The other night, while I was locking up my hen-house at roughly 7 p.m. (to keep the three chickens and three pet doves warm for the night) I heard a hoot-owl. His repetitive "Hoo-hoo-hoooooooo" was very loud and I realized he had to be somewhere in my yard; a 1/3 acre plot that I've been painstakingly caring for since buying this home nearly 4 years ago.In fact, I have been gradually rescuing more and more native plants from the Puget Sound Region: foliage that would otherwise have been bulldozed, since forested plots have been designated as development sites. Replanting such (with permission) in my own yard means I'm attracting more wildlife inside my 6 feet-tall cedar fence. Animals in the form of frogs, birds, squirrels, etc. continue to visit me.
The hoot-owl's visit was different, however. I had not heard such an owl's call for more than a few years and this was the first time I heard of one on my own property. Since the sky was black, I could not see him, but I could place the sound as coming from either the top of my house or from the fir tree in my front yard.
Considering the wisdom of totem animals, I decided to do a little reasearch and learned: "The owl is the bird of magic and darkness, of prophecy and wisdom." To read more on this topic, please see: http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/owl.htm
Here's a fascinating web-page on the various hoot owl sounds: http://www.owlpages.com/sounds.php. (You don't have to download anything to hit the "play" button).
WHAT SORT OF TOTEM ANIMAL EXPERIENCE HAVE YOU HAD LATELY? (Please comment)
4 comments:
Hmmm... I dream alot about wolves. But I fear them, so I don't think that is really a totem experience! I don't know that I have a totem animal. I suppose I could meditate on THAT tonight! ;)
I used to be fearful of wolves as well (had many nightmares about them circling my house when I was a child -- I'd pull the curtains closed to not see them but if I tried to look out the window to see if they had gone, an angry wolf would lurch at the glass). Then I went to Hawaii and had a metaphysical experience with wolves (felt like werewolves). I look at them differently and feel more connected to them now.
Owl is almost always with me; for one year she left and I did tough-love with jaguar. I'm glad owl is back. She perches on my left shoulder and I can tell when I'm straying too far from my path when she tightens her claws just a bit into that shoulder muscle.
I've learned to listen to her!
That must be a powerful experience (even to the point of feeling her, physically). I'd love to experience such a connection with owl. So far, I have been pinched very hard by deviant man-made type entity (whole other story) and have been breathed upon/sniffed by wolves while I was trying to sleep.
It's certainly the kind of very powerful (adrenaline inducing) event I've never forgotten.
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