Been having encounters with owls, does it mean anything?

[ForestChild]

I rarely see owls, I'd be lucky to see one every 2-3 years, if even that. But this past month I've had encounters with 5 of them.

The first encounter was the most intense. I saw one had landed in a tree down the road so I ran out to see it, and when I reached it it was just me and the owl staring at each other for about 5 minutes. For lack of a better word, it felt magical. The second encounter I didn't see it, I only heard it nearby. The third encounter I saw one sitting on a telephone wire as I was driving by, and the fourth and fifth encounters I saw them in flight overhead while driving.

My question is, does this mean anything or am I just having luck at spotting owls? I'm worried about the prospects of a deity reaching out to me because I have no interest in deity work. Could it be something other than a deity?

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Been having encounters with owls, does it mean anything?

Let me preface this with these are all my own opinions so take them at that. Ok that said here goes.

I'll start with the divinity aspect first. For most divinities associated with Owls they have a specific Owl they are associated with. For instance Athena is associated with the Little Owl, Ares is associated with the Barn Owl and Eagle Owl, Hades is the Screech Owl. Other Mythos have other divinities associated to specific Owls. But I think you get the picture specific owl to specific divinity figure.

Just an aside note here but a lot of people try to associate the Owl to both Hekate and Persephone. Personally I think that is stupid. Persephone is doomed to spend 6 months of the year in Hades because of being betrayed and revealed for eating a piece of fruit in Hades. The creature that does so is a stritch (Screech) Owl or turned into a screech owl so why would either of them have anything to do with screech owls after the betrayal. Or Owls in general as neither are associated with Owls in any of their lore. Just modern Witches associated them with Owls.

What the Owl represents though tends to vary. With Athena for instance her Owl represents Wisdom. For Hades it was associated with death and the underworld. With Ares it was associated with war and bloodshed / battlefields. For some Native American nations it equated to Witchcraft and sorcery. For other's it equated to death and the underworld. So it varied quite a bit though death and the underworld were often associated with it. Just my personal opinion but I think it had in part to do with how an Owl eats and spits out the carcass. Specifically what the carcass looks like after it eats.

Ok that aside let's look at what you've provided.

5 encounters. Of those 5 only 1 could you possibly identify the type of owl that you saw for certain. Perhaps the 2 flying overhead but we don't know how long they were in view. The one sitting on the telephone line perhaps but again no idea of how long you viewed it. The one you heard unless you know the specific call of each type highly unlikely then.

Now what time of day did these encounters take place at? If at dusk then it would be an Owl being an Owl and preparing for it's nightly hunt.

What was the relative location of each encounter compared to each other? Were they miles apart? Were they within say 5 miles of each other. An Owl has a relatively large hunting range. I have a bald eagles nest behind my house, it has a range of about 10 - 15 miles through the valley.

In your opinion was it the same bird? That is actually a critical question which also applies to the other questions.

The reason I ask is the 1st sighting seemed magical as you described it. That means it's fresh in your mind and you'll also be more aware and looking out for the Owl. Some what more attuned to its presence and actively looking for it. Doesn't specifically mean it's actually more active or even in the area any more now than it was before. Just now you have more focus upon it being there. Almost the idea of anticipating it being there and looking for it in more places to see if it actually is there.

If it is supposed to be more than just an Owl being an Owl then you'll see it appear in other places and other mediums. That or you'll see it doing things that are unusual for an Owl.

[ForestChild]

Re: Been having encounters with owls, does it mean anything?

The owls were definitely all different. Something to keep in mind is that I've been traveling recently (safely). The first owl I saw near my home in Washington, and the other four I saw in California, all within about 25 miles of each other.

The first owl I can identify the species, it was a barred owl. The second I have no idea, but the third was very large and I remember seeing it's large ears and yellow eyes, maybe a great horned owl? And the fourth and fifth had very bright white undersides to their wings, though I don't know if that says anything. These last two I only saw for a few seconds so who can say. They all happened about an hour or so after sunset except the third one, which was right as the sun was setting.

Its completely possible they're just owls doing their thing, maybe I jumped to conclusions in my excitement at seeing so many in such a short amount of time.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Been having encounters with owls, does it mean anything?

Hm, the time frames would seem to fit for an Owl going out on the hunt or returning from it's nightly hunting period. Figure the Owl would be heading out just after or near dusk and heading back in around dawn. So it would seem appropriate to see one at those times of the day.

Seeing as you were travelling and I am assuming going from Washington State to California it could be potentially unusual to see that many Owls. However, it's hard to say as well. Unless you've made that trip multiple times, at the same time, with the same amount of attention, you really can't say. That's the difficult part of trying to determine if seeing any sort of creature or number of them means anything or is important.

For comparison many years ago me and my wife were driving from Florida to Virginia and decided to take the Blue Ridge Parkway for part of out trip late at night. About 40 miles of that trip was on the parkway and we probably saw 5 Bobcats. The first one was a complete surprise and unexpected. Yet the rest we might have missed except we were actively looking for them through the rest of the trip and noticed their movements as they first appeared in the reduced lighting of the headlights. Of course we noticed other animals like foxes that normally flee as soon as the lights break the night as well.

But it didn't mean anything special because we saw them. Well other than seeing a creature we normally wouldn't have seen. They were just bobcats being bobcats.

Personally if they are meant to be something beyond being just Owls I'd expect you to start getting other signs. They'll be "Owl" associated but other signs. It's like you'll see owls appearing on items you receive in the mail for instance. Perhap you'll notice commercials that have lots of owl imagery start dominating things you see on the net or on pop-ups. People might start talking about owls for no reason. Just things that pertain to owls but seem to make no sense or have no reason to appear will suddenly appear is the type of stuff that will come into play.

That will be in addition to what you see with potentially living owls manifesting before you or around you.

[Zephyr]

Re: Been having encounters with owls, does it mean anything?

Some people think of owls as messengers from the spirit world. I take walks through a cemetery near my house, and for a while I used to see an owl almost every night. He or she would sit in the tip top of the tallest tree there, and I often felt that we made eye contact. Sometimes I thought of that owl as someone I used to know who had died, as if they were reincarnated. Do you get any certain vibes when you see these owls? Trust your instincts.