A bird reborn from the ashes. Phoenix - "rising from the ashes

The Phoenix bird is known from many fairy tales, epics, and legends. Did it really exist or is it just an allegorical image that has nothing to do with ornithology?
The bird from the myth

Phoenix is ​​present in many cultures of peoples who, it would seem, are separated not only by times, but also by distances. This bird is always represented in red or gold plumage, it is not for nothing that the word phoenix means purple in translation.

According to legend, the mythical bird does not feed on any living creatures, as the rest of her gather. She drinks only dew. As a messenger of the gods, she became an unwitting witness to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise for eating the forbidden fruit.

The bird is associated, first of all, with the cult of the sun, the rebirth of a new life and renewal. In ancient times, she always rose from the ashes or burned down at the moment when a new life was born - a chick appeared. Therefore, Phoenix exists only in a single copy. Combustion, according to the legends, occurs as follows. Phoenix always felt the approach of death, and at that moment she made a nest of wood and resin, which ignited under the hot sun, taking the life of the legendary bird with her. And new life was born from the remains.

In China, it was believed that the bird flies away to the desert when death approaches, and sings there until the last moment of its life. Those who hear her songs cannot tear themselves away from how unique the melody is. After the last sounds are performed, the bird rushes into the fire and burns in it. But already on the third day, the revival of the Phoenix takes place, and it becomes even stronger and more magnificent.

The secret doctrine says that the nature of this bird symbolizes life on earth, when the world is alternately destroyed under a fiery flood, then reborn again. This is a kind of symbol of the human soul, which, leaving, returns to earth again. In ancient times, the Phoenix was a symbol of divine royal power.

Phoenix in Eastern culture

According to Chinese mythology, there are four sacred animals, one of which is the Phoenix. This red creature embodies two principles at once - yin and yang, the sun and the beauty of the world, its subtlety and feminine meekness.
The Phoenix consists of different elements that are symbols of the surrounding world, and its coloring includes five colors - five virtues. The appearance of this creature is associated with peace on earth, wealth and prosperity, great wisdom.

In Japanese legends, such characteristics as fidelity and justice, the solar principle were associated with the Phoenix.
The first man created special music for the bird, which attracted it to the ground. Many signs were associated with this hero. For example, the appearance of a bird in a dream to a pregnant woman meant the birth of a healthy baby, who had a great future.
A talisman in the form of a Phoenix gives people strength in difficult life situations, when it seems that nothing can help. The bird teaches a person to emerge victorious from any difficulty, overcome obstacles on their own, and even predict some events.

Legend of Immortality

According to Jewish Kabbalah, in the Garden of Eden, only one creature did not taste the treats of Eve - the Phoenix. In gratitude for the fact that he did not succumb to temptation, God rewarded him with immortality. But this immortality is very doubtful, because before being reborn again, he must burn to the ground.

Christianity associates this bird with eternal life. This story becomes more proof that Jesus was really resurrected, this is the meaning of the Christian religion, faith in eternal life. The symbol of life was used everywhere.

Russian mythology and fairy tales

A mythical creature accompanies every story. Outwardly, it resembles an eagle, but its plumage is very bright and colorful. But there is another category of mythical birds. Phoenix is ​​represented here by the Firebird and Finist the Clear Falcon.

It is the Firebird that is the direct prototype of the Phoenix from mythological legends. It is customary for the main characters of Russian fairy tales to look for this bird in order to get a beautiful feather from its tail. No wonder this bird was the main prey of those who were looking for. She symbolized fire and the fulfillment of desires. It is associated with the Phoenix because the Firebird ended its life in the fall, and in the spring it was reborn again to delight people with its singing and beauty. Unlike her, Finist the Clear Falcon fell asleep for this time. He personified happiness and eternal youth, becoming a wonderful fellow at night.

