Birds

[big_fluffet]

This is a difficult subject to write about since that type of a sign relies on context a lot of the time, but when I see a crane or an eagle, I tend to see it as a sign of something good to come. Usually with an owl or vulture I take it as a sign of death or misfortune. I guess i don't have a lot to say about it really but I'd like to hear what personal meanings birds have for you.

[Clover]

I love birds, all kinds. I strongly feel every single living organism has value and purpose in the cycle of life. Each and every one of us. When I see a specific animal, I don't necessarily see it as a 'sign'. I feel I attracted that specific animal because my awareness is open, or my energy is in alignment with it's energy in some form.

I do get the sense because of popular culture and film, we have deamonized a lot of animals. For example, I don't see Vultures as a sign of death or evil. Of course, where there is 'death' they are there eating it up. However, vultures are actually one of the most unique and loving creatures. Really, they mate and stay with the same partner for life ( Very few specifies are monogamous). They are also very hard workers cleaning up our ecosystem, They help clean up the decay of rotting animals and road kill. A lot of road kill or human waste carry disease, without vulture type animals, a break-out or famine in our ecosystem could wipe us out. We can at least thank them for that!

Personally, I find cranes annoying ( yes, they are beautiful and mystic) When I lived in Florida,we had these large beautiful gorgeous blue cranes come in groups every day and destroy our lawn, all the time! (LOL). They were so territorial and very loud. Again, perception.


I guess my point is, we all serve a purpose. Perception can really change everything. Here is a web sight where you can look up an animal/bird and find out more about their value or 'sign'
http://www.shamanicjourney.com/categ...-spirit-guides

Another Web sight

https://www.spirit-animals.com/vulture-symbolism/





Just my opinion on the matter with birds.

[pseudonymus]

In my culture [Khmer/Thai] the Owl is a very bad omen. Since ancient times, in our culture, it is believed that the Owl carries your spirit to the afterlife. And so, people fear seeing it, because they think it has come to take someone's spirit away. That someone is going to die.

Strangely, in Mexico, the indigenous people have the same belief about Owls. In fact, the Owl is a symbol of La Santa Muerte. La Santa Muerte is an unofficial Saint of Death with her own cult. The cult is concentrated in Mexico, but has been expanding everywhere.

When I see a Sparrow, in certain circumstances, for me it's a providential sign of Communication... because I read Lenormand cards, and the bird means "talks, communication, and so on."

I manage a family shop. This one time, I had asked Divine Providence if a long lost friend - whom I had not seen or heard from in 10 years - was going to contact me soon. I had researched this long lost friend and had sent her a few letters with my phone number, but had gotten no communication from her.

One day, shortly after I asked Providence if my long lost friend was going to contact me soon, a Sparrow flew into my shop towards the back of the shop. It then flew towards the front of the shop, and not seeing the glass, slammed right into the front window. The Sparrow made a loud 'thud' and fell to the floor.

I stopped what I was doing and ran to get it. I felt terribly bad, thinking it was dead. I held the poor thing in my hands for 15 minutes. It wasn't dead... just knocked very unconscious. It had trouble walking for a few minutes.

When it was able to hop, and it was alert again, I took the Sparrow outside to a bush, where its friends [other sparrows] usually congregate, and I placed the Sparrow in the bush. It eventually flew off with its friends.

And from that incident, in my intuition, I understood that Providence was telling me that my communication with my long lost friend was going to be blocked: the Sparrow [communication] hit the window and stopped.

The sign was right. I didn't hear from my long lost friend in months. I asked Providence to give me a sign to let me know when my long lost friend will be contacting me. The sign would be Horses... because the last song me and this long lost friend listened together was "Wild Horses," by the Sundays. Plus in Lenormand, the Rider [man on a horse] means "Message" amongst other things.

After so many months, I had forgotten about the horse sign I had asked Providence to give to me. One morning, at the family shop, my mother had bought a few new crock pots to sell. On one of the crock pots was a picture of wild horses running in a field. I saw the horses on that crock pot, and had the "Wild Horses" song stuck in my head all day. But I still didn't remember the sign I had asked for.

