An archetype, a creature that we impose human ideas, ideals, values and characteristics upon. An unknowable, untouchable creature of the dark, whose call provokes fear and awe. A silent, surreptitious, living breathing feathered predator, whose beyond-human abilities allow it to master the night and span almost every habitat on Earth. Which of these is Owl for you?

As a family of birds, owls are all of these and more, and we explore their role in human culture from 30,000 years ago to the present day, as well as sharing tales of owl encounters around the globe. Evil messenger and harbinger of Death? Wise councillor and friend from childhood literature? Owl can be what each of us bring to it but is also master of its world.

THEME MUSIC BY DAVID ROTHENBERG. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY KIND PERMISSION OF THE ARTIST http://www.davidrothenberg.net 

Some of the ideas and references we make in this podcast can be found here:

Forest Eagle Owl  Sinharaja, Sri Lanka  Pliny the Elder Tengmalm’s Owl Florence Nightingale Pablo Picasso Winnie the Pooh Bagpuss   Tawny Owl   Eric Hosking   Ural Owl   Sir David Attenborough   Hawk Owl   Saariselkä, Finland Little Owl   Chauvet Cave, France   Eurasian Scops Owl   Athena   Harry Potter   Western Screech Owl   Hopi   Sokoke Scops Owl, Kenya Aztec god of death   Cider with Rosie, Laurie Lee   Barn Owl   William Wordsworth   Tlingit   Egyptian Book of the Dead   Great Horned Owl Seminole Apache   The Secret Life of the Owl, John Lewis-Stempel   Great Grey Owl Barred Owl   Minnesota, USA   Eurasian Eagle Owl   Eurasian Pygmy Owl   Pel’s Fishing Owl   Blakiston’s Fish Owl   Snowy Owl Twin Peaks, David Lynch   The Messengers, Mike Clelland   Whitley Strieber   Owlman, Cornwall   The Mothman Prophecies, John Keel   Mark Twain   Elf Owl   Short-eared Owl Denmark   Öland, Sweden   Goldcrest “In a hole with an owl” The Fast Show