Symbol Dictionary: Birds
Bird: Birds have held symbolic meaning for many different cultures and peoples. “In symbolism and myth, birds, with their powers of flight, universally represent the spirit, the soul, ascent to the heavens and communication between heaven and earth, gods and men. Having wings, they can also symbolize angels and the higher states of being, and are a means of travel to the next world,” according to Symbolic And Mythological Animals (1992) by J. C. Cooper. According to Man, Myth And Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Mythology, Religion And The Unknown (1995), edited by Richard Cavendish, “Men have always envied the birds their ability to fly, which brought them into contact with the sky powers and the gods.” The Latin origin of the word bird, aves, means both bird and ancestral spirit, or ghost, or angel. Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983) points out that, “because birds traveled freely between the earthly and heavenly realms, they were everywhere regarded as angelic messengers, givers of omens, possessors of occult secrets, as well as soul-carriers. Carrion crows and vultures took souls to heaven. Storks brought them back to earth for rebirth.”
Indo-Europeans believed that a soul could appear in the form of a bird. Birds are involved in the magic and spiritual practices of South Pacific, Indonesian, Central Asian, and Siberian shamans and prophets who all believe they can transform themselves into birds. Ecstatic flight is a magical power of the Buddhist yogis. In Celtic myth fairies could change into birds (which is why they are shown with wings). The Maori gods of the South Pacific island were often half-bird, half-man in form. According to Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their book 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002), “Maori gods, called manaica, are also represented in carvings with a heavily stylized or abstract human form and birdlike characteristics.” The Goddess Freya, of northern Europe, had magic feather gowns that gave magicians the power to fly like birds. Mayan and Aztec priesthoods possessed elaborate feather garments as well. Each day of the thirteen-day week of the Aztec calendar was represented by a different bird. The bird also brought the cosmic egg that birthed the world in many creation myths. See egg.
Albatross: Considered the God of the Sea by the Ainu of Japan, the Albatross, with its huge wings and ability to seemingly never touch ground, plays a roll in many island cultures, including the South Pacific and coastal Europeans. According to Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their book 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002), “One Hawaiian saying runs ka manu ka-upu halo ‘alo o ka moana (‘The albatross that observes the sea’): The bird represents a careful observer.”
Cock: From Symbols Of Church Seasons And Days (1997), by John Bradner, “This is a symbol of Peter’s denial and so one of the symbols of the Passion.” As the announcer of dawn, the cock has been considered a solar bird with the masculine principles of courage, vigilance, war, and aggression and was often sacrificed, but the Celts and other Scandinavian sometimes associated them with the underworld. A white cock was considered sacred to the moon goddesses Athene and Demeter, while the golden cock was sacred to solar gods such as Apollo, Anubis, Osiris, and Nephthys. In China the cock was considered fortunate and warded off evil spirits and in Christianity the cock was believed to have the power to fight darkness.
Crow: This carrion-eating bird, along with the vulture and the raven, was a symbol in northern Europe for the Death-Goddess Krake also called Queen of Witches. The Crow has appeared in many legends, Valkyries and Anglo-Danish, as the Goddess’s or a witch’s familiar or shape shifter.
Cuckoo: The Cuckoo bird was, in Medieval Europe, the bird of May and the fertility rights of Mayday. It was said that this bird sang the announcement of May.
Doves: Known for love, passion, and life. According to the story of Jesus’ Baptism, the Holy Spirit became a dove and flew down to Jesus, and consequently, “This is the usual symbol for the Spirit of God.” Thus, during the canonization ceremony of Christian saints, white doves are released to represent the soul rising to heaven, according to Symbols Of Church Seasons And Days (1997) by John Bradner. However, like many symbols, this latter Christian meaning stems from an older tradition. Doves also symbolize sexuality and lust as Aphrodite’s familiar, the symbolic bird of lust in India, and the Syrian Dove-goddess, consort to the Snake-God. According to The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983),by Barbara Walker, the dove is “Aphrodite’s totem, the bird of sexual passion, symbolically equivalent to the yoni… joined to her consort the phallic serpent, the Dove-goddess stood for sexual union and ‘Life.’” Gypsies remember this Syrian Couple in folk tales. According to Symbolic And Mythological Animals (1992) by J. C. Cooper, “The dove is one of the most venerated creatures, symbolizing the spirit, the soul, bringing the spirit down to the earth and the transit between one state and another; it also represents peace, innocence, gentleness, timidity and chastity, though in some traditions (and especially as the pigeon) it can represent lasciviousness. Doves were universally sacred to the Great Mother and Queens of Heaven and were depicted with them as symbols of maternity and femininity.” Terra Cotta representations of doves are found as early as 4500 B.C.E. in Mesopotamia and 2500 B.C.E. in Egypt. Associated with the Tree of Life and particularly the Olive Tree the dove symbolizes peace, the Golden Age, and renewed life.
