Múcaro: The Winged Wanderer of the Earthly and Enchanted Worlds

Owls are one of the oldest known land birds . . .older than time, older than us. They have witnessed the world and carry the weight of forgotten lore in their wings: the echos of loves and losses, of kingdoms that rose and fell. . .

Process of carving a linocut print inspired by the sound of a solitary screech owl in my neighborhood I did several years ago. . . it sits in an eastern red cedar / juniper tree

Screech owls bridge habitats and can be found in fields, wetlands, forests, scrublands. . Elusive, their wings weaving them over farmsteads, flying them over highways and curling them up within old trees with dark hollows. This secret place is where this silent sentinel of both earth and sky sits, unbothered, and watches the world.

Screech owls can be found all over the Americas from Canada, United States, Mexico down to Puerto Rico and Peru. . .Spirits of the both-and as well as in-between, a screech owl’s plumage blends in with the bark of trees. . .Their trills, whinnies, hoots at dawn and dusk are the ancient original sound of many landscapes from a forgotten time long before human borders were erected. . .

The Ancient Greek goddess of wisdom Athena is depicted with an owl on her shoulder, which suggests because of her companionship with an owl, who sits on her blind side, that she is able to see the whole truth. This myth suggests that wisdom includes more than just one perspective: it requires double sightedness, multiple orientations, two different vantage points. Perhaps it also invites us to consider that wisdom also includes a collaboration and vision that emerges from a deep relationship between human and more-than-human worlds. It is a recognition that an integration of perspectives and vantage points enables deep insight, discernment, clear thinking and understanding. The screech owl embodies so many of these qualities in its camouflaging plumage, its capacity to bridge ecosystems, and like all owls, it is most active at twilight between daytime and nighttime.

(Photo note: though the image of the owl is not modified, the actual wooden table underneath it has been modified using AI which is why the gouge tool looks a little broken! I did this in order to create a larger wooden frame around the block of linoleum)

Among the Ainu indigenous people of Japan*, the screech owl is considered a yōkai, a class of magical creature with paranormal powers of which there are many in Japan. The screech owl is known as iso sange kanji (“the deity who bestows success in hunting”), and yuk chikap kamui (translated as “the divine deer bird”) because it’s hoots and trills draw attention to places where deer can be found for hunting. The Ainu have an ancient legend about how a hunter was in the forest searching for deer but he was not having any success. He heard the trills of a screech owl and saw its bright white feathered body in a hole of a nearby tree, so he left it an offering. He then went to sleep and had a dream of a screech owl who appeared in human form cloaked in white garments who thanked the hunter for the offering and said from now on screech owls will always be on the lookout for deer so humans could always have food to eat. When the hunter woke up the next day he had no problem finding deer because the trills of the screech owl drew his attention to their whereabouts, and to this day screech owls have served humans in this way. The Ainu also believe screech owls warn hunters when there is danger and for all these reasons the screech owl is loved, trusted and devoutly worshiped. Existing partly in the spirit world and partly in the human realm, this white feathered creature is a poetic folkloric entwinement of both worlds and an example of what happens when something untamed and wild is not conquered or feared, but simply noticed in the waking and dreaming worlds.

Perhaps we can consider how similar folktales are to screech owls in the way they are manifestations of the integration of multiple things: folktales bridge both the real and imaginary, often integrating human and more-than-human-worlds. Unassuming, folktales live like screech owls, feral and fabled, secretly in the shadows, timeless and unbothered, they camouflage their true power and insight in the gnarly old branches of culture. Though we may mistake them for humble stories of ordinary folk, if we truly open our ears to the magic of their spellbinding trills, to the weight of being watched by a witness from another realm and surrender to becoming part of their story, we might discover they are on the lookout for us. . .that they may be directing us to the nourishment in the forest that sustains us.

In Puerto Rico, the screech owl is considered a national heritage and the indigenous Taíno people regard the screech owl as sacred bird possessing the ability to see into the supernatural realm. Known as múcaro (translated as “eagle of the night”), many petroglyphs of screech owls have been found inside the island’s numerous cave systems, which date back as far as the 13th century. Contrary to popular belief, the Taíno people** were the first Indigenous peoples encountered by Christopher Columbus when he when he arrived in the Americas and disembarked on the island of Guanahani (which he renamed San Salvador) in 1492. Columbus’ arrival marked the beginning of devastating era, a colonial one that would lead to significant erasure of the Taíno way of life. Though colonialism may have left its deep scars, it hasn’t stolen all the folklore.