A week later, I had walked outside my house to get into my car in the early morning to drive to the bank. On the dirt that ran along the sidewalk were horse shoe impressions. I looked at them utterly perplexed, thinking to myself: "Who in the world rides a horse in this part of Orange County in the middle of the night? Crazy people."

As I drive to my bank, I suddenly remembered my sign I had asked for: horses. I laughed at myself, for not noticing the horses. So I waited for my long lost friend to contact me. A week after I saw the horse shoe prints, she texted me... after 10 years. I texted her back telling her: "A part of me is surprised to hear from you. But another part of me expected you."

[sentient]

Originally Posted by pseudonymus

In my culture [Khmer/Thai] the Owl is a very bad omen. Since ancient times, in our culture, it is believed that the Owl carries your spirit to the afterlife. And so, people fear seeing it, because they think it has come to take someone's spirit away. That someone is going to die.

Strangely, in Mexico, the indigenous people have the same belief about Owls. In fact, the Owl is a symbol of La Santa Muerte. La Santa Muerte is an unofficial Saint of Death with her own cult. The cult is concentrated in Mexico, but has been expanding everywhere.

We have got the same or a similar belief.
So you most certainly would not! bring an image of an owl inside your house, nor erect it outside!
… unless of course you are a descendant of the horned owl (old times totemic association) family line:
http://www.hyytiainen.fi/kuvat/tuuliviiri5.JPG

Those owls had been related to powerful, though feared healers.


In Western (agricultural) belief system an owl I think is a good omen (owls eat the mice from the fields) and it is a symbol of 'wisdom' .... “Owl of Athena” etc.
So for a Westerner – taking on other people’s belief system about animal symbolism is perhaps not a bright idea.

*

[pseudonymus]

Originally Posted by sentient

We have got the same or a similar belief.
So you most certainly would not! bring an image of an owl inside your house, nor erect it outside!
… unless of course you are a descendant of the horned owl (old times totemic association) family line:
http://www.hyytiainen.fi/kuvat/tuuliviiri5.JPG

No way :) We'd never bring an image of an owl in the house or anywhere near our house. Grandma and everyone wouldn't have it!

In Western (agricultural) belief system an owl I think is a good omen (owls eat the mice from the fields) and it is a symbol of 'wisdom' .... “Owl of Athena” etc.
So for a Westerner – taking on other people’s belief system about animal symbolism is perhaps not a bright idea.

You brought up a good point about different cultures.

I have the view that symbolism have living [archetypal] meaning to our repsective volksgeist [~"cultural collective psyche"] that we "belong to" as far as folk-culture goes. And so, I would agree with you. We have to be very careful taking on and using other people's spiritual and religious symbols.

[Native spirit]

Everybody will have a different belief about birds. my friend always without fail will salute a magpie.it is her belief that they are Important messengers I don't believe that.the Blackcrow figures a lot in my life they always follow me I remember my sister in law telling me her mother was buried in a graveyard where crows were nesting and they would attack anyone walking near the tree.i went with her they went straight for my sister in law but I was ok to walk by the tree. but I'm with clover all birds are lovely and I know the robin is very popular for paying a visit coming to see how we are getting on from spirit.


Namaste

[Anala]

Originally Posted by Clover

I love birds, all kinds. I strongly feel every single living organism has value and purpose in the cycle of life. Each and every one of us. When I see a specific animal, I don't necessarily see it as a 'sign'. I feel I attracted that specific animal because my awareness is open, or my energy is in alignment with it's energy in some form.

I do get the sense because of popular culture and film, we have deamonized a lot of animals. For example, I don't see Vultures as a sign of death or evil. Of course, where there is 'death' they are there eating it up. However, vultures are actually one of the most unique and loving creatures. Really, they mate and stay with the same partner for life ( Very few specifies are monogamous). They are also very hard workers cleaning up our ecosystem, They help clean up the decay of rotting animals and road kill. A lot of road kill or human waste carry disease, without vulture type animals, a break-out or famine in our ecosystem could wipe us out. We can at least thank them for that!

