Sunday, September 13, 2009

five owls








A bunch more owls have shown up in my life.

Here's what happened. I just got out of the mountains in Southern Montana near Yellowstone.

I was on a 7-day trip teaching lightweight camping skills. As twilight approached, myself and a student named Peter did a water run to a nearby spring. It was a beautiful walk, and it probably took less than 20 minutes. We were talking about our lives, and the curious paranormal events that seem to flavor some of our personal experiences.

We got back to camp, and we both lay down to watch the sky. Now, this is unusual, it's something I would never do. But we both did it that evening.

Both of us were on our backs, looking up from a small meadow surrounded by dens trees. Peter is a psychiatrist and the conversation seemed to get deeper and deeper, as the sky got darker and darker.

At one point, there was a noise in the trees above us, and suddenly the small opening in the trees was filled with FIVE OWLS. Yes - FIVE OWLS!

All adult owls, approx 2 feet long, beak to tail, probably common Barred Owls.

It lasted about 10 minutes, and we were both a little bit in shock at the intensity of the sighting. At some point, as we watched them swoop above us, I asked Peter what I was talking about when the owls appeared.

He said I spoke about my mother.

I said, "Really?"

He said, "Yes, they appeared right when you mentioned your mother."

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That night I had a dream my mother was crying, and the image of her face was terribly sad. The next day I called her using a cell phone from high on an alpine ridge top. I was relieved when she said she was fine. I'll add that two years ago she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and presently her life is extremely confusing and stressful. I was worried, and it was nice to hear her voice.
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New text added March 9th 2012:

In this story I noted: "Peter did a water run to a nearby spring."

I need to add a little more to this story. We were camped in a beautiful spot, and there was a pond near our camp site. But the pond was sort of green and murky, not really the best for drinking. I had been in this area before, and I knew of a beautiful spring nearby. So, Peter and I collected all the water bottles from our teammates, there were seven of us total. We carried the empty water bottles to the spring, filled 'em up with cold clear water trickling right out of the rocks, and then took them back to camp.

This is the kind of thing I like to do, just a nice gesture at the end of a long day of hiking. Now, this altruistic act has shown up in another synchronicity (linked HERE). This isn't much of a pattern, that an altruistic act would directly proceed something odd, but I just felt it was important to share my thoughts.
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8 comments:

Regan Lee said...

Very nice piece Mike; I posted about it at Women Of Esoterica and also The Orange Orb...

Mike Clelland! said...

Regan wrote a really kind blog posting, and her kind words are truly helpful for me. This has been a curious jouney for me, and her support means a lot.

Here's Regan Lee's blog.

http://orangeorb.blogspot.com/2009/09/from-hidden-experience-five-owls.html

* * *

I'll also add that the color ORANGE plays an important role in my memories. I wrote a post titled ORANGE FLASH AND MISSING TIME.

http://hiddenexperience.blogspot.com/2009/03/orange-flash-and-missing-time.html

Red Pill Junkie said...

Very sorry to hear your mom suffers from Alzheimer's. That damn illness has also struck my family :-(

Ankka said...

Hi Mike, great post. Just thought I'd share my own owl synchronicity:

I live in an area where you can often hear owls calling after dark and my three year old son wanted to see one.

I was putting him in his seat on the back of my bike one evening and he kept insisting he wanted to see an owl. Of course I told him how it's rare to see an owl since they come out in the dark, etc.

We'd been riding less than 10 minutes when an owl swooped down right in front of us-- so close it startled me. So my son got to see his owl and pedaled in total wonderment all the way home.

Also, so sorry about your mom. Going thru the same thing with my grandmother. I know how hard it is.

Mike Clelland! said...

Peter, from the OWL post just sent me this. He found some interesting stuff on-line:


If You Are Drawn to the Owl (Or in your case, if they are drawn to you!)

The owl’s gift of heightened senses enables it to see through deception, external appearances and illusion and to discover hidden truths.

If you are drawn to owls or owl symbolism, you may have this same ability to uncover secrets. People may feel uneasy around you, as if you are able to see through pretence. The owl also teaches us to acknowledge the dark side of our personality, and in that darkness we may find food for growth.

If people do not speak words that reflect the truth of their actions and motives, owl medicine (as referred to by aboriginal cultures) will guide you with vision and inner knowing to reveal the truth. The owl puts an end to doubt and offers vision and clarity of the truth of events, people or circumstances in your life.

Quanta said...

Moms are important. They're indescribably crucial.

In your story the owls, in their infinite wisdom and trickster-y silence, illustrate this at exactly the right timee, at just the right volume. Naturally, you were tuned in.

I'm happy to hear that you and your mom spoke the next day.

Mike Clelland! said...

More from Peter, who was there with me for the 5 owl event. He forwarded this comment to me (from a pal of his):

"You probably know the owl was sacred to Athena and as a nocturnal bird, symbolized the intuitive wisdom that is needed for operating at night, without the Sun's light, so the owl appears in journeys at the time when the hero is required to go within and find the resources to handles unexpected challenges."

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