The Great Horned Owl

The Symbolism of The Bird…

Her wings beat without sonic disturbance, and yet souls look up. The nighttime hides her, and yet she is the fuel of souls’ nightmares when the sun sets. The Great Horned Owl exists in a realm of her own choosing. Her presence and the power that ensues from it dominate the mindscape of those less fortunate, even when there is nothing. Nothing that tangibly, audibly, or visually spells out the demise of the unknowing. Her faux-horn of feathers is her crown-like adornment.

The rest of her has black tips at the end, like script or cursive writing, the description of her.

The Great Horned Owl isn’t just a being; she is a living essay. Mother Nature’s literature explaining that silent observation has an unnerving power.

The rooster declares the day’s entrance. The crows gossip. The peacock performs. The parrot mimics. The canary muses through song. The chickadee confesses.

The Great Horned Owl, while all these birds partake in a visual or audible display of their uniqueness, stays silent. Perched on a balcony of branches and baked in a nest built by the love of her life. While the pair are in their separate worlds, and she gazes at the other birds, she never dreams of emulating them; she makes her own sounds based on her musing.

Who dares to challenge her?

Who is a friend?

Who is a foe?

Who poses a threat?

And who will present themselves as ambivalent to her intentions?

It’s no wonder the Great Horned Owl has earned the moniker of “the Tiger of the Sky.” Her eyes bear the truth of observation; her head swivels like a turret gathering all information necessary before the movements are made. And much like the revelations that only she is privy to, you only know her intentions when it is too late.

In a world of raucousness, in a world that has always provided applause, rewards, admiration, and commodification that feels like reverence, for the noise and the performances, The Great Horned Owl is an alien. A being that looks and sounds different, thinks differently, moves on her own accord, slowly turning, highlighting the juxtaposition of opposites. The Great Horned Owl’s brilliance is how she pounces on life, with the calculation fermented in a silent, devious plot.