There may be hardly anyone in the world who does not recognize a crow. They are, by far, the most common birds that we come across almost daily, irrespective of whether we live in rural or urban areas. People have all sorts of opinions about crows and their close cousins, ravens, who are also equally common (and are often mistaken as crows). While most people describe these corvids as noisy, destructive, aggressive, ugly, and dirty birds, we also often tend to come across people who are pretty impressed by their sagacity, cleverness, and also with their playful problem-solving antics. And it is perhaps owing to the conspicuous and brash ways of these birds, that people have been forced to take notice of them. They have even crossed the boundaries of reality, and penetrated deep into the cultural and religious myths of various cultures around the world. Although crows and ravens are two different birds, it is often difficult to tell them apart. We have several depictions and legends about these birds in various cultural traditions; but more often than not, we see that both birds are mentioned synonymously, except in some extremely rare cases. This Buzzle article will shed light on the symbolic meanings of crows and ravens in different cultures across the globe. Human fascination for crows and ravens runs deep. These black-feathered beings have been our neighbors (even in the urban areas) since ages. Perhaps, the interaction of humans with these mighty corvids may have begun right when our first ancestors came in contact with them. In fact, we have evidence that these birds were used as cultural/religious symbols since the ancient past―a prehistoric drawing in the cave of Lascaux in France depicts a crow-headed man, probably symbolizing the soul of a fallen being, or some sort of a totem. Here are some of the things that crows and ravens symbolize. In a number of cultures, both crows and ravens are associated with bad omen or bad news. However, in some other cultures, they do represent positive and good things, such as a divine message. So, both birds are viewed differently in different parts of the world. In Islam, crow/raven is one of the five animals, the killing of which is not looked upon as a sinful act. Moreover, in the Bible, while these birds are referred to as "unclean", they have also been credited to having taught humans to deal with death. Some traditions also associate crows and ravens with occultism and dark witchcraft. So, we can see that crows have been looked upon as both good and bad symbols by the world's mythological traditions, and therefore, while it may be possible for us to like, dislike, and even hate these corvids to a certain extent, it is simply impossible to ignore them completely.