Owl symbolism

[paul]

Kinda desperate...replies in the next week appreaciated...

What can anyone tell me about OWL symbolism...any medium ..any culture?????

[dragonfly]

Originally posted by paul:
What can anyone tell me about OWL symbolism...any medium ..any culture?????This is from A Dictionary of Symbols by J.E. Cirlot:

"In the Egyptian system of hieroglyphs, the owl symbolizes death, night, cold and passivity. It also pertains to the realm of the dead sun, that is, of the sun which has set below the horizon and which is crossing the lake or sea of darkness."

[Humming]

Don Juan, from Carlos Castaneda's books describes the owl as evil.

I told this to one of my more rationality obsessed, closed-minded philosophy professors after seeing lots of owl symbols in his office, and I think it fits him well...

EDIT: Forgot about Moloch! I've seen Jones' footage and it's weak quality, but I do believe that he infiltrated the Grove.

[ November 04, 2004, 12:59 PM: Message edited by: Humming ]

[Mindslide]

What can anyone tell me about OWL symbolism...any medium ..any culture?????[/QB]The owl is said to be one of the symbols of the Illuminati and supposedly represents an ancient hebrew deity called Moloch. However when researching Moloch it seems hard to come by any references to owl representations ie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones once infiltrated Bohemian Grove where the global elite gather once a year for a bizarre ritual where they perform a mock human sacrifice to a giant stone owl.

See http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/newstart/bohemian-grove/ for lots more information about that.

and http://www.rense.com/general3/groveowl.htm

Hope that helps

[dragonfly]

This is from The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft by Rosemary Ellen Guiley:

"The owl is associated with death, sorcery and the dark underside of life. To the ancient Egyptians, the owl represented night, death and cold. The Bible (Leviticus) says the owl is an unclean bird. The ancient Greeks, however, viewed it as the sacred symbol of wisdom, for the owl was the constant companion of Athena, goddess of wisdom.

"The ancient Romans considered the bird a bad omen, presaging death; Caesar's murder was announced by the screeching of owls. Besides death, the hooting of an owl foretells illness, bad weather and the loss of virginity of a village girl. In European and American folklore, charms could counteract the owl: throwing salt in a fire, turning one's pockets inside out or tying knots in a handkerchief.

"The Aztecs equated owls with evil spirits, including one regarded as the enemy of the human race, whose named was 'Rational Owl.' In Africa, owls are feared because they are instruments of sorcerers. To North American Indians, the owl is a bird of ill omen, either the harbinger of death or a messenger from the dead. The Sauk believe that if an owl is seen at night, it will cause facial paralysis. Chippewa medicine men stuff the skin of an owl with magic ingredients and direct it to fly to a victim's house and cause starvation. Folk healers in Peru use owls to combat negative sorcery. In Peruvian myth, the 'owl woman' is associated with shamanistic rituals and magical curing.

"In the Middle Ages, demons in the forms of owls attended witches, accompanying them on their broomstick flights and running errands of evil for them. Magicians and healers used owl feathers as a charm to lull people to sleep.

"In some cultures, the owl has long been respected. In India, eating owl eyeballs is said to give a person night vision. The Kiowa Indians of North America believe medicine men turn into owls at death."

[paul]

thanx for the resonses everyone...

celtic, egyptian and greek lore of a particular relevance if anyones can tell me more

[nanouk]

" The owl is a bird credited with more malevolence than any other, even though its reputation for wisdom goes back to our earliest myths. In Greece, the owl (sacred to both Athena and Demeter) was revered as a prescient creature -- yet also feared, for its call or sudden appearance could foretell a death. Lilith, Adam's wife before Eve (banished for her lack of submissiveness) was associated with owls and depicted with wings or taloned feet. In the Middle East, evil spirits took the shape of owls to steal children away -- while in Siberia, tamed owls were kept in the house as protectors of children. In Africa, sorcerers in the shape of owls caused mischief in the night. To the Ainu of Japan, the owl was an unlucky creature -- except for the Eagle Owl, revered as a mediator between humans and the gods. In North America, the symbolism of the owl varied among indigenous tribes. The Pueblo peoples considered them baleful; the Navajo believed them to be the restless, dangerous ghosts of the dead. The Pawnee and Menominee, on the other hand, related to them as protective spirits, and Tohono O'Odham medicine singers used their feathers in healing ceremonies. When we turn to Celtic traditions we find that the owl, though sacred, is an ill omen, prophesying death, illness or the loss of a woman's honor. In the Fourth Branch of The Mabinogion, the magician Gwydion takes revenge upon Blodeuwedd (the girl he made out of flowers, who married and then betrayed his son) by turning her into an owl and setting her loose into the world."

