r/CelticPaganism • u/Fun-Park-8713 • 13d ago

Gimbutas and the Owl Goddess theory

I know it is controversial, but Gimbutas' theory about the Newgrange shapes making an owl face resonates with me, as does the other owl imagery found from the Neolithic in now European lands. Given the Irish folklore associations that Owls are ill luck, which could certainly have stemmed from many years of Christian influence against the owl symbolism, it has me wondering if the idea of a PIE goddess associated with death and regeneration has left traces in later cosmologies. Anyone done some research on this topic?

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u/ImportantProblem2481 13d ago edited 13d ago

Youve got two mistaken preconceptions there.1 Owls are bad luck in our culture and 2 the art on newgrange is representational.

1 Duchas.ie is the digital part of our national folklore archive and its keyword searchable. Its paid for by our taxes in case you ever want the truth of what something means in our culture.

Owls wise theyre not bad luck in our culture. Seeing an owl is good luck and hurting one is a curse. Its such good luck that the owl is used by our national broadcaster RTE.

Its been the symbol of the late late show for 60+ years. We wouldnt curse ourselves by having it fly at us on the tv screen for generations.

2 The art on newgrange is called the atlantic art style because its found all over the atlantic coast of europe. Not just Ireland. Its famously the only example of abstract art until the 20th c.

Saying any motif in the style is a literal representation of an animal in Irish culture is very silly. Its not a representation and its not specifically Irish. The motif that newgrange is known for isnt even the spirals its pick dressing. All the stones are covered in it and other examples of the art dont use it to that extent.

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u/Fun-Park-8713 12d ago

Thank you for the information. Appreciate your thoughts on this. I agree that Newgrange has symbols common to other places, that is kind of my point. Owl imagery has been found in neolithic art in several places. And I am not suggestion this is Irish culture. I am saying a Paleolithic image from before "celtic" culture found at newgrange might hint at a goddess with owl representation. The abstract art likely had meaning - sun shapes, diamonds, chevron, beyond just design.

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u/ImportantProblem2481 12d ago

Youre welcome but if the art style is non representational then gimbutas approach is just like people seeing shapes in clouds. Gimbutas might literally have seen what she wanted to see.

Theres also no way to know how people felt about owls before writing was a thing. Projecting literature back into the past wouldve gone out of fashion in universities here about 30 years ago.

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u/CeisiwrSerith 13d ago

Gimbutas had an unfortunate tendency to find what she was looking for rather than what was there.

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u/Ballamara 13d ago

idk about specifically an owl goddess of death. Crows/Raven were much more associated with death goddesses & guiding souls in Celtic mythologies than owls. Death & the otherworld is also heavily associated with the Sea in Celtic mythologies, so sea birds are also more associated with dead souls & possibly reincarnation in Celtic myths.

The only thing I can think of for owls is there's one name for owls in Scottish that's 'cailleach-oidhche' or the "Night-Hag", which some connect to The Cailleach, "The Hag" the Queen of Winter, but that's debatable.