Animal symbolism has different meanings in different cultures. In Asia, animals like tigers and panda bears are popular because they’re a natural part of their ecology. And Eastern animal symbolism points out the traits of the animal and how they relate to people. In Native American understanding, animals are spiritual symbols designed to connect one to the afterlife and spiritual existence. So you see, animal tattoos mean different things to different cultures.
Let’s look at the Rook for example. We’re going to list three symbolism meanings from 3 different cultures.
Eastern Culture — The rook symbol may refer to the god or spirit Kutcha of Northern Asia. In Asia, the rook is known as a figure of creation, a fertility, and relative of mankind. The rook is also a shamanistic symbol, and frequently used to represent trickery or deceit. Two rooks or crows flying overhead at once can also represent two individual spirits of war and violence.
Native American Totem — According to Indian tribal lore, the rook represents magic. The look of a rook, especially when it’s dark and stormy CERTAINLY does look mysterious. Rooks also represent rebirth, and their souls are said to be continually reborn back into the flock after learning from their mistakes in life. They are then said to bring their new knowledge gained in spirit form back to the flock as newborn ravens. The other birds get to reap the reward of the new knowledge forevermore.
European Celtic Mythology — Did you know rooks can be taught to speak English? For this reason, they’re often associated with wisdom and prophecy, in the hopes that a rook might bear words of hope, good tiding, premonition, or warning.