I guess my point is, we all serve a purpose. Perception can really change everything. Here is a web sight where you can look up an animal/bird and find out more about their value or 'sign'
http://www.shamanicjourney.com/categ...-spirit-guides

Another Web sight

https://www.spirit-animals.com/vulture-symbolism/

Just my opinion on the matter with birds.

Clover,

I feel the same. And I respect the beliefs of other cultures.

Birds have such grace and beauty! They make me feel blessed and thankful when they are near. I know owls and omens, but that said, Their beautiful self still shines through for me.

Sometimes they make me laugh, like when I open my back door and they swoop past like daredevils as I step out and land in the bush outside the yard.

The birds have a secret game with my dog. They swoop at her and land just out side the chain link fence. She then sits by the fence and just watches them. But, when we come out to the yard, she barks at them, as if it is her job. LOL!

The hawks have been dancing in the air in mating spirals the last few weeks.

And today the turkeys walked across the street, utilizing the cross walk, and tapping on the glass door where I work. It was very cold and they were very insistent. LOL! I have pictures on my phone! LOL!

My mom, on the other hand, saw the Hitchcock movie at an impressionable age and is scared to death of all birds.

[sentient]

Originally Posted by pseudonymus

No way :) We'd never bring an image of an owl in the house or anywhere near our house. Grandma and everyone wouldn't have it!

Yeah, I know - because it would be like ‘summoning it’.

Don’t know about your culture or Mexico, but owls do have that healing aspect to them as well.
[In traditional Shamanism – like in Tuva and Mongolia, (also among Yakuts and Tungus) Shamen wear owl headdresses and use owl feathers].
In this Permian animal style picture the image at the bottom left corner – I trust – represents a female shamaness wearing an Eagle-Owl skin as a cap:
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/0f/3e/c0/0...0d3ba4aeb8.jpg

In the past when chemist shops with Western medicine started to establish themselves in our neck of the woods, the chemist could put a stuffed owl on the counter to make the traditional folk associate these new Western cures with strong medicine.

Plus from our perspective - sometimes the owl can appear to tell you that a departed relative or friend wants to open a line of communication.

I have the view that symbolism have living [archetypal] meaning to our repsective volksgeist [~"cultural collective psyche"] that we "belong to" as far as folk-culture goes.

This is my understanding as well.

[big_fluffet]

Thanks for the links Clover, I never knew those things about vultures but I can't say popular culture has tainted my view of vultures. Off the top of my head their depiction in popular culture makes me think of the vultures in the movie dumbo which aren't so bad. I think the association I've made is more that they help with the cleanup of death, wouldn't say they're evil in any way.

Personally I think interpretation of the meaning of an animal takes context and gut instincts, since we share the world with so many of them, I don't think each one is relevant to every person at any given time if that makes any sense.

About the sparrows and magpies, I never heard any associations about those but I guess that's a cultural thing. Interesting story though pseudonymous.

[sentient]

Originally Posted by sentient

[In traditional Shamanism – like in Tuva and Mongolia, (also among Yakuts and Tungus) Shamen wear owl headdresses and use owl feathers].
In this Permian animal style picture the image at the bottom left corner – I trust – represents a female shamaness wearing an Eagle-Owl skin as a cap:
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/0f/3e/c0/0...0d3ba4aeb8.jpg

Shaman headdresses

A stylized version of that “Eagle-Owl skin cap” i.e. an “Eagle-Owl with face” is this:
https://image.shutterstock.com/image...-653460382.jpg
If it has 4 feathers as wings hanging down – it depicts a female shamaness (Komi, Udmurt – Permian)

Mongolian:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/00/47...dd73cec831.jpg
Usually the shamen in Tuva also wear a similar headdresses:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3799/3...ff55b920_b.jpg


...... but looks like they have ‘our’ Uralic style too:
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/17/0f/57/1...d14cbe5a65.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/474x/b6/93/28/b...underworld.jpg

…… Hence the “Eagle-Owl-with-face” imagery.
After all Shamen need to journey to both the Upper and Lower Worlds and the Owl acts as a protector as well.

*