Finist Yasny Sokol is considered the embodiment of the masculine principle, strength, valor, and courage. These characteristics are characteristic of two elements - fire and air. Finist was considered the defender of Russia, a just warrior who personifies the precepts of his ancestors.

The mention of the Phoenix bird has come down to us along with ancient Egyptian legends. Now this mythical creature has become a symbol of rebirth, a manifestation of the triumph of life over death. Resembling fire with its red-orange plumage, it expresses the purifying power of the fire element. For those who suffer, this image will always be the personification of hope. What does the Phoenix bird symbolize today?

The appearance of the image

The ancestor of the image of the Phoenix bird is the Benu bird, which was an integral part of the sacred rites of the ancient Egyptians associated with fire. At a later time, the ancient Greeks borrowed it to create their legends. There are two versions of the origin of the mythical symbol. According to one of them, an unusual bird dies a natural death, and later a chick appears from the Phoenix seed, which is a continuation of the family.

According to the legend of the origin of the times of Christianity, this creature burns on a fragrant fire and is reborn after three days from the resulting ashes. The appearance of the Phoenix bird was also described in different ways.. In ancient images, she appeared in the form of an eagle, heron and other species. The only common thing was the fiery color of plumage. In all mythological treatises, the outlandish bird was endowed with the following properties:

Initially, the image was associated with a cyclical change of sunrises and sunsets. But after a while, they began to perceive the Phoenix bird in a different way - the meaning shifted towards rebirth after death and the superiority of the human spirit over perishable material values.

Legends of Herodotus and Ovid

Over time, legends spread around the world about the mythological creature. But in each state, the magic bird had its own name. The Chinese Feng Shui teaching for the first time mentions its appearance on the eve of the death of the Yellow Emperor. The Chinese called the Phoenix in their own way - Fen Huang. In the legends of Persia, the fiery bird was called the Simurgh. For the inhabitants of Central America, Quetzal has become such a symbol of longevity.

Herodotus, who lived in ancient times, who is considered the father of history, described sacred animals and birds in his writings. He also mentions the Phoenix from the words of Hecateus of Miletus. Herodotus had a chance to see the image of a bird in the sacred temple of Heliopolis. He describes her as a feathered creature, similar in appearance and size to an eagle, with plumage partly gold and partly red.

According to the stories of the Egyptians, he flies to them once every 500 years, replacing his deceased father. The townspeople of Helios claim that with them wonder bird brings the body of a dead parent, embalmed with incense in order to perform the burial rite in a Greek temple. To deliver the body to the place, the Phoenix imprisons him in an artificial egg, which he then carries in his paws to Helios.

The ancient Roman poet Ovid claims that the death of the Phoenix occurs after he accidentally inhaled the aromas of cinnamon and cinnamon. And the chick, reborn from his seed, continues the dynasty, having first betrayed the ashes of his father to the fire. Researchers consider his story to be more complete and intelligible than the story of Herodotus.

Chinese feng huang

What does Feng Huang mean to the Chinese? The ancient inhabitants of China believed that it appears on the eve of some important events. This creature they described as being like a swan when viewed from the front, but from behind it looked like a unicorn. The tail looked like a fish, the back was like that of a turtle, the whole body was covered with outlandish patterns. feng shui bird feng huang symbolizes warmth and light. The Chinese consider her to be fire, which, together with the dragon, helps childless couples to have offspring. According to their mythology, the Phoenix is ​​the wife of the dragon.

The meaning of the Feng Huang bird for the Chinese:

1. The path to your happiness;
2. Victory in business;
3. Wisdom leading to prosperity.

In the manufacture of the Phoenix talisman, it is made red or orange. Use this symbolism to attract good luck and fulfillment of desires. The talisman is located in the southern sector of the dwelling. There should not be other sacred objects nearby. Feng Huang needs freedom to reach his full potential. A figurine endowed with magical powers can protect your home and family from various dangers.

