Crows and Ravens by Rick De Yampert discusses the various folklore surrounding these mythical birds while also detailing his work with crows/ravens from the perspective of a magical practitioner and devotee of Gaia.

The book explores crow and raven mythology from diverse sources including the Romans, Norse, Irish, Indigenous Americans, the Bible, and a cave painting from prehistory.

Along with historical sources, the author shares his own experiences befriending crows/ravens and ways he has worked with these birds as a magical practitioner and pagan while outlining ideas for the reader to do the same.

While there is a lot to learn from Crows and Ravens and the book will be an enjoyable read for many lovers of these feathered friends, for others readers, the shift from historical knowledge to personal magical practice will feel quite jarring. The book is part nonfiction and part witchcraft grimoire, with little integration between the two.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for providing an advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest. I didn't finish this book because it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. That's probably on me. I should have read the description better. I thought this was going to be a study of crows and ravens and how they've featured in various myths, legends, and folk tales throughout the years.

Instead, it was more about how pagans/wiccans/other alternative religions can connect with and use crows and ravens in their prayers and other rituals. (Not in a sacrificial way -- more about the sacredness of relationships with them.)

Anyway, not my cup of tea, so I didn't finish. But I can appreciate that it seemed well-researched and well-written, so I'll give it three stars.

If you think you know enough about crows and ravens trust me when I say you know nothing. In the book crows and ravens bye Richter Yamper is a book full of how they communicate directions the socializing of these great mysterious creatures their folklore their history what other populations thought of these animals and so much more. When I first received this book I thought it would be a quick fun read about… Well crows and ravens but they had everything from what the Indians thought about these birds to the folklore and Fairytales written about them. They were told separately first crows and then ravens so it’s not like it is a collective conclusion each bird gets their due. From the beginning you know the love Mr. Yamper has for these creatures he even names in Greets the crows outside of his Florida home every day and they even recognize him and his love for these birds definitely come through in the narrative with great narration in the interesting subject matter and trust me it is way more interesting than you think you will definitely enjoy this book I certainly did. I want to thank Tantore Audio and Net Galley my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I absolutely love history and mythology, particularly as it pertains to various religious beliefs, so Crows and Ravens is right up my alley. I knew these birds are incredibly intelligent and that many pagans (and other religions) work with them, but I truly learned so much reading this. The folklore is fascinating, and it's truly amazing to see how corvids are presented across so many different cultures throughout our histories. I also found all of the exercises incredibly helpful, as it's very detailed about how to start working with crows and ravens in your magical practice.

Although the narrator did a great job, I think this is a book better read than listened to. Since there are so many asides and exercises, it would just make more sense and flow better when reading. There's also just a massive amount of information contained in this book, so I would find it easier to mark pages to come back to.

Narrated by Matt Weisgerber

This was a bit of a weird mix, to be honest.

I definitely tuned out more than once because it was a <i>lot</i> of information, but the myths and legends were still quite interesting. I was also fascinated by the concept of 'crow magic' as practiced by the author, but I don't think I'll be shapeshifting into a crow any time soon.

The author is clearly a crow/corvid NUT, and constantly refers to his crow friends that live in the trees around his house. His enthusiasm for the birds salted his words for me a bit - I found myself approaching all of his conclusions much more sceptically because he seemed to draw them based on his own predilections.

I think there was also a massive disadvantage to listening as opposed to reading, because all of the bird sounds were ridiculous and there also seemed to be a lot of parentheses used which really confused the narrative at times. Added to that, each chapter is concluded with a 'grimoire' - some aspect of 'crow magic' you can try for yourself. Having those parts read to me was a bit weird, though the background info was always interesting.

The myths and legends involved were fascinating, but I was often lost because of the sheer volume of information - sometimes just in the imparting of a particular figure's multiple names. Don't even get me started on the Irish ones - though I think I'm glad those were read out to me because I doubt I could have pronounced any of them.

It's a bit of a weird blend, having the folklore justify real world application of 'crow magic'. I keep using inverted commas for the term because it doesn't sit right with me. I'm a massive hippy and open to a lot of spiritual, magical ideas, but crow magic as described in this book is not one of them, I'm afraid. Interesting, but not something I'm sold on quite yet.

All the same, I did find listening to this audio gave me the tendency to look around outside more, and keep an eye out for corvids. It gave me a greater appreciation for the natural world, and inspired me to get more in touch with Mother Nature. So I don't think that's a bad thing.

It's certainly not a book I'd recommend to everyone - I think you have to be extremely open-minded and already inclined towards believing in real world magic. The narrator does well with the material he's given, but it's dense and hard to swallow at times.

That said, I think there will be some who take a lot from this. It hopefully will inspire the reader to look outside every now and then, and have a little more awareness in the world beyond all of our screens. And that's not such a bad thing at all.

With thanks to Netgalley for an audio ARC

I am obsessed with crows. They are so intelligent. I am always afraid to upset them. Last summer I had a crow approach me time and time again until I figured out that she was wanting me to remove a cat who was approaching her fledglings. This bird saw me and asked me to help!
I spent another summer trying to befriend them but we never became besties. They just asked for food all the time. It was cool though. This crow obsession brought to me friend Jackie who did wildlife rescue as a career before she moved here. '
This made me so happy. I am struggling today because my black cat is dying (a girl needs a black cat) but this audiobook had my heart feeling warm and I just loved it all so much.
I highly reccomend this, even if you aren't a bird lady.