Owls are quite common birds with about 250 different owl species that can be found almost everywhere in the world – from the frozen tundra to the hottest desert, from the most remote forests to the heart of the city. Yet, many of us go our entire lives without ever seeing an owl in person.
This is largely because owls are nocturnal predators that hunt during the night and rest in their burrows during the day. Also, while they are present even in large metropolises, they aren’t as common as other inner-city birds like pigeons and ravens.
All this means that encountering an owl isn’t as common, especially if you’re not in the habit of patrolling your local park in the middle of the night. So, what does it mean when an owl crosses your path as you’re walking about? Is this just a rare chance occurrence or is there more to it? Here are our 8 interpretations.
What does it mean when an owl crosses your path?
We’ve explored the spiritual meanings of owls hooting and screeching around you before but the act of an owl flying around or in front of you comes with a few additional implications.
Naturally, different cultures, see things like that differently – from ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece to ancient China and the pre-colonial Americas, owls have always been seen as deeply symbolic spirits and totem animals. While some cultures have revered them as wise messengers and beneficial guardians, however, others have seen them as evil spirits, symbols of death, and bringers of bad luck.
So, which is it? That largely depends on the situation you’re in and its details, as well as on your own cultural background and how much stock you give such interpretations in the first place. At the end of the day, spirituality is what we make of it and the way we choose to interpret something can be just as important as others’ interpretations of the same phenomenon – if not more so.
Nevertheless, here are the 8 most common interpretations we’ve found of an owl crossing your path:
1. You have a guardian angel watching over you
As nocturnal birds of prey, owls are often understood as guardians and protectors – as beings that hunt vermin and pests at night while we sleep so that we’d be safe and free to do whatever we want during the day. This means that not only an owl’s hoot but an owl flying by you, in particular, can be seen as a sign that you’ve got a guardian angel looking after you.
Especially if this encounter happens during the day, it can be said that the owl means good fortune and is generally a good omen for things to come. A white owl, in particular, is almost always seen as a good luck sign, although that’s usually just because of its color and not anything more specific. Barn owls are also seen in such a way and they are one of the more common species you can encounter.
2. You need guidance and wisdom
If an owl flies near or in front of you in the evening or the middle of the night, this is usually a sign that you need – or you’re actively being offered – wisdom and guidance by a higher power.
Owls are among the most common symbols of wisdom, after all, and it’s no coincidence that the ancient Greeks and Romans even had goddesses associated with this bird of prey – the goddess Athena in Greece and her counterpart Minerva in Rome. Each of them was a goddess of wisdom as well as of war which made the association with owls especially straightforward.
As such, the owl symbolism here can be that you’re being offered some insight and wisdom on a subject you’re struggling with or that you need to trust your intuition more to achieve what you want.
3. Something strange is afoot
Back to daylight encounters, a different view states that it’s a bad omen to see an owl in the middle of the day. Owls are nocturnal, after all, so it’s not natural to see them flying about when they should be resting instead.
Such an encounter indicates secrets and mystery, as well as that something is not right in the world around you. In pretty much every mythology, even the ones that viewed owls favorably, it’s always seen as a warning to have such an encounter as it indicates that something isn’t right and you should be more careful.
This doesn’t mean that the owl itself is seen as a “bad” spirit animal, however – you can still be grateful for the warning.
4. A message from the beyond
Many Native American tribes associated owls with both witchcraft and the spiritual world of the dead. For the Native Americans, owls were messengers from our ancestors, carrying the will and wisdom of souls long past.
This meant that seeing an owl crossing your path, both during the day and during the night, was understood as a message from beyond the veil. That message could be a warning, it could be guidance, or it could be a threat – determining which is which depended on the person and the details around the encounter.
5. A warning of danger and even death
In many other cultures, including ancient China, the Arab world, and ancient Rome, owls were seen as harbingers of death, similar to how crows and ravens were seen in other cultures. A black owl hooting, screeching, or flying near you, in particular, was understood as an especially bad omen.
The people in ancient China even had a saying that if you see such an ominous sign you could just as well start digging your own grave. The Romans, on the other hand, believed that an owl predicted the betrayal and murder of Julius Caesar as well as the deaths of Agrippa, Marcus Aurelius, and Caesar Augustus.
The Romans even had the practice of nailing dead owls to their doors as an attempt to ward off evil spirits. While we wouldn’t put much trust in the idea that owls’ hooting and flying predicted the deaths of Roman emperors – owls hoot and fly all the time, after all – it is important to keep in mind how powerful of a symbol of death owls really were and still are for many people.
6. It’s time to transition into a new phase of your life
An owl can also be a powerful sign of transformation. This interpretation is a combination of the bird’s symbolism of wisdom and of protection. Finding owl feathers after such a flyby is also a very strong sign as owl feathers can be powerful good fortune talismans.
If you see an owl flying by you – especially if it’s a repeated occurrence – this can indicate that you are entering a new phase of your life, a phase where you not only have the protection and guidance of a higher power but also a phase during which you need to seize the opportunities presented to you.
This is why it’s important to pay attention to such symbols and not miss your chance to capitalize on what you’ve been given and get the most out of this new development.
7. A reminder that the world keeps spinning even when you’re feeling stuck
There is also another view that is much more detached from ourselves and our personal lives. As birds of prey, these nocturnal creatures live the active parts of their lives while we sleep and do what they do with little to no care of our lives.
So, seeing an owl crossing your path, whether in the evening, night, or early morning, can also be a sign that the world keeps going regardless of what you’re doing with your own life. This indifference can be either depressing or inspiring, however, and it’s up to us how we’ll react to it.
8. You’re entering a place or a phase of your life that’s full of magic and mysticism
Owls are also seen as guides to the spiritual realm. This means that owl spirit animals aren’t just symbols of a new beginning or a symbol of changes, but they also stand for magic, mysticism, and witchcraft. This new perspective offered by an owl encounter can be seen as dark and scary by some or as illuminating and enlightening by others.
In conclusion
As spirit animals, owls can have lots of meaning and symbolism. Just like dreams, however, the details around your owl encounter are usually key for determining its exact meaning. An owl flying by you can be a sign you’re being watched over and guided or it could be a warning sign that some things aren’t going all that well for you and you might want to change course.
In any case, the symbolism of an owl crossing your path is always meaningful and shouldn’t be ignored. It should also be properly interpreted as you may get in quite a bit of trouble if you not only misunderstand the message you’re receiving but interpret it in the diametrically opposite way to what it’s actually about.
