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*Lady Stearn Robinson & Tom Gorbett/The Dreamer's Dictionary:
If your dream featured the crane on the wing, it is a good omen, but if it was on the ground, it signifies troubles of your own making.

*D.J. Conway/Animal Magick:
Cranes dwell in most parts of the world, except in South America. One member of the crane family is the tallest bird in the United States. Old World cranes have very ornamental plumes, which at one time were sought for human adornment. The crane dances on the tips of its toes, flaps its wings, and bobs its head when performing its courting dance.

The crane was held to be sacred in many ancient cultures. It was called a messenger of the gods, but also a weather prophet, as it will alight on the ground before a storm arrives. The crane symbolized the spiritual ability to enter a higher state of conscousness.

The bird was sacred to the Greeks as a creature of Apollo and an emblem of spring and light. The sacred Crane Dance, said to have first been performed by Theseus and his fellow bull-dancers, was a symbol of the beginning of a new year.

In China, the crane had great importance. It was called the intermediary between earth and heaven, a messenger of the gods to humans, and was said to carry souls to the Western Paradise at death. It represented long life, immortality, good fortune, happiness, and vigilance. In Japan, the crane had much the same importance and meaning.

At one time the crane was a common bird in Britain and Ireland. It was associated with the Scottish goddess Cailleach and the Irish god Manannan mac Lir; Manannan made his magick crane bag from its skin. With its colors of red, black, and white, the crane was a lunar bird, sacred to the Triple Goddess. To the Celts, the crane symbolized both the Sun and the Underworld. It was connected with solar, healing deities, but was also a messenger of death for Pwyll, king of the Underworld. They engraved pictures of the rane riding on the back of human-headed horses and around magick cauldrons.

Superstitions: Cranes eat sand and small stones to give them ballast to fly in winds. You can tell a crane's age by its color.

Magickal Attributes: Intelligence, discipline, vigilance; magick; astral travel; learning and keeping secrets; reaching deeper mysteries and truths. Learning new types of magick. Astral traveling, especially in search of spiritual wisdom.

*Mary Summer Rain/On Dreams:
Crane indicates inquisitiveness.

*Bobby Lake-Thom/Spirits of the Earth:
Crane or Egret. This bird is the peacemaker and fisherman. he is a good-luck sign while you are fishing or during conflict. He brings peace, stability, harmony, and good luck. He is graceful, tactful, and direct. The feathrs from these birds are used in healing ceremonies to take away negative energy and anger, and to bring peace and harmony to a situation. That is one reason why our Indian people use different kinds of feathers in different kinds of rituals and ceremonies. The symbol and inherent power of the feathers from certain birds are used to bring in speckific kinds of spirits and energies. For example, my uncle Lester had to attend a special meeting a few years ago with the U.S. Forest Service representatives concerning joint-land-use plans and proposals. The meeting came about as a result of conflict between different groups all wanting to use USFS land in different ways. Uncle Les did not want to get into any heated arguments with other people at the meeting. So he prayed on a Snowy Egret feather, asked the bird to share its power with him, and he wore it in his hat at the meeting. The meeting became peaceful and cooperative.

*Patricia Telesco/The Language of Dreams:
A messenger from the Divine, who bears intelligence and discipline on its wings. According to Pliny, because this bird stands on one leg when it sleeps, it is actually standing watch. As such, it represents vigilance. In Japan, this is the teacher of law, specifically governmental, mundane law. In China, the crane intercedes between heaven and Earth. What messages do you wish for it to take back? Longevity for yourself or a personal pet project. In the East, this bird is thought to live for 1,000 years, so the seeds you're planting now will have lasting effects long into the future.

*Ted Andrews/Animal-Wise:
Sandhill Crane
Keynote: Noble and secret guardianship, the dance of life.
Sandhill cranes are waterbirds that often eat other water symbols, such as fish and frogs. All cranes have qualities in common, and thus some study of cranes, in general, is recommended.

Sandhill cranes are high flyers, always announcing their presence with loud calls. Hence, they are often considered noble guardians, calling out loudly to forewarn. If they appear in our life, there is usually something we need to watch out for and attend to more carefully.

Many of their natural behaviors further reinforce the perception of them as guardians in the traditional sense. When threatened, an annoyed crane aims its spearlike bill and rushes toward intruders, occasionally nipping them.

In their preening, they also do a bit of feather painting. Sandhills comb their feathers, coating them with oil in the same manner as other birds and then painting them a rusty brown with a mixture of grass and mud. This gives them a somewhat camouflaged appearance.

These behaviors convey the impression of standing guard and driving off intruders from the environment. the migrations of sandhill cranes parallel the journeys of the sun, moving from north to south, reminding us that there are times to change and move the guard. When sandhill cranes appear, there is usually some hidden protection around us, energy of secret and noble guardianship. Sometimes it's a sign we may need to be the hidden protector of someone else. Sometimes it's a warning to watch our possessions and ourselves a little more closely.

Most photos of sandhills reveal only the adult birds, probably because the young are often scarce and the parents are secretive in rearing them. This further reflects the energies of protectivenes and guardianship associated with these cranes. Extra care to protect our young--children or projects--should be taken.

The Zuni Indian perspective further reinforces the notion of secretive guardianship. Among the Zuni, the shandhill crane was a source of great secret magic and the feathers could only be used by members of the "Galaxy Society." The meaning and actual use of the feathers have been well-kept, closed secrets.

The noise of thousands of cranes together is legendary, conveying and almost ancient and untamed quality. Their incredibly loud whoops coordinate their movements, defend territories, find mates, and keep lifelong mates together, all functions of a traditional guard at the gates.

