Part 1 of a puzzling experience

[greatoutdoors]

Folks, I need your help in sorting out a recent experience I had.

Around the first of February I had a strong dream, the focus of which was "Pay attention." In the dream a guide (baseball instructor/coach) told me that very few people paid attention. Then he made the point that I should pay attention. That theme was all through the dream.

About a week or so later, while walking, I came across a newly dead owl. There was no sign of how it met its end. It was there for a few days, then disappeared. Say two weeks after that, in the exact same spot, I found a second newly dead owl, same species, same story. That one, too, disappeared after a few days.

I did not attach any significance to the owls, other than regret that they died and frustration that I did not collect a few feathers before they disappeared. I did not connect them to my "pay attention" dream at all. Perhaps I should have.

Yes, there is more to the story than I am telling here, but for now, what do you folks think this was trying to tell me? Was the dream connected to the owls?  The whole thing, from dream to second owl, played out over about a month.

Heather, this is where my rational mind is way confused.

Any comments will be appreciated.

[InnateBuddha]

i think you should tell the rest of the story in order for us to make a better interpretation....

[greatoutdoors]

I don't really know if there is a part 2 -- that's the problem. The dream and owl occurrences could have been totally unrelated to anything. I am hoping there are folks on this board who have some experience in this field and can help interpret.

[Novice]

I'm not sure anyone can explain what you are experiencing. But I can tell you that I do not believe in coincidences at all. There was a time where if something happened once I would barely pay attention. The second time it occurred I would mentally note "how odd". The third time it happened I would finally pay attention.  (guess I was a bit dense as a youth!   )

However, I can tell you now that when I am pondering something deeply, whether wide awake, in meditation, or during sleep/astral trips, and something in the physical catches my attention, I immediately recognize it as a sign. And I did have an experience of an owl in the physical. I had just had a profound meeting and wasn't qute sure how to tie things together. As I walked out of my bedroom in the morning I see an owl sitting outside my front window. I had never seen one live in the wild before then. I stopped cold in my tracks and in that instant, a bunch of 'memories' flooded me and I knew immediately what it represented.

At other times I will be meditating about a particular issue and not really knowing what the answer is. Then a few days later I'll be in the middle of a conversation with a co-worker or friend and they'll say something in the middle of a conversation that I know to be a sign. It could be a phrase, a specific word, an anticdote, but something they are trying to relate to me. And when they do, again its like a bunch of lights suddenly go on in my head and I realize that what they are saying isn't coincidence.

Other times I'll be thinking of something and may end up seeing the same word or theme multiple times and completely unrelated places. And it isn't that the words are unusual or uncommon, but its the fact that they attract my attention.

I realize I'm being a bit vague, but I'm somewhat of a private person and don't prefer to share too many personal details. And this is also not a hard and fast science. For me, its all about sensing. In most cases the people who say things that impact me are merely the messengers. They have no clue of the relationship between what they are saying and how I perceive it (and I never tell them or they would think I was really weird!)  But when you see things like this while you are contemplating something, and they strike you on some level, then my experience tells me that this is a sign for you. Now, the catch........I have no idea what the sign means!

And I would never presume to tell you what it is either. I think all signs are very personal and mean different things to different people. For this reason, you need to go with feeling. When you saw the owl, what were your thoughts. Was there anything besides empathy for the dead animal that seemed to surface? Did it remind you of anything, whether in a dream, a movie or a book? I have had some signs lead me around like a scavenger sometimes  

To me, personally, an owl is wisdom; the stereotypical 'wise old owl'. So seeing one dead could be a literal interpretation of wisdom dying. But I don't think that is the case for you. This is something you need to meditate on, which means no mental thinking. You need to 'feel' what it means to you. That's when things will begin to come to you. But it does take practice.

Good luck!

[kiwibonga]

Hmm... The story of the two dead owls is odd, to say the least... I don't know what this could mean...

In regards to the words "Pay attention" -- pay attention to what?

I'm studying translation from English to French in university, and this reminds me of something we are studying: Sometimes in English, you will have short phrases that stand on their own, but when you translate them, you need to add something like a direct or indirect object. Although it's not an incomplete sentence, it does seem like it's missing something!

The point is, you need to pay attention to something, but you haven't been told what. What is this cryptic message trying to tell you?

If the owls had no wounds, and if they really are a sign, perhaps they've been poisoned or stung. So.... Pay attention to the ingredients of things you buy, because you might be allergic, or pay attention to insects? [EDIT: Of course, the chances that the message means that is pretty low, as Novice said, the symbolism is usually personal]

I think it's important not to become paranoid over it, though... Asking your guide and telling him/her about your concerns would be a good idea!

[greatoutdoors]

Kiwibonga,

You have given me a good idea. Perhaps the only way to solve these puzzles is to request clarification and see what happens.

Novice, I appreciate your thoughts as well. You are very correct when you say that symbology is pretty specific to the individual. Figuring it out is hard work though!  

This isn't the first meaningful dream that has been cryptic. Some months back I had one with just as strong a message, saying I must "get beyond childhood." However, it didn't explain whether I just need to "grow up," or whether there is an instance from my childhood that I need to put behind me. I am still working on that one!  

Here is part 2:

Owls are a symbol of wisdom and psychic powers, but they are also symbols of death. In this case, we had an unexpected death in the family about a month after the dream, and about a week after the second owl died.

If the dream and the owls were trying to tell me about that pending event, then they fell way short of the mark. I cannot see any way I could have drawn that conclusion from the signs I was given. That's one reason I phrased my question the way I did. I felt like if someone here could pick up on the meaning, then perhaps I should have as well. Since no one did, I feel better about it.

Thanks folks!

[Draege]

Your dreams/experiences are trying to teach you. Right now they could be telling you WHY you should pay attention. "Use it or lose it" comes to mind (as referring to wisdom, which is what owls commonly represent).