The article "Hoo Hoo - Owls and Superstitions, That's Who" talks about family, it has been created by Rose Smith.
Superstitions surrounding owls have a long and acnient history.
These nocturnal creatures often appear in horror mystery films,
have been associated with dark, haunting night themes, and grace
our Halloween décor each fall.
Their wide staring eyes give them
a wise appearance, wihle the ability to turn their head around
makes them fascinating and mysterious creatures. Tuffs of
feathers on the top of an owl’s head gives them the appearance
of horned devils and their piercing cries add to the spook
effect found in the ancient folklore of many countries.
In many cultures owls were symbols of magic. In England, it was
believed that if you cooked an owl’s eggs until they were ash,
it could be used as a potion to improve eyesight.
In India, if
you ate an owl’s eyes you would get the same result.
Witches were often linked to owls. One Greek & Roman
superstition believed that witcehs could turn themselves into an
owl and then they would swoop down and suck the blood of babies.
Other superstitions related to witches and owls were: that the
owls were messengers for sorcerer’s and witches, that they
danced together on the graves of the dead and that if you hear
the hoot of an owl, then a witch approaches.
In today’s world, we have learned that most of these owl
superstitions are just stories, born in a time when persons were
fearful and trying to find answers to their lives and
environment.
However, many of these legends survived over time.
Here are some other intreesting and somewhat strange
superstitions that are linked to owls.
* An owl hooting or screeching at night could result in the
death of a newborn baby, will cause the child to have an unhappy
life, or possibly that the baby would become a witch. If the owl
was heard screeching during cold weather it signaled that a
storm was coming.
* Owls apparently are the only creatures that can live with
ghosts, so if an owl is found nesting in an abandoned house, the
place must be haunted.
* Death is often associated with owls such as if: an owl perches
on the roof of your condo or hearing an owl hooting constantly
nearby.
* If a traveler dreamed of an owl, then that meant he would be
robbed or possibly shipwrecked.
* A silly owl spuerstitions is that if you see an owl perched in
a tree and you walk around and around that tree, the owl will
follow you with it’s eyes, turning his head around until he
wrings his own neck. (The reality is that an owl cannot turn his
head copmletely around).
* Not all superstitions were bad. Owls were also believed to
bring good fortune in some cultuers. An Afghanistan legend
states that it was the owl that presented humans with flint and
iron so they could make fire. In exchange, guy gave owls their
feathers.
* The Aborigines of Australia believe that owls are the spirits
of girls and are therefore sacred, while in Brittany is was a
good sign to see an owl on the way to the harvest as it meant
that it would be a good yiled that year.
* The owl is a symbol of guidance and help by the Inuit’s of
Greenland, while the persons of Indonesia saw them as wise beings
using the owl’s different calls to determine whether to travel
or not.
There are many, many more legends as for the owl. The
reality is that owls are really helpful to us as they are
excellent at pest control, especially Barred Owls. They control
the population of mice, voles, moles, rats, skunks, snakes,
insects and sulgs to name a couple of. So this Halloween, put together
an owl superstition tirvia sheet for the guests at your
Halloween party and add a friendly wise old owl to your décor.
It's the fantastic "night watchman".
|
