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
in my dream, the night before i was waiting for someone, a lover, waiting desperately till morning, so when i was going out i saw a rather tattered huge white brownish owl flying towards me, and i crossed a road with traffic light to go after it, then the owl stopped there and transformed into a white block-like thing that seems tattered(or might be covered in bandages) and we hugged and went out to a have a drink/eat. but the funny thing is i have been nearly single all my life.
Sinistra – We are programmed to seek a mate from deep within. Unfortunately that urge can sometimes be injured. And that can lead to awful thing in relationships.
But I do not see that in your dreams. It seems you have an active inner world, for the owl, although it is tattered, represents your intuition, and it is leading you toward love – maybe just a dream lover.
I get the impression from the white block like thing that it is there for you to work on. It could be something you have to turn into a living being, or at least unwrap it. It is probably a way of changing your own inner feelings. Try using – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
Tony
Hello-
a couple of nights ago I had a dream that I was standing in a tall room with lots of wooden shelves. Live owls lined the shelves as if they lived there. A different type of owl on each shelf. I was looking up at all the owls, as they stared down at me. I was curious but afraid. I remember there was one type of owl, the cutest looking one, that my dream guide told me was the type to “watch out for” … Skip ahead to the next part of my dream that I remember. I looked down and my right hand was being bitten by a large white rat with red eyes. In my dream I knew being bitten was a terrible thing, and I was concerned. Do you make anything of these symbols? These scenes stuck with me, and seem significant.
last night i dreamed there was an owl beside me in a tree and we heard another owl hooting and the owl beside me looked at me..we never saw the other owl..thats all i can remember, then i woke up..i love the native american cultures n have learned so much reading n so forth and according to the Native American findings,, I was born under the owl sign and have always loved owls…what can ya tell me? thanks 🙂
I had a beautiful dream about an owl that I still think about almost every day. I woke up feeling so at peace and excited. I dreamed that I was in my house for a family party and decided to take a walk in my backyard with my dog. I started walking and came to a really swampy area that was really difficult to walk through, but ahead, I saw a green area enclosed by trees. I kept going and eventually started running through it to get to the green area. when I finally reached it, I realized it was just more swamp, and in the corner I saw a brown head. It scared me so I took my dog and turned back running. when I looked up, I realized that the brown head I saw was the head of an owl, and it was flying above us. I was scared, and it swooped down to claw my dog but couldn’t lift her. Then it came down for me. I ducked my head and when the pain I was expecting never came, I looked up and saw its beautiful face and eyes staring straight at me in my face. Ill never forget this dream, and now I have an owl that lives right outside my house that I never see, but my family tells me they always see it.
Gabby – The owl is a wonderful indication of an ability that has come to you. It shows you facing feat as you enter into a new area of your experience, because your awareness has grown wider. For the owl is intuition and seeing into what was the unconscious.
The feeling of peace you experienced is a sign that the owl brings a sense of beauty and wonder to you. The unconscious is a place of such wonder and beauty once you have faced your fears. See – http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/using-your-intuition-1/
Tony
Hi Tony, This early AM I dreamed I was at my parent’s home (where I was raised and my mom still lives), and I was doing the dishes, looking out of the kitchen window (it exists in RL). It was autumn, my favorite time of year, and I saw a collage of leaves of a tree, different autumn colors. But on closer inspection, the colors were moving, and camoflauged amongst the turning leaves were three baby owls! They came in very, very close to the window and I also went out to see them and they were not afraid…they chirped and were very animated. Also, amongst the leaves were jewels and strings of beads all in autumn colors and also camoflauged amongst the autumn foliage.
Can you offer any insight as to the understanding of this dream? I dream in color, and it was very colorful in the colors of autumn, and yet had that feeling of impending winter and Halloween (my favorite holiday). Many thanks in advance for your time.
Before I went to bed last night I asked for guidence regarding trying for a baby this month. A few months ago I had a miscarriage. Anyway I had a white owel come into my dream last night. My youngest daughter was very interested in the owel, she got very close to him and he clawed her face. I know this dream has meaning to it, I just don’t know what it is. Any interpretaion would be greatly appreciated!
