Owl on haycock
8 X 8.5 cm photographic print of a Barred owl (Strix varia), also commonly known as the “Hoot Owl.”
Owls’ predatory and vigilant nocturnal activity seems the catalyst for many cultures developing superstitions about them worldwide. Across many cultures and throughout history, owls have variously been regarded as omens of death, ghostly spirits, wise ones, spiritual guides, and magical entities. Here in the Lowcountry, a strong association between owls, death, and magic can be traced back to cross-cultural beliefs and folklores that originated in geographically remote places, such as Pre-Columbian America, West Africa, and northern Europe.
Lilith, the Hebrew goddess of death, is often depicted as being flanked by owls. In Greek and Roman mythology, owls were associated with the wise war-faring goddess Athena/Minerva. The owl was considered a harbinger of doom throughout medieval and early modern Europe, and the early Christian church associated owls with evil and demonic possession.
Many Native American tribes perceived owls as witches or shape-shifters. Owls (along with cougars) held a special place in Cherokee creation myth. The Cherokee word skili was used to refer both to witches and to Great Horned Owls, although the standard term for owls was uguuk. The Cherokee and a myriad of other Native American tribes also perceived owls to be prophetic guides for medicine men as well as harbingers of death, illness, and spiritual punishment.
The Mandinka people of West Africa had specific beliefs about owls that have been traced to a reported fear of owls among Gullah people of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. The Pakao Mandinka word for owl, bwa, was the same word used for their terrifying cannibal-witch, a hag that attacked people while they slept. Gullah people reportedly saw owls as messengers of death and incarnations of evil.
In the Gaelic mythology of Scotland and Ireland, owls were associated with the Cailleach Bheara, or the Hag of Beare, a winter goddess associated with the crone aspect of womanhood and with horned beasts. The Gaelic word cailleach meant hag or old woman, while the word for owl was cailleach-oidhche, literally, ‘hag of the night.’
(Sources: South Carolina Department of Natural Resources [SCDNR], Audubon Society, Cherokee Nation, History in Africa [journal], Colin Mark’s Gaelic-English Dictionary)
Image taken from Phosphate, Farms, & Family: The Donner Collection, held by Beaufort County Library.
