Owl As Totem and Owl Medicine

Owl As Totem

The following information was written in two parts. The first is from our upcoming book on the shamanic essences and part two was more detailed information that was written to the Mornstar2 list.

Owl Medicine - Part one

Owl sees and knows the truth. It's ability to navigate through the darkest night and bring back nourishment for itself and others is the foundation of this essence. When you have lost your way, owl essence will guide you back to your proper path and wisdom.

Expanded Definition - Death and rebirth, releasing that which has outlived it's benefit and usefulness in your life, actual physical death transition, can be placed in a bowl of water and used to help earth bound Souls find their guides and loved ones. Clearing a home or land of negative energy. Starting over in a new life or releasing the ties that kept you bound to the old one. Enhances clairvoyance, clairaudience, communication from one's Master Guides and Totems.

Owls have long been associated with both death and wisdom. In Greek mythology an Owl was sacred to Pallas Athene, the Goddess of wisdom, because it sat on her shoulder and lit up her blind side. Their association with death comes from their peerless ability as hunters of the night, they are able to navigate through the most densely forested areas in order to seek out and capture their prey. Crows will mob Owls when they are near their territory for they know that when night falls, Owl becomes a formidable predator that will return to the Crow's nesting areas in search of a tasty Crow dinner.

Yet even so, the Owl provides a vital function in keeping bird, rodent and insect populations in check; too many of any species is detrimental to the balance of all. So it is with other things in our own lives, for if we have too many possessions, too many projects, too much of anything, it limits and restricts our ability to move freely through the different areas of our lives and the resu lt is stagnation which leads to the death of joy, happiness and abundance. Owl medicine then becomes crucial in helping us to clear out that which is no longer needed or wanted. What may seem like a death to us in the giving up of something may be for another the birth and manifestation of a dream. We are most likely to lose our way when we become enmeshed in the "shoulds" and "must haves" in life, most of which come not from our inner selves but from the opinions and beliefs of those around us. We can spend so much time listening to others about what we should want ( and the commercials on the telly and radio are prime examples of this!) that we ignore what we really want. We find ourselves spiraling downwards into the darkness because we have become so busy thinking we must pursue this or hunt that, most of which provides very little, if any, real nourishment.

Think for a moment what your life would be like if you were able to jettison anything that did not speak to you on a Soul level. What would remain? What then would you "hunt" because it provided for you on all levels? That is what Owl medicine teaches us to do. We find that as we begin to move through the process of what we truly want, clearing the old to make way for the new birth of the Self that is close at hand, we find that other obstacles, limitations, fears and anxieties also begin to "die" in our lives. They no longer have the hooks to remain attached to our energy fields and without our support, they must die.

Owl knows that all apparent manner of death is in fact a liberation into a new life. Something must first be cleared away for anything new to be born. When a person moves, leaves a job or relationship, has a baby, adopts a new animal friend, something in the old way of life had to die for the new to be created. At the time it may seem incredibly painful because we have been taught that death is an ending, not a new beginning, and that what is in the process of being born is always more beneficial than the old. The pain and grief is extended and heightened when we try to hang on to what was because we believe that is the best we would ever have. The unknown can seem dreadfully forbidding, how will we cope, who will be there if we stumble, what if we fail?

Owl can take us beyond those thoughts and fears, for Owl sees far into the future and knows that even after the darkest night there is a new dawn that is approaching. It is as inevitable as babies crying and of buds bursting forth from plants in the spring. From every death something new must emerge for life is ever renewing itself. The Crow that was taken by an Owl last summer may reappear the following spring as a nestling. The Berries that were eaten by a Bear one year may reappear the next as a bird, an ant or a human being. All of life is interconnected and we are all part and parcel of the same fabric that wends its way through the stories of our own life and death. Death then becomes not a loss but a new adventure to be explored with great abandon and joy.

Chakra - Root, Crown
Essential Oil - Rosemary, Lime, Cinnamon
Chant - Ti mah su
Planet - Pluto
Other Supportive Measures - Write a letter to a loved one who has passed over or light a candle for them for 7 consecutive days. Look back at some of the "deaths" in your life, how have they helped you to become the person you are today? Join a discussion or support group for death and dying, study the planet Pluto in your natal chart and note what deaths have occurred through the house where it is found and also the house where Scorpio is found on the cusp or contained within it. Hold a releasing ceremony, symbolically burying or burning anything you no longer want or need in your own life. Make up your own ritual for this and follow your own inner knowing or call upon Owl to help show you the way.

Owl Medicine - Part Two

Owl medicine can help a person to extract secrets, to see that which is hidden in the darkness and is very powerful for soul retreivals for this reason. Many shamans, psychic healers and mediums have owl medicine either as a primary totem or can call upon one as needed. They can see clear through to the core reason for any type of imbalance and then they can spot the proper medicine needed to heal the imbalance.

Owls are also fabulous at keeping rodent populations under control. In Eastern Oregon for example farmers have begun encouraging Barn Owls to nest on their property because of their ability to out do the family cat in keeping rodents under control! So Owl medicine can also help us to keep the pests in our own lives at bay and keep them from becoming overly destructive. In healing this medicine can become very important as in cases of Cancer where they "pest" in this case the cancer cells, are multiplying so rapidly they threaten to destroy the fabric of the body physical. In actual fact, the body contains numerous cells and virus's and bacteria's that if not kept under control would kill us within days and yet in the proper numbers are actually highly beneficial to the body!

So too are rodent populations needed in order to maintain balance in the world. Owl knows what is needed in the proper amounts and what needs to be released, the way in which the Owl Medicine person does this though depends on the relationship they have with their own Owls and what the Owl suggests to them as the proper balancing measure.

Owl people also need to get a certain amount of daytime/solar energy via the sun, yellow crystals or flowers and so forth lest they become out of balance with the nocturnal side of their nature. It can be easy for Owl people to want to shun the daylight as they tend to be more comfortable at night, and yet they too need the balance that the solar world provides. They might feel overly exposed when out in the daylight and thus it helps them to wear a talisman or shield of some sort where they feel they are protected from the energies of others as often they are extremely sensitive and psychic.

If you need to know the truth of something, ask an Owl person or one who has Lynx or Bobcat medicine! All three tend to see what others do not or cannot and are very reliable and accurate in what they pick up about a person or situation. The Owl person, though, is far more likely to tell you what they see, the Lynx and Bobcat person usually keeps many things to themselves.

Other raptors such as Hawks, Eagles and so forth are associated with Owls as well because they frequently share the same territory although there is the odd skirmish now and again. Owl people frequently find that they may have to stand their ground in life when they find themselves challenged by someone else, yet if they are coming from what they know is true, that always does come to the forefront in the end! Owl people also do tend to be very wise, often beyond their years because they do see far more than many others do. They tend to be mystical, rather magical people and often are highly interested in magic and ritual at which they are extremely gifted! Merlin had an Owl for example, this is why he was such a wonderful Magician, VBG!