Tag Archives: owl magick

Friday’s Supernatural Tales,  August 1, 2025

What if a tree, or a field of trees, or a thickly packed forest had supernatural powers?

I have an owl living in my backwoods. He or she hoots like a soprano; I love to listen to its rhythmic songs. My desire to meet this enticing creature, or even catch a glimpse of this raptor, has occupied my mind for months. One day, while on one of my solitary walks into my back acre, I found this impression on a cedar.

Look closely and keep looking for a few seconds. Let the image come  fully into your eyes and be charged with the tree’s presence. Can you see the imprint of an owl? Pointy head. Two eyes. Blurry nose. Feathers stream down the body.

I could call this a magickal impression of the owl who sings to me. Or I might say this is a bit of witchcraft coming forth. If you look above the owl impression on the tree, you will find a witch’s triangle, a muted face within, and the body draped in gray bark. Tree witch? Ah-ha, another haunting!

I named this tree owl Camaroon, after the magickal owl in my novel Draakensky. I am likely not the only writer of supernatural mysteries who has had supernatural encounters like this. And there’s probably a new short story here for me to explore about a witch haunting an owl. Or an owl haunting a tree? Or an owl haunting me.

The gift here is that I can engage this tree owl at any time and soak up its wisdom and beauty. And the witch, well, witch trees are not uncommon, but I didn’t expect one to be so close to home. More to come on how this develops in subsequent posts.

Meantime,  as promised in my Bedford Oak post last week about the beauty and danger of hauntings, here is a short story  about the supernatural powers of trees by the master author Algernon Blackwood, Ancient Lights.

Our narrator is on a solitary walk in the woods when he takes a shortcut to his destination, a little red house.  He encounters spooky obstacles  along the way that challenge his reality, influence his perceptions, and acquaint him with the threatening force of the ghostly powers of nature. I loved it!

This is a typically English horror story (dark fantasy as well), first published in 1905.

You can read this timeless tale here at American Literature.

https://americanliterature.com/author/algernon-blackwood/short-story/ancient-lights/

Listen to the audio, a thrilling listening adventure (16 minutes).

Algernon Blackwood is known as one of the most popular ghost story writers of his era. He is most famous for The Willows, which you can find here at Reading Fiction Blog:

The Willows, a Chilling Tale for Halloween

Algernon’s fiction is visionary. Most of his work is free online and you can find more of his stories here at Reading Fiction blog in the INDEX above. Here is a favorite quote by him:

“My imagination requires a judicious rein; I’m afraid to let it loose, for it carries me sometimes into appalling places beyond the stars and beneath the world.”