The Tradition of the Owl
The idea that the owl is ancient is also found in Welsh tradition. In the story of Culhwch and Olwen, the earliest of tales to speak of King Arthur and his knights, Gwrhyr, Interpretor of Tongues, together with three others, goes on a journey to seek the Oldest Animals, in the hope that they will know where the Divine Youth Mabon can be found. They come first to a blackbird, who directs them to an older animal still - the stag. The stag leads them to one who is even older - the Owl of Cawlwyd. Gwrhyr speaks to the owl, saying, 'We are King Arthur's messengers. We have come to you since we know of no animal older than you. What can you tell us of Mabon?' The owl replies, ' I know nothing of Mabon, but I will be your guide and will lead you to an animal that was made before me.' The owl then leads the party to the Eagle of Gwernaby, who in turn leads them finally to the oldest animal of all - the salmon, who takes them to the castle where Mabon is imprisoned.
The Bird of Wisdom
The Owl is shown in this story as one of the five totem animals central to British tradition. Arthur's party encounters first the blackbird Druidh Dubh and then moves ever closer to the source of wisdom- the salmon. As a fish, the salmon swims in the River of Life, the Ocean of Being- his wisdom comes from an intimate participation in life. The owl imparts a different wisdom- of objectivity and detachment. Like the figure of the Hermit in the Tarot, the owl watches and waits- in ruined castles, in church-towers, in barns, in ivy bushes. Adept at disappearing from view and favoring the night, the owl is the animal that symbolizes esoteric wisdom and secrecy.
Because the owl is sacred to the Goddess in her crone aspect, one of its many Gaelic names is Cailleach-oidhche (Crone of the Night). The barn owl is Cailleach-oidhche gheal, 'white old woman of the night'. The Cailleach is the goddess of death, and the owl's call was often sensed as an omen that someone would die. It was seen as a bird that calls for the soul, or that catches or takes it away. From Berne in Switzerland there comes a belief that the screech of an owl foretells either the birth of a child or the death of a man- pointing to the owl as a bird of the Goddess who is both taker and giver of life.
Knowing of an impending death or birth suggests that the owl is able to foretell the future, and the owl is indeed the totem bird of clairvoyance and astral travel. The veils which surround the normal boundaries of space and time can be pierced, if you take the owl as ally.
The Secret Faith
In later times, all that was sacred to the Goddess and the 'Secret Faith' was denigrated and labeled as evil by the church in an attempt to convert people from their traditional ways. We see this process of denigration clearly in the folklore of the owl. Originally a sacred bird embodying wisdom and discernment, it gradually came to be seen only as a bird of ill omen. Farmers would nail their bodies to barn doors or walls; the fern owl was named 'Puck'- and old word for the devil; and owls in general were called 'constables from the dark land'. It became a common saying that the owl was a transformation of one of the servants of the ten kings of hell.
The owl features strongly in the Welsh story from the Mabinogion, Math, son of Mathonwy. Because it was written down from oral tradition in the twelfth or thirteenth century, it is hard to disentangle the pre-Christian from the Christian influences. Certainly in this tale the owl is considered an unfavorable bird. Arianrhod, the mother of Lleu Llaw Gyffes, swears that Lleu will never take a human wife. But eager for a companion, Lleu and the magician Gwydion fashion from the flowers of oak, broom, and meadowsweet, a woman called Blodeuwedd. A while later, Blodeuwedd falls in love with a hunter, and together they attempt to murder Lleu, who escapes in the form of an eagle. Gwydion eventually finds the eagle and striking it with his wand, returns Lleu to human form. He then pursues Blodeuwedd, and rather than killing her, transforms her into an owl, saying: ' And because of the dishonor thou hast done to Lleu Llaw Gyffes thou art never to dare show thy face in the light of day, and that through fear of all birds; and that there be enmity between thee and all birds, and that it be their nature to mob and molest thee wherever they may find thee; and that thou shalt not lose thy name but that thou be forever called Blodeuwedd.'
The owl is a bird set apart. She stands on the threshold of the Otherworld, reminding us of the ever-present reality of death. But death is the great initiator and as the owl hoots to us from the trees we may come to realize in the depths of our being that our death in reality marks a beginning and not an end.
excerpted from the Druid Animal Oracle by Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm
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