Funny how some animals (like Dolphin) are almost universally loved, while others elicit a whole range of emotions, from reverence to revulsion. Of any bird spirit animal, Owl is perhaps the one that is most feared, while at the same time respected and sometimes even beloved.
Owl played a big role in last week’s New Moon reading for this lunar month. For me, it was the third or fourth time she popped up within a couple weeks. When a power animal shows up three or more times in a row, it’s time to pay attention. So I thought I’d take a deeper dive into Owl spirit animal medicine this week.
Here is the Cliff’s Notes version; if Owl calls to you and you’d like to hear more, check out my brand new Owl video on YouTube.
Owl Spirit Animal Meanings and Associations:
- Secrets
- The shadow world (deep unconscious)
- Deep intuition
- Speaking the truth
- Wisdom, and especially Crone wisdom
- Silent or behind the scenes efficiency
- Magic
- Letting go of what doesn’t serve you
The Shadow Side of Owl:
- Illusion
- Illogic
- Insanity
- Depression
- Stealth
- Addictions
- Death (This can actually be positive – e.g. dying to one way of life in order to enter a new one)
To explore Owl power animal meaning more deeply, watch my video:
Owl is asking me to share a couple things in particular right now:
Old Woman Wisdom: Speaking the Truth
The first has to do with speaking one’s truth. Owl represents intuitive awareness, and the ability to not only see different perspectives, but the compulsion to reveal the Truth about them. This is old woman wisdom (and in fact the Celts associated the Owl with the Crone phase of the Goddess.) Old women are not afraid to speak the truth, even when it is uncomfortable.
Here is where the shadow side of Owl comes in: When truth is suppressed—when the choice is made to ignore or turn away from intuitive guidance, to kill the voice—illness, misfortune, and madness reign supreme.
We see the effects of this in our culture: chronic illness, high suicide rates, environmental degradation, threat of nuclear holocaust, etc. It shows up in individuals, too (especially for people who are called to the shamanic path; part of the shaman’s journey typically entails falling ill and/or going mad until they learn how to align their mind, spirit, and body with divine truth, at which time the shaman is healed and is able to use their healing powers to help others.)
Take What Serves You, Get Rid of The Rest
The second Owl power animal insight at this time is related to Owl’s digestive habits. An Owl’s digestive system is able to separate out the digestible bits of their prey from the inedible parts – bones, fur, teeth, and claws – and compress the latter into hard pellets which the owl then coughs up and spits out. Owl teaches us to take what’s nourishing from a situation and leave the rest rather than internalizing what’s not supporting you. (Or more likely expel it; as silent as Owls can be, they are not a passive bird.)
Put together, Owl’s encouragement at this time is to spend some time really feeling into what is true for you—including separating out what you find valuable from that which is not—and giving voice to it.
This, of course, takes courage. Whether it leads you to a path of activism, or getting rid of habits or people who aren’t supporting your highest good, or honoring the truth of what really is fulfilling to you vs. what others (or your own ego) advocates, or simply drawing a line and speaking up for what you know is true, you can expect resistance. In fact, it can shake up your life pretty bad. But ultimately if you are experiencing any kind of discomfort in your current life, acknowledging the truth and acting on it is a necessary step to regaining balance.
And if fear of the consequences has been holding you back from speaking or acting on your truth (don’t be ashamed if it has), know that the consequences may not actually be as bad as you may anticipate. We are entering a time in history where old woman wisdom is just starting to be appreciated again. There is a lot of spiritual support for this on the planet right now. And this support is growing on a lot of levels.
As each individual steps into their truth, it makes it that much easier for the next to do so. We all rise up together.