Owls in Lore and Culture
THE SPIRIT CHASERS
The owl, night's herald.
William Shakespeare 1564-1616 Venus and Adonis [1593], l. 531
In many cultures, owls signal an underworld or serve to represent human spirits after
death; in other cultures, owls represent supportive spirit helpers and allow humans (often
shamans) to connect with or utilize their supernatural powers. Among some native groups in
the Pacific Northwest of USA, owls served to bring shamans in contact with the dead,
provided power for seeing at night, or gave power that enabled a shaman to find lost
objects (Ray 1939 and Cline 1938, as cited in Keyser et al. 1998).
As with the owls of the ancient Roman statesman Pliny the Elder, many forest owls have
played key roles as signalers of death. The mountain tribes of Myanmar (Burma) know the
plaintive song of the Mountain Scops Owl (Otus spilocephalus) in such legends (Smythies
1953, Voous 1988). In one Navajo myth, after death the soul assumes the form of an owl
(Saunders 1995).
In India, the Brown Wood Owl (Strix leptogrammica), Forest Eagle-owl (Bubo nipalensis),
and Brown Fish Owl (B. zeylonensis) are found in dense riparian forests of Ficus near
streams and ponds, sites often considered as sacred groves, or in cemeteries that bear the
last of the largest trees with cavities and hollows in an area (Marcot 1995; B. Marcot,
pers. obs.). Old-forest owls, particularly the Forest Eagle-owl, play major roles in many
Nepali and Hindu legends. As heard calling at night from cemeteries and sacred groves,
such owls are thought to have captured the spirit of a person departed from this world. In
one sense, then, many of these owl species can serve as indicators of the religious value
of a forest (Marcot 1995); conserving the religious site equally conserves key roost or
nest sites.
Members of the animistic Garo Hills Tribe of Meghalaya, northeast India, call owls dopo
or petcha. Along with nightjars, they also refer to owls as doang, which means birds that
are believed to call out at night when a person is going to die; its cry denotes the death
of a person (Nengminza 1996; B. Marcot, pers. obs.).
The aboriginal peoples of North Queensland, Australia, view owls in a similar way. In
January 2000, a female aboriginal elder relayed that owls are special to her people. A
little apologetically, she added that owls are also considered an ill omen, signifying a
death in the family - but only if the owl hung around the home site for several days (R.
Loyn, pers. comm.).
Throughout India, owls are construed as bad omens, messengers of ill luck, or servants
of the dead. In general, owls often have been treated badly both in daily life and even in
Indian literature. For example, in India it is very common to call a foolish person
"an owl." But in Indian mythology the owl has been treated at times reverently
and given some place of prestige. For instance, Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of money and
wealth, rides on an owl. Even in present times, some people of India, particularly
Bengali, believe that if a white owl enters a home it is treated as a good omen by
relating it to the possible flow of wealth or money into that home (A. Saxena, pers.
comm.; also see Box 1).
In India the Forest Eagle-owl is known to take peafowl, junglefowl, hares, jackals, and
even young barking deer (Ali 1987). Ali noted that its cry is a low, deep, and
far-sounding moaning hoot and a blood-curdling shriek as of a woman in grief, earning this
creature the name of "Devil Bird." The call of the Ceylon Forest Eagle-owl
subspecies (Bubo nipalensis blighi) consists of "shrieks such as of a woman being
strangled" but that "the dreadful shrieks and strangulating noises are merely
its 'mating love-song,' which would also account for their rare and periodic
occurrence" (Ali and Ripley 1987). In related accounts, Ali described its noises as
"a variety of weird, eerie shrieks and chuckles" and a scream "like that of
a demented person casting himself over a precipice." Holmgren (1988) also noted that
in history, eagle-owls have been variously called Bird of Evil Omen, Death Owl, Ghost Owl,
Mystery Owl, Knows-All Owl, and even Rat Owl.
In India, one of us (BGM) was told (see Appendix 1)
that the Devil Bird or Devil Owl can be found in graveyards and big dead trees - evidence,
albeit anecdotal rather than scientific - that this owl species associates with old
forests and big old trees -- and death. Graveyards often contain the last old growth
trees, and in India, the Muslims, especially, revere everything in a cemetery including
the vegetation. Thus, the eerie cries of the Devil Owl are heard mostly in cemeteries,
portending death. And here converge myth, culture, and biology to a consistent whole, as
they should for successful conservation of cultures, people, and wildlife.
In China, owlets have been believed to pluck out their mothers' eyes (Saunders 1995).
Saunders (1995:112) also noted that "The owl's night excursions, staring eyes and
strange call have led to a wide-spread association with occult powers. The bird's superb
night vision may underlie its connection with prophecy, and the reputation for being
all-seeing could arise from its ability to turn its head through almost 180 degrees."
In a similar vein, on Andros Island, Bahamas, an historically extinct species of
flightless owl, Tyto pollens, scientifically known only from subfossils, stood one meter
tall and may have been the source of old local legends of "chickcharnies" or
aggressive leprachaun-like imps that wreak havoc, have three toes, and can turn their
heads all the way around (Marcot 1995). This owl likely inhabited the dense stands of
old-growth Caribbean pine (Pinus caribbeanensis), so much of which had been clearcut on
Andros during the latter 20th century by American companies.
In ancient Egypt, India, China, Japan, and Central and North America, owls were the
bird of death. In other cultures and religions, however, such as ancient Greece, they bore
the role of supernatural protector. Some Native Americans, for instance, wore owl feathers
as magic talismans (Saunders 1995).
Along the northwest coast of Alaska, the Yup'ik peoples made masks for a final winter
ceremony called the Agayuyaraq ("way, or process, of requesting"), also referred
to as Kelek ("Inviting-in Feast") or the Masquerade (Fienup-Riordan 1996). This
complex ceremony involved singing songs of supplication to the animals' yuit ("their
persons"), accompanied by the performance of masked dances, under the direction of
the shaman. In preparation for the ceremony, the shaman directed the construction of the
masks, through which the spirits revealed themselves as simultaneously dangerous and
helpful. The helping spirits often took the form of an owl. The majority of masks
contained feathers from snowy owls. Carvers strove to represent the helping spirits or
animal yuit they had encountered in a vision, dream, or experience. In all cases, the
wearer was infused with the spirit of the creature represented. Together with other
events, the ceremony embodied a cyclical view of the universe whereby right action in the
past and present reproduced abundance in the future.
On Java and Borneo, the Collared Scops Owl (Otus bakkamoena) has survived thanks in
part to the fact that it is viewed in legends there with reverence or as an ill omen
(Voous 1988). These owls are taken in China and Korea for medicinal use and many have been
lost annually for such purposes (Austin 1948, Gore and Won 1971, Voous 1988).
Shakespeare wrote of "The owl, night's herald" (Venus and Adonis, 1593, Line
531) and recognized the role that owls have as the "fatal bellmen" (Macbeth,
1605-1606, Act II, Scene ii, Line 4) of that final deepest sleep. In this way, owls have
been seen as harbingers of eschatology or the ultimate fate of humans.
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