exerpt from the article "one is for sorrow, two is for joy" by Terri Windling

it is taken from an excellent reading room:

http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/

love and respect,

nanouk

[craazyman]

two years ago in a dream I was visited by a large black bird, backed by a dark indistinct woods in the night, that seemed to be standing up just a few feet from me. it seemed black and shiny with a downswept wing, like a crow's wing, but squatter than a crow, more like an owl in body, although with a beak not like an owl's short beak, and it looked intently at me through a very large utterly black eye that seemed to be the size of a baseball with an intent gaze that conveyed intelligence but no emotion what-so-ever. without any words it seemed to suggest someone would die, and then, in words, but without speaking, it conveyed the phrase "but it won't be someone in your family". A week later my grandmother caught a fever and died. I was very close to her, and considered her as close to me as family can get. What to make of it all, I have no idea.

[nanouk]

sounds like a visit from the morrigan...

owl sometimes call out to our fear of, or awareness of death, and it's realness, there is nothing wrong with feeling prepared for loss of a loved one, whomever that may be...

and crazymaan, grandmothers are the roots of the nuclear family, grandfathers are the key stones, how can you get closer than your own foundations?

love n.

[H. A. Beausoleil]

Interesting. Without any familiarity of owl symbolism, I once had a rather harrowing visitation of owls while under the influence of LSA. Earlier in the trip, I had a positive experience meeting with a frog/mushroom hybrid creature, but several hours into it I started seeing many hypertyke owls covering my vision, shifting around as if in a kaleidoscope, and making a mechanical chirping noise, all the while taunting me in some vague way. In hindsight, though I very rarely have any issues of fear concerning ego dissolution during trips, the owl's reassurance of death resonates as an explanation for the unusual anxiety that swept over me that night. I'd wondered why owls, of all things, would be that which taunted me at the gates to hell. The collective unconscious again asserts itself as a rich substrate for the blooming paranoias of the individual.

[paul]

thanx for that nanouk

"coincidentaly" we,ve already had a death in the family before the owl symbolism materialised.

more interesting perhaps the idea of the Eagle owl..the eagle or falcon is the symbol of the saint i follow...symbolising soaring to spiritual heights, descending to earth to pick up what is required or desired, before returning to the heavens again.

-----------------------------------------------

subanallah...all praise be to god

[nanouk]

well, the eagle owl is something different...
(0=
love and respect
n.

[NightOwl]

Does anyone know what kind of owl it is that's perched in a tree in Paul D. Natkin's painting Night Owl?

[John Hoopes]

In the Popol Vuh ("Council Book"), which recounts the Creation story of the ancient Maya, owls are messengers from the Lords of Xibalba to the Hero Twins. This artwork is based on a picture of a wounded owl I encountered in Central America. His gaze was almost too intense to bear.

http://www.ku.edu/~hoopes/greenowl.jpg

©2004 John W. Hoopes

[Buzz]

Great image, John!

How did you do it?

[nanouk]

love(for life)is intense.

[John Hoopes]

I'm glad you like the image. This spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata) was brought into town by someone who found it in the forest. The original photo was taken in Golfito, Costa Rica on Kodachrome using a Nikon FE2 with a 55 mm Micro Nikkor lens. The rest was scanning and some Photoshop tricks. (About five minutes worth.) To hear the sounds a spectacled owl makes, here are an alarm/threat call (http://www.owlpages.com/species/pulsatrix/perspicillata/sounds/spectacled1_ns.mp3) and a male's mating call (http://www.owlpages.com/species/pulsatrix/perspicillata/sounds/spectacled2_jc.mp3) (MP3s from The Owl Pages (http://www.owlpages.com/)).

[ November 24, 2004, 03:46 PM: Message edited by: John Hoopes ]

[Buzz]

thanks, John.

the Owl Pages helped me to identify one of the night birds where my cabin is. I have suspected it was a Screech Owl, after listening to the MP3 of its call, now I'm certain.