Opening Reminder:
The content of this article is written with authoritative information combined with personal opinions, and the source and screenshot of the literature have been marked at the end of the article or in the article, please be aware.
Preface
Whenever someone's life is coming to an end, a creepy "visitor" will come!
Friends who have lived in the countryside should be very curious about one thing, whenever someone is dying, a frustrating "sneer" can always be heard nearby.
A closer look at the source of the sound reveals that this is the laughter of the "mourning bird", as if the owl knew in advance that someone was going to die.
The owl seems to be the messenger of the "soul", and over time we have also regarded the owl as a symbol of "bad luck".
Is this cute little guy really so "evil"?
Owls are indeed "evil"
The owl is a bit creepy in all aspects, especially its scary and eerie face, and many horror novels choose to use the owl as a blueprint to adapt it into a monster.
Although the owl name also has the word eagle, compared to the handsome appearance of other eagles, the owl is slightly bloated and even a little bulky, because it has a large head.
And they also have a pair of deep, bright eyes, which are very similar to cats, and some owls also have feathers like ears.
Looking at the owl from the front, it looks like an owl with an owl, which is also the origin of its name, this kind of animal that looks like a "creator" is awkward, and naturally looks more evil.
The strange eyes of owls are also one of the sources of human horror, a pair of eyes look very similar to human eyes from a distance, and some owls have very strange feathers on their faces.
Imagine that on a dark moonlit night, you suddenly look back and see an owl with a "human face" staring at you.
I believe that most people will have a sense of fear, if you add the owl's terrible sneer, this is a horror movie scene!
The combination of various characteristics can't help but make people feel resistant, especially the fact that owls like to "report funeral", so whether it is ancient or modern, we seem to regard owls as taboos.
"Mourning" is just instinct
The owl always likes to "mourn" in the vicinity of the dying person, and death is a big taboo in our culture, and we still do it today.
There is a saying in rural areas that when an elderly person is dying, he will always hear an owl making a sneering cry outside, which is in stark contrast to the grief of his relatives.
Hearing that the owl was still sneering, his heart would naturally be angry, and some would let their children shoot the owl down with a slingshot, or directly scare it away, hoping to dispel the bad luck of the old man by driving away the owl.
This argument is widely circulated in rural areas, and it is believed that the owl brought the bad luck, but in fact it is completely unjust the owl.
Death is predestined, not the fault of the owl, but the breath of human dying attracts the owl, and people in the past had shallow cognition and did not understand what science is, so it can only be explained by superstitious means.
When humans or other medium-sized and large animals are about to die, they will actually emit a kind of death aura, and this aura is so subtle that we humans are not aware of it at all.
For example, we cannot effectively predict earthquakes, and many animals can perceive the changes in the magnetic field and subtle movements before the earthquake in advance.
It's normal that we don't feel this breath of death, because modern humans don't rely on such keen senses to forage for food, but it is an important source of food for owls.
When owls sense the smell of death, they instinctively go to the vicinity, just to get a bite out of it.
Human beings are also a link in the food chain, but most of us modern humans have stayed away from the wild living environment, but they just do not participate in the food chain.
As for why the owl has such a strange call, it is not because it is too happy to see the dying person, but because the owl itself has a rich call, and it is not limited to one, just like the call of a cat.
Owls can also make very strange sounds, and I personally think that the reason why owls are calling blindly near dying people may be because there are other animals nearby, and owls make such ugly calls as a warning.
Animals are far less complex than humans, and their actions are just for survival, so we should look at them rationally and not hurt owls because of them.
Owls can prey on a lot of insects, including many pests, and can catch mice, barely a little helper for humans.
Owls were also "hot"
Our dislike of owls is not the same lineage, the ancestors of the Shang Dynasty not only hated it, but also respected it very much, and even regarded it as the "protector" of their own people.
Many cultural relics unearthed in the Shang Dynasty can see the image of owls, and some also set up bronze statues of owls alone, which is enough to see that people at that time did not regard owls as ominous signs.
The main reason is that the Shang Dynasty civilization spanned too much from what we have now, and people's views on many foods at that time were very different from ours today, or completely contrary to them.
This is the view of the owl, which was seen as a protector in the past, but today as a "mourning bird".
The famous Red Hill culture also uses the owl as a totem, and worships the owl's ability to hunt at night.
As for the current owl has become an ominous bird, it may be because people have created a fault line in the subsequent cultural inheritance, and many worship cultures have not been inherited.
And this guy is indeed a bit evil, with a sharp appearance and a terrifying scream, and he also likes to hang around near the dying people, and people worship the owl and overthrow it at once.
At the same time, we humans are extremely afraid of death, and the characteristics of owls are also easy for people to map the fear of death to owls.
Slowly, the owl becomes a "messenger of death", and its appearance indicates that someone is about to die, and it is understandable that the older generation regards the owl as a "mourning bird".
The world status of owls
Different civilizations around the world also have different views on owls, such as Japan, which also belongs to the East Asian cultural circle, and regards it as a "blessed bird".
Japanese Ainu
It is believed that the owl can help people escape misery and poverty, so it is a highly respected bird, and its cultural roots are Hokkaido in northern Japan, where the Ainu people once lived by gathering and hunting.
Ancient Greek culture also recognized the owl very much, and even played an important role in mythology, and the ancient Greeks even portrayed the image of the owl on coins.
The two big, round eyes still look a little cute, but don't look at other people's cuteness, they are the mascots of the ancient Greek army.
Ancient Rome had the same view of owls as we do, because it successfully foresaw the deaths of many deadly monarchs.
epilogue
In our traditional culture, there are not only birds of bad luck, but also birds that symbolize good luck, such as the common swallow is a symbol of beauty, if the swallow nests at home, it is also regarded as a good omen.
Swallows choose a place to nest is very particular, generally choose a place with a good family atmosphere, if anyone makes a lot of noise every day, even falling and beating, it will definitely alarm the swallows, so part of the tradition is experience.
References:
Documentary "The Natural World: Revealing the Owl" November 21, 2017 (BBC, UK)
Baidu Encyclopedia's entry for "owl".
"If National Treasures Could Talk", Owl Zun: The Treatment of an Owl, released by the official media CCTV on February 17, 2018