Duck: In China and Japan, ducks are symbols of happiness. According to Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their book 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002), “Mandarin ducks (so called because of their flamboyant plumage) are symbols of conjugal felicity and fidelity.”
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Eagle: Eagles symbolize fire and lightning. According to The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), by Barbara Walker, the eagle is a “Classic soul-bird, symbol of apotheosis associated with the sun god, fire, and lightning.” The Eagle is the royal bird of Rome and Roman emperors had an eagle released over their funeral pyre to carry the soul to heaven. Greeks believed that the Eagle was representative of the lightning spirits and nailed them to the tops of temples as lightning rods. Zeus transformed himself into an eagle to carry his lover to heaven. Pagans associated the eagle with the rites, and called down ‘fire from heaven,’ in sacrificial rituals. Eagles are also symbolic of the soul of Heracles. According to Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their book 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002), “The Eagle is often associated with nobility… The double-headed eagle, a solar symbol representing the absolute power of royalty and sky deities, was already familiar to the Mesopotamian Third Dynasty of Ur (2112-2004 B.C.E.), and it appears in the Hittite sanctuaries of the 13th century B.C.E. in central Anatolia.” The Holy Roman, Prussian and Russian Empires would later use this as their imperial symbol (top left). |
Goose: Considered the “Great Cackler,” the goose is believed to have laid the egg of creation.
Hawk: Egyptian pharaoh’s had a hawk, representing the solar hawk of Horus released at their funeral. According to Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their book 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002), “Many tribal peoples of North America believe the swift and keen-eyed hawk to be the messenger of their ancestors. Its cry is so sharp and shrill that it pierces the human mind, so that the ancestor’s call can be heard.” Indigenous representation of the Hawk pictured here. Hawks were used for aristocratic sport in both Europe and Japan. In Norse mythology the Hawk sits on an eagle, sitting on the Yggdrasil, World Tree. See Tree.
Magpie (woodpecker): The totem animal for the god Mars in Rome.
Nightingales: The nightingale’s sweet singing at dusk has made it an appropriate symbol of love. However, according to Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their book 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002), “The mournfulness of its song has meant that in European folklore it has been associated with the souls of the damned.”
Owl: The owl is recognized as significant in many cultures. The Romans use the same word for witch as they do for owl; Greeks associated the owl with Athene; the Mesopotamians called the owl the “Eye-Goddess; the owl was the totem of the Triple Goddess in the form of Lilith, Blodeuwedd, Anath. Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), states, “The owl is also a bird of wisdom because it used to embody the wisdom of the goddess.” In general, the owl is considered a familiar of women and the goddess, associated with the night and the moon.
Peacock: Sacred to the mother of Roman gods Juno, the Etruscan Goddess Uni, the Hindu Goddesses Sarasvati and Maya, the Argive goddess Hera. According to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), “The peacock’s iridescent tail-feather “eyes” symbolized the goddess’s watchfulness, her many-colored veils, and her plumes of justice, against which the hearts of men were weighed, as against the plumes of Maat in Egypt.” In Roman myths empresses are carried to heaven by peacocks. In Christian Nativity scenes, peacocks represent immortality and eternal life, according to Symbols Of Church Seasons And Days (1997), by John Bradner.
