Post by Creator on Jan 9, 2010 19:00:47 GMT -5
Owls appear in folklore and belief all over the world. Sometimes they are seen negatively, sometimes positively.
For instance the Native American tribe Hopi, see the Owl as a taboo subject, believing they are associated with evil and magic. But other Native American tribes see the Owl as the carriers of the souls of the elders. Go south and you find Mictlanecuhtli, the Aztec God of death is often depicted with Owls.
Some see the Owls as a death omen, that when an owl screeches, someone in the neighbourhood will die. But on the flip side, Owls are also often depicted with Goddesses, like Athena, associating them with wisdom.
In Welsh legends Blodeuwedd which means - flower face and is also the Welsh for owl, was created by Gywdion and Math out of flowers for LLeu LLaw Gyffes, son of Arianrhod. The story tells that she fell in love with another and betrayed her husband allowing her lover to kill him. My mother's take on that was 'Men will try to make a woman the way that they think we should be, but we have backbones and are free to do as we please." Anyway as a punishment she is changed to an owl and forbidden to fly during the day. It might help if you know that the Welsh for Arianrhod - means Silver Wheel and Caer Arianrhod (the Castle of Arianrhod) the Welsh for the starry night sky and Llew Law Gyffes may well have been a sun god. Therefore the owl can not fly during the day because her betrayed husband rules the day.
In common Welsh culture the sound of an owl is like the rest of the world a warning that someone will die, but it is also a possibility that an illigitimate child is being born. So hearing inside a village, some people shudder, others smile! Because unlike the way we Welsh are seem by some, many have a healthy attititude to illigitimacy.
For instance the Native American tribe Hopi, see the Owl as a taboo subject, believing they are associated with evil and magic. But other Native American tribes see the Owl as the carriers of the souls of the elders. Go south and you find Mictlanecuhtli, the Aztec God of death is often depicted with Owls.
Some see the Owls as a death omen, that when an owl screeches, someone in the neighbourhood will die. But on the flip side, Owls are also often depicted with Goddesses, like Athena, associating them with wisdom.
In Welsh legends Blodeuwedd which means - flower face and is also the Welsh for owl, was created by Gywdion and Math out of flowers for LLeu LLaw Gyffes, son of Arianrhod. The story tells that she fell in love with another and betrayed her husband allowing her lover to kill him. My mother's take on that was 'Men will try to make a woman the way that they think we should be, but we have backbones and are free to do as we please." Anyway as a punishment she is changed to an owl and forbidden to fly during the day. It might help if you know that the Welsh for Arianrhod - means Silver Wheel and Caer Arianrhod (the Castle of Arianrhod) the Welsh for the starry night sky and Llew Law Gyffes may well have been a sun god. Therefore the owl can not fly during the day because her betrayed husband rules the day.
In common Welsh culture the sound of an owl is like the rest of the world a warning that someone will die, but it is also a possibility that an illigitimate child is being born. So hearing inside a village, some people shudder, others smile! Because unlike the way we Welsh are seem by some, many have a healthy attititude to illigitimacy.