It gives you the opportunity to be the first to know any news, which is very important when doing business. You will always be one step ahead of your competitors. Feng Huang will help in the development of intuition, will endow its owner with foresight and sober calculation. For magical purposes, you can use not only a figurine, but also an image of a miraculous bird. Just do not forget that the plumage must be fiery. You can put candles nearby - this will enhance the effect of the talisman. You can place a bowl of grain next to it.

To bring good luck to the house, it is advisable to install the Phoenix bird as close to the front door as possible. If you are unable to purchase a Feng Huang figurine, replace it with rooster or flamingo figurines - they have similar energy, but are somewhat weaker. In order for your business to begin to bring success, it is advisable to place a picture of the Phoenix in the office. Never put this talisman in the bedroom- with its strong energy, it will interfere with your rest.

Phoenix people

Mankind has always admired the manifestation in individuals of incredible will, courage, ability to win, including himself. Not everyone will be able, having reached the extreme point of destruction, to restore their inner world anew, to find harmony and strength. Those who succeeded are called phoenix people.

Having risen "from the ashes", they keep the memory of past mistakes and defeats, which gives them invaluable experience. The American writer Chuck Palahniuk describes just such a situation in his book Fight Club. He conveys the idea that before climbing to the heights, a person must go to the very bottom.

This just echoes the image of the resurgent Phoenix bird. It is incredibly difficult for such people to live among others. Their open soul, incredible credulity and heightened emotionality will play a cruel joke with them more than once, forcing them to “burn out” in the inner fire. The main thing is to find strength every time to rise from the ashes. One day they may simply not be.

Science fiction writer Vladimir Ilyin created a book of the same name about people who mysteriously resurrected after their death. The idea of ​​revival has always excited the minds of people and will continue to do so. In society, there will always be those who are cramped within the framework of everyday life, who are able to “die” and be reborn many times, becoming stronger each time. They are the Phoenix people.

Attention, only TODAY!

Many peoples of antiquity, in an incomprehensibly identical way, created in their mythology, and then in literature, art, and even scientific treatises, the image of a “fabulous” flying creature - a bird named Phoenix(Phoenix, Foynix, Phoenix, Finist, Fenghuang, Bennu, etc.).

From somewhere in the East, most often from Arabia or India, to the center of the then civilized world of Egypt, to the temple of the Sun, a strange, bird-like creature flies, the like of which people have not seen in nature. In appearance, it resembles either an eagle, or a peacock, or a heron, although it performs actions that are far from avian.

For example, a “bird”, having flown in, burns itself, and then is reborn from the ashes: a new, “young” Phoenix, having matured, flies back to Arabia, so that after many years it will again fly to the temple of the Sun and repeat the same miracles ...

Numerous versions of this legend were found in Egypt, Sumer, India, Tibet, Assyria, Babylon, China, ancient Greece and Rome, and other countries. The legends about the Phoenix are different both in time of occurrence and in place of origin, differing from each other in minor details.

A fantastic bird from antiquity "flew" into the European Middle Ages, to Russia (Finista - a clear falcon), to the literature of modern times (Voltaire, "The Princess of Babylon").

The well-known Egyptologist B. Turaev pointed out that in Geli-opol there was a temple (Kha-bennu, which means the temple of the Phoenix), where a sacred tree grew, on which the Phoenix sat, and the gods wrote down royal anniversaries on the leaves of the tree.

At this place, the Phoenix was born in the morning among the flames ... Note that in Egyptian myths, the Phoenix does not arrive from the East, it is local.

Born daily at sunrise and dying daily, also in flames (evening dawn). And only much later, in mythology, the figure of 500 years began to appear - the interval between the appearances of the Phoenix in Egypt.

Let us now turn to the ancient authors. Let's start with the "father of history" Herodotus (V century BC). At first, he admits that he heard this legend "from the words of the Heliopolitans", while he himself saw the Phoenix only in images. Here are excerpts from his story:

“There is another sacred bird called the Phoenix. I did not see the Phoenix alive, but only images, since he rarely flies to Egypt: in Heliopolis they say that only once every 500 years. Phoenix arrives only when his father dies. If its image is correct, then the appearance of this bird and the size are like this.

