also has a dark side to it. It is important to know, what are the negative powers of your spirit animal, in order to understand yourself better.
Solitary – sometimes their love for independence and freedom leads them to solitary. People who have a raven spirit animal, are often fond of isolating themselves and shutting down completely. Their power to build walls around themselves is pretty intense. They are often pushing aside close connections and refusing to receive love from the people close to them. If the solitary cravings overpower your thoughts, always keep in mind that you are worthy of the love you give to others.
Narcissist – since a person who has a raven spirit animal, is highly intuitive, it might lead to a narcissist thinking pattern. Being able to analyze everything deeply, sometimes gives you the illusion that you already know and are aware of everything, which might not be completely true. Ravens sometimes tend to think that they are above other people since they feel and see things other people can not even comprehend. So, their power to belittle people might have a negative outcome on their life.
Sensitive – being sensitive to different energies might be a good thing, but when you become completely drained from engaging with several frequencies, might cause burnout. Ravens feel the need to analyze and understand everything, and they always have their senses prepared to do so, but that is their downside also… being always open to receiving and analyzing energies nonstop might end with sensory overload.
How to Call Animal Spirit of Raven for Help?
It is important to know that animal spirits are not part of our physical world. We can’t see them, nor touch them but we have the ability to visualize animal spirit in our mind and connect with them through thoughts and meditation.
Find a comfortable position first, whether you are standing or laying down, it doesn’t matter. Try to empty your mind, whatever worries you should leave your thoughts for a while. Concentrate on your breathing – take deep breaths each time.
Now visualize that you are slowly strolling through a beautiful forest. The ambiance is calming, and you feel at ease.
Suddenly you hear a sound coming from bushes. You look towards a sound source.
The animal that will greet you through bushes is your spirit animal. It will come to you slowly, in an un-avoidant manner, and stand right beside you. You will feel the connection as if you have known your spirit animal for your whole life. Its presence will be powerful and calming at the same time.
When going through something difficult, you can always visualize your spirit animal, imagine that you are standing near it and that its energy flows through you, healing most wounded parts of yourself.
How Does an Animal Spirit make Itself Known?
The most common way for an animal spirit to make itself known is constantly appearing in your dreams. In a dream world, we are most connected to other-worldly energies, that is why it’s easier for them to connect to us through dreams.
There have been instances where people found their animal spirit through meditation. If you constantly meditate, it will be easier to get visions of the animal spirit that will be most connected to you. During meditation, we open doors of unknown realms and give our spirit animal the opportunity to actually show itself.
There might be the chance that you will see representations of animal spirit in a physical world. For example, you frequently are coming across raven illustrations on commercial banners, there are movie screenings in a theater just about ravens, and so on…
Try to catch these signs as soon as possible, as it might be a signal from your animal spirit!
How to Understand Your Power Animal’s Message?
Keep in mind that once you are open to receiving signals or messages from the Universe, you will find it easy to comprehend what type of information your spirit animal wants to deliver to you.
Ravens are great at showing you hidden meanings of things. When you are in doubt, try to call out your spirit animal and through meditation ask it to show you the real image behind the specific situation. You will get different types of visions, which will help you differentiate what is good for you and what is not.
Raven spirit animals are also very prophetic, so you might need their help when you are engaged in fortunetelling practices (doing Tarot, working with crystals) or just in general, are interested in some kind of outcome of a simple event. Your raven will send you different types of sensory images throughout the process to warn you about the possible outcomes.
Raven as Animal Totem
The totem can be described as the protector and spiritual guide of mankind. In ancient times, people united by the same characteristics and tribes had a common totem animal. The powers of a totem depend on what animal it represents.
Raven as an animal totem represents change, intelligence, and spiritual powers of higher frequencies. Welcoming the vitality of the raven animal totem will smoothly guide you through the complicated transformation period of your life. Receiving the energy of this totem will also help you to boost your intuitive side and help you during the decision-making process.
Meaning of Raven in Dreams
Sometimes ravens are misunderstood as bad omens in physical and dream life. It all depends on the context you are dreaming of.
Shamans believed that raven flying above your head in a dream might mean that you need to be very careful since you have chosen the wrong path and need to go back to a safe place/position as soon as possible.
If you dream of a raven in a bedroom, it might indicate that your current relationship is at a stage where true intentions might be hidden under a beautiful surface. You might feel chemistry and passion with a partner, but you do not even know why is this union so desirable. Is it only because of passion? Or do you feel a spiritual connection too?
If you hear the never-ending cry of a crow in a dream it might mean that someone has a bad influence on you and because of that, you might act in a way that is not desirable for you. It’s a sign that you should overlook your surroundings.
Meaning of Raven in Various Mythologies
The raven is no stranger to Scandinavian mythology. As it is well known, Odin, the father of the Scandinavian pantheon of gods, the ruler of the world, was carrying thoughtful, board winged, night-colored ravens on his shoulders – Hugin and Munin (thought and memory). The celestial birds fluttered their wings, flying through the universe during a day. In the evening they would go back and whisper in the ear of the almighty god what they had heard, what they had seen, and what was happening in the world. At Odin’s feet two big wolves used to protect their spaces, and they, together with the ravens, followed their god everywhere.
As for Greek mythology, the raven is one of the attributes of the supreme goddess, the sister of Zeus, and the lawful wife – Hera. The peacock, the cuckoo, and the raven are the messengers of spring- the time of the marriage of Zeus and Hera.
