Owl

Because the owl sees in the dark it represents our intuitive sense that ‘sees’ what is happening in the subtle areas of our feeling and experience. This sense ‘feeds’ by watching or acting as an integrating function with the many dark or hidden aspects of our experience and behaviour. Because this part of our mental process is aware of the hidden activities in the depths of our body and mind, it can initiate our conscious self into the mysteries of life and death. If one can imagine having a council of all living things, we would all have in common the drive to reproduce, and there would be huge links of understanding regarding care and rearing of young and perhaps of love for mate. The unconscious seems to have a sense of this synthesis of all life, and the owl, representing it, speaks with this sort of collective wisdom; a wise advisor.

Because the owl as a dream symbol is an actual doorway to the usually hidden side of life, we may sometimes feel fear or danger in regard to it. In some mythologies the owl was connected with death, and might act as a messenger regarding the death of a family member. For instance in Jewish tradition it is unlucky to dream of an owl, but okay to dream of any other bird. See: Second example in wife.

Idioms: Wise old owl; wisdom of the owl; night owl; owlish – looking wise or solemn.

Useful Questions and Hints:

What do I know about Owls?

Does this show any use of my intuition and wisdom?

If the owl seems menacing in the dream, is this about my fear of the dark, or death, or possibly the contents of my unconscious?

See Core – Collective Unconscious – Being the Person or Thing – Using Your Intuition

Comments

-Katinka 2018-01-31 10:52:11

Dear Tony,
I was dreaming that I was already an ascended being on Earth with infinite knowledge and being amongst humans who asked me questions about life and how things are happening, etc. I knew I had supernatural powers but I didn’t show or used them and in one scene in the dream I was thinking how to talk and describe things for them so they can understand it on their level of awareness. I felt quite challenged to find the best way to talk to them and I was thinking and they were waiting for me very curiously. I couldn’t find anything anywhere but I was dreaming similar things before, such as meditating and I knew I am becoming to live as a different being on a higher level of consciousness. So this dream seem to be a continuation of the previous ones (about 3-4 dreams, every night, without interruption). I am very interested in this and I feel that I need to know what this means. Can you please help me with the meaning!? Thx, Katie

-Jennifer Tate 2017-08-03 21:16:19

Hello..I could use some help with an interpretation. I am one who owls bring messages to in the waking physical state and I am comfortable with and am honored for that gift.
Last night however I dreamed I was in a small group of people…I am unsure whom they were..and a large horned oil flew down with its dinner to the ground in front of us and began to eat. The crowd became frightened and began to panic. I quieted them by telling them that all he was doing was what all of us do and eat. As he finished he turned around locked his huge beautiful yellow eyes with mine fluffed up his feathers and began to come towards me.
The only thing I remember after that was reaching out and touching him and the feel of how silky and soft his feathers were.

    -Tony Crisp 2017-08-04 9:49:03

    Hi – It would help you to understand your dreams, if you would read – http://dreamhawk.com/news/summing-up/ and also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/features-found-on-site/ which has so much information in.

    Nothing can replace your own ability to understand your dream. With a little effort you can do this by practising what is described in – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson or http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/getting-at-your-dreams-meaning/

    Tony

    Jennifer – You are an unusual person, relating to the owl in the way you did. But the small group of people are your own various feeling responses, which you quietened.

    The owl eating was, as you said, demonstrating the behaviour of all life forms – for Life gives itself to living things all the time. So you have wisdom of Life. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/life/#WhatIsLife

    But the owl can see in the dark, so touching it may relate to your own intuition.

    Example: ‘I was standing with my wife at the end of the garden of the house I lived in as a child. We were looking over the fence to the rising meadow beyond. She said, ‘Look at that bird in the tree there.’ On our right, in a small ash tree, an enormous owl perched. It was at least four feet high, the biggest bird I have ever seen. I recognised it in the dream as a greater hooded owl, which was not native to our country. I was so excited I ran into the house to telephone someone – zoo, police, and newspapers – to tell them about the bird. I cannot remember contacting anyone, but felt the bird was there in some way to meet me. Also it was hungry and looking at next door’s bantams. So, I wondered what I could give it to eat.’ David P.

    This shows the positive side of David’s relationship with his wife. The garden represents the behaviour boundaries which arose from his childhood. But he is growing – the garden – and looking beyond the boundaries through his marriage. The amazing bird is the deep feelings he touches because he has a mate like any other natural creature. Out of his mating he becomes aware of drives to build a home – nest – and give himself to his mate. These are natural and are a part of his unconscious or spiritual nature. The bird is a hooded owl which can see in the dark – the unconscious – meaning David is realising things he had never ‘seen’ before. The bird is masked, because David through loving is learning to put his ego aside, which is a necessity for touching the wider dimension of life or the unconscious. The hunger of the bird shows an intimate detail of what David has learned from his wife. She had been working as a waitress and bringing home pieces of chicken for him, saved from her own meal. The spiritual side of David wants to develop this quality of self-giving, which his wife’s love had helped him see.