Its plumage is partly golden and partly red. In appearance and size, it most of all resembles an eagle. This is what they say about him (this story seems implausible to me).

Phoenix arrives as if from Arabia and carries with him the body of his father, anointed with myrrh, to the temple of Helios, where he buries him. Carry it like this. First, he prepares a large egg from myrrh, which he can only carry, and then tries to lift it.

After such a test, the Phoenix breaks the egg and puts the body of his father there. Then he again seals the punctured place in the egg with myrrh, where he put the body of his father. The egg with the body of the father is now as heavy as before.

Then the Phoenix carries the egg (with itself) to Egypt, to the temple of Helios. This is what this bird is said to do.”

Similar variants of legends are given by other authors (Ovid, Pliny, Hesiod, Hecateus). Some of them claim that the Phoenix itself flies to Heliopolis once every 500 years.

There he burns in incense; from the ashes he is reborn again, first in the form of a caterpillar, which on the third day begins to turn into a bird and on the fortieth day becomes one completely, and flies home to Arabia or India.

At the other end of Eurasia, in China, oddly enough, there are also legends about fabulous fenghuang (phoenix) birds. “In China, there is a legend,” N. Fedorenko writes in the book “The Land and Legends of China,” that in the country of Tianfango (that is, in Arabia) in ancient times the sacred phoenix birds lived.

When they were 500 years old, they gathered in fragrant trees, burned themselves, and then were reborn from the dead ashes beautiful and never dying.

These birds are related to the Chinese feng huang birds. The ancient book "Kupyanzu" says: "Phoenixes are the essence of fire, they live on Mount Danxue." The closer to the beginning of our era, the more we meet written evidence about the Phoenix, the more complete this evidence.

First of all, let us dwell on two works: the “Annals” by Tacitus, a Roman historian of the 1st century AD, who testified to the last arrival of the Phoenix, and the poetic poem “The Phoenix Bird”, attributed to Lactantius (III-IV centuries AD), since the poem successfully summarizes most other ancient evidence of numerous Phoenixes.

The sight of her marvel to the eye

Tacitus tells of the arrival of the Phoenix, which took place only two decades before the birth of the author himself (about 35 AD).

“In the consulate of Paul Fabius and Lucius Vitellius, after a long cycle of centuries, the Phoenix bird returned to Egypt and delivered plentiful food to learned men from the natives of this country and the Greeks for reasoning about such an amazing miracle ... That this creature is dedicated to the sun and differs from other birds in its head and the brightness of the plumage, everyone who described his appearance agrees on this; about his age, they say differently.

Most define it as 500 years, but there are those who claim that this Phoenix has been living for 1461, since earlier phoenixes flew to Heliopolis, the first time under the rule of Sesosis, the second time Amasis, and the last time Ptolemy, who reigned as the third of the Macedonians, and they were always accompanied by many other birds of an unprecedented appearance.

Antiquity is obscure, but less than 250 years separate Tiberius from Ptolemy. Therefore, some believe that the last Phoenix is ​​not real, that it is not from the Arab land, and what the legend of antiquity says about the Phoenix does not apply to it.

After the expiration of the years allotted to him, having felt the approach of death, he builds a nest in his homeland and pours into it the childbearing power, from which a chick arises; and the first concern of the fledgling, when it reaches maturity, is the burial of the remains of the father. All this is unreliable and embellished with fiction, but there is no doubt that from time to time this bird is seen in Egypt.

The famous epic poem of the 4th century AD. The "Phoenix Bird", which, according to researchers, belongs to the pen of Lactantius, summarizes and generalizes the myths and legends about the Phoenix, common in different countries of the Mediterranean.

