our Paleolithic ancestors.

Coming forward about 26,000 years in time, the Sumerian culture believed that owls attended their goddess of death, Lilith.

Two millennia after the Sumerian period, the Bible often used owls to signify terror and desolation. In fact, owls are frequently paired with dragons in biblical imagery. Job 30:29 says "I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls." A curse from Isaiah 34:13: "And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls." This is fearsome company, indeed, for our nocturnal raptors!

Owls were rehabilitated somewhat, however, in classic Greek mythology, where they were associated with Athena, goddess of wisdom. This parallel interpretation, knowledge but also death, has clung to the owl in European cultures ever since.

How do owls fare in the world today?

Western people generally like owls, and are excited to see them. An owl sighting is a sign that a particular ecosystem is relatively healthy and complete. Besides, it's a rare event for most people to see an owl, and that increases the value of the experience. This attitude has only developed over the last couple of centuries; previously, western European cultures usually associated owls with death and devilry. Owls were often accused of being witches' familiars: this connection can be glimpsed in the Harry Potter series, where owls deliver mail for witches and wizards.

In East Asia and Central Asia, owls are generally well-regarded. Chinese people use owl amulets to ward off lightning strikes. The Ainu of Japan consider owls the messengers of the gods. Mongols credit an owl with saving the life of Genghis Khan, their great leader. According to Afghan lore, the owl brought fire to mankind. In the Middle East, however, owls still have a bad reputation. Hebrew tradition, as shown in the Bible passages above, associates owls with blindness and desolation. In Iran and throughout the Arabian Peninsula, owls are considered very bad luck; they sometimes carry children away at night and eat them.

Throughout Africa, owls are associated with witchcraft and dark magic. Some sorcerer-kings are said to turn themselves into owls in order to do their terrible deeds unseen.

In Native American cultures, the owl is often a messenger of death. This has been true from the time of the Aztecs and Incas, and is still believed by some people.

Finally, Australian Aborigines believe that owls are the souls of women. (Bats are men.) Owls are therefore honored as sisters. Just across the water, however, the Maori of New Zealand believe that owls are bearers of bad news. While they can be intimidating, owls are also powerful protecting spirits. The fearsome round-eyed expression used by warriors when they do the "Haka" is modeled on the face of an owl, and many Maori women used to tattoo an owl-eye motif on their chins. (These days, most just draw the design on with eyebrow pencil when they perform traditional dances for tourists.)

People's reactions to owls still vary widely around the world. Some see them as beautiful, awe-inspiring, and wise. Others view owls as demons, the restless spirits of ancestors, or witches in disguise. Whichever way you look at them, though, you won't look away.

Learn more about this author, Kallie Szczepanski.
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