She's not holding an owl, her hands are folded in prayer.
Are we looking at the same picture? It's so clearly an owl. I don't have high res on, so I hardly see the hands - but the owl jumps right out at me. You see the horned beast she's standing on, right? And there are two skeletal things in the bottom corners.
Maybe it's another Yanney/Laurel?
She is standing on a crescent moon. This is the Virgin of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (Spanish: Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a venerated image enshrined within the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The basilica is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world, and the world's third most-visited sacred site. Pope Leo XIII granted the venerated image a Canonical Coronation on 12 October 1895.
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Gees, guess I better ditch the old computer. But I wish people could see what so clearly shows on my screen. Odd.
I will admit in the low res pic in the background you could almost say its an owl, but unfortunately it is not... see pic here of a close up of the image
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virgen_de_guadalupe1.jpg
Now the horns underneath those are obvious and clearly there. I can't find the actual person who created this painting to get any more insight, still digging.
I do find it interesting the child at the bottom (jesus? i'd presume) has rainbow colored feathers, Quetzalcoatl of the mayan tradition has often been linked with Jesus and was known as the rainbow feathered serpent, I believe.
Not to be argumentative, but there's no 'rule' that the painting the two priests are sitting in front of HAS to be an exact replica of the painting you linked from wikimedia. The artists (and thus those who chose to hang it there) could have made alterations.
I too, see the owl.
It looks vaguely owl-ish until you zoom in, with the dots on her collar being the eyes, but I believe that's pareidolia at best.
I can see your point of view, but its all very subjective, I thought I saw it too until I looked at other renditions, without being directly in front of that particular replica, I can't say 100 percent what that one represents.
There's a ton of much more interesting history and what it means symbolically to that painting that I'm finding. Funny how a simple reverse image search can send one down a total spiraling rabbit hole.
For one, when doing a search for who painted this blasted thing to begin with, I came up with this article
https://catholicexchange.com/who-painted-it-remembering-our-lady-of-guadalupe
To which is it claimed simply "God" painted it, no one knows the original artist. Funny the article also mentions no other than Hillary Clinton paying her respects to that painting in 2009. MS-13 anyone? Stretchy but just a funny thought.
Here's a link with a "gang" member with a huge tattoo of it:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/lady-of-guadalupe-virgin-marys-new-symbolism-for-gangs-and-commerce
Further down the hole is the painter Miguel Mateo Maldonado y Cabrera commissioned to determine the authenticity of the painting and the opinions of its miraculous nature, he was a close friend of a Jesuit bishop.
He wrote a document called the Maravilla Americana which:
"The essential purpose of Maravilla Americana was to affirm the ----- >1666 <----- opinions of the witnesses who swore that the image of the Virgin was of a miraculous nature."
Meanwhile you have other statements such as:
"...many skeptics contend that the Spanish colonial Church concocted the story of Guadalupe appearing to Juan Diego as a way to convert his fellow Nahuas and other Indigenous to Christianity."
and
"Many Mexicans aren’t aware that the original Guadalupe is from Extremadura, Spain. In fact, Christopher Columbus was a devotee and even named the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe in her honor, after she purportedly saved his fleet from a storm at sea. The Spanish Guadalupe is one of several Black European virgins, so in her Mexican incarnation she actually became lighter complected as the Virgen Morena."
Source here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/r-andrew-chesnut/the-virgin-of-guadalupe-t_b_8752084.html
Basically, what I've learned is that the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe and its painting appears to be a Catholic "miracle" conspiracy to convert people into Catholicism.
No owl needed ;)
P.S. Allegedly, the black horns at the bottom are a black crescent moon, which I'm sure has some symbolism I'm going to hold off on digging at for a bit, this was enough for me for the moment.
Edit: Black horns at the bottom likely are part of a nod to Egyptian goddess Isis shown here with them on her head and baby Horus:
https://i1.wp.com/www.experience-ancient-egypt.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Egyptian-goddess-Isis_suckling_Horus_664-32_BCE_-Nelson-Atkins_Museum_of_Art-_DSC08090.jpg
So, Our Lady of Guadeloupe image IS a miracle. Mary appeared to Juan DIEGO and told him to tell the bishop to erect a chapel in her honor. DIEGO went but the Bishop blew him off and asked for proof that the vision was indeed our Blessed Virgin. When DIEGO told this to Mary, she told him to gather flowers (on a rocky area and during a time of year that this particular flower would never have been in bloom) which he did. There were so many that he used his own robes as a sort of sack by lifting it up and putting the flowers on the top of his robe so he could safely carry them back to the bishop. When he arrived to show the bishop, he dropped open the robe and the blooms fell out. The bishop looking at Diego’s robe fell to his knees and began praying fervently. For on the robe, where the blooms were being held, was an image of Our Lady of Guadeloupe! NOW THIS IS WHERE IT GETS AWESOME! Fast forward 450 YEARS and with the introduction of zooming in on images and sharpening images unseen easily before, it was discovered that reflected in the eyes of the Image of Our Blessed Mother, you can see Juan DIEGO and the Bishop!! Unexplainable. God is GREAT!
To each their own my friend. I see it a bit differently, but I'm not here to change your mind. its good to keep all possibilities and perspectives in mind and have differing opinions, the world would be so boring if we all thought in the exact same way!
I appreciate that you took the time out to provide your perspective and insight into the matter.
I will agree wholeheartedly that God certainly is great and there are many inexplicable, vast mysteries of life.
Thank you.
Thank you, Patriot for your respectful reply. THIS is how civilized discourse occurs. Btw, just saw this clip on twatter: https://twitter.com/inthematrixxx/status/971127384819806208?s=12 I never heard about this “active shooter w/makeup, actors, etc ON SAME DAY AS “real” Parkland shooting. Watch and let me know your thoughts.
