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
I had the same dream twice this week that I am desperately seeking the meaning behind. Simple enough: My brother and I were driving by and we noticed an owl on the hood of a parked car. We decided we wanted to get a closer look so I turned the car around and got real close to find that the owl was staring at this toad that was also on the hood of the car like it was hunting it. The owl then ate the toad and I then woke up with a very unsettled feeling. Again this dream has occurred twice! Help!
Corinne – The first part of the dream is easy. You had a drive, an urge to get or go somewhere. But you had a feeling that made you pause. It was an intuitive feeling to watch or listen. So you paused and saw the owl, your intuitive feeling eat the toad. In fact the toad was killed, which suggest death. Considering that the toad and frog represent the life cycle of humans from egg, to living in water in the womb and then transformed into a land animal, and are seen as a symbol of rebirth, it suggests a powerful change is taking part in you.
The dream is about an intuition from your core self. It says do not continue on your old direction in life because there is a big change coming. It will feel like death of your old self but a rebirth of you in a new place or experience of you.
Tony
I was out camping, alone in my tent. It felt as if I was half awake and half asleep. A native american stood befor me dressed in all white leather, a single feather around his neck. He continued to repeat “White Owl” over and over again. Then I found myself in a circle with four burning stones, and whisps of spirits dancing were all around me. The dream itself was amazing and comforting. I woke up and a fawn was 10 feet from my tent door, and the morning mist was rising from the ground. I have never understood this dream, yet it somehow seems very important. Any clues would be greatly appriciated. Thank you in advance for any guidance about this vivid encounter.
In my dream I heard an owl hoot and saw a pure white owl on a tree branch. when I made eye contact the owl hooted at me again. I noticed the owl was stucked in between two branches so I decided to climb the tree to where the owl was. When I got closer to the owl he hooted again. When I reached for the owl and grabbed him I noticed he was bleeding from one of his wings. When I brought him closer to me to inspect him he looked at me and said “please help me” I got scared and immediately release the owl and he dissappear in thin air but noticed that on my right hand I had some feathers and blood. Can you tell me what this means.
Thank you.
Juan
This morning I had a dream of being outside at my parents house playing with my daughter. I looked down and a baby owl had flown to her and then landed away from her. I went over to the baby owl and picked it up and took it inside. I was kneeling beside my dad’s bed and the baby owl fell asleep on my back. Then there were 2 kittens, black and white, they were trying to get my attention and pooping all over the place and under the bed. I picked the kittens up and took them outside. Then as I was holding the owl it started popping in my hand and I took it to the bathroom. The owl was very calm. I would hoot to it and it would hoot back.
I dreamed of a huge brown owl with its wings expanded heading towards me. It was just within a few feet of me. It scared me so bad, it woke me up. It scared me, because of its size, and I felt it was going to hit me right in the face. That’s how close it was to me.
I had a dream this morning it felt so real ,it was i was in my old school sitting with someone else .am not sure who it was ,but while sitting there i saw a flock of birds flying they were all white so we started looking at them ,i the dream i was like is this an white owl i was kind of happy to see it except when it started getting closer it came into the school to were we were it was flying towards me thats when i woke up i did not want it to touch me because am afraid of birds.What could this mean
I dreamed of four adult owls and numerous baby owls in a tree outside my mom’s kitchen window. In this same dream, my mom got up and “walked away” from her cancer to see the owls in the tree. My younger sister and brother were also there. The striking thing was the number of baby owls in the tree…too many to count. The dream filled me with hope but sadness and longing for the past.
Julie – I am guessing your mother is already feeling things the owls bring her – intuitions maybe?
Your dream is not about your mother’s death but about her birth into a new life. So keep your spirits high and in that way support your mother in what she is passing through.
Tony
I recently dreamt that I was in the presence of a baby/newborn owl, although it was big in size I was convinced it was very young in age. It was white and gray, and it didn’t have a full coat of feathers yet, mostly white fluff. I recall feeling afraid around it, also given its unusual large size, and the fact that my conscious self suffers from ornithophobia, which however has decreased over time, I have managed to curb it, I tolerate it more and more but I am never totally comfortable around birds larger than a sparrow or canary. Does the dream have to do with this fear of birds of in the conscious part of my mind?
Also, next night I dreamt that I was observing the living room of the neighbour across the street (I do not know her, and haven’t actually seen her before) through the balcony french doors, she was reading, and suddenly the ceiling started to fall on top of her, gradually, until the floors of the building collapsed one by one. I was unaffected by this dream, I remained detached, no sense of fear or surprise, but I am confused about whether there is a connection with the owl dream.
Helen – The dream is obviously about your fear of birds, and in fact the felt some of this in your dream. But the owl being a baby suggests this is both a new level of meeting your fear and a change in you. The owl often refers to unconscious content, feelings the source of which are still unknown or unclear.
I think it might be a way you can deal with your fear. It has to be done slowly and gently. It might involve feeling the cause of the fear and so experiencing some emotions. So I suggest you imagine yourself in the dream and at a distance from the owl that you can cope with. You do not have to have a clear picture of the owl, just the idea of sitting with it for about five minutes. If that is tolerable do it the next day but sit a bit nearer. If it is intolerable try a distance that works. Then as you get used to it get nearer until you find it is completely okay. It might be that some form of memory is called forth, and it needs working on.
