Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



was found a small bronze Minerva showing 

 traces of wings and carrying an owl on her 

 hand. The wings show that to the Etruscans 

 she was a psychopompos, a soul guide ; the 

 owl indicates the realm of darkness. Did 

 not Ceres turn a son of Styx into an owl 

 because he blabbed the secret that she 

 had eaten seven grains of a pomegranate in 

 Hades? In the Kalevala, when Vaino goes 

 to hell to find three words of magic, he wisely 

 declines to eat or drink there, and thus man- 

 ages to escape the conjurations and copper 

 nets of Mana. 



At Perugia there is an Etruscan tomb, on 

 the rear wall of which two owls and a serpent 

 are carved in relief Owls as well as serpents 

 are cliff aad cave dwellers, hermits of darkness, 

 and belong, if one may be allowed so grim a 

 bull, to the ordinary livestock of the realm of 

 death. In Florence and Rome I picked up 

 two Etruscan scarab-shaped seals bearing the 

 owl goddess — all owl save the head, which 

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