Legends of the Owl – Ainu Legends
One of the most basic tools we have for our survival and prosperity in this life is the ability to see, know and choose the best course of action. We call it many things: choosing right from wrong, making a good decision, knowing that is best or taking the higher road. Legends are not void of classification of good or bad any more than any other part of life.
It was believed by the Ainu, an aboriginal culture in Japan, that there were five special birds whose cry should not be imitated by anyone. They are the cuckoo, woodpecker, nighthawk, goatsucker, and the owl. These birds have the power to bewitch people by means of their cry, and sometimes do exactly that. So to imitate their call would be a direct calling, often of misfortune. Legend carried the belief that the devil often sent strange birds, and those birds carried disease here and there.
The eagle owl goes beyond this warning, for the eagle owl was a deity. It would be considered blasphemy to imitate the cry of the eagle owl.
The Eagle Owl
This bird was the holder of five different names. The owl itself, in the bird cult world, would be healed in the greatest esteem and care, though this respect is not carried through to all owls. Some owls are seen as carriers and causers of misfortune, even referred to as demons.
The Eagle Owl was seen in a different light, and regarded as divine and beloved. Never the carrier of evil, the eagle owl would actually forewarn of impending danger, and its good will would protect mankind from that evil.
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