2dogs
The scene is this card is very strange. The background at upper left depicts dead, leafless trees lit by a full Moon, and therefore a winter’s night. The foreground though is sunlit and shows the Owl sitting in an oak tree bearing the green leaves of spring or summer. This suggests this Owl is situated somewhere other than the normal physical world - perhaps in a dream world, the mind, some otherworld or magical place.
The oak tree is covered in ivy, which is an evergreen so in a sense never dies. There is also an oak apple with a hole where the insect has emerged, a form of birth or maybe leaving its home, and a couple of stone pendants hanging from leather thongs. One of these has a carving of a spiral which I believe generally symbolises entering and returning from the underworld in the cycles of initiation or death and rebirth, and the other has a carved face looking like a skull. These look like people have left them there in an attempt to gain some magical help, possibly communication with their ancestors or secret knowledge.
This Owl thus appears to be linked to the Moon, a mysterious creature of the night, shadow and dreams, able to visit other, hidden realms beyond everyday reality, the possessor and possible communicator of secrets to those able to attune themselves with it.
The white feathers on the bird give me the idea of purity and spirituality - maybe the Owl represents the Soul itself - the subconscious, instinctive, non-rational awareness of dreams, feelings and intuitions?
I haven’t really looked at this particular card but have received a couple of owl cards from other decks in last year’s monthly exchange readings. I had forgotten the details but going back can see I had read the Druid Animal guidebook so maybe some of it had stuck -
Sep 2014: (Me) I’ve just zoomed in on an image and noticed the owl in the card . I got an owl card as advice in last month's exchange and the meaning was as in card 4 here (being detached and observant). In the Druid Animal oracle the Owl also sits in an oak tree and signifies detachment, wisdom and change in a death and rebirth sense. And it reminds me of when I was little and used to spend a long time in the garden sitting in a tree until it went dark .
Aug 2014: (Reader) This card shows an owl on top of a tree branch. It looks calm and quiet. Analyzing its situation instead of going insane or making rash decisions. It shows to use your wisdom when things do not go your way. Be calm and see things in a different perspective. Listen instead of talk and once you get your answer catch your prey with your powerful beak. And remember it is easy to blend with your surroundings.
(Me) I looked up the Owl in the Druid Animal Oracle, which was similar, and also found it on the Voyager Tarot Priestess card. This deck has its own system in which the characteristics of the Priestess are explained in further detail in another five cards.
That last sentence is particularly interesting as I was thinking of drawing five cards from other decks in the hope of gaining further information about the Owl card as I’ve just done with the Hawk card. I notice Full Moon is tomorrow morning at 4:54 AM here so it would seem most appropriate to try this when I wake up about 6 AM. The Moon may still be visible next to the bare trees in the garden and the Sun doesn’t come up till 8:24. It may be ridiculously optimistic to think I'll get anything this way, but I'll never know unless I try.
The oak tree is covered in ivy, which is an evergreen so in a sense never dies. There is also an oak apple with a hole where the insect has emerged, a form of birth or maybe leaving its home, and a couple of stone pendants hanging from leather thongs. One of these has a carving of a spiral which I believe generally symbolises entering and returning from the underworld in the cycles of initiation or death and rebirth, and the other has a carved face looking like a skull. These look like people have left them there in an attempt to gain some magical help, possibly communication with their ancestors or secret knowledge.
This Owl thus appears to be linked to the Moon, a mysterious creature of the night, shadow and dreams, able to visit other, hidden realms beyond everyday reality, the possessor and possible communicator of secrets to those able to attune themselves with it.
The white feathers on the bird give me the idea of purity and spirituality - maybe the Owl represents the Soul itself - the subconscious, instinctive, non-rational awareness of dreams, feelings and intuitions?
I haven’t really looked at this particular card but have received a couple of owl cards from other decks in last year’s monthly exchange readings. I had forgotten the details but going back can see I had read the Druid Animal guidebook so maybe some of it had stuck -
Sep 2014: (Me) I’ve just zoomed in on an image and noticed the owl in the card . I got an owl card as advice in last month's exchange and the meaning was as in card 4 here (being detached and observant). In the Druid Animal oracle the Owl also sits in an oak tree and signifies detachment, wisdom and change in a death and rebirth sense. And it reminds me of when I was little and used to spend a long time in the garden sitting in a tree until it went dark .
Aug 2014: (Reader) This card shows an owl on top of a tree branch. It looks calm and quiet. Analyzing its situation instead of going insane or making rash decisions. It shows to use your wisdom when things do not go your way. Be calm and see things in a different perspective. Listen instead of talk and once you get your answer catch your prey with your powerful beak. And remember it is easy to blend with your surroundings.
(Me) I looked up the Owl in the Druid Animal Oracle, which was similar, and also found it on the Voyager Tarot Priestess card. This deck has its own system in which the characteristics of the Priestess are explained in further detail in another five cards.
That last sentence is particularly interesting as I was thinking of drawing five cards from other decks in the hope of gaining further information about the Owl card as I’ve just done with the Hawk card. I notice Full Moon is tomorrow morning at 4:54 AM here so it would seem most appropriate to try this when I wake up about 6 AM. The Moon may still be visible next to the bare trees in the garden and the Sun doesn’t come up till 8:24. It may be ridiculously optimistic to think I'll get anything this way, but I'll never know unless I try.