A few years ago, I had a bizarre experience. I live in a big city and, at the time, lived in an apartment building. It was the middle of the winter and I was going to close the balcony door and saw a white owl just sitting there in the snow drift. It looked at me (which kind of freaked me out) and then just flew off.
It freaked me out, because it was the first time noticed owls kind of have people faces. :) Their beaks are so small they look like little noses and the faces are flat compared to other birds. I also thought it was pretty cool that it was a white owl (or even an owl, since I'd never seen one up close before).
Then I got to thinking, why is an owl sitting on my balcony in the middle of the day. That was about seven or eight years ago and I've never forgotten it. I can still remember how it looked at me. But I never could figure out what it might symbolize. Back then I wasn't into magick so I didn't even consider anything like that.
That experience is something I'll never forget and I'm just wondering if anyone in this community has an idea of what a white owl coming to you might symbolize.
Something else to keep in mind is that the owl might not have had any meaning. It might have simply landed on your balcony to rest. Owls don't see all that well during the day, if I remember correctly. Perhaps he didn't have time to get back to his roost before sunup and chose your balcony to alight on. It could have also been ill which might also explain why it was out during the day.
However, if you feel the creature had some meaning then perhaps it did. I would suggest doing some of your own research on the topic and see what you discover.
Maybe you're right about it not having a meaning. I've researched it off and on since it happened and never found a solid or consistent answer. So I'd leave it alone for a while, until it came to mind again.
One of the members has a white owl as a profile photo and that's why I thought of it. I thought I'd check to see if anyone here has a more definite answer.
I tend to believe everything happens for a reason though. So even if the owl was sick, lost or resting, of all the balconies why mine? :) I will likely always continue to seek an answer, even if I don't find one here.
I thought that I would give another out look on this and suggest that your animal totem could be an owl. So the owl on your balcony could have been your totem revealing itself to you, if you think so try meditating on your totem and see if it is an owl.
I've never heard of animal totems before, but after a quick search, I think I'm going to look into that.
How do you go about meditating on your totem? Are any special methods required? I did see a spell on here to have your totem revealed to you and another mention of animal cards to do a reading to reveal your totem.
Well first off to get the mundane bits and pieces out the way. Owls have been recorded to often hunt in cities due to the high population density of vermin and the available ground being fairly open to the sky. Most owls often perch in the day and a white owl in the snow is often more "at ease" than a darker owl due to increased camouflage so wouldn't have too many issues perching on an open balcony at that time. As for looking you in the face owls have binocular vision and it's their primary sense so unlike many other birds will look at you head on. As said before its always worth keeping such a thing in mind.
However as you commented, why your balcony at that specific time? The only scientific answer would have to be random chance which is possible but there are more than a few super natural reasons why the owl might be there. There's the possibility the owl was acting on behalf of a deity or spirit although I'm sure they'd hardly bother unless you already associated yourself with that spirit and would thus recognise the symbol, or at least have a chance to, the obvious one springing to my mind is Athena but if you pay no head to such deities then it's exceptionally unlikely. It is more than possible to be your totem animal and if it is then meditating on it helps, equally any proffered divining methods are just as good although if you're using cards I'd shy away from any with actual animals on them or you'll bias the outcome, although I haven't seen the method you're referring to so I'm not degrading it at all. The only issue with this is that if you're thinking about the owl when trying to discover your totem you'll probably guide any visions towards that owl. I know owls are often associated with truth and knowledge (despite being remarkably unintelligent animals) so its possible that you subconsciously attracted it to yourself through either expressing or requiring such traits.
I'm sure someone else can tell you more about the magical purpose of owls but often the best way to find out what they mean to you is to just look inside and ask yourself. Sorry I can't be more specific but I hope I gave you a few ideas to toy around with at least.
Thanks Yakov. These are also good ways to look at it. And you're right about the animal cards. I use Oracle cards so maybe I'll try to figure out the meaning with those.
I grew up in the country, a rural small town, out in the sticks. And all the time I lived there (20+ years) I never saw or even heard an owl. So I'm positive it means something. It'll be interesting to figure out what.
