It lands on the fence, tilts its head, and looks straight at you. Crow dreams are hard to shake off because the bird itself is: clever, loud and always nearby. Most of the old dream books were wary of it.
| Variant | What the old books read | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A crow | Misfortune and grief | Miller 1901 |
| A flock of crows | Lawsuits; enemies, if they gather in a wood | Yume handan jikkensho 1908; Yume handan 1906 |
| A crow coming into the house | No house entry; crows in the garden as a lawsuit | Yume handan 1906 |
| A crow cawing | Being led into a bad sale of property | Miller 1901 |
| Crows chattering | Food and drink | Zhougong 1880 |
| A crow attacking | No entry in any book cited here | none |
| A young crow feeding its parent | A dutiful child; peace in the household | Yume handan jikkensho 1908 |
What does it mean to dream about a crow?
Miller's 1901 dream dictionary (Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted) was blunt: "To dream of seeing a crow, betokens misfortune and grief." Its "Raven" entry, which points back to the crow, read the larger bird as a reverse in fortune and "inharmonious surroundings".
The Japanese books were more varied. The 1908 Yume handan jikkensho gave the crow three lines: crows gathering meant a lawsuit, a crow carrying something in its beak meant more bad than good, and a young crow feeding its parent meant a dutiful child and a peaceful household. The 1906 Yume handan, a Japanese translation of the Chinese Menglin xuanjie, has the same feeding scene among its most favourable entries.
The Chinese Zhougong dream book (1880 print) has the one cheerful line: crows and sparrows chattering together meant food and drink. And the 1908 book read eating crow as misfortune leaving and illness healing.
So the crow of the old books is not simply a death bird: it brings lawsuits, stands for filial care, and occasionally joins a feast.
What the crows did
These are readings from the old dream books, reported as history; no dream is a forecast.
What does it mean to dream of a crow attacking you?
It dives at your head, wings beating, beak out. No book cited here has an entry for a crow attacking. Psychologists usually hear a criticism or a worry that has turned from watching to striking: a remark that stung, a problem that stopped waiting. For the wider family of pursuit dreams, see dreams about being chased.
What does it mean to dream of a flock of crows?
The trees go black with them. The 1908 Japanese dream book read crows gathering as a sign of a lawsuit, and the 1906 Yume handan divided the scene by place: crows gathering in the garden meant a lawsuit about to arise, crows gathering in a wood meant enemies, and careful conduct kept the dreamer safe either way. Psychologists read flocks as busy social seasons, many voices at once.
What does it mean to dream of a crow cawing?
The harsh, repeated call, close by. Miller's 1901 dictionary read hearing crows cawing as being talked into a bad disposal of property, and for a young man, falling for designing women. The Zhougong dream book (1880 print) read crows and sparrows chattering as food and drink, 「鴉雀相噪主酒食」. Psychologists hear an insistent thought that will not be ignored.
Where the crow was
What does it mean to dream of a crow coming into your house?
Through the window and onto the table. No book here has a line for a crow inside the house. The nearest is the 1906 Yume handan, which read a crow standing in the garden with something in its beak as many troubles and few blessings: good for good people, bad for bad people. Psychologists read birds as thoughts given wings; one indoors is a thought that has come too close to ignore.
What does a crow dream mean psychologically?
Psychologists usually read birds as the light, quick contents of the mind: hopes, ideas, messages to oneself. The crow keeps that meaning but gives it weight. Its blackness and watchfulness make it the bird of uncomfortable thoughts: the suspicion that won't settle, the thing you noticed and decided not to think about.
The old association with omen usually reads inward. Psychologists note that dream birds tied to warning, like the owl, tend to arrive when some watchful part of oneself has understood something before it can be said aloud. For the gentler relatives, see dreams about birds.
A question to sit with
What have you noticed lately and chosen not to look at directly?
A dream book can tell you that a Meiji-era writer read gathering crows as a lawsuit. It can't tell you why your crow always sits on the same wire, or why it appears only in the weeks you are avoiding a conversation. That shows only when your dreams are recorded and kept together. Dreamlock, on the App Store for iPhone, is a private dream journal made for keeping them together: it listens to your dream, paints it, and notices when the same creatures come back.