ae Lee es ll 

1923.] The Owl in Folklore. 57 
reason: All the birds, one day, said to Solomon, that “ the 
hated bird owl, dwells secluded in ruins and avoids habitations. 
nor does he repair to branched trees; and when we ask him 
the reason for this he says no more to us than yd hi yd hi. 
We entreat thee to ask him what is the meaning of this ex- 
pression ’? Solomon, on asking the reason from the owl was 
told: ‘“‘He that regards the world as seduced and he that 
knows that he will be called to account for his actions is 
sorrowful; so I busied myself with the thought of the ‘‘ One 
1 fear and the One I dread, and I love no other friend but Him, 
(Hu) and there is none in my heart except Him (Hu). So. 
praise be to Him, of whom it is said, that there is none but 
Him.” This story represents the owl to be, as it were a 
divine or god-worshipping bird. Like human ascetics, it was 
less of a w orldling and more of the divine. aoa explains, why 
the ancient Greeks held it to be a wise birt 
The Position and Posture of the Owls when seen. 
’ It seems, that not only the mere sight se difierent: birds, 
but their position and posture when seen affect the omens. 
That it was especially so, in Greece, we learn bits Mr. Lawson's 
“Modern Greek Folklore.” Therein,’ under the heading of 
“Communion of God and man ”’ (Chap. ITI), we have an inter- 
esting account of’the Greek view about dreams, chance words, 
meetings on the road and auspices. It seems that in classical 
times, the owl symbolised wisdom. It was included in ‘‘ the 
canon of ornithological divination.” The position fom 
postnre of birds at the time of the auguration are alv 
important and it was more so in the case of the owls. “ "The 
‘ brown-owl,’ perched upon the roof of a house and suggesting 
by its inert posture that it is waiting in true oriental fashion 
for an event expected within a few days, forbodes a death in the 
household ; but if it settle there for a few moments only, alert 
and vigilant, and then fly off elsewhere, it betokens merely the 
advent and sojourn there of some acquaintance. Another 
Species of owl, our ‘ tawny owl,’ I believe, known properly as 
** Charon’s bird, ” is as the name suggests, a messenger of evil 
under all circumstances, whether it be heard hooting or be 
seen sitting in deathlike stillness or flitting past like a ghost in 
the gathering darkness 
The Owl a bird of Wisdom. 
We saw in the above account of the position and posture 
of owls when omens where taken from them, that in classical 

Modern Greek Folkiore and Ancient Greek E Religion: A Study i 
Sorvivales by John Cuthbert carer on, 19 
Tbid, pp. 311-12. 
id, p. 309. 