The dram of the ceilings collapsing is probably linked and is a good sign. It suggests that your means of keeping yourself safe from feelings is collapsing, and you are growing in strength to be able to meet whatever you fear.
Tony
I had a very disturbing dream yesterday. I will try to explain it even thought nothing really was happening in a dream. I dreamt of a grey-white owl. it was somewhere outside in the street. there was me, another person (I can’t really remember who – I don’t remember the face) and that owl. we just stood there in the street. i remember I felt like we were having fun even though we didn’t do anything (it was near the shopping-mall). I think I actually felt like this owl was a person, but it looked like an owl not human. and than this other person took the owl and put it upside-down and there was a vagina on that owl! I don’t understand what that meant but I was looking at it and felt disturbed! I can’t even begin to understand what it meant!…
Thank you very, very much Tony. I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I will look into the book that you’ve mentioned. My apologies that I I didn’t see your post sooner. It is very true that I must learn to relax. Heart trouble runs in my family. My Mother had a heart attack in her mid Fourties and I knew as a child that the majority of her heart trouble was from stressors. Again, thank you. Blessings to you and yours Tony!
Thank you Tony. I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I will look into the book that you’ve mentioned. My apologies thank I didn’t see your post sooner. It is very true that I must learn to relax. Heart trouble runs in my family. Again, thank you. Blessings to you and yours Tony!
I took a nap after brining my Husband home from radioactive treatment. I was dreaming that I was in an old neighborhood that we’d moved not far from. There was a gathering of people that I knew (but not in my waking life) I looked up into a tree and saw a huge black owl swaying it’s wings. I was interested in it & struggled to take a picture of it when a man within the gathering welcomed it to land on me. The black bird swooped down and landed on me. I did not like how it felt upon me, I felt scared. The bird worked it’s left wing down the neck of my shirts under & down my left arm. I felt pain. I stood frozen begging this man to remove it. The man called the bird it flew to him leaving behind it’s wing down my shirt. I ran home crying asking my husband to take out the barbs it had left in my skin. My husband did. I woke up frightened. I’m under tremendous stress, my husband is sick & all family & in-laws are coming to my place for Thanksgiving.
Shannon – The black bird is fear of death, and a warning that if you do not learn to relax you will suffer the symptoms of heart problems.
It seems to me that you do not have any foundation of understanding of life. If you did you would not be so frightened. Please get and read the books There is a River. Maybe it will help you.
Tony
I htad a very interesting dream. Me and my children were in a house and in the house was a big branch and under the branch was a white owl and a racoon.The racoon ran out,but the owl did not. So I raised my left arm and the owl came and landed on my arm and I felt so happy that the white owl came to me. Could you please tell me the meaning of this dream. Thank you. Diana
Diana – The big branch suggests this is a major development in your life, probably long established. The raccoon and the owl are very different attitudes you have developed in the past, and it seems you are now making a choice. The raccoon is a survivor and can take advantage of many situations to get its needs. So it can be a bandit type attitude in you, so it can be about thoughts or feelings that are like looking in dustbins and scrap heaps in your life instead of giving of your best and getting the rewards you deserve. So it might represent the fact that you have not rated yourself highly enough, that you have a poor self image, or even that you are or like being a rascal – or even an amusing and entertaining friend.
The white owl is a completely different side of you and it seems as if this is something that has now come to you and will play a major part in the future; whereas the raccoon has ‘run out’.
The owl, because it sees and hunts in the dark, depicts the part of you that can see in the usually dark, unseen, parts of you. It is therefore your intuition and as such can tell you the path in life that is best for you and most fruitful. It can also at times tell you things as a warning of things to avoid. So it is a very good friend to have. And its alighting on your left hand is a wonderful sign that it will support you in you activities. See http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/using-your-intuition-1/
Tony
I dreamt of a white owl. It was in my kitchen under my table. He “hooted” to get my attention, I told him that he had scared me. He smiled, then flew to me, he tried to land on my arm, but I told him I didn’t want to hold him, so he then went to land on my husband. He was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t understand what it was.
What does this mean?
Becky – The white owl was under the table because that is where ‘hidden’ things take place. It hooted because it wanted you too be aware of something that is taking place in you.
The white owl is a wonderful image of your intuition, your sight beyond the normal, what some people would call psychic awareness. It is white because or comes from the purest or the highest in you, so it is an important message it brings you. And you are not willing too get too close, because, I guess you are a bit scared of what is happening or about to happen to you.
Your husband, your dream husband that is, is okay with it. He probably represents the less cautious part of you. Please let the owl into your life. My experience of it has shown me it brings nothing but good too you.
So now sit quietly and imagine the white owl sitting as neat to you as you can and listen to what it says. It may express as a clear voice talking with you. Or it may seem like your own thoughts explaining something new. Do not be put off if you feel it is your own imagination. Imagination is the most creative thing we have – just look around you and realise that everything you can see in the world started off as imagination – then people made it into reality. Allow any words to form within you, or any images or feelings. You can test them afterwards to see if what it explains has any reality.
Tony
Dreaming of my mother preparing a owl to be cooked by putting it in a dish full of ice water. What does this mean?