Pelican: Like the stork, the pelican is also associated with the arrival of babies. Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), asserts, “the pelican was an early symbol of the Sacred Heart.” Legend told that pelican mothers pecked holes in their breasts so that their infants could be nourished from their heart-blood. Although this is unfounded and probably derived from the habit of pelicans to rest their beaks in their breast feathers, Walker asserts that “The self-sacrificing mother pelican became a popular motif on both ecclesiastical and secular coats of arms.”
Phoenix: Patron bird of the Phoenician god Phoenix, this mythical bird burst into flame, cleansing itself before rebirth, representing eternal life. Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), explains, “He rose to heaven in the form of the Morning Star, like Lucifer, after his fire-immolation of death and rebirth.” The Phoenix’s journey represented the death of the sacred king for Egyptians, who performed ceremonies representing his cremation, journey to heaven as a bird, and rebirth up to the second century. In Egyptian mythology, the phoenix was alternately a man and a firebird who “periodically cremates himself and rose again from his ashes” (Walker, 1983). In Greek, the sacrificial sacred king of Astarte who would be burned at Byblos was called “the Phoenician.” Egyptian phoenix to the left.
Raven: With black plumage, the raven is often associated with the Lord of Death and resurrection. The Big Raven, who was ceremonially castrated and killed, was the ancestral wizard-king of the Chukchi shamans. The Danes called their king of the underworlds Valraven. Valkyries of the Norse supposedly took on the form of the raven in order to drink the blood of slain warriors. Ravens were the animal accompanying Orphic initiates and Raven was the title of initiates who attained the first degree of enlightenment for the Mithraic Mysteries, the Moon Goddess who received the dead. The Germanic hero Emperor Frederick was said to be guarded by ravens and in the Armenian version of the same emperor, he sill sleeps under a magic hill called Rock of the Raven.
Stork: Classic bird of birth, the stork carries souls from heaven to earth. Man, Myth, And Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Mythology, Religion And The Unknown (1995), edited by Richard Cavendish, states, “Legends tell of storks being transformed into human beings, possibly because the large size and upright posture suggest an affinity with mankind.” There are legends of storks in Germany, Greek, Arab, Eastern legends.
Swan: The swan appears in many myths from Hindu swan maidens to the Scandinavian Valkyries incarnated as a swan, to Kali or Kauri taking the shape of the swan in battle to the Swan knight Krishna and the similar Greek Zeus disguised as a swan, whose lover the Goddess Leda gives birth to the world Egg, to Old Religion myths of the “Knight of the Swan, servant of women” of the Knights Templar and the Grail myths. Shamans across the globe have downed swan-feather cloaks during ceremonies that may relate to these myths. As the largest birds of the Northern Hemisphere, People of the Old Stone Age to The Middle Bronze Age have worshipped swans in their art. According to Man, Myth And Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Mythology, Religion And The Unknown (1995), edited by Richard Cavendish, “The size of the swan and its flight high in the sky implies power, and its association with water implies fertility.”
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Thunderbird: Ruler of the Heavenly realm, the Thunderbird is revered in North America. Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their book 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002), retell some of the Thunderbird lore from the Vancouver Island of Nootka, “Winds blow when he ruffles his feathers; the sun shines when he opens his eyes; when he moves his wings, the bright colours of his feathers flash and emit lightning; and when he claps his wings together, thunder is heard…” |
Vulture: A totem animal of the Great Mother Goddess in her death aspect, the Vulture was revered in Neolithic times as the embodiment of the Mother’s spirit, eating the dead and carrying them up to heaven. Barbara Walker explains, “Vultures who devoured corpses were regarded as her angels of death, since they carried the dead piecemeal to heaven.” The Vulture was particularly important in Egypt, were it was worshipped as Mut, Isis, or Nekhbet and was considered the “origin of all things,” and ancient Iranians exposed their dead to vulture in dakhmas, “towers of silence” that were built when they worshipped Mah, the Moon-goddess (Walker, 1983).
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Waterbird: The influence of missionaries on Indigenous Americans is present in the symbolism of the waterbird, which is also called the water turkey or “coyote bird.” According to Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their book 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002), the waterbird “has a symbolism similar to the Christian dove of the Holy Spirit. |