The Owl and the Dream
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The Owl and the Dream
I hear the hoo-hoo-hoo of an owl, then a pause, then again. Hoo Hoo Hoo. Then about a minute pause and again...Hoo Hoo Hoo. I am asleep and dreaming and the tones of the owl sound like muted musical tones in my dream so I wondered, in the dream, if I was hearing a chime or a soft gong and where it was coming from.
In this dream, I had traveled to an event of some kind. It felt like it was a conference or some kind of educational gathering that I had applied to attend, but wasn’t at all assured of entry. There’s a line of applicants waiting to get in. As I approach the registration table, I see that it’s Anne Ortelee, one of my favorite astrologers, who is reviewing our applications and deciding if we meet the criteria to be admitted. I stand in front of her and hear myself say, with some surprise, “Anne, you’re a witch!” and Anne, scowling at my paperwork, says, ”Mmhmm.” I’m consumed with doubt about the portent of that “mmhmm.” I’m suddenly terrified I’m not going to pass her scrutiny. I’m not going to get in. I don’t have the credentials to join this “thing.” Then, Anne lifts her head, smiles up at me, and says, “And you’re a witch too. Welcome. You’re in,” with a big smile. The voice of the owl is amplified in my awareness, some kind of confirmation for me, and I FEEL the presence of Owl, but I still haven't seen an owl anywhere. Yet, now I recognize that’s what I've been hearing. Looking around for it, I still can’t see it and I look back at Anne - maybe for confirmation - but she’s already moved on to the next person in line. I feel myself moving away from this scene as I’m waking up.
I am awake now and clearly hearing the sound- there is absolutely an owl hooting in the woods behind the house. It's just before dawn. The clock says 0548. The dream is still with me and I want to embrace it by journaling before it vanishes. I write in the kitchen while coffee perks behind me.
The sky brightens as I write and is pretty light by 6:30. The owl seems to have gone to bed. I’m sitting down again at the kitchen table with my coffee to write about what owls mean to me. It occurs to me it's also Earth Day and I feel the significance of that. Especially now, when I’ve been writing a story that is infused by the element of Earth energy. When did Owl first appear in my life?
I’ve felt a connection to Owl as a totem animal my whole life, I think. Totem animals are those animals that spiritually travel with you through your life and they evolve as you do. You may feel like you have an affinity for them. Often, as children, we collect them in statue or stuffed form. I seemed to draw them. Owl was a symbol of protection, like a Familiar or an angel, or even a talisman for me. I remember adding owls in trees or on the roof in pictures I drew when I was young and being bullied by my big brother. When I was about eight, I remember tagging along with Aunt Mary on a visit to her friend across town. We brought her muffins and tea in a big thermos. This lady had a baby barn owl in a box that she had rescued. The baby owl had somehow hurt its wing and she was trying to nurse it back to health. I remember she was feeding it scraps of meat, nightcrawlers, and something that I think was watered-down milk from an eyedropper. I got to touch it very gently. It was the sweetest thing and I was hooked.
The next day I got a book from the library on birds and began drawing owls with their otherworldly, alien eyes and soft downy-looking feathers and dangerously sharp claws and beaks for hunting prey.
Later in my life, as I studied shamanism, it came full circle in me spiritually to acknowledge that all things have a spirit and all spirits are connected, making us all energetically part of One Whole. I’ve practiced feeling this oneness in ordinary reality, where it gets so fractured. In my journeying, my meditations take me across the veil to an Otherworld, where the connection is effortless and obvious. I connect easily there with animal spirits, other spirits, and guides, some easily recognizable and familiar, others a new introduction for me to this age-old spiritual wisdom practice. I am led down a well-worn meditative pathway and into the scene of my query, hopefully, to be gifted with insight into my question, or actual “Do this” instructions from a power animal or spirit guide. It is an act of faith that has proven itself trustworthy to me through the years. I can trust these insights and the awareness and synchronicities that follow. I believe in my connection to Source energy.