Sheila – An owl is an expression of your highest intuition. So it is a very good sign in answer to your question.
Your daughter is an expression, I believe, of your vulnerable self. So the clawed face suggests that it is trying to separate your worries about being pregnant again from the positive feelings of the owl. /so imagine the owl spreading its wings as a protection over you.
Tony
I had a dream I was taking care of a patient inside her home, She was physically unwell and could not take adequate care of herself. I could hear birds outside of her window, and as I looked outside on the mid day summer tree. There where several different small birds that are common, robins and little brown birds. Then this very young owl perched in the tree hooted along with the birds. I was excited, and told my patient that she had an owl in her tree.
*I’ve never seen this woman in real life, and I’ve not been a home health nurse for 10 years*
This morning on my way to church, I saw a very large owl perched in a tree as I drive under it. It has been raining so the owl looked…wet, and not happy.
Is there any correlation between the owl in my dream and the owl I saw today?
Melissa – Very often our dreams tend to coincide with outer events – as with the owl.
Usually the patient you are caring for is yourself, suggesting that you are bringing a part of you up to better well being. The birds are messengers of good feelings and the owl an intuition of good fortune.
Overall it is a good dream about a change in your fortune.
Tony
My mom recently saw a huge white owl in the middle of the day just staring at her in the middle of a field across the street from her sisters house. This was three weeks ago. Then last week my husband woke up to a screeching owl at the top of his 18 wheeler. He is a truck driver and was at a location when this occurred about 2:00 am. Just last night my daughter dreamt of a drown owl knocking at her window. Is there a connection here? It has all occurred within the last three weeks and don’t know what to make of it.
I had the weirdest dream, I woke up scared and my heart was racing. I dreamed of joking around with someone, then I ran downstairs and hundreds of grey owls flew after me, I tried closing the door, it was really hard to close it though. There was a tiny crack in the door because I could not close it all the way and the owls came down at me like torpedos. After that i took an owl and cracked it in half.. what does that mean?
Molly – Your were relaxed and enjoying yourself and that opened you up to more of yourself. Yes YOURSELF. Because that’s all the owls were – you – but parts of you not met before.
This Life Will or motivator has been active for millions of years and we see it working all the time in animals. We are partly split in half because we are often opposed to what our Life Will in us wants. So the only way to express what is good for us is in dreams when our conscious will is largely passive.
Life Will created your body and pre-existed you as a person you know today. It was working in you prior to your ability to speak or know in the way you do now. But of course it has fantastic wisdom and skills, as can be seen in animals.
It is important to say that when a person enters real sleep with a little waking awareness, and either meets the experience of powerlessness through paralysis, or the hugeness of their Life Will, which feels like something alien or attacking, it is a shock. As I repeat later, as we begin to meet the Hugeness that we are, we often react to it with fear or panic. So we dream of being attacked by aliens or frightening creatures. If we realise that they are things we have created through our own fear we will pass on. But otherwise it will continue to haunt us as something that like death, will get you! But it is only our small self image, our ego, that reacts because it feels powerless, even though in reality the Hugeness is part of our totality.
Tony
Elle – It seems that you are dreaming about your sister is connected with death in some way. It is a common theme for people we do not like to dream about them dying, and of course they are still alive. But the dream might be about another connection.
Tony
I had won a contest of some sort, I was told that I had been chosen. I was happy and full of anticipation ,I ran toward a grass hut on the beach. Once inside the hut a man approached me laughing and really excited, pointing at my face. I asked what he was laughing about. He said you are turning into an owl. We ran toward the water and I saw my reflection in the water, my face had feathers and was changing shape into and owl. Anyone know what this could mean? In my waking life I have been dealing with death of close relatives. And have also become very sensitive in the last year. Strange wonderful things are going on.
Nicole – You won a dream contest, and you cannot win such a contest without really deserving it.
The hut on the beach is starting point of the greatest adventure in life – the discovery of who you are, your destiny, and all the skills and abilities that are part of it.
