I was walking in a mist. It was night and a white owl fell or flew down from some unseen place out of the mist and into my arms. It was a baby white owl. I couldn’t see it’s mother anywhere, so I took it with me as and continued on. I should mention that this happened on the street outside my Grandmother’s house. Most of my meaningful dreams happen around or inside her house. This was no different.
The night remained misty and dark as I walked around the neighborhood searching for some animal to adopt and nurse the owl. I wanted to keep her with me but I wasn’t sure how to take care of a baby bird and knew it would starve if I tried. I had no way of feeding it.
There were snakes in the trees and as I walked from yard to yard seeking a home for the bird they would uncoil from their branches and strike out at me to snatch the owl from my arms and eat it. Though the rest of the dream was realistic the snakes were cartoons. Anyway, after some time in the yards trying to avoid the snakes and protect the owl; I made it back onto the neighborhood street, well away from any of the trees.
I decided to go and ask my friend, “Hen†for guidance. She apparently, lived in the backyard of my Grandmother’s neighbor’s home. (Hilda, is the woman’s real name.) Hen turned out to be an actual Rooster –but she was …well… a ‘she’ and her name was Hen.
I showed her the owl and asked her what I could do? The owl needed to be nursed. She thought about it for a moment and told me that there was an ‘old cat’ who lived in the backyard with Hen. She was still nursing her own litter. Hen showed me where to find her and she told me to try setting the owl at one of the cat’s teats and see if she’d allow it to feed.
Well, the cat didn’t. She struck out at the owl. She was trying to kill it. What’s interesting is that when I pulled the owl away from the attack, it had cat’s ears of it’s own. I saw this because that’s where the deeper scratches were. But I only saw this for a moment, as when I really focused on the wounds; they were on the top of the owl’s head.
I tried again to sit the bird down with the cat to see if she’d change her mind. And when I looked at the cat’s other kittens…. They weren’t kittens. They were tubes of paint. Multiple colors. A whole palette. They were being filled by the cat’s teats. I could see that some of them were overflowing –they were very messy eaters.
Anyway, the cat wouldn’t let the owl eat and so I decided that maybe I should just buy some of that artificial milk pet stores have for orphaned animals. Hen thought that was a smart idea too. …Only… I wasn’t sure I really wanted to adopt the owl. In reality, I’ve taken on orphaned birds that I’ve found in the wild before and they were always too much for me. I’ve always found them wonderful homes…. This time I felt, in the dream, I wanted to do the right thing first and ignore my selfish inclination to keep the owl for my own. I wanted to do the right thing for her and place her in the best situation –for her. …Of course, on the other hand, (in the dream) I wondered if I was just being lazy and afraid of the responsibility. …Though… I felt like the owl belonged to me.
Anyway, enough of that.
The thing I’m struggling with here is that I’m a Witch. I’m a Goddess worshipping Pagan and in my personal symbolic language, snakes and cats AND owls are all good omens. Symbols of rebirth, magic and intuition, and wisdom. ….The female rooster named Hen, I figure must be a symbol of creation and beginnings (referencing the egg)… and the fact that she’s a he and a she; I guess that symbolizes the balance of masculine and feminine energy in the Goddess and in me… I’m lost as to why the snake and cat would be attacking the owl. I’m sure I’m just too close to this. I would really appreciate some added assistance here.
Thanks you guys!
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