The other day I received a question from a reader about a raven’s feather she found on her doorstep. I have to say that this is one of the most common feathers that people come to me with. She had asked a couple of people about their thoughts on the meaning of the feather and they thought it was a negative sign. In some cultures, it is believed that a black feather on your doorstep signifies that the death of someone is close or bad luck. However, she wasn’t sure that was what it meant and came to me for my interpretation. She let me know that she and her significant other had been going through some extremely tough times. They had just moved into a new house and things weren’t going quite as easy as they had hoped they would. She also told me that her husband’s totem animal was a raven. It was my belief that the feather was a sign that she was on the right path and a sign of encouragement.
I have found a lot of people who have the raven looking over them as a spirit animal and it’s not uncommon if you are working with the raven to find feathers on your doorstep or on your path to let you know they are with you. I had a period of time that I went through that I was working closely with the raven and one of my favorite experiences was the number of times I found them perfectly lined up with the door as if someone had set them there. I would also sometimes find them in groups in a line. While reading about the different opinions of what things mean of things also look at your situation and follow your intuition. We all have different paths and different things can have different meanings or interpretations based on our lives. If I believed that I was going to have bad luck every time I found a black feather on my doorstep my life would be much different. However, the timing of the feathers and the energy I felt around them let me know not to be afraid.
Feathers have been symbolic in many cultures for a very long time. There are all different types of feathers and literally hundreds of meanings and interpretations for them if you start digging. Native Americans believed that symbolically fathers represent spiritual ascension to a different plane. They wore feathers as a sign of their ability to communicate with spirit and their wisdom. Druids had beautiful feathered robes that they wore during their rituals to help them invoke the sky gods. They believed that the presence of these gods along with the cloak would allow them to enter the ethereal realm. If you look on google you will find so many different meanings of feathers.
Another area I wanted to touch upon is the color of feathers. In magick, I will often use feathers in spell work or when making a talisman and it’s important to know what color feathers correspond to what aspects. Here’s a brief guide for you to help you in your workings:
White: purification, spirituality, hope, protection, peace, and blessings of the Moon.
Pink: love, romance caring, empathy, kindness, tenderness.
Red: grounding, physical vitality, courage, good luck and fortune, life. Corresponds to root chakra.
Orange: attraction, energy, success, physical love, new ideas, willpower, and independence.
Yellow: wisdom, playfulness, positive attitude, alertness, prosperity.
Green: harmony, unity, prosperity, money, health, nature, animals, plants, forgiveness, fertility
Blue: mental abilities, psychic awareness, spiritual connection, knowledge, communication, protection, peace
Purple: connection with the universe and universal energy
Brown: stability, respect, home
Gray: peace, balance, neutrality
Black: bring mystical wisdom that comes with true spiritual initiation. Protection.
Much Love and Many Blessings,
Jasmeine Moonsong
The Magick of Feathers and the Messages They Bring Us
