I have a niece who, for many years, was totally obsessed with owls, which, of course, made it easy when it came to buying her birthday or Christmas presents. Anything with an owl on it would do - jewelry, T-shirts, school-bags. There are plenty of owl-themed items on the market which only goes to show the popularity of this bird. Why is it that people find it fascinating, though? It is quite strange as, at least in my area, the hooting of an owl is a bad omen. If you hear an owl, it’s a sign someone you know is going to die.
This bird is present in the legends and tales in many cultures. The first important mention of this peculiar-looking bird comes from Greek mythology, where it is represented alongside Athena, the goddess of wisdom. In the beginning, Athena had a crow as a companion, but she got tired of its antiques and decided to get an owl instead.
In ancient Greece, there were coins which had the goddess on one side and an owl on the other side.
One reason this particular bird was given such a role by Ancient Greeks is, according to experts, the fact there were many of its kind around the city of Athens. The specific type of owl common in the region is, in fact, called Athene noctua or little owl. Warriors going into battle considered it a good sign if there were many little owls spotted flying around their camp, as it meant Athena was on their side.
There’s also an old legend about Nyctimene, daughter of Epopues, a king in Lesbos. The girl was seduced or raped by her father and, out of shame, she would not show her face in daytime. Athena took pity on her and transformed her into an owl.
In Roman mythology, Minerva is also represented as accompanied by an owl. The Romans believed that if you placed the feather of an owl an the pillow of someone they will start talking in their sleep and reveal their secrets.
However, during Roman times, the nocturnal bird was also considered a harbinger of death. An owl perched on the rooftop hooting was a particularly bad sign and legend has it the death of many important people in Ancient Rome, including Julius Caesar, was announced by this bird. In his play, William Shakespeare mentions the sighting of an owl in broad daylight among the many ominous events in the buildup to Caesar’s murder.
"...yesterday, the bird of night did sit, Even at noonday, upon the market place, Hooting and shrieking" (Shakespeare, ‘Julius Caesar’)
An owl also appears in ‘Macbeth’.
At the same time, the Romans believed the witches could transform into owls and it was in this form they would attack babies and drink their blood. One reason owls were associated with witches is the fact they are nocturnal birds, the night being a witch’s favorite time, of course. The bird’s ability to see at night might be the reason why it was first considered a symbol of wisdom - it sees things others cannot see. Then, there is, of course, the fact that the bird’s eyes are both front facing, which is quite uncommon among birds, and it gives it an intelligent look.
Dreaming of an owl was a bad omen, especially for travelers, as it was considered a sign that person will be shipwrecked or robbed.
The Romans believed one way to avoid bad luck if you heard an owl hooting during the day was to toss some salt into the fire. Or at least over your shoulder.
There were, however, more drastic measures one could take to protect against evil, by giving the bird a taste of its own medicine. Nailing an owl to your door was guaranteed to keep evil at bay. The tradition, which started in Roman times, was preserved for many centuries across Europe. In England, for instance, farmers used to nail an owl to the door of their barn, to protect their animals from fire or lightning.
In Welsh folklore, hearing an owl hooting was considered a sign one of the girls in the village has lost her virginity. Seeing an owl in a tree was also a bad omen, but the Welsh believed they knew a trick to avert disaster. They thought the bird will turn its head to follow a person’s movement, so, if you circled the tree enough times, the bird would die by wringing its own neck.
The owl is associated with magic in many African cultures. For instance, if a large bird was seen flying in circles around a particular house that indicated a powerful shaman lived inside. At the same time, it was believed the nocturnal bird could carry messages between the world of the living and the underworld.
This idea can also be found among Native American people. The Burrowing Owl lives in both North and South America, and Hopi Indians considered this bird, which they called Ko’ko, to be a representation of their god of the dead, probably on account of this specie’s peculiarity of nesting in the ground. As such, the Burrowing Owl was associated with the underworld, but also with everything that grew in the ground and sometimes, with the earth itself.
Kwakiutl Indians were convinced the owl incarnated the souls of people,which is why the bird was not to be harmed. If an owl was killed, they believed the person whose soul it carried will also die.
For the Navajo Indians, the owl had prophetic qualities, with which it had been endowed by the creator of the world, Nayenezgani.
A similar belief can be found among Australian Aborigines, who considered owls were the spirits of women, therefore the birds were sacred.
Owls, or at least their eggs, figured prominently in traditional medicine. In Europe, particularly in England, it was believed owl eggs could cure blindness and other eye troubles, probably on account of the bird having such a good eyesight. The eggs were cooked until they became ash, which was mixed into a potion to be rubbed on the eyes.
Owl eggs, cooked or consumed raw, were also a remedy for alcoholism. In parts of England, children were fed owl eggs to prevent them from becoming alcoholics later in life. I have no idea why is that, probably because the bird was considered wise and a smart person knows not to drink too much.
Personally, I’ve never had a particular interest in owls. As I live in the city, such birds are rare here, but, even so, I hate birds that make weird owl-sounding hoots. What if it is an owl outside my window? Involuntarily, my thought goes out to people I know to be ailing, does it mean they’re dying? Such is the force of superstition!
What do you think of owls? Do you like them, like my niece, or are you afraid of them?
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