-Dawn Shuhler 2017-01-26 18:54:43

I drramed about a baby owl being neglected and abused by an ex boyfriend. I tried to save the owl and I am not sure if I succeeded. Very troublesome knowing my the things my great grandmother had taught me. She was a sensitive, I inherited some of her sensitives in my dreams. I never had an owl appear in such a painful way. What does this mean? Is my great grandmother telling me something. I have never been haunted with what I have seen in my dreams til now. Need some input

-Melissa 2016-12-26 2:32:23

I had a dream of standing inside of a tent and looking out of the screened window where a giant owl was flying around in the daylight. It was a hilly treeless landscape. It sensed that I was watching it and curled around and dove toward me but stopped just short of the screen. I wasn’t afraid simply because there was a screen between us. He flew a bit away and turned to look at me, he seemed somewhat angry, I just felt sort of curious and in awe but my heart was racing a bit. I walked out of the tent and looked into the sky and there were seagulls flying in all directions wildly, then I noticed a very large white bird that had them all in a frenzy and was swallowing them whole. I walked a little further and came upon a golden eagle that was lying on its back with its wrists tied together and a man who appeared to be a “fish and game” type of person in uniform talking about facts and blah blah blah to people who were standing around listening. I was angry that he had the animal in such a terrible position and wanted to say something but didn’t have enough courage to speak up about it, so decided to walk away and got distracted by strange flowers and asked a woman what kind of flowers they were but she wouldn’t tell me she just pointed out that there were plenty of flowers to see and I turned to see a landscape that looked like a crazy quilt of different colors spanning the hills and she told me to go ahead and walk on the short ones that were grown as a path. I followed it for quite awhile until it let to a group of “gypsy like” colorful tents with people running around and playing. I didn’t feel like I was supposed to be there but was too curious to not investigate and walked through trying not to be noticed. Someone started to talk to me and I woke up.

-Lucinda 2016-12-17 22:58:37

As a PS to my above comment, the two owls in my dream were identical and big with the coloring of barn owls. Blessings to you.

-Lucinda 2016-12-17 22:50:39

Hi, Gary. Recently I dreamed that my younger brother was sitting on the floor with my cat in his lap. Two big owls swooped down and carried off my kitty. I was shocked that my brother did nothing to protect my poor kitty, whom I love very much. I have to say that I’ve been secretly upset with my brother for over 3 years because he advised me to give away something that I now deeply regret having done, though, in the end, it was my own choice. My brother and I were very close when we were young and now, not very much. By the way, I love owls and find them fascinating.

-alex 2016-12-10 11:56:35

I dreamed of three animals. The first was a snake, no bigger than a foot in a half, maybe. He was a forth yellow like a sunflower’s petals and the rest brown like a diamond back. He kept stiking at me and the owner kinda just watched with this curious expression on her face. When he lunged at me I kind of shank back and instantly had a wooden ‘something’ (may have been a drawer or a light book, I don’t know didn’t seem important, I was being attacked) to block it and it landed on my shoulder. If I didnt mention that the yellow part of the snake was jagged, it was. anyway it kept hitting me but never biting until this guy grabbed it and hung it up side down. He told me to relax and just pet it. (easy for him to say, if fear was water I would have drowned to death, and I’m not even afraid of snakes) Anyway everytime I tried it would strike at me until I figured whatever if it bites ill just beitten and stroked its stomach. It lost the yellow grew wings and kissed me. (or licked maybe both) I don’t know weird right, I can still feel its tongue on my face. Then this huge (and I mean it stood to just below my waist here) huge brown horned owl with like yellowish-brown eyes showed up. (what is with that color) I wasn’t scared of that though I instantly ran up and engulfed it in like a bear hug. the thing is I could of swear it wrapped its wings around me, but when I let go to look at it, she kind of just blinked her unnaturally big eyes at me and walked off. Next up was the cat. (bet you’ll never guess what color the cat was, with yep you guessed it yellow eyes). I instantly hugged him then he stared and walked of too. the people around me seemed pleased. now I usually have animal dreams but not like this. I haven’t been this confused since my dragon dream. any pointers? hints?

-Mari 2016-10-18 16:16:29

I had a dream of a white owl sitting on a branch tree staring at me. In my dream I immediately recognized it was a fake owl that my deceased grandfather had crafted so I wanted to take a picture of it. Then noticed how white and clean the fake owl had preserved all these years so I was admiring it and staring at it. What does that mean cause the previous day I dream of a purple jaguar and the day before that a giant brown wolf…what’s up with all these animals popping in my dream?

    -Tony Crisp 2016-10-20 14:01:29

    Mari – You have two questions – the fake owl and the animals.

    The animals are important, because it shown that you are ‘waking up’ to the animals you hold within you – we all do but many people are unaware of them. To understand this please read http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/brain-levels-and-dreams/

    If you wake up to these inner animals you will find you will have an extended understanding of life and living.

    The fake owl, well it was fashioned by your dead grandfather. Obviously he must have understood and integrated some of his inner family of animals. I think the owl is not a living creature because you yourself have not yet been able to become one with the animals, and when you do the owl will live in you. For the owl is the ability to see in the dark, which in dreams indicates intuition, the ability to know things even though you cannot see or sense them with your physical sense.

    You cannot be hurt in your dreams. You cannot drown, you can’t die in a dream, no tiger or other animal can harm you. Of course, you can feel feelings of dying, or being hurt, or drowning, but they are all images you create because you feel afraid and you haven’t faced up to your fears.

    So, the animals you feel in your dream will harm you are actually your own instincts and feelings that frighten you and are actually harmless. This is because every dream image, animal or person is a subtle or powerful aspect of your own efficient working. Just as car is made up of many parts to work well, so are we. So instead of running away imagine yourself as the dream animal. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson and http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/using-your-intuition-1/

    Tony

-jillian 2016-09-10 1:52:50

i had a dream that i was walking through the woods and i saw a white owl with a human mouth and teeth. he smiled at me and started saying “hoot”. not actually hooting, but saying hoot. he was friendly. in my dream i had somewhere to be so i got up and started to leave, and the owl asked to come with me. i told him he couldnt come because he was an owl, and as we were both walking out of the woods he turned into a bug and followed me around for the rest of the day(dream).

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