The sandhill crane is famous for its dancing, which is inspiring in that it seems to express a joy at life. Around the world no dance has probably been more imitated among native peoples, who danced in response to its migration to celebrate the seasons, for protection, and for fertility.

The sandhill crane's mating dance is very much like a ballet with three predominant displays: an upright wing stretch, a horizontal head pump (a bowing), and what is sometimes referred to as a vertical toss. In this display, the crane lowers its head, grabs a stick or vegetation, and then flings it in the air as it raises its head back up. The crane then begins a bowing with a vertical leap, the heart of crane dancing. In the spring, mating pairs perform this, but it usually inspires all of the other cranes to participate as well. Each bird coils and then springs up, sometimes as high as 15 feet, holding its head high and flapping its wings 4 to 5 times before coming down.

The enthusiasm among the cranes is contagious and serves a reminder that we should celebrate and dance for what is ours. Guardianship is important, but it does not mean that we hide from life. Life is meant to be danced and celebrated. When we are safe, then it is time to dance. When cranes appear, it is usually time for us to join in the dance of life.

*Ted Andrews/Animal-Wise:
White Crane
Keynote: Longevity, honor, spiritual justice
"Honorable Lord Crane: is the ancient symbol of spiritual justice and longevity whose appearance can help us to draw upon our own innate waters, our intuitive faculty, awakening freshness iwthin tradition for new growth.

The crane is both a solar symbol and a herald for death. This contrast is significant in that cranes teach the need for both life and death as part of the same process. Crane always heralds the end of change of old ways so that a new expression can be born within them.

As a wading bird, white cranes can comfortably move between water, land, earth, and sky. They can open doors between all worlds, realms, times and traditions, stimulating new tangible, spiritual experiences, revealing how death is just a transition, not an end.

In more ancient times, the hierophants, the priests and priestesses, were schooled in walking between worlds, with all that this implies. Because of its link between worlds, cranes can awaken past lives, revealing how ancient we truly are and how the past is affecting our present. This can be a new understanding of our karma, life issues, sacrifices we hae made or are making, and how the laws of spiritual justice play out within our life.

Crane always awakens us to the ancient ones--the beings of Spirit and its various realms--including that of the Faerie. Now is the time to draw upon ancient teachings and to find ways of re-expressing them within the modern world and within current life.

In the wild, the crane often lays two eggs, but usually only rears one. The parents are very secretive in rearing their vulnerable young. A crane's appearance may indicate that we are not applying the focus we should or that we need to develop a new sense of secrecy in regards to something being given birth to within our life. The crane can reflect for both men and women a need to give more time and attention to the children, literally or figuratively. Crane reminds us not to scatter our energies and to celebrate our creative resources and to keep them alive, that through proper focus, what we give birth to will have a long, honorable life.

A crane might also reveal where we are too rigid in our beliefs and traditions, conforming to them without knowing why or for what benefit other than "that is the way it has always been done." We may want to examine our perspectives, viewing where we have been following the traditions of the past that have perhaps outlived their usefulness. Or, the crane may be reminding us that there is a benefit from following past traditions, but only when given fresh expression and perspectives.

The white crane reminds us that spiritual justice will play itself out within the mundane world, but not necessarily according to how we believe it should. We need to remember that justice will unfold in the time, manner, and means that is best.

*Ted Andrews/Animal-Speak
Crane
Keynote: Longevity and Creation through Focus
Cycle of Power: Year-round--during daylight
The crane was a powerful symbol to the ancient Chinese. It is a symbol of justice and longevity, and it is one of many solar symbols. The crane is a bird of the waters, and so is one that will often help teach you how to express your own feminine energies.

The whooping crane, since the early part of this century, has been a symbol of the wildlife conservation movement. At one point, due to overhunting, they almost became extinct. If the crane has shown up in your life as a totem, it could very well reflect that you are about to recover what had almost become extinct within you.

Most photos of cranes only reveal the adult birds. This is partly due to the fact that the young are very scarce and also because the parents are highly secretive in rearing their vulnerable young. This can reflect a new sense of protectiveness, or even a need for secrecy in regard to something new you have given birth to or are about to give birth to.

Although the ccrane lays two eggs but usually only raises one, it will also reflect the importance of not dividing your attention--especially in rearing your children, be they your actual children or symbolic children, as in the case of special projects. Women who have cranes as totems do better to stay at home with the children rather than to divide their time between work and motherhood. If this is impossible, as is often the case in today's world, the crane can teach you how best to accomplish both.

The crane can also provide possible clues to past life experiences. "In China it is 'The patriarch of the Featherd Tribe' and in Japan it is "honorable Lord Crane'. It is usually depicted with the sun and the pine trees in oriental art. In direct contrast, in Celtic mythology, it is sacred to the king of the underworld and heralds war and death."

One of the most remarkable aspects of this bird is its loud whooping sound. Its haunting tone is reminiscent of a primal celebration over birth. The crane can teach you how to celebrate your creative resources and keep them alive, regarless of the conditions in which they are manifest, both by simply having the proper focus in your life.

Northwest is a transition point from West to North in lessons. It's time to assimilate what you've known so you can let go of what no longer serves you in that arena and prepare to work with what's now come into being. The rest pertains to the emerging and sharing what you've learned with others. Moving from West to North on the Wheel. Of course it's all tied to the issues dominating in your life at the moment and Crane's Medicine to resolve them. *S* Hope that helps a little.

Yes, I'd venture to say that the North-West crossquarter direction here is indication of a time of confusion while that transition takes place and brings the clarity. Try not to push things too much right now and let them settle into place. Imagine yourself in the eye of a storm where things are calmer. As the release takes place and the merging of the new comes into being it's like a warm front and cold front meeting...a storm erupts. Then when it passes the air is clear and fresh again.

It's fun when it all starts to come together isn't it?