Natural Omens

Does anyone had any experiences with natural omens? I have had some pretty trippy experiences with cloud formations. The worst one was about 2 weeks before 9/11 I had a sow's head that formed into a wolf's head in the sky right over me one night, looking straight down at me. It was very frightening. This was not a 'nice' sow or wolf's head at all. I told my daughter about it that night, but I didn't know what it meant. When 9/11 happened, it clicked.

I can see that this has generated a lot of interest! lol

Am I really the only one who does this? I'm really surprised, given all the intuitive/pagan oriented people here. But I always have looked for/seen omens in nature. Mainly I use cloud divination, but I also use tree divination, too.

*ping*

Well, hopefully someone else shares this form of divination.

midnightmerry said:

Does anyone had any experiences with natural omens?

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Yes, as a child my granny would tell us all sorts of things about good omens and bad omens, though I don’t remember her saying anything about clouds… other than the old sailor’s rhyme…
Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning, red sky at night, sailors delight.

midnightmerry said:

I can see that this has generated a lot of interest! lol

Am I really the only one who does this? I'm really surprised, given all the intuitive/pagan oriented people here. But I always have looked for/seen omens in nature. Mainly I use cloud divination, but I also use tree divination, too.

*ping*

Well, hopefully someone else shares this form of divination.

Click to expand...

One thing I do remember was how upset she would get if she or anyone of us saw an owl from inside the house… or worse, if a bird struck a window.
The owl sighting was supposed to be bad luck or death (I know that various native Americans view the owl as a messenger).
And the bird strike was supposed to mean ‘death in the family’ very soon.
Seeing a hare/rabbit at night was supposed to mean ‘bad times ahead’.
That’s all I can remember now, and she’s gone so I can’t ask her any more… too bad I didn’t pay better attention to her! I must admit that to this day, seeing an owl from a window makes me a little nervous and a rabbit at night… WELL, I just try to think positive.

Seriously, these things do interest me and I have a wonderful book called “In a Graveyard at Midnight” all about Appalachia Mountain folklore and magic(k)--where my granny grew up before she moved to the more ‘civilized’ environs of Western Kentucky (where they had ‘lectrical current—most places—and even tellyphones by the time I moved there in ’57)

But please tell me more about tree divination.

Re: Re: Natural Omens

the hermit said:

Yes, as a child my granny would tell us all sorts of things about good omens and bad omens...
Seriously, these things do interest me and I have a wonderful book called “In a Graveyard at Midnight” all about Appalachia Mountain folklore and magic(k)--

But please tell me more about tree divination.

Click to expand...

Hi Hermit. Glad to know I'm not the only one interested in this!

I have an interest in omen folklore and yes, I wish your granny was still with us to enlighten you (and us) more! I know that owls are seen as both positive & negative, depending on what the cultural tradition dictates. I've personally always seen owls in a positive light, as messengers.

The omen divination I practice though is not so much the 'red sky at night..." type (although I study that, too) as much as it is symbols-as- omen divination, much like tarot, but using natural formations and noticable/ fortuitous/unusual appearances as the 'cards', sometimes in direct answer to a question/communication I've posed.

An example of an unsolicited omen would be the sow/wolf formation I saw that quite clearly formed right above me on the night 2 wks before 9/11. To tell you the truth, I was frightened by this omen because it was plain menacing. But I had *no* idea at the time what it meant & I (foolishly) dismissed it at the time without checking into the symbols I was shown. I did look later, after 9/11 and after I'd made the connection.

Solicited omens would include the times I've had with nature giving me symbols/omens in connection to some pathworking I'd been doing at the time. This has (for me) been usually cloud divination or as I said, tree divination.

Tree divination is finding unusual patterns present in the bark and/or patterns formed by the branches. I've read books that recommend you look for runes or other pertinent symbols to receive your omen. You won't find one unless it is the message you need at the time. You find the rune/symbol and then either do a intuitive 'reading' of it, or like the tarot, consult different sources to interpret the meaning. You'd be surprised the communications we receive all the time from (what I call) Nature Spirits but that we fail to see.

I find that if you communicate with Nature, Nature will communicate back with you. Another thing I've found is that Nature can have a great and tender sense of humor!! I think searching for these communications is a form of divination that is open to everyone who wants to use it.

I'd very much like to hear from your book about Appalachia folklore and magick. I have a book on English folklore & it is great.

you're not alone midnightmerry. lol ! i see "signs" everywhere. sometimes a rock will just tell me to pick it up. i may see something in its shape. finding feathers. seeing animals. just like you, the clouds and trees "speak" to me. i usually think of them as synchronicities. the more i become aware of them. the more appear to me.

Hi midnightmerry... sorry didn't see this thread before. Yes, I do as well, the problem is they only seem to be meaningful to me and I find them hard to describe. I see shapes morph out of woods and trees and rocks and clouds. Sometimes though I cannot tell which ones are meaningful and which aren't so I generally just note them (hold them for further reference, so to speak). I think the more important ones generate a resonating emotion within you. Your example of the cloud images which you found fearful in aspect sounds like that to me. The emotion they generated was likely the important message.

How about the omen of the screech owls? Hearing one is good luck, hearing two is bad luck, and hearing three means death, according to folklore.

I'm one of those that constantly see things in nature. Most of the time they're just insignificant comversational messages, so I've never used them as anything too much...

on 9/11 i woke up earlier than usual. i never get up this early unless i have to. later i discovered that i had gotten up at the same time the events were beginning to unfold. i went downstairs and kept thinking how quiet it was. (i live in the woods, which are usually NOT quiet). i sat down in my fav. chair with my cup of tee and looked out the window. there were spiderwebs everywhere. the sun was hitting them in such a way that it really highlighted them. when i say they were everywhere i mean everywhere! i kept thinking of how amazing it was and how everything was so interconnected....

From where I work, we could all see the Twin Towers across the water, starting about a week before the hit of 9/11, there was suddenly a huge amount of flies in our workplace. We put up a couple of strips of flypaper and they had about 20 flies each and there were still more hovering around. Eventually, they all just disappeared after 9/11....weird.

Hi all. Thanks for the replies!

<<Yes, I do as well, the problem is they only seem to be meaningful to me and I find them hard to describe. I see shapes morph out of woods and trees and rocks and clouds. ...I think the more important ones generate a resonating emotion within you. >>


The sow/wolf cloud I saw was the only time I experienced something like that connected with a world event. I find it really interesting that there were so many unusual signs that people noticed connected with 9/11. And one thing too is that most of these signs/omens were quiet and subtle. I don't think someone not sensitive to these things would even have noticed.

As far as these symbols being meaningful only to the person involved, I believe that is the way it is meant to be for each of us, since these signs are given to us to help us on our journey.


<<Most of the time they're just insignificant comversational messages, so I've never used them as anything too much>>


These are some of my favorite kinds of omens! I love it when Nature converses with us.


<<i see "signs" everywhere. sometimes a rock will just tell me to pick it up. i may see something in its shape. finding feathers. seeing animals. just like you, the clouds and trees "speak" to me. i usually think of them as synchronicities. the more i become aware of them. the more appear to me.>>


Yes, that is how it is with me, too. Synchronicity is very much a part of this experience and a person has to be open to the possibility of it happening.

I also think children should be taught about these things, which many of them do/know about instinctively anyway.