“A Celtic helmet of Iron from the second or third century BC, found in Ciumesti, Romania is topped by an image of a Raven with hinged wings.” (p57)
I found that this idea of a raven or crow helmet fired my imagination and wanted to incorporate it into the current work I am creating about my father, his links to Celtic and Irish history and our original ancestor: Caoilte. The crow or raven is intimately linked to the Celtic battle goddess: the Morrigan, ruler of war and fate.
What is also fascinating is the ambivalent symbology of the corvid over time:
“The crow or raven might represent extremes of good or evil, depending on the context in which it appeared” (p80)
and the alchemical symbology of the Corvid:
“The raven eating carrion, even the dead bodies of human beings, signified the transformation of all things as the world, slowly but inexorably, moved towards perfection.” (p81)
In corvids, I find the reflection of human nature and the symbology of the internal/ external battles we face as individuals: the armor we wear and the allies we choose.
As humans, we see through our own lense of perception; we anthropomorphize the nature of corvids which is essentially something ‘other’.