Owl's & Witches

 Apparently, people associate owls with witches and the devil...???

I always thought they were associated with wisdom and stealth, but others argue that they connect the world to death, misfortune, and dark magic. Some say this is because they have such great vision at night, they must be used to flying around in Hell where it's always dark. And the only explanation for their stealthiness is because a witch cursed the birds to be large, yet fly as easily as a mockingjay or a dove. Furthermore, people in certain parts of the world believed that owls looked like a human, so they looked like a witch in bird form. The history of trepadation against owls is so historic that Christopher Columbus and Shakespeare had it out for owls and called them "funeral birds of the night". Old English folklore went so far to say that "if an owl’s call was heard outside the home of somebody that was ill, the only way to prevent this person from dying was to dispatch the bird and place its carcass on the chest of the ill person" (georgia wildlife). I'm not sure why so many animals were killed throughout witchhunts. Traditionally, owls were killed then in the Salem witch trails, some dogs were convicted of witchcraft. 

Many Native American people also had connections to owls and believed that their spirits warned of impending death as they could communicate with spirits in a silent tounge. 

owl pages

Specifically, this article explains what the owl signified to a number of tribes around the United States. The majority of tribes associated the owl with death or misfortune, but few associated it with a warcry for bravery before battle. Which I suppose could also signify death. One particular owl stands out, the 'Spedis Owl' which "According to an Indian legend, the 'Spedis Owl' carving was placed on a rock to serve as a protector from the 'water devils' and monsters that could pull a person into the water" (owl pages). 

In ancient Roman and Greek mythology, owls play a significant role as well. Famously, Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, adored the eye sight of owls and claimed that they were her favorite winged and feathered creature. The owl quickly became the symbol of Athena and accompanied armies to war. I think that this may be why we still associate owls with wisdom and stealth, because the Greek Goddess Athena is so well known and recognized. And you would assume that a creature leading an army to war would have to be smart and stealthy, two things I associate with owls in particular. 

Furthermore, the article goes on to claim that the deaths of Julius Caesar, Augustus, and and Commodus Aurelius were all predicted by an owl. I'm not sure who remembers that or how it was recorded in the first place, but tht's just what Owl Pages claims. 

A common Roman superstition was that witches would transform into owls and suck the blood of babies. Not sure how that word started spreading.