owl woman dreaming ~ my name, my story

In spirit and for the passed 11 to 12 years I have been Owl Woman Dreaming. Here i would like to share my experiences with and my love for the wise owl through the story of how I found my name. This is a true story that i lived and have captured in my own literary expression.

I stood quietly, leaning against my car as I watched the sun setting for the night. So beautiful and my absolute favorite time of day. It was a special sunset that I will never forget and one that i SO enjoy telling the story of. A sunset where the sun rose on my spiritual journey with the owl.

As I stood, enjoying the view, this feeling came over me and I waited for something, but I didn't know what. I just knew something was at work around me on this unusual evening, something was coming my way. All the world seemed silent around me, as if all of life were waiting as well. Then without sound, as quiet as the breeze, she came. In all her feathered glory, a barn owl ! How amazing she was ! I was surprised and yet completely calm, as I had somehow just known she was coming. She perched on the fence post right next to me, about one to two feet away. SO close!

For uncounted moments I was held by her mesmerizing gaze, like an enchantment had come over me. It felt like we were as one, spirit sisters, for our spirits touched in a way I can only describe as a silent embrace of two souls. She looked into my eyes, without fear or malice. She held me in her gaze, communicating with such depth and yet in total silence. Before i even thought of what i was doing, my hand was hovering over her wing, i don't remember if i intended to touch her or just to feel her energy.... It just felt like time stood still in that particular moment, like the world was nothing but me and her. After what seemed like an eternity, she looked away from me to a noise we both heard, a noise that broke our silent connection. She looked back into my eyes one last time and in total silence she flew away to the east, opposite from whence she had come. Her wings spread to an enormous width. SO magnificent !

I felt a wonderful gift in my heart that i would never forget and that i would more deeply understand and appreciate later that night as I dreamed of the owl. A different owl though, a smaller one which I later discovered was called a barred owl, one of which i had never even known existed. In the dream she perched on my arm without pain as we spoke to me spirit to spirit.... no words, only understanding. I awoke with a strange expectation that I didn't fully understand until later, but i knew the owl was with me.

While I was driving into town later that week something caught my eye in passing , a wing waved to me from the road side. I pulled over as my intuition wouldn't allow me to let it go unchecked, I felt absolutely compelled. Sure enough, it was my little barred owl from the dream. She had been killed in the night. Her spirit was freed of it's earthly home, while her empty shell of a body lay peacefully on the road-side grass, wing waving in the wind, calling for me to honor her passing as she had asked in the dream. I carefully and respectfully buried her in the place she had shown to me in my dream, in a stone circle in my own yard. As I lay her to rest, the wind brought the owls silent voice to my heart. I felt so connected to her in that moment and i knew she had yet another gift intended for me as she offered me her wings, the wings of the sacred owl. With many thanks and respect, I kept that gift... wrapped in a red cloth and put away until i knew what i was to do with them. I also put one feather under my pillow, where I had first dreamed of her.
I continued to dream of the owl and i knew she had still more in store for me. Each week I found another owl by the highway, and another and another. Eventually I became the keeper of the gifts given by 7 Barred owls. I continued dreaming of her still, even when I stopped finding owls. I began flying with her or shape-shifting as her in my dreams. She still comes to me sometimes in my waking though, especially when things are about to change drastically. I saw one before i conceived my children, i saw one right before fate put me 1500 miles away from "home" when we moved to New England from Florida.

Now you can see why i love the owl so much. She has been a guide, a friend and so much more to me in my life. She taught me to see in a whole new way, with owl eyes and to understand through more than simple words, through spirit. So, this is my gift, a story for all who will listen, the story of Owl Woman Dreaming, My story.

http://www.birdclan.org/owl.html

Owl medicine

"Owl medicine is a feminine trait and is symbolically associated with clairvoyance, astral projection, and magic. Since time immemorial, humanity has been afraid of the night, the dark, and the unseen – waiting fearfully for the first crack of morning light. Conversely, night is Owl's friend. It has great awareness of all that is around it at all times. It has predator vision, which means it sees clearly what it looks at. It has great intuition, and the courage to follow its instincts. It is a meat eater, which means it can be a fierce warrior if challenged, or if something dear to it is threatened.

Owl can see in the dark, and can accurately pinpoint and identify any sound. If you have Owl medicine, these night birds will have a tendency to collect around you, even in the daytime, because they recognize a kinship with you.

In many cultures Owl is a symbol for wisdom. This is because Owl can see that which others cannot, which is the essence of true wisdom. Where others are deceived, Owl sees and knows what is there.

Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, had a companion Owl on her shoulder which revealed unseen truths to her. Owl had the ability to light up Athena's blind side, enabling her to speak the whole truth, as opposed to only a half truth.

If Owl is your personal medicine, no one can deceive you about what they are doing, no matter how they try to disguise or hide it from you. You may be a little frightening to be around, since so many people have ulterior motives which you see right through. Owl medicine people know more about an individual's inner life than that person knows about herself or himself.

Owl medicine is wonderful to have. Those who carry it cannot be conned because their vision shows them the truth of the situation