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Phoenix
PHOENIX---History
and Background
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The phoenix is a bird from ancient Greek, Egyptian and Arabian mythology
that lived in Arabia and was sacred to or a servant of the sun god of
ancient Egypt. The phoenix is described as a heron in Egypt, but is
usually depicted as a peacock or eagle like bird with red and gold
plumage. Only one phoenix could exist at one time and every 500 or 1461
years when it felt its end coming the phoenix would build a nest to be
used as a funeral pyre. The old phoenix is then consumed in flames and
burned to ashes. A new phoenix would then rise from the funeral pyre.
This process is said to symbolize the rising and setting of the sun.
After embalming the ashes of it's predecessor in an egg of myrrh it
would then fly with it to the City of the Sun and place it on the alter
of the sun god.
The phoenix symbolizes immortality, resurrection and life after death.
Depictions of a phoenix have appeared in Egyptian, Greek, Hindu and
Chinese art and writings for a very long time. It also later appeared in
medieval Christian writings as a symbol of death and resurrection. Its
flight has been said to represent the capacity to leave the world and
its problems behind, flying towards the sun in clear pure skies.
In China:
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In China the phoenix (si ling) was one of a number of animals that were
worshipped. A common depiction was of it attacking snakes with its
talons and its wings spread. In fact images of the Phoenix has appeared
in China for over 7000 years. Often in jade and originally on good-luck
totems. Although during the Han period (2200 years ago) the phoenix was
used as a symbol depicting the direction south shown as a male and
female Phoenix facing each other. It was also used to symbolize the
Empress in a pairing with a dragon where the dragon represents the
Emperor. Here the Phoenix represented power sent from the heavens to the
Empress.
If a phoenix was used to decorate a house it symbolized that loyalty and
honesty was in the people that lived there. It was also believed that a
phoenix controlled the 5 tones of Chinese music and that it represented
the Confucian virtues of loyalty, honesty, decorum and justice.
Depictions of the phoenix were placed on tomes and graves. Also jewelry
with a phoenix on it showed that the wearer was a person of high moral
values. This jewelry was only to be worn by people of importance.
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The Phoenix is a long-lived bird, which dies by self-immolation with a
new Phoenix arising from the ashes after three days. It has been
described as either eagle-like or heron-like with gold and red feathers
and is considered sacred. The Phoenix is a gentle creature, killing
nothing, it lives on dew and despite its great size, crushes nothing it
touches. It usually lives for 500 years, though some have documented it
as living for either 540, 1,000, 1,461 or even 12,994 years. Herodotus
documented that the phoenix came to Egypt from Arabia with the body of
the parent bird plastered over in a ball of myrrh. The Phoenix buried
the ball at the temple of the sun at Heliopolis. The Hellenistic Jew,
Ezekiel the Dramatist, in the second century BC, documented that the
Phoenix has a beautiful song and is the king of the birds. It is
generally considered to be a symbol of the sun, as well as for life
after death. The phoenix has been alternatively been called the bird of
the sun, of second birth, of Assyria, of Arabia, of the Ganges, the
long-lived bird and the Egyptian bird. The earliest reference to the
Phoenix is by Hesiod in the 8th century BC.
There are several varying accounts of the means of its death. One is
that it immolates itself on an altar fire at Heliopolis. Another is that
it builds a nest of spices, which is ignited by the sun's rays. The
Talmud records that after 1000 years, the phoenix shrivels to the size
of an egg and then reemerges.
The Russian firebird has been known to speak as well as sing. The
Chinese phoenix, the fêng-huang, originated in the sun and is a
mysterious and beautiful bird. The Japanese phoenix, the Ho-Oo, came to
the earth to do good deeds for people. The Ho is the male phoenix, the
Oo, the female.
The Myths of The Phoenix
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Although it's a common legend to many ancient civilizations, the origin
of the myth of The Phoenix is attributed to the Egyptians, a
civilization that was obsessed with eternal life. Phoenix is the Greek
name given to a mythological bird offered in sacrifice to Ra, god of the
Sun in ancient Egypt. This bird was similar to an eagle and possessed a
splendid golden-red plumage that made it look like it was wrapped up in
flames. In some versions, The Phoenix was shown in flames rather than in
feathers.
The Phoenix lived in Arabia. According to the legends, only one Phoenix
lived at a time
for 500 years. At the end of its life cycle, The Phoenix built a nest as
it was dying and set the nest on fire and was consumed by the flames.
After its death, a new Phoenix would then arise from the ashes and the
new Phoenix was reborn. This cycle was repeated over and over. The
Phoenix was the symbolic representation of the death and rebirth of the
sun.
In Egypt, it was called the Bennu, said to be a living manifestation of
Osiris, springing forth from its heart.
In Native America, the Thunderbird, a powerful spirit bird is
represented as The Phoenix..
In China, Feng-huang, a bird that symbolizes the union of yin and yang;
a sign of both peace and disharmony.
The Greek poet Herodotus wrote in one of his passages from his writings
of The Phoenix's legend that the Phoenix comes back every 500 years in
order to search the body of its predecessor. After making a myrrh egg,
The Phoenix puts the body of its predecessor inside it, and takes it to
the Temple of the Sun located in Egypt.
500 years later, Tacitus and Plinius agreed that many of the ancient
myths were confusing so they investigated the chronology of The Phoenix.
Through their studies, they concluded that The Phoenix lived an
equivalent to a Platonic year, a calculations determined by the
alignment of the Sun, the Moon and the five planets known at that time
needed to return to their original positions which in our time
represents a period of 12.994 years.
The ancient ones believed that this enormous astronomical cycle was
complete provided, all conditions of the planetary influence were the
same.. In other words, The Phoenix was considered similar to a mirror of
the universe. By the end of the I4th century, Claudianus had written
some verses about an immortal bird, able to reborn from its ashes, an
heir to itself, and a witness of that time.
The Phoenix from another of the Chinese Mythology offers another
description. Under another name, Feng, it's depicted as a bird of
shining colors, very much like a pheasant. In remote times, The Feng
supposedly frequented the gardens and palaces of righteous Emperors. As
with all mythological creatures the versions, significance and the
characters tend to vary according to culture and their belief.
The Astronomical Phoenix
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Phe (Phoenix) is a constellation in the Southern Hemisphere of Earth
near Toucana and Sculptor named by John Bayer in 1603. This
constellation is almost universally recognized as a bird. The Phoenix
cluster is a dense expanse of unexplored stars, named for the Phoenix
Asteroids in the 20th Century film "Dark Star", by John Carpenter.
Phoenix as a Guardian Animal
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Guardian animals choose you. You do not choose them.
The chosen of the Phoenix are the rare breed comprised of both healer
and warrior. In most beliefs, a person is either a healer or a warrior,
but nor both. Not so with Phoenix. The men and women whom Phoenix
chooses to reveal himself to realize that you *can* walk both the path
of the healer and warrior. Some of the people who have Phoenix as their
guardian animal tend to have quick-fire tempers, while others are calm
and rational and try to temper the anger of their counterparts.
Phoenix children hate seeing those that they love hurt or in pain. They
will do their best to heal the hurts and wrongs of others, while
secretly plotting vengeance on the ones who caused the pain in the first
place.
However, Phoenix children can tend to be blind when it comes to their own
personal needs. They will do everything they can to defend and protect
those that they love, but don't always pay attention to what is best for
them. For the most part, when it comes to themselves, they can adopt a
"turn the other cheek" method. This is not to say that they are
complete
pacifists when it comes to them. They just pick their battles
carefully. However, you can only push their limits and their kind hearts
so far.
People who have Phoenix, as guardians tend to work a lot with fire
elements and Magick. Where they do believe in harming none, sometimes
they also believe in doing what is necessary for the greater good.
Because of there sometimes out of balance ideals and emotions, it tends
to be rare that you find a chosen of Phoenix in a happy and healthy
relationship. Rarer still is two Phoenixes being in a working and happy
relationship together. For instance, I know of one Phoenix woman who is
in a happy and content relationship with a Phoenix man. She tempers his
rages and he helps her to use more rage. They have a pretty
well balanced relationship and one thing that rings true is if you
attack or hurt one of them, you will have both to contend with.
Phoenix has always been thought to be a powerful symbol---whether riding
into war or calling for assistance.