What a fantastic dream Molly.. did you look up the meaning of "Owl" in your dream?
"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."
You ran down the stairs laughing.. meeting an intuitive aspect to yourself rising from the unconscious, with a light hearted attitude.. you realise the strength of this new part of your being and you become scared so you try to close the door on it, shutting it out, afraid of your own power.. then you take the owl and break it in half, showing how you are on two minds about how to go about using this new aspect of the self.
Hope this helps!
