Dream Decoding: The Dream of the 5 Owls
In my life as a Dream Decoder, I sometimes receive requests to decode particular symbols in a dream. Such was the case with a client, Ava, who recently sent me this request via e-mail, submitting it for the Dream Decoding column:
Hi, James,
I had a dream about 5 owls in a tree. The one owl was trying to communicate something – the one farthest down the tree. I looked up what owls mean and I think the crux of the meaning for me is they represent wisdom, insight, magic, expanded awareness and virtue as well as intuitive senses and psychic power. However, I am not sure what FIVE owls mean. What do you think the FIVE OWLS mean?
Thanks, Ava
Thanks for sending this my way, Ava, and being willing to let this be a teachable moment of my dream decoding process for others.
I will start off by saying that the information I am about to share with you is for your consideration; you have the right to either accept it or reject it based on if you feel it resonates with you.
Having said that, it is my belief that the author of the dream (in this case, you) has some understanding of what the dream means, so I’ll start there. You said you looked up the meaning of owls and what they mean for you, which is great. Rule number one of dream interpretation is that everything in the dream is an aspect of the dreamer. So, if the owl in the dream represents wisdom, then that owl represents your wise (wisdom) self. Going further, this would suggest your wise self is trying to communicate something (your words) to you.
Trees can mean knowledge (as in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) or family roots and genealogy (family “tree”). My sense is to go with the idea of being rooted in something (roots of the tree).
All this to bring me to your specific question: the number 5, as it relates to the owls in the tree. The number 5 is the number of the physical and material world (think of five fingers, five toes, and more importantly, the five physical senses). In spiritual circles, it can be considered sense consciousness or sensory perception. When the number 5 shows up in a dream, it basically is saying that you are learning life from your physical experiences. The five owls say that you gain wisdom (owls) from life experiences.
If one owl is trying to communicate, that means four owls are not. Four is a number of limitation when it comes to dreams (think being boxed in or cornered—a box has four corners). The silent owls are suggesting that communication between you and your wise self (the fifth owl) is limited to your being rooted in the physical. You are being asked to see beyond how things appear in the physical. You and you alone have to work on changing that mindset (the single owl trying to communicate). What will it take for you to change your thinking about this belief for you?
I don’t know if there is more to the dream than this or not, but it makes me want to know more—such as: were you in the dream? What were the other owls doing? Who was the owl trying to communicate with? You? Someone Else? How did the dream end? If there was more to the dream that you have not chosen to share, you are taking a part of it out of context. Every part of the dream is significant—or else it would not be there. You would have to put this meaning back into the entire dream. You do yourself—and the dream—a disservice when you pull things out of the dream’s context.
That’s all I can shed light on at this time. If there is more, consider sharing the entire dream with me, so I can add the details it (the dream) is trying to get across to you.
Again, I want to thank Ava for sharing this dream material with me, which allowed me to share it with you. If you would like to have a dream featured and interpreted in this space, you can submit the dream to me at james@jameshimm.com, with “Dream Decoding” and the title of the dream in the subject line.
For more about my one-on-one dream decoding and coaching services, check out my Dream Decoder Coaching page.
Your Dream Decoder,
James
Leslie Steffes
October 6, 2017 at 3:40 pmHi James,
I went online today to research the symbolism of five red owls and ran across your post. This was not a dream for me. Rather, I ran across it as part of an animated short video if Cat Stevens’ song I’m Being Followed by a Moonshadow (one of my favorite songs).
Found in YouTube, the animation depicts a boy named Teaser who rides in a moon adventure with his pet Firecat. Near the end, as their adventure ends, the moon lands in a tree. Then, five red owls fly to the tree and gently toss the moon back into the night sky. It’s a beautiful animation.
Interesting that the person who contacted you also saw 5 owls. Channeling Cat Stevens’ perhaps?
James
October 8, 2017 at 4:07 amHi, Leslie,
Happy to hear you “stumbled upon” the post and found it interesting. I think it would indeed be interesting if Ava also likes the song. It would add another dimension to the interpretation of the dream, for sure.