Owl spirit is an archetype that is nocturnal and otherworldly. She is seen as a messenger that travels between the worlds. Owls are guardians and guides (think of the owls in Harry Potter books) representative of intuitive wisdom and psychic ability. They have keen vision and symbolize true seeing and watchful perception. They protect and defend truth and honor.
I had a shamanic soul retrieval once, after a particularly stressful birth when I was a newish midwife, and I got to meet a snowy owl in that journey who said she’d been with me since I was a very young child. She said she’d been with me, and that part of my soul that she had been protecting, since I was 4 or 5 years old. It made sense to me then that I had an affinity for owls as a kid. In studying shamanism, I have experienced my connection to all of nature and to the world beyond the veil with its mysteries and magic. Shamanism has infused my midwifery and my midwifery has supported my shamanic experiences, feeding my desire to go deeper in my healing studies.
In mythology, Owl is associated with the Goddess Artemis - a goddess of paradox - because she is associated with both childbirth and chastity, hunting, and the protection of wild animals. Artemis eventually became linked with the Moon, the Divine Feminine, and women’s mysteries. The blood mysteries are all-natural transitions that are moon cycles. When Artemis was honored as the goddess of childbirth, she was sometimes known as Locheia, and mothers and midwives made offerings in her honor. Maybe my owl totem led me to my midwife’s path this lifetime!
I know my life’s purpose has been very moon-driven (Aquarius moon, here). I envision a model of healthcare that honors the Feminine in all of us, is more collaborative than patriarchal, and where no power differential exists. I see this relationship-based model of care as a dynamic, organic process where we learn from each other and draw from many wisdom traditions to create health and wellness in ourselves and our community. Nature-based traditions offer us so much potential and richness to co-create with others for the actualization of all. I see what I’m doing now as alchemy, and that’s what ultimately led me to write this book, at this time, in this way. Shamanism is definitely a tenet of my own healing paradigm and I am allowing it to lead the book.
The owl is also linked with the moon and the sign of Sagittarius, which is my rising sign! And this full moon is in Scorpio and I’m a Scorpio sun. Pluto rules the sign of Scorpio and is the planet of transformation, and Jupiter (planet of expansion) and Pluto are working together to expand the transformative energy in my chart right now. And then this moon! As if all of us weren't already sensing energetic shifts over the past weeks - something significant is coming at this full moon.
So, I’ve been going a little deeper into the study of this particular Full Moon, a Super Moon, a Pink moon, by the way, which means it's closer to the Earth than normal making it appear a little brighter, have a little stronger pull on us. It's another Super Moon in a year of transformation and rebirth, and it's in Scorpio, the sign of death, transformation, and rebirth, and Pluto, the planet of transformation and rebirth is just sitting there resting in Capricorn (at the site where the Covid planets had gathered in 2020), tweaking that Covid point and enhancing the energy of transformation!
Mars, the traditional ruler of Scorpio and the planet of ACTION is moving into Cancer for the next month and a half. Mars is very assertive in Cancer (a nurturing sign), so we see “aggressive nurturing” Mama Bear energy, action-oriented around home, family, and feelings. “What are we looking to heal? Dig deeper, right the wrongs, and get to the bottom of things! We’re looking at 2 months of psychologically adjusting to get us ready for the next major chapter of our life” counsels Anne Ortelee, the astrologer - the same one who showed up in my dream.
I’m getting shown a lot of personal energy of transformation and seems like it could be in the realms of home, family, and feelings. As a Scorpio, I NEED to get to the bottom of things, delve deep and investigate until I solve the mystery and connect all the dots. You bet I’ve got candles and intentions set out and ready once that full moon arrives! And an owl gracing my altar.
I feel grateful to have the protection of an Owl spirit while I do that work, both personally and professionally. It’s the season of St. Joseph, as well, who is the patron saint of homes. Synchronicities... And thank you Anne Ortelee for showing up every day on my Astrology Hub app and in my dream world! As above, so below, and the daily heads-up about what’s happening above is greatly appreciated by me in this transformational year!
Look back to October of 2020 to see what you started around that Scorpio New Moon that is now coming up to be transformed at this Scorpio Full Moon! See you at the New Moon May 11!
Til we meet again,
