I was attacked by an owl in September 2017.
One week later, I was catalyzed into a major healing initiation, supported by Owl medicine.
In Shamanic tradition, attacks, stings, bites or significant encounters with animals are sometimes recognized as initiations into their medicine. The same is true for plants: stings, scratches, poisoning, reaction or significant encounters are sometimes, but not always, initiations.
I had just moved into a new home, and the first thing I do whenever I move to a new place is to walk the area and get to know the land and local nature spirits. I walked through a patch of forest behind my neighborhood and had just come out the other side when something slammed into the back of my head.
I whipped around in stunned confusion, and saw an owl flying away. It landed on a nearby tree branch and regarded me with piercing eyes. We stared at each other for a moment, and it launched itself at me again, flying right towards my face. I reflexively raised my arms and yelled something, and it flew back to the branch. I walked away, looking over my shoulder. By the time I walked a shaky lap to calm down, it had gone. I had to go back through the forest to get home, but I did not see the owl again that evening.
The following day, I returned to the patch of forest and saw several snags (standing dead trees) with holes that looked ideal for owl roosts. I made an offering to Owl at one of the snags and asked for their consent to share this land with them.
The big bump on my head remained for about a week, right at the site of my back body Third Eye. During that time, I reflected on Owl energy. I was unsure if this had merely been an introduction to a local nature spirit, or if it was an initiation into their medicine to form a deep allyship. The answer soon became obvious.
The following week, I decided to invoke my spirit team for a healing session, for what I thought was a completely unrelated issue. Something regarding my ancestral lineages had been bothering me in the back of my mind for a while, and I wanted to give it some attention to see what would emerge.
As I dove in, I saw big, black eyes rushing toward me through the darkness, and I felt a jolt of energy as I recognized the owl’s eyes. I remembered thinking at the time of the attack, “I understand why some cultures are afraid of owls.” They are silent, ghostly predators who come alive in the shadow. There are some species of owls who have bright yellow irises and their eyes look more “cute” and friendly to our human perception, but the kind of owl that attacked me has eyes that look completely black. (It was a Barred Owl. Go ahead, look up a picture and imagine it flying at your face. It was intimidating.)
As the black eyes filled my inner vision, I was surrounded in soft darkness. I felt my awareness heighten, my senses sharpened and everything seemed to go still. I heard the words, “It is safe to see.” The darkness seemed to ease, but I realized it was my perception that had changed, not the light.
And then Owl showed me a puzzle piece that I had never seen in 30 years of knowing my family history, and I felt the collective grief and pain of my ancestors come crashing down.
I ended up on the floor of my healing room, sobbing as I channeled the words and the grief of my ancestors. But even though I felt their heartbreak moving through me like a river, I felt myself held in the soft embrace of Owl wings, and I saw the black eyes reminding me that it was safe to see in the darkness.
When Owl spirit sent one of its children to strike me in the back of the head, it was not merely an introduction to the local land guardians. It was an infusion of Owl medicine directly into my Third Eye. Owl was preparing me to serve the healing of some deep, multigenerational grief in my own lineage, and also to help others navigate their darkness with more peace and comfort. Owl is one of my primary spirit allies when I support my clients in deep shadow work. When I took up painting a few years ago, my first project was an Owl portrait that now hangs in the stairwell leading up to the healing room.