First, the poem draws that "paradise" region in the East, where the Phoenix lived permanently. The reader is left to guess where this region is located: either in Arabia, or in India, or in Mesopotamia, or in Ceylon, or in Madagascar, or on some mysterious southern islands (the phoenixes of the ancient world, as the reader remembers, flew in from somewhere south, from Arabia).

Why does the author go directly to the Phoenix, talk about his pastime, give him a description and claim that in his native country the bird lives alone. After that, the author tells about the approaching end of the Phoenix's life, when he turns 1000 years old and the bird begins to prepare for death.

It is noteworthy that in the poem the Phoenix does not fly immediately to Egypt, but first to Syria or Phoenicia (in ancient times). By the way, the Syrian coast, where the magic bird of immortality flew in, was called “Phoenix Coast”, Phoenicia or Phoenicia in ancient times. In addition, the book “Physiologist”, which was in circulation at the beginning of the era, also mentions “Lebanese cedars” when speaking about the Phoenix.

As you know, in addition to the Egyptian Heliopolis, there was the Syrian Heliopolis, from which the famous ruins of the temple of the Sun near Baalbek have been preserved.

In the next part of the poem, a detailed picture of the death of the Phoenix and the rebirth of the "new bird" is given. This is followed by the departure of the new Phoenix to the Egyptian Heliopolis to bury the "remains of the deceased father."

After that, the appearance of the Phoenix is ​​​​drawn again, but already detailed and comprehensive.

Her appearance is a marvel to the eye and inspires respectful awe. The bird has so much posture, so much grandeur in it. She spreads her tail, sparkling with yellow metal, In spots, a bright crimson burns on it with a flame.

You will say that her eyes are like two huge hyacinths, And in the depths of them, burning, a clear flame trembles. On his head is a radiant golden crown curved, Phoebus himself crowned himself with this venerable crown.

She has scales on her thighs; They cast gold in metal, But on her claws roses are the most beautiful color. In size, none of the animals of the Arabian land can be compared with it - there are no such birds or animals there.

Then a picture of the Phoenix's departure is given, the reaction of the entire population of Egypt to it, and in conclusion - the praise of the Phoenix: But the Phoenix is ​​not slow, like birds with a huge body: Their weight oppresses, therefore their step is lazy and heavy.

The Phoenix bird is fast and light and royally beautiful. And before the people appears, wondrous shining beauty.

To see this miracle, the whole of Egypt comes running, The crowd honors a rare bird with applause. In marble, her image is immediately sculpted as sacred, And a memorable day is marked on it with an inscription.

In the work of the Roman poet Claudian, The Phoenix Bird, which appeared shortly after the poem of Lactantius, there are curious new details. Shortening the lengths of Lactantius, Claudian, in his idyll about the Phoenix, tells how, sitting on a fire, the Phoenix greets the sun with a jubilant song, asking him for life-giving fire.

Sunny Phoebus shakes off one hair from his fiery head - and the fire engulfs the fire. After that, the flight of the updated Phoenix from the blazing fire begins.

When the remains of the old Phoenix are burned on the altar, fragrant smoke fills all of Egypt to the Pelusian marshes, giving people health. By the way, Pliny the Elder wrote that in ancient times the ashes of the Phoenix were considered an exceptionally rare and effective medical remedy.

Finally, in Claudian, the Phoenix not only has a shining crown on its head, but also on the fly, the Phoenix dispels darkness with bright light (Filistratus: “The Phoenix is ​​the only bird that emits rays”).

Undoubtedly, under the influence of the legends about the Phoenix, in particular the variant of Claudian, wonderful Slavic tales about the shining firebird were layered. The very term "firebird" quite accurately conveys the meaning of the Greek word "phoenix" (crimson). In the Russian "Finist the Clear Falcon" it is not difficult to recognize the distorted "Phoenix".

In search of rational grain

What were the real prerequisites for the creation of myths, legends, legends about a wonderful bird? Let us first of all turn our attention to the factual side of the matter.

