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The most famous
Celtic myth dealing with the owl is in the story of Bloudeuwedd,
Lleu Llaw Gyffes, because of a curse, could not have a wife of
this world, so the wizard Gwydion made him a wife of flowers.
The broom, the meadowsweet and the oak blossom he used to
fashion a beautiful woman. He called her Blodeuwedd
(flower face) but alas she was fickle. She conspired with her
lover Gronw to kill Lleu Llaw Gyffes. She did not succeed but as
punishment Gwydion turned her into an owl, because she was
afraid of the darkness. Read the whole story here
(ref: "The
Mabinogian" )
To this day in
Wales owls are called blodeuwedd. Another Welsh word
for owl is gwenhwyfar which echoes the name of King
Arthur's unfaithful wife. In the tradition of homeopathic
magic I think of the owl as a charm against unfaithfulness.
Owls may have played a more prominent role in early Celtic cults, and
could perhaps have derived from a more broadly based deity of a
common Europen descent, predating the Greek cult of Athena, It
is speculated that Owls may have been related to the famed Cult
of the Head. They often appear with human heads and with rams
and bulls, all of which have been determined by scholars to be
objects of this strange cult. Then, in later
Gallo-Roman times the Owl lost its cult significance, but has
been linked to a Celtic goddess associated with fertility.
Pliny the Elder
(circa 1st c) in his "Natural History" says:
"... The eagle-owl is thought to be a very bad omen, being as it is a funereal bird. It lives in deserts and in terrifying, empty and inaccessible places. Its cry is a scream. If it is seen in a city, or during the day, it is a direful portent, though several cases are known of an eagle-owl perching on private houses without fatal consequences.
Isidore of Seville (circa 8th c) in his Etymologies says:
"...there are several kinds of owl. The screech owl (bubo) takes its name from the sound of its voice; it is a deadly bird, burdened with feathers and with a heavy laziness. It lives in caves and wanders in tombs day and night. The night-owl
(noctua) is is smaller than the bubo it flies by night and cannot see during the day, because the brightness of the sun blinds it. It does not live on the island of Crete, and if brought there it dies at once. The night raven
(nycticorax) loves the night and cannot stand the sight of the sun. Another kind of screech owl
(strix) has its name from its strident (stridet) call. It is also called by the Greek word
amma (nurse) because it loves (amando) infants and is said to offer milk to the newborn.
All necklaces can be ordered as
brooches also
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Colour: Soyer amber, brown 173, 174
Size: 3" w,
From
the Aberdeen
Bestiary (circa 14th c):
In a mystic sense, the
night-owl signifies Christ. Christ loves the darkness of night
because he does not want sinners - who are represented by
darkness - to die but to be converted and live (see Ezekiel,
18:32). For God the father so loved the world that he gave his
son to death for the redemption of the world (see John,
3:16-17). That sinners are called 'darkness', is borne out by
the apostle, saying: 'For ye were sometimes darkness, but now
are ye light in the Lord' (Ephesians, 5:8).
The night-owl lives in the cracks in walls, as Christ wished to
be born one of the Jewish people, saying: 'I am not sent but
unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel' (Matthew, 15:24).
But Christ is crushed in the cracks of the walls, because he is
killed by the Jews.
Christ shuns the light in the sense that he detests and hates
vainglory. For when he cared for a leper, in order to give us a
lesson in humility,he said to the leper: 'See thou tell no man'
(Matthew, 8:4). Of this light it is said: 'And from the wicked
their light is witholden' (Job, 38:15), that is, the glory of
present life. He himself is the light inaccessible 'which
lighteth every man' (John, 1:9). The light, therefore, shuns the
light, that is, the truth shuns the vanity of worldly glory.
The night-owl flies at night in search of food, as Christ
converts sinners into the body of the Church by preaching.
In a moral sense, moreover, the night-owl signifies to us not
just any righteous man, but rather one who lives among other men
yet hides from their view as much as possible. He flees from the
light, in the sense that he does not look for the glory of human
praise.
It is said of this light: 'Will the light of the wicked not be
put out, and the spark of his fire not shine?' (see Job, 17:5).
'Light' here signifies the prosperity of present life. The light
of the wicked is extinguished, in the sense that the prosperity
of our fleeting life ends with life itself. Will the flame of
his fire not shine? 'Fire' here is the passion of temporal
desires. Its flame is the splendour or outward show of power
which comes from its inner fire. But it will not shine because
on the day of death all outward splendour and power will perish.
The night-owl keeps watch in the night, as when the righteous
man, alert to the darkness of sinners, avoids their errors. It
lives in the cracks of walls, in the sense that he considers the
weakness of the world and awaits its downfall. It seeks food by
night, as when he reflects upon the life of sinners and uses
their example to nourish the mind of the righteous.
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