Did you know there are about 250 different kinds of owls in the world? Even though most of them like to be active at night and nest in places where people don’t go, some of them tend to show up during the day and in less remote places. Even if they don’t come out at night, owls have a lot of meanings. But seeing something during the day can have a much deeper meaning. Here, we’ll go over everything you need to know about owls, including what they mean spiritually and what it means when you hear or see one.
What Does an Owl Mean?
Owls are thought to be smart, but they may not be as smart as we like to think. So why do we think of them as wise?
Owls are linked to both wisdom and death by a lot of North American cultures and Native American peoples. Some tribes think that the bird can tell how the weather is going to change and is also a wise guide in the afterlife. Some tribes believe that an owl’s hoot is a bad sign.
Also, the ancient Greeks thought that owls were related to Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. Like the ancient Greeks, the Celtic people also thought of owls as symbols of warriors and battle. In fact, Celtic legend says that the owl warrior knows about the underworld, in part because owls are mostly active at night. The owl is not only a sign of wisdom and bravery, but also of fertility in Celtic culture.
When you see an owl, what does it mean?
It is rare to see an owl during the day, but it does happen sometimes. If you see an owl at dusk, it’s probably a pygmy owl, but the little owl and the short-eared owl are also very active at this time.
In the past, people from different cultures had different ideas about what it meant to see an owl. For example, ancient Greeks and Romans thought that if they saw an owl, they would gain wisdom and, in some cases, a vision from the gods. Christians, on the other hand, would have thought of satanism when they saw an owl because it mostly lives at night.
When you hear an owl, what does that mean?
So seeing an owl is different from hearing one. An owl might hoot to claim its territory, warn other owls that a predator is close by, or try to attract a mate. Studies have even shown that each owl might hoot in a different way that makes it stand out from the others.
Hearing an owl hoot can be scary for people and animals alike. Even dogs can feel uneasy when they hear an owl hoot. In fact, the Romans thought the hoot meant death was coming. Even though there is no evidence to support this myth, there is something unsettling about an owl acting strangely, even if it is just hooting to talk.
Owl Spiritual Meaning Example Pieces
For some Native North American groups, people born between November 23 and December 21 are represented by an owl. But what the owl means to different tribes is very different. For instance, the Pawnee see it as a sign of protection, while the Ojibwa see it as a sign of death. According to Pueblo tradition, the Skeleton Man, also known as Maasaw, was a god who was linked to owls. Maasaw was not only a god of death, but also of birth and growth.
As was said above, the owl was a sign of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, to the ancient Greeks. Legends say that Athena was so impressed by the owl that she took it as her symbol right away. It became her symbol and was then linked to higher wisdom and foresight. Because Athena was the goddess of battle strategy, people thought the owl would protect the Greek army. If soldiers saw an owl before going into battle, they knew they would win. For example, Aristophanes said that when the Athenians fought the Persians, Athena sent an owl to the battlefield to help them win.
It’s important to keep in mind that symbols mean what we think they mean. If you want to know what it means when you see an owl during the day, you have to think about how it applies to your own life. So, pay attention to what owls are trying to tell you, because they aren’t always what they seem to be.
