 | Owl: Encyclopedia II - Owl - Myth and lore
Owl - Myth and lore
In the Western world, owls are traditionally associated with wisdom and knowledge and with the Greek goddess Athena. That's because Athena was a bird goddess and assumed often the form of an owl. Athena was not only the goddess of wisdom, but was also the goddess of arts and skills. With this association, owls became also the symbol of teaching and of institutions of learning, being present in the crest of arms of many universities.
The Ancient Egyptians made a representation of an owl into their hieroglyph for 'm', although they would often draw this hieroglyph with its legs broken to keep the bird of prey from coming to life and attacking. Another goddess possibly associated with owls is Akkadian Lilitu.
In Japanese culture, the bird is a symbol of death and seeing one is considered a bad omen (though in recent times, they are sometimes considered as a bird of luck). The same is true in Italian and Romanian culture, where the mournful call of an owl predicts the death of somebody living in the neighbourhood.
The Romans also considered owls to be funerary birds, for their nocturnal activity and having their nests in inaccessible places, therefore, seeing an owl at daytime was considered a bad omen. Their vampiric strix was in part based on the owl.
Taboo surrounds owls in the culture of the Native American Hopi nation as they are closely associated with evil sorcery. Possession of owl feathers is considered an indication of witchcraft.
In Indian Culture a white Owl is considered a companion of the goddess of wealth and therefore a harbinger of prosperity. In colloquial terms though an owl is used to refer to someone stupid. Probably because of an Owl's poor vision in short distances.
Other related archivesAncient Egyptians, Antarctica, Athena, Burrowing Owl, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Falconiformes, Greek, Greenland, Heraldic birds, Hopi, Indian Culture, Italian, Japanese culture, Lilitu, Native American, OWL, Owl (Winnie the Pooh), Owls, Romanian culture, Romans, Short-eared Owl, Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, Strigidae, Tytonidae, Winnie the Pooh, arts, beak, binocular vision, bird goddess, birds, birds of prey, crest of arms, dawn, dusk, eagle owls, fish, hawk, hieroglyph, insects, knowledge, learning, mammals, nightjars, nocturnal, omen, order, pygmy owls, rodents, species, strix, teaching, three letter acronym, universities, wisdom
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Myth and lore", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