The face of the owl is usually about the development of intuition, knowing things, because the owl can see in the dark, in the unconscious, the seat of all real knowing. See – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/what-we-need-to-remember-about-us/#DualBeing to clarify this.
Dealing with death has probably been a path of development for you, and you do not have such a dream without preparation.
Tony
I had a dream of walking through a sparse wooded area; the ground was covered lightly in snow – the entire setting was tones of white and grey and the large white owl blended so well into the setting that it was difficult to see. I walked through the wooded area many times and saw him in many locations and I could walk up to look at the owl and observe respectfully. The owl made no gestures. Later In a different aspect of the dream I was viewing and sharing pictures of the owl – the owl was hiding underneath a wooden platform in the wooded area. The photos were grey and white and I was musing at the tranquil nature of the owl, and wondering why he seemed to be continually hiding in each photo… A peaceful but curious dream – just like the owl.
I had a dream last night that I was in our front yard in the middle of the day with my husband and two young children ( 6, 18mos). I see a beautiful all white owl flying overhead. I point it out to my husband and I was holding my yougest son. I owl continues to circle overhead and I suddenly get the feeling he wants my children. I tell my husband we need to hurry and get in the house and the OWL continues to get closer. we make it the house but the Owl flys into our gargarge and lands on the door opener. I felt afraid and tell my husband we have to get it out- he opens the house door and the Owl flys away. the dream has bothered me all day.
Hello Tony
I had a dream last night that involved two owls perched in my room above my bed, the female started giving birth like a mammal would and i watched as these 3 babies appeared. The owls had then moved to my bed and were unusually sleeping lying down and i noticed how the babies had grown 2 to 3 times their side in minutes. I was excited to show people but others didn’t seem to be as interested as i had expected.
I have recently experienced being very close to real baby owls and their mother out in nature which was an amazing experience, a big question, but would I have dreamt about this as reflection of my waking life experience?
Thank you
Last night I dreamt of a very big owl about 3 foot high and it was first outside a window (i was inside) and it was trying to get inside.
The owl then went to the front door and was using its wing to open the front door.
I felt scared of it and so i kept throwing it bits of bread to try to stop it coming inside.
The owl ended up getting in, it was very persistant.
I dream a lot, this one really stuck with me today. I was surprised to see the owl discribed as a doorway im not sure what to make of it all yet.
I had a dream where I am in a car driving and there is an Owl obvious sitting on the front right bumper facing me. It makes no noise and does not talk. It is the color of a regular Owl and obviously large since it’s head and a little bit of the body is above the the hood as it sits on the bumper of this older car. This only bothered me because I am 50 and have never dreamed of an Owl. I am unemployed and wanting to move to a larger city to find work so I dream of moving a lot.
Gary – To dream of such a large owl in a very good sign and not to be frightened of. Usually it is a sign of good news. So go ahead with your plans and listen to any intuitions you have.
Tony
Tony, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer me. I felt sort of silly worrying about it. But I dream a lot, always have. That along with the fact that I had no contact with owls, visual or mental in the past, especially near past, it really concerned me. Anyway, I thank you for your insight.
I had a rather odd dream the other night and I just can’t shake it. The first part of the dream, I was back at my parents old house in my old room when there was a knock attune window. I became frightened and I went to tell my dad that three was someone outside my window. He opened the door and suddenly it was my dad standing outside the door and my husband opening it. My husband then punched my dad in he face. (This would be completely uncharcteristic of him.) the other part of my dream I was walking and came upon some trees. I don’t know what kind of trees,but one of them stood out because thre was a brown owl sitting on one of the branches on the tree directly in front of me. I was not scared, but instead intrigued as I stood there looking at it and it looking back at me.
I should note that my husband had surgery last week to remove a brain tumor and has been on steroids to help with swelling. The steroids have unfortunately changed my hubsand’s behavior and he has not been himself at all. We also have two small children, so I have the great responsibility of caring for the children as well as taking care of the household duties completely on my own.