The first stage of a two-part linocut print of a screech owl. You can see the full video series of this process in the link provided.

The final multicolored multilayered screech-owl linocut.

After the 2017 hurricane which destroyed Puerto Rico, local artist El NiNo organized the local community to collaborate together to build a 22 foot tall múcaro statue out of the debris to provide hope, connection and healing to the island and to spread global awareness of the hurricane’s devastating impact on the island and it’s people. “It [múcaro] will also serve as a reminder that in the wake of catastrophe we can accomplish magical things and help one another realize our full potential if we work together” he says. Drawing on local múcaro folklore to inspire the sculpture’s design enlivened the local participants’ sense of pride in their cultural heritage, while the enduring feathered folk hero served as a symbol of resilience after the devastation of the hurricane. . . A perfect example of how a feathered and fabled creature infused with old world enchantment spreads its wings and glides its way into modern day spaces, continuing to help humans through their tragedy and devastation. Múcaro still lives on and is always watching and serving where the veil between the mythic and the earthly, human and wild are interwoven in a cosmic dance.

How long has it been since you have been stirred by the trill of a screech owl? I had the honor of hearing one in a nearby forest in my neighborhood for a few weeks before it disappeared. In the soft glow of twilight, it felt like a sacred call. . .the call of múcaro, the yōkai, the iso sange kanji and yuk chikap kamui. Though I don’t consider myself a hunter in the traditional sense of the word, the sound reminded me that I indeed was “hunting”. . .and that I am always hunting in search of the mystery of the human experience in this great forest of life which I try to capture visually through my artwork and in words on this page. Listening to the voice of the iso sange kanji and noticing where it leads has always offered me the nourishment I am seeking.

The folklore of the screech owl, this yōkai, is not museumized, sitting gathering dust inside a glass case. . . it is alive, vibrant and untamed. It breathes through the branches of the trees in my neighborhood, dances on the beaches of Puerto Rico, and continues to whisper in the forests of Japan. I feel honored the múcaro still lives and weaves its way into my life in both the earthly and imaginative realms, whispering ancient wisdom that is all the more potent and meaningful because of so many entwinements. . . In the words of Darcia Narvaez, Puerto-Rican-German musician, poet, professor, author and host of EvolvedNest.com, “Truth is in between everything else, it’s interdisciplinary, its the in-betweenness, it’s the relationships among all these domains or what we think of as separate are really not” (quote from her conversation: “Remembering Nature’s Ways” Sounds of SAND Podcast Episode #115)***.

Note* This information comes from Rev John Bachelor’s book The Ainu and their Folk-Lore. I fully realize he is not Ainu himself, and missionary writings are not neutral but are often tinged with colonial and perspectives which can interfere with a true understanding of the culture in question. But what seems redeeming about the book is what he says in the Preface: “It has been my aim throughout to let the Ainu themselves speak, while I have simply acted as translator in so far and the legends and folk-lore are concerned”.

Note** The Taíno inhabited the many Greater Antilles islands including Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Guanahani (San Salvador) and Puerto Rico for thousands of years prior to European contact.

Note*** This theme of living in between worlds weaves it way through many folktales whether it is the Dragon and the Crane, Fox Woman or Mother Goose and many more!

References:

Alesbury, Lucy. (February 6, 2019) “Sacred Owl to Rise from Puerto Rico’s Rubble”. Burning Man Journal.

Batchelor, John Rev. (1901). The Ainu and their Folk-Lore. London: The Religious Tract Society. Wikimedia Commons.

Benazzo, Maurizio & Zaya (Hosts). (January 16, 2025). “Remembering Nature’s Ways” with Darcia Narvaez on Sounds of SAND Podcast Episode #115.

Yukie, Chiri (1923). Kyōdo Kenkyūsha & Yanagita Kunio (Eds.). Ainu shin’yōshū (Ainu Songs of Gods).

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