For Those Who Wondered

Athene cunicularia

Where did I get the title for this blog? First off,

I like owls. I "relate" to them. I especially like
the burrowing owl, a species native to the plains of North Texas. It is a bird I have met first hand, and have come to love. It has the characteristic gravitas of all owls, only way out of proportion to its 9-1/2-inch, 5+-ounce body. And it has chutzpah. And spunk. My kind of owl.

It's scientific name is Athene cunicularia, and it is found from Canada all the way down to the tip of South America. Burrowing owls prefer open country, grasslands, prairie, farmland, and we've got that here as far as the eye can see. This little owl is remarkable for two reasons: First, unlike many owl species, it has no feathers on its long and very capable legs and, unlike most owls, it chases its prey on foot as well as on the wing. Secondly, unlike most birds, it lives in a burrow. It will take over a burrow from another animal (most of the ones here live in abandoned prairie dog burrows), but it is also capable of digging its own burrow. It is an "earless" owl, meaning it has a rounded head, and it has large yellow eyes. The burrowing owl is also atypical in that it is active in the daytime as well as during the night.

Athene noctua
Their genus name, Athene, is derived from the Greek Goddess Athena, whose familiar/alter ego was Athene noctua, the little owl whose circum-mediteranean habitat includes Greece. Because they were seen so frequently in the Goddess' temple precinct atop the Acropolis, A. noctua, "Athena of the night," soon became associated with the wise Atana potinija.

A. cunicularia is very similar in size and appearance to Athena's little owl. Formerly, it was classed as Speotyto, in a genus by itself. However, recent genetic studies have substantiated its right to be called Athene cunicularia, "Athena's miner." And the ones I know and love are A. c. hypugaea -- "under the earth."

So here's where it comes together: I was born almost exactly on the cusp of Taurus and Gemini, with Mars and Venus in Taurus, and Mercury in Gemini. And for me, a bird (Gemini, air sign) that lives in the ground (Taurus, earth sign) is the perfect choice for a totemic animal. I'm also a night owl by preference, although I am active in the daytime, too! Thus: The Owl Underground. I like the play on words, the literal meaning of "under the ground" versus its connotation of "unconventional, contrary to the prevailing culture."

In the original "Winnie the Pooh" books by A. A. Milne, one of Christopher Robin's friends was Owl, who lived in a charming old world residence called "The Chestnuts" which was located in the Hundred Acre Wood. He was a creature of great intelligence (he could spell 'Tuesday"), who could read and write. He signed his letters "WOL" --but not because he's gotten the letters mixed up. "wol" is the word for "owl" in the Sussex and Kentish dialects, and his is an old Sussex family, who can trace their ancestry to before the Roman occupation. So there's that.

And if you know anything about ancient Greek theatre, then you'll have likely run across the phrase 'deus ex machina.' It translates literally as "god out of the machine." The ancient Greeks developed rather elaborate stage machinery to lower actors from the "heavens" onto the stage, and the phrase refers to the plot device of "introducing a god to resolve a complicated plot"

I'll tell you that "dea" is the feminine form of "deus" and that you are using "the machine" to view this, and let you take it from there.

Owl of Athena