Shamans are known for transforming into the shape of birds to be able to leave the body and soar up into the universe.                                                                                                                                                               

Scottish Gaelic Traditional Verse :

'I heard the cuckoo with no food in my stomach,
I heard the stock-dove on top of the tree,
I heard the sweet singer in the copse beyond,
And I heard the screech of the owl in the night.
I saw the wheatear on the dyke of holes,
I saw the snipe while sitting bent,
And I foresaw the year would not go well with me.

'Valentine's Day', 14 February, is associated with birds and all those in love, being named after the patron saint of lovers. St. Valentine was a young priest who defied the edict that prohibited young men from marrying as he believed that marriage had a poor effect on men changing them into poor soldiers.                                                                                                                                                                                                      

In America and England (UK) it is said that a young girl is able to tell what sort of man she will marry by the first bird she sees on this day. If a young girl sees a hen and a cockerel together at the same time on this day, it indicates that she will marry the next year.

'Knock on wood 'tThis expression  comes from Pagan times when trees were held in high esteem.
People believed that 'wood spirits' inhabited the trees and woodlands.
To touch a tree with respect is thought to indicate that the person was in search of protection from the particular wood spirit.

DRUIDS would knock on a tree to awaken the tree spirits , ask a questin of the TREES ,when they felt they had been answered they would 'knock as a "Thank You'.