Today Barn Owls are well loved symbols of the countryside, but in the past were long been feared as witches’ familiars and were thought to bring bad luck, omens of doom, signalling the impending death of a sick person or possibly turning an unborn child into a witch. The bodies and wings of Barn Owls were nailed to barn doors to ward off evil. In folk medicine, the ashes of barn owl eggs were applied to improve and cure eyesight problems and blindness was alleged to be cured by eating its heart.  The ghostly pale, almost translucent appearance of the Barn Owl has earned it the name of “White Owl” or “The White Lady”.

Barn Owl in Flight – The White Lady watercolour painting.

The Barn Owl as a Spirit Guide and Power Animal.

These are the attributes that Barn Owl shared with me:

Ability to See In The Dark

Barn Owl has amazing low-light vision faculties being able to see in near darkness. Spiritually this vision extends not only to the external physical world but internally to the dark places of the psyche. Barn Owl has the ability to uncover and discover hidden things – not only lost objects in the physical world, but parts of the Self that are hidden or “disowned”. Its prey such as mice and rats represent the intelligence gathering and insights gained from inner shadow work. They can see in any direction and are not fixed in their viewpoints, because their sight moves everywhere in the energetic landscape . Nothing is unseen by Barn Owl.

Listening Skills

Barn Owl shared with me that humans don’t listen. How well most of us can relate to that! Barn Owl stated “There is no silence”. There is always movement and life and death happening all the time, in every moment. There is movement beneath our feet and movement above us, indeed all around us if we were only to stop and listen. Barn Owl encourages us to listen to the Soundscape and make connections between sounds as if reading a map to form a picture and a greater understanding. Active deep listening to others and to ourselves, to our own inner voices is a way to benefit our relationships with all living beings.

Navigation

Barn Owl told me to look at its feathers – they are for navigating without sound but also for capturing the sounds of others – the sounds in the environment are directed to the ears by the shape of the feathers on the face. Each feather has its purpose to help Barn Owl navigate the sound and vision scapes  with precision and economy of energy going direct to its prey and not wasting precious life force on distractions.

Self-Nuture and Autonomy

Barn Owl shared that he loves blood! Its rich nutrition is nourishing. Barn Owl teaches us to seek out things in our lives that are self-nourishing whether that be food, or some form of creative pursuit or self-care. And to seek these life-affirming practices with directness, to go after what you need and give it to yourself with no judgement or justification to others. Barn Owl does what it needs to do for itself with a sense of purpose and honesty. Its energy is forthright and candid. It’s teaches us to be honest with ourselves and what we need and don’t need and to act with self-determination. Barn Owl acts alone to serve its own interests, it lives and dies by its own actions which are impeccable. To act impeccably is the calling of noble shamanic practice. One must be clear about intentions and only by self-examination can we see what needs to be done.

Responsive Existence

Barn Owl showed me the ethereal nature of existence, being responsive to the movement of quicksilver energy between worlds – the worlds of light and dark, of matter and ether. Moving easily between different states because firstly they have an awareness that they exist, and secondly because they believe that they are able to travel in this way. Barn Owl teaches us to not have fixed and static views or ways of being but to be flexible in our approach.

In a Nutshell

Barn Owl has much wisdom to give us; psychic sight and discernment, deep listening, awareness of energy and movement, honesty and directness, and the ability to be responsive to ourselves and different aspects of Being.

Barn Owl with a Tiny Moon – acrylic painting on canvas

What are your thoughts about the Barn Owl Spirit?

Has Barn Owl touched your life with the softness of a wing tip?