Friday, October 15, 2010

an owl crosses my path

To better understand this little event, I need to share something relevant. At the end of last summer I had seen so many owls, that I needed a way to quantify what I was seeing. It was exasperating, and finally I overtly stated to the universe that I would only pay attention to owls that CROSSED MY PATH. I said it out loud as a declaration. For reasons unknown, right after that, all my owl sightings involved them crossing my path.

There is a bike path right in front of my house that goes straight into the center of the little town I call home. Two days ago, in the late afternoon I saw my old girlfriend from exactly a decade ago, she was jogging with a her three kids the bike path (I’ll call her Carol, not her real name). Two of her children were on bikes and the youngest was in a stroller. I rode my bike slowly along side Carol, and we chatted. Her only daughter (about 8 years old) was on a bike a little ways in front of us.

At one point, her little son said he had cold hands and she pulled out a pair of gloves for him - and at the same time we both realized that I had given her those gloves as a gift a decade ago!

We both talked about all the animals we had seen recently (moose, badgers, coyotes, foxes) and I told her that I’ve been seeing a LOT of owls. Less than two minutes later I saw an owl fly ACROSS OUR PATH and land on a low branch in a tree just a little ways in front of us. I was the only one who saw it, and in the way the bike path turned, I only caught a brief glimpse. This happened near a bridge in small stretch of cottonwoods. I whispered to the two children who didn't see it, and we all quietly walked toward the tree until we were right up close. It was right next to the Teton Creek, right along side of the bike path.

It was a handsome Great Horned Owl, a little less than 18" tall. It had those iconic "cat" tufts that look like ears, and electric bright yellow eyes. This was an unusual sighting in the daylight, and I think this is as close as I have ever been to a perched owl. I'm not kidding, it was probably 15 feet from where we stood on the bike path!

It stared down at us for about a minute, and then casually flew off. It felt like it was posing for us. Everything about the experience was beautiful.

I'll add after the owl flew off, the daughter was asking over and over and over, "Mom, do you love Mike?" This wasn't awkward at all, it was entirely endearing.

Carol and her daughter (who was right up close to the owl in the tree) both show up in the fourth posting on this blog. My friend Kristy held this little girl's hand on the hiking trail the morning after we saw the 3 owls (the first time) in 2006. I’ll add that we all saw a big beautiful moose that morning!

Carol shows up HERE too, in an experience that I can only call psychic.
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11 comments:

  1. You say you interpret the owls as a message to "pay attention."

    What do you think this event was trying to direct your attention to?

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  2. Reply to RPJ:
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    If you are implying something between me and Carol, there isn't anything at all there. She is happily married and we are just friends.

    In a funny way, I thought is was really a special moment for her little daughter to see an owl so close. I am not exagerating, this was an impressive sighting. I think this was the closest I have ever been to a perched owl.

    If I was to answer what the event is trying to tell me it might be this: These synchronistic moments have a way of intertwining a collection of deeply personal connections. I feel that this is how the universe allows them to unfold. It's almost like they have a magnetic force, and they draw in personal elements.

    I am cautious to try to read too much into this one, except that it simply felt very nice all around.

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  3. The Owls are your allies and have noticed your nocturnal vigilance, and are acknowledging you. It is a honor and nothing to be frightened of when they both seek and acknowledge you on your journey toward divination.

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  4. Mike, this kind of reminds me of CastaƱeda´s books*, and the practice Don Juan taught him of "recapitulation". It was supposed to be a method in which a person would remmemorate the events of his past, in order to "recapture" the emotional energy left scattered in all those moments —energy that will be needed to perform the feats of perception sorcerers devote themselves to.

    The most interesting thing about your experience was when Carol drew the gloves you recognized as a gift from you. I assume this triggered some emotional response from the both of you.

    Saludos,

    RPJ

    (*)Yes I know CastaƱeda´s books are mostly fiction, but that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of useful info to be found in them.

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  5. Hi, this is more a question about owls...are they ever known to fly in flocks, packs or whatever you'd call it? A week ago I looked up and saw 7 or 8 birds flying together. They were not geese. The only thing I could make them out be was owls. My wife was there and agrees. Thanks!

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  6. REPLY to Carl:
    ===========

    Do owls fly in flocks? Check this out!

    LINK:
    ----
    http://hiddenexperience.blogspot.com/2010/03/astounding-owl-video.html

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  7. Thanks. I found it right after asking the question, of course. This was a couple of miles from Greenfield, Massachusetts..by the way...

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  8. In the text above I wrote: "I saw an owl fly ACROSS OUR PATH and land on a low branch in a tree just a little ways in front of us. I was the only one who saw it... This happened near a bridge..."

    Curiously, it did not cross "our" path, but it did cross *my* path. Carol and her three kids had their car parked right near the bridge, so they only went as far as the owl sighting, and turned back.

    I continued continued on to town, bisecting the place where the owl flew across the bike path.

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  9. Dan from LUMINOSITY talks about OWLS:

    - He writes:
    "Since I can remember owls have played into my experiences almost from the beginning."

    http://wellofhighstrangeness.blogspot.com/2010/12/owls-aliens-and-hale-bopp-comet.html

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  10. I hadn't read this one! Thanks for the link, Mike. I figured the owl post would grab your attention.

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  11. After my granma passed away 2 owls came to my window and hooted back and forth to each other for a what seemed to be an hour. I felt like they where desperately trying to communicate with me. Months before that I saw a baby owl in the middle of the road had to swirve to miss it

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Hi there. I am eager to hear your comments, especially if you have similar stories. I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

And - I reserve the right to delete any comments that are offensive or excessively harsh.