Of course, our attempts to translate into modern scientific language the details of the combustion of the Phoenix, the birth of a new one, all the stages of growth of the young Phoenix (larva, egg, chick, adult Phoenix) will be unconvincing guesses, and we will not offer them here. Fairy-tale accessories in the guise of a Phoenix are explained by an attempt by our "ignorant" ancestors to somehow describe and convey these facts.

And it was possible to do this only by resorting to the description of the unknown through the known, something remotely reminiscent. Hence the inconsistency in the description of the Phoenix by different authors.

So, the bird ruhh of Arabic legends (it is also a simurgh among the Persians) blocked the sun when it rose into the air. In her claws, the ruhh could carry away an elephant and even a unicorn with three elephants strung on the horn.

The famous Venetian traveler Marco Polo, who visited China during the reign of the Mongol Great Khan Kublai, even spoke in detail about the gigantic ruhh living somewhere in the East.

Moreover, he gives a story about how Khubilai equipped an expedition in search of a winged monster. According to Marco Polo, Khubilai's people found the homeland of the Rukh, it turned out to be the island of Madagascar, lying south of Arabia and Africa.

Travelers themselves did not see the birds, but delivered to their inquisitive master the feather of a giant bird - 90 spans long. True, the commentators of this passage believe that the expedition members visited Madagascar, but cheated their lord and brought him not a firebird feather, but a leaf of Madagascar "Sagus ruffia" - a 15-meter palm tree, on top of which there is a panicle of 7-8 giant leaves like bird feathers.

However, zoologists who visited Madagascar in 1832 found the shell of a giant egg - six times larger than an ostrich egg. And in 1851, the bones of a giant extinct bird were found, according to which its scientific description was compiled.

Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who studied it, called the bird epiornis - “the highest of all the tallest birds”, its growth reached a height of 3-5 meters, and the giant of the feathered world weighed about 500 kilograms.

However, this ruhh, being nothing more than a giant ostrich, could not fly. The outlandish bird died out or was destroyed by hunters just a hundred years before the appearance of naturalists on the island (as I. Akimushkin, the author of the interesting book “The Path of Legends”, tells about the disappeared animals) claims.

Thus, the legend of the giant ruhh received a real justification. Could something similar happen to the Phoenix, a now unknown, extinct (in the 1st century AD?) bird that captivated the imagination of the ancients with its beauty and extraordinary qualities?

Or do the stories about the Phoenix, as well as about other “iron” birds nesting at unattainable heights, carrying people into the boundless airy heights, speak of the vivid imagination of our ancestors, striving to fly into the sky, to the life-giving sun?

Maybe these are prophetic ideas, a kind of look into the future, admiration for the heroes who will boldly storm the cosmos, look for the “grass of life” and “grass of immortality”, seeking power over inert matter? We can only guess about this, talking about the exciting “Phoenix phenomenon”.

“In the Garden of Eden, under the tree of knowledge, a rose bush bloomed; in the very first rose that blossomed on it, a bird was born; its feathers cast wonderful colors, its flight was a radiance, its singing was a wondrous harmony.

But then Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, and she, along with Adam, was expelled from paradise, and one spark fell into the nest from the fiery sword of the angel of retribution. The nest flared up, and the bird burned down, but a new, unique, always unique phoenix bird in the world flew out of the red-hot egg. Myths say that she builds her nest in Arabia and every hundred years she burns herself in the nest, but a new phoenix flies out of the red-hot egg, again the only one in the world.

Fast as a ray of light, shining with a wonderful color of feathers, enchanting with its marvelous singing, a marvelous bird flies around us." (Hans Christian Andersen)

Phoenix is ​​an ancient symbol of immortality, rebirth, the sun. This mythological bird is colored gold and red, symbolizing the rising sun.

In monumental sculptures, stone pyramids and buried mummies, the Egyptians sought to gain eternity; it is quite natural that it was in their country that the myth of the cyclically reborn, immortal