Animal Messages – Owl Spirit

By: Maggie Marshall | Posted in: Connection with Animals | Monday, Jan 26, 2015 - 10:30am

Have you ever wondered what messages there might be if you communicated with an owl or another creature? Wouldn’t it be exciting to see what a wise old owl has to say?  About you?  Or about it’s life and environment?

A year or so ago, I was living in a 10 acre remnant of pasture land, grazing land, a land where horses and wildlife had lived.  This area had the beautiful name of Sage Hill.  Noisy and dusty development is going on all around, and it will soon disappear. There were still some wildlife residents, though, including meadow voles, deer, coyotes and various birds.  Four great-horned owls (parents and owlets) were occupying a deserted barn, and hunting on the rest of the property.  I could see them perched on trees and various other platforms. They had nested here for years.

I was fascinated by these birds.  Most of us are likely familiar with the owls being wise. Other  metaphors and myths connected to owls include that they are harbingers of death, or maybe just the death of an old life and rebirth into something new.  Perhaps that was one of their messages to me.

One particular owl, one of the adults, I think, let me come really close. I’m not sure of its gender so will call it he and she. He would perch on a light fixture outside a big shed and let me come right up to him.  He was above me somewhat and would look down at me with those piercing, golden eyes.  Such knowledge.  Such wisdom.   It is like he is a sentinel. I feel so much connection.  I feel  sorry for all the pain of the world.

Sometimes I felt a haughtiness, like she was wondering why I was so fascinated with her.  Every time I came, it was like she was saying, “Not you again. Don’t you have anything better to do? And she would turn her head away to look at something else.  I would stand quietly and just be with her.  Periodically she would look back at me, and down her nose (beak?) at me.

At times I would connect with him to see what messages he might have. Here is some of some of the conversation:

He knows the area is small and disappearing. She will move on when necessary.  For now there is food.

Me – What if you nest next spring and it is destroyed?

Owl -It’s okay. We will move on.  We may lose one clutch.  It is not personal. It is about the species. You worry too much. You care about humans destroying habitat. You are hurting  yourselves. We can move easily. You need houses. You don’t know how to survive in nature. You are worse off than we are. There are forests to the west. We know. We understand. Our death is okay too.

I felt calm and peaceful, and sad.

There was a time near the end of my stay there that she was perching in a tree. We connected again.  She still let me get really close, even in a different location from our usual one.  When she flew away she swooped down low and flew right by my shoulder. I felt honoured.

Great-horned owls are very successful predators in an ecosystem. It does not like to share food or resources, although will allow the red-tailed hawk to do so at times. They feed on small mammals, the skunk being a favorite.  They are highly adaptable and can live almost anywhere as long as here is food. They can be quite ferocious, but other birds do harass it sometimes. I watched robins dive bomb the owl high up I a tree.  All the owl did was duck – no threat there.

I got this sense from them, of confidence and strength. It was not a warm, fuzzy feeling.  It was a feeling of wonder and magic and power.  It was a privilege to be allowed to communicate so closely with another being of such knowledge and wisdom.

So how do you feel when you look at these photos, or connect with a live bird?

It is possible to connect with a photo.  Just go to that still, calm place inside and open to what comes into your thoughts.

For further information on owls in a spiritual sense, one resource is Animal Speak by Ted Andrews.

I would love to hear your comments. Have you received any animal messages that you would like to share?