Owl sightings and calls can be either a blessing or a bad omen. Pay attention to what happens immediately after you see or hear the owl. If something good happens, then the sighting portends good fortune. If something negative happens, then the sighting presages bad news, including illness.
The ancient Welsh associated owls with fertility. If a pregnant woman heard an owl hoot, then it was believed that she would have an easy labour.
Ancient Greeks, and the Romans for that matter, associated owls with the goddess Athena, wisdom, and prophecy.
Ancient Christians saw owls as a sign of evil and linked them with Lilith, Adam's first, disobedient wife. As a demonic figure strongly associated with darkness and infanticide, Lilith appeared throughout the ancient legends of the Hittites, Egyptians, Israelite's, and Greeks. She is mentioned just once in scripture, in Isaiah 34:14, though her name is sometimes translated as "screech owl" or "night hag.
Owls like witches have been persecuted over the years, these night flyers and hunters in the dark are feared here in Cornwall, old Cornish smugglers used to make the sounds of the owl while smuggling to communicate with each other, these were known as owlers and used the owls call to send the fear into anyone that heard it. It kept the coast clear as people would flee believing the owl was a omen of death.
The ancient Greeks revered the goddess Athena, who was supposed to be the goddess of wisdom and guardian of the Acropolis. Her symbol was the owl, so the bird became a symbol of higher wisdom. The owl was a bird of prophecy and wisdom in many ancient cultures
I have an owl as one of my spirit animals. I first came across her in a dream, she sat within an old tree and had the face of a wise old women. For me the owl represents wisdom and when I have an owl omen I know I need to seek advice around whatever situation I see or hear the owl.
What does the owl mean to you and your region?? Do you fear the owl?
For more follow @exploringwitchcraft
Comments