Animals and birds are of significant importance in Celtic and Norse mythology. It is written and spoken of frequently that Celts had and continue to hold a great respect for the environment. The elements, nature, and the creatures which made the land home and came before us, held a sacred significance. Animals and birds were of much importance to everyday life and wellbeing. They are prominently featured in art, literature, and rituals to name a few.

Alastair Kneale writes that “In the Celtic world there have been many Scandinavian and Viking influences over the centuries that remain evident today. The Viking incursions in the Celtic lands began in the 8th century. All of the present six Celtic nations felt the impact of the Viking raids. They brought with them their legends and sagas, the legacies of which are found in literature, folklore and carvings in many parts of the Celtic lands. As with the Celts, animals and birds affected the everyday life of the Norse people and held a crucial place in their belief systems.”

Throughout Sarah’s work, you will see the frequent themes of birds, nature, the elements, ritual and mythology. This is done as a means to honor her personal heritage and many of the tales she was brought up with. Here, we will take a closer look at the place of sacred birds in Celtic and Norse mythology and their ties to the “Otherworld”.

BLACKBIRD (Druid Dhubh)

“One of the Gaelic names for the blackbird is Druid Dhubh. Druid Dhubh is a bird which sings beautifully and melodiously at twilight, and even later. Twilight is the shimmering time - a time of transition between one reality and the next. Such in-between times are considered especially significant in the Druid tradition. The blackbird sings to us as the world changes around us - as the time of daylight and consciousness and the concrete world gives way to the moon-time of the Unconscious, of the Otherworld. It’s song reminds us that these gateway times are the ones of great beauty and potential. If we are able to follow Druid Dhubh’s song we will be led to a place of depth and enchantment from which we may uncover secrets about ourselves and the world.”

HAWK (Seabhac)

“Each type of bird represents different types of qualities, evokes different experiences, and has different gifts: the eagle (or Seabhac) brings renewal, the Wren humility, the Swan grace, the Raven initiation.” The merlin, the smallest (and which some deem the most clever) hawk has long been associated with the Goddess. “The quest for the grail - for healing, completion, and illumination - leads back to the source of all things. Traveling into our past, exploring myths and traditions, leads us to discover that we are far richer than we ever supposed. We discover our heritage, our roots in the ancestral wisdom that still lives within our psyches and our cultures. The hawk is a symbol of both the dawn and the freshness that a new day brings, and the power of recollection - which enables the seeker to travel back through the pathways of time to discover their heritage, their birthright.”

OWL (Cailleach-oidhche)

The owl has been long linked to the Goddess. “Because the owl is sacred to the Goddess in her crone-aspect, one of its many names is Cailleach-oidhche (Crone of the Night). The Cailleach is the goddess of death, and the owl’s call was often sensed as an omen that someone would die. It was seen as a bird that calls for the soul, or that (gently) catches or takes it away. From Berne in Switzerland there comes a belief that the screech of an owl foretells either the birth of a child or the death of a person - pointing to the owl as a bird of the Goddess who is both taker and giver of life. The owl is a bird set apart. She stands on the threshold of the Otherworld, reminding us of the ever-present reality of death. But death is the great initiator and as the owl hoots to us from the trees we may come to realize in the depths of our being that our death in reality marks a beginning and not an end.”

Crane (Corr)

Crane or “Corr” brings with it “the qualities of patience and perseverance. Combined with the ability to be patient, the crane conveys the capacity to be focused and to be able to concentrate without distraction. It brings the ability to guide others into the Underworld, to help them with their transition at the time of their dying, or with their journeying in the inner realms. This ancient bird is known in the Irish tales as “one of the wonders” and has come to symbolize longevity. The association of the crane with knowledge comes not only from its link with the sunrise and therefore the East, the place of knowledge, but also from it’s association with Ogham, the tree alphabet of the Druids. Ogham was given to humanity by Ogma Sun Face. Later when further Ogham glyphs were added, Greek mythographers credited Palamedes with their invention, saying that he received his inspiration from observing a a flock of cranes “which make letters as they fly.” Cranes dance in circles: and the ancients associated this ring dance both with movement of the sun and with the cranes role as Underworld guides, leading souls out of incarnation and back again to birth (in their variant the stork). (They) used nine steps and a leap as a basic theme, and weaving in and out of a maze or labyrinthine pattern to symbolize the journey of the soul.”

Swan (Eala)

“Eala brings us the qualities of the soul - of love and depth, grace and beauty. Being associated with the Druid festival time Samhuinn (Samhain or Fall Equinox), the swan is also a bird of the threshold, and represents that part of us that can travel into the Otherworld. It’s association with grace, beauty and the feminine has been so strong that it has also been associated with the song in the Celtic tradition. We still talk of a Swan-song - the last performance, work of art, or gesture made shortly before a person dies. Such an act is possibly called a swan-song because the swan represents the human soul in the Otherworld. The Swan is one of the four most mentioned birds in the old tales - along with the raven, crane and eagle. Whereas the crane is often pictured carrying the soul to the Otherworld, the swan depicts the soul itself. For this reason, the swan is often associated with the time of Samhuinn, the gateway between the realm of the living and that of the dead -the inner and outer worlds- the old and new years. To a lesser extent, the gateway of Midsummer Eve, during which time it is easier to contact the faery realm, is also associated with the swan through the European tales of maidens who turn into swans at this time.”

Wren (Drui-en)

“Drui-en allows us to glimpse the beauty of (life) in all things. He tells us that “small is beautiful”, and that self-realization lies not in grandiosity or apparent power, but in humility, gentleness and subtlety. Of all the birds revered by the Druids, the wren was considered the most sacred.” Wren’s can become invisible, and “who can travel on the back of the noble eagle to reach his destination, saving himself energy in the process. Being small he is unobtrusive, and being small, he can enter worlds that bigger people cannot. The Druid’s house is the wren’s nest - a place of comfort and safety, for another important symbol in Druidry is the egg. The Druid’s egg, articulates the idea that in order to grow and change we need to go through periods of incubation - withdrawing from the world to allow ourselves to reform in the womb of time. Part of the Druidry work today lies in going deeper than our (known) heritage to reclaim the beauty and the life that our ancestors saw in Nature and all her creatures.”

Raven (Bran)

“Bran offers initiation, protection and the gift of prophecy. What is meant by initiation in practice may be as formal as actually undergoing an initiation or ceremony, or as informal as, for example, being initiated into the mysteries of a new post or profession. It marks the death of one thing, which gives birth to another. The power of the raven can also bring you the very deepest form of healing, which is known as “the resolution of opposites” - giving you the possibility of resolving conflicts that have long lain buried in your unconscious or perhaps in your past. Being able to travel from this world to the next, the raven symbolizes also the power of healing - but the type of healing that comes about through radical confrontation with the unconscious, with the hidden, with the Shadow, and with the darker, potentially destructive aspects of the psyche. The raven’s association with death becomes an association with depth (and) the transformative powers of initiation - for such a moment marks, to a greater extent, the death of the old self, and the rebirth of the new self. This therapeutic association of the raven explains the occurrence of raven images at some of the Celtic healing sanctuaries. The raven’s connection with healing is reinforced when we consider it as a bird of prophecy and divination, integral facets of the healer’s art. The raven could travel to the darkest regions of the Underworld to bring back visions and oracular instructions for the seeker and the healer.”

Goose (Geadh)

“It is said that the Druids of old were experts at divining from the flight of birds. As well as their psychic abilities, they would also have been using their skills as keen observers of the natural world. The arrival or departure of migrating geese, for example, would have given warning of the coming of Winter or Summer, and because of this the goose has come to symbolize seasonal change.” In Canada, the migration of the Canada Goose each year represents a powerful sign of approaching winter and a time of “introspection and reflection.” “The goose signifies the renewal and purification represented by midwinter, when the sun is reborn at the solstice. Since the goose is a solar bird, laying the golden egg becomes a perfect symbol of this solar rebirth, with the mother-goose representing the Mother Goddess. The goose with its strong attachment to its family, combined with its ability to fly extraordinarily high, is a powerful symbol of the union of heaven and earth - and of the way in which we can unite both our spiritual and everyday concerns. The American Poet Mary Oliver expresses beautifully the ability of the goose to unite freedom and rootedness in this excerpt of her poem Wild Geese:

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.”

These beautifully written pieces on bird symbolism are taken from one of our most cherished Oracle Decks “The Druid Animal Oracle; Working with the sacred animals of the Druid Tradition” by Phillip & Stephanie Carr-Gomm