Owl, ask for folklore, folk magic

[AlfrunGrima]

I am interested in Northwest European/North European folklore, stories, traditions and folk magic that is connected to the owl. Hopefully people have local stories, folklore and magic too. At this moment I can't really tell why I am interested, but maybe I will tell in the future.

Thank you and kind regards from Alfrun

 

[Yazata]

Not something I know but something I wondered about: these balls that an owl vomits up. Seems like it could be used in one way or another for a spell. Little sphere of bones and other animal parts, almost perfect as base / housing for a little nasty servitor.
(We say "uilenballen" in Dutch but I'm unsure what the English is)

 

[DeTerminator]

Owl pellets, Yazata. I have a bag of them somewhere, collected under one of the big pine trees in a local cemetery that the owls really like. Not sure what to do with them yet, though.

 

[AlfrunGrima]

Not something I know but something I wondered about: these balls that an owl vomits up. Seems like it could be used in one way or another for a spell. Little sphere of bones and other animal parts, almost perfect as base / housing for a little nasty servitor.
(We say "uilenballen" in Dutch but I'm unsure what the English is)

Yes, I know the word uilenballen as well. ( I am living in a little village just under Breda, The Netherlands)

 

[8Lou1]

tijl uilenspiegel. dutch/german folklore.

it is also said owls symbolically stand for wisdom/knowledge/forsight. athene has an owl as spirit animal, but they also live in church towers and eat little buggers like mice. so they are cleaners as well.
the fact that they move their necks to look around also must have to do with langnek in the efteling.

owww and in my family we used to have a little game called uiltje. i used to play that with my mum and later with my kids when they were little.
i would sit on my mums lap facing her and she would go nose against nose with closed eyes. when her nose touched mine she would open her eyes, look into mine and say: uiltje. i then could see up close how her pupils changed like owl eyes. ( waves from rotterdam )

 

[Dyn Hysbys]

Not something I know but something I wondered about: these balls that an owl vomits up. Seems like it could be used in one way or another for a spell. Little sphere of bones and other animal parts, almost perfect as base / housing for a little nasty servitor.
(We say "uilenballen" in Dutch but I'm unsure what the English is)

Wow, memory unlocked: I collected those balls as a kid. Explains a lot...

Post automatically merged: Mar 5, 2025

Hi, this may be too far west for your question, but owls are sometimes called 'aderyn y corff' in Wales ('corpse bird/bird of the corpse'), they're a death omen in some areas. In the Mabinogion, Blodeuwedd is transformed into an owl as punishment, an object of hatred.

 

[Konsciencia]

Owls are very Mystical Birds!!! Don't forget that they are cute!!

 

[Dyn Hysbys]

They are! I mean, they'll bite your finger clean off and foretell the doom of man, but they're definitely cute

 

[Konsciencia]

They are! I mean, they'll bite your finger clean off and foretell the doom of man, but they're definitely cute

Well, if they see that you're friendly. I don't think they'll bite you. I've seen some Owls who they helped cured because they were injured. So they became friendly to the ones who took care of them.

 

[MagickalStudent569]

In Celtic, Germanic, and Scandinavian Mythology the Owl seems to be associated with magic, witchcraft, death, the unknown, the gods, winter, bad omens etc.. To glean greater insight try reading the Brothers Grim, the Mabinogion, Scottish, Irish, Sweedish, Norwegian, and Danish folk lore. Really there's too many stories to recommend a single source. One thread that might tie it all together is the hag goddess of winter the Cailleach who the bird is associated with. She has parallels to the Slavic Goddess Moranna who some say is similar to Greek Hecate. They all sorta represent similar things.

 

[AlfrunGrima]

tijl uilenspiegel. dutch/german folklore.

it is also said owls symbolically stand for wisdom/knowledge/forsight. athene has an owl as spirit animal, but they also live in church towers and eat little buggers like mice. so they are cleaners as well.
the fact that they move their necks to look around also must have to do with langnek in the efteling.

owww and in my family we used to have a little game called uiltje. i used to play that with my mum and later with my kids when they were little.
i would sit on my mums lap facing her and she would go nose against nose with closed eyes. when her nose touched mine she would open her eyes, look into mine and say: uiltje. i then could see up close how her pupils changed like owl eyes. ( waves from rotterdam )

Thank you very much for the uiltje-play! Waves back!