(or: Owls).
- are solitary
- the collective noun for a group of owls is: parliament
- perceptions of the owl are vast and are present in most cultures.
I am not an expert, so I will refrain form making detailed statements about other belief systems, but I do know that they represent bad omens, are considered a sign of death, and the carriers of spirits. They seem to represent a part of human nature that exists in the dark and unknown.
I think they are fascinating. I witnessed an owl very close in my last trip to the woods of the PNW. She landed on the lowest branch of the tree closest to where we were standing and starred directly into our eyes, opened her wings and swooped near and then off into the woods. I still think about that encounter. It was something of a peaceful unease she imparted to us. So, alas, I am sure this will be part of a series of owl posts.
Henry David Thoreau in Walden, "I rejoice that there are owls. Let them do the idiotic and maniacal hooting for men. It is a sound admirably suited to swamps and twilight woods which no day illustrates, suggesting a vast and underdeveloped nature which men have not recognized. They represent the stark twilight and unsatisfied thoughts which all [men] have."
