ADSactly Folklore: The Bird of Doom
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.
#/media/File:Metamorphosis_of_Nyctimene.jpeg){kind=link}
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?
Post authored by @ladyrebecca.
Click the coin below to join our Discord Server
)
pretty good contribution and nice pictures :) thank you for sharing :)
Yeah, I know it's pretty good...I wrote it😃
Posted using Partiko Android
Really interesting post. Thoroughly researched and very well written.
I'm sure young people especially would enjoy it very much.
It is fascinating how peoples around the world will give meaning to seemingly disconnected events. We can see how the meaning of an own changes from one culture to the next, from bad omen to announcer of loss of virginity. I wonder who came up with those :)
The fascinating thing about supersticions is that even if the effect does not occur every time the cause is noticed people will continue believing.
Owls are beautiful birds in my opinion. They are unique among birds because of their eyes and plumage. I wonder if they feel as wise as we say they are :)
Owls are not very common in Venezuela, but we do have them.
The bird we associate with death, though, is the chaure. I have seen in many posts and websites that they show images of owls, but the chaure I know from my hometown is not an owl. It has a distinctive loud and shreeking voice that causes the alarm of anyone who hears it. It looks more like a falcon and its plumage is distinctively dark, usually brown.
I had not learned about the owls' eggs. Very interesting. They look huge for the bird's size.
I must admit I've never heard of this chaure bird. That's the beauty of this posts, the sharing of information.
And, no, I'm not sure owls are that wise :)
The Chaure looks like a chachalaca (Guacharaca) and unlike the owls, which are nocturnal birds, these ones can be seen during the day. The interesting thing is that the are rarely seen, except when they announce the death of someone in the neighborhood, or so people think.
It would be great to hear the owls thoghts to have an idea of how smart they really are :)
I don't know if in captivity/domesticated they learn to do tricks, like parrots or other domestic birds
I'm afraid of them! I have seen some, and they are very big and heavy, with sharp claws and an expression of few friends. Indisputably I don't like them. I once made a publication for @adsactly that spoke precisely of the superstitions we had in Venezuela with some birds. In our culture the owl is also charged with the power to predict death! But there are also those who speak of good luck or fortune for those who see this nocturnal bird. Anyway, when we hear those songs of birds of doom or evil omen here, we make the sign of the cross and ask that the evil go far away. Thank you for sharing excellent post, @ladyrebecca
Yeah, people in my country also make the sign of the cross whenever something scares them or the conversation gets to some unsettling things, like when somebody mentions a potential illness or death.
Aside from being a nocturnal animal, owls are a magical symbol. It is widely used by magicians to add a magical impression. This can be understood because the motive that we hear about owls is exactly what you wrote. The magicians use psychic terror and want to distract themselves from having a greater magical power. Even though, of course not. They work on a timed basis and perform through rigorous training stages.
my ghost ghost is an exotic animal. I draw our attention both when they are quiet with their eyes and heads like cats. for farmers in our village owls are friends who help crush mice. He was active at night hunting down mice that became rice pests in the rice fields. so owl is an animal that is very beneficial to protect the ecosystem
Thank you @ladyrebecca
thank you @adsactly
Thank you Steemit
Warm regard from Indonesia
Right, I forgot about them catching mice... thanks for pointing out.
I was one of those people who loved (in my youth) owls associated with paintings, tendrils, cameos, etc. Simply because I associated it with the search for knowledge. So I look a little like your niece. Each culture has its bird of ill omen. And not to mention legends and mythologies. The truth is that just as there are animals "that attract bad luck" there are also animals that are taken as omens of the good luck, such as the "iguana". Many people that I know to have a doubt in their life or their projects and see an iguana go by take it as a sign of good omen. Now I prefer to think of the iguana instead of owls, owls or black cats, hahahahaha. Very nice your publication @ladyrebecca and thanks @adsactly
Interesting fact about the iguana. I don't know if we have a lucky animal here, cannot think of any. But everybody hates black cats, it's considered very bad luck if a black cat walks in front of you. You must walk backwards at least three steps, or better yet return home and forget about where you were going.
@ladyrebecca, Somewhere i read that Owl reflects the sign of Sharp Mind. Definitely this bird and creature is very unique and mysterious too, and definitely their looks can scare many if someone watch them in night.
Posted using Partiko Android
Who'd want to go out and look for owls in the middle of the night? :)
That's true but sometimes it's possible and in that cases expressions of owl can scare people. 😊
Excellent information in this, like all @adsactly posts.
Here are some tidbits I especially loved:
Shakespeare! I love learning anything about The Bard.
the origin of throwing salt over ones shoulder
uses for owl egg ashes. I have ashes on my mind this week
that owl's eyes face forward. I never noticed that!
Great read, thanks.
I found that hangover remedy quite amazing, too!
nice
Hi, @adsactly!
You just got a 0.32% upvote from SteemPlus!
To get higher upvotes, earn more SteemPlus Points (SPP). On your Steemit wallet, check your SPP balance and click on "How to earn SPP?" to find out all the ways to earn.
If you're not using SteemPlus yet, please check our last posts in here to see the many ways in which SteemPlus can improve your Steem experience on Steemit and Busy.
Among animals, and particularly birds, charged with symbolic significance linked to the sacred, the owl is one of the most striking. Your post, @ladyrebecca, gives us extensive information about this symbolic and enigmatic character, in mythology and popular knowledge.
In literature (my field) it has had very revealing appearances. For example, in Latin American literature, a Mexican poet named Enrique González Martínez (from the late 19th century), with regard to his critique of Rubén Darío's Modernism and the figure of the swan, writes these verses in a poem entitled "Twist the neck of the swan":
Enigmatic, attractive in its plumage and gaze, the owl will continue to be one of the most interesting birds of natural and symbolic zoology.
Thank you for your post, @ladyrebecca.