Apple #290: The Phoenix

Well, Apple readers, I'm back from my trip home. It was filled with much, much sleeping -- all of it very necessary -- as well as other good things like sandwiches, dog walks in the snow, board and card games with my parents, and finally, football on TV. I encountered some topics during my vacation that I plan to investigate here in these (web) pages. But I'm going to hold off on those because I thought it would be more appropriate to do an Apple on something New Year's Eve-related instead.

I considered the various aspects of New Year's Eve, such as how have various cultures around the world celebrated the beginning of a new year, or the Times Square ball drop, or party hats and blow-horns, etc. None of these topics really piqued my interest, though. So I tried to think of something kind of New Year's-esque, and I thought of the phoenix. You know, the bird that gets re-born.

• The phoenix is a mythological bird that lives a very long time and then is reborn or resurrects itself. It is symbolic of new life, regeneration, all those good things.

Generally what we imagine when we think of a phoenix.
(Image from Bocage Books)

• Lots of different cultures have stories about a phoenix. Depending on the country of origin, the bird may have a different name, a different method of dying or resurrecting itself.

Culture
Arabia

Name
Phoenix

Characteristics
Only one exists at a time. Lives near a well, sings an enchanting song.

Appearance
Large as an eagle with scarlet and gold feathers

Death & Resurrection
Builds its own pyre of aromatic branches and spices (like myrrh) and sets itself on fire. Rises from the ashes 3 days later.





Grecian phoenix, nesting in a palm tree
(Image from Anyone for Tee?)

Culture
Greece

Name
Phoenix

Characteristics
Comes from Arabia to Heliopolis in Egypt to bury his father, encased in an egg of myrrh.

Appearance
Eagle, with scarlet and gold feathers

Death & Resurrection
Builds a nest on top of a palm tree with aromatic plants (cassia and myrrh) and dies. Young phoenix arises from the dead phoenix.




Egypt's Bennu
(Image from Phoenix Moon)

Culture
Egypt

Name
Bennu

Characteristics
Soul of the sun god, Re, or also a symbol of the periodic flooding of the Nile.

Appearance
Heron with two long feathers extending from his head, sometimes also crowned with the sun

Death & Resurrection
Stands alone on the rocks following the flood.


The closest representation I've found to how I picture Fawkes.
(From Laura Freeman's Harry Potter tarot deck)

Culture
Harry Potter (I couldn’t resist)

Name
Phoenix, specifically, Fawkes

Characteristics
Animal representative of Albus Dumbledore. Tears have healing properties, as does its song.

Appearance
Size of a swan, crimson feathers, long (very strong) tail. Claws, beak, and tail are golden.

Death & Resurrection
Can appear and disappear at will, but also dies in a burst of flame to be re-born almost immediately in its ashes.




China's Feng Huang
(Image from the Aerie of Paragon)

Culture
China

Name
Feng Huang

Characteristics
Very gentle, lands without crushing anything, eats only dewdrops. But it does attack snakes.

Appearance
Rooster’s beak, swallow’s face, snake’s neck, goose’s breast, tortoise’s back, stag’s hind legs, fish’s tail

Death & Resurrection
Immortal. Appearance signals the start of good times; disappearance marks onset of bad times. Nests in the woo-tung tree.



Culture
Japan

Name
Ho-Oo

Characteristics
Combination of the male Ho and female Oo bird.

Appearance
Very similar to the Chinese Feng Huang

Death & Resurrection
Descends from heaven at the birth of a virtuous ruler and nests in a paulownia tree. Goes back to heaven at the close of peaceful and prosperous times.



Hindu Garuda (here, he's eating a snake)
(Photo by D. Finnin)

Culture
Indian / Hindu

Name
Garuda

Characteristics
King of birds. Hates evil, attacks snakes

Appearance
Head, wings, talons, beak of an eagle; body and limbs of a man. White face, red wings, brilliantly shining body.

Death & Resurrection
Fought the gods to get the draft of immortality and rescued his mother from the underworld where she was guarded by snakes. Carries immortality still.

• In nearly all of these stories, as you can see, the phoenix is a force of good. Sometimes its appearance only signals the beginning of good times; in other stories, the phoenix actively fights on behalf of good and against evil.

• Basically, if the phoenix is on your side, you're in good shape.

• In addition to these mythological birds, other birds have been suggested as variants of the phoenix.
  
• Although the name Firebird is very suggestive of the story of the Phoenix, I don't think the Russian legend of the firebird is actually that similar to the phoenix. You can read the story of the firebird yourself and see what you think.

• The Thunderbird, who is present in many Native American stories just as there is not one Native American tribe, so there is no single Thunderbird, is also said to be similar to the phoenix. But just as there is not one single Native American tribe but several tribes with all sorts of different stories, so there is also not one Thunderbird. In just one of the stories I read, the Thunderbird seems more powerful and god-like than the phoenix, and it has more to do with influencing the weather. But again, you can read the Thunderbird stories yourself.

May your new year be like the phoenix rising from the ashes. Or, may your new year be as filled with goodness as the phoenix's song. Or, may you be empowered like the feng huang to fight the snakes of evil and nest in the woo-tung tree of happiness. Or otherwise, happy new year!

Sources
Mythical Realm, Rise of the Phoenix
Encyclopedia Mythica, Garuda and Phoenix
Carlos Parada, Greek Mythology Link, The Phoenix
Godchecker, Chinese Mythology, Feng-Huang
Dr. Jean Couteau, archipelaGoMagazine, Garuda: From Myth to National Symbol
Harry Potter Lexicon, The Bestiary, Phoenixes: Fawkes
N.S. Gill, "Phoenix - Bird - The Phoenix," About.com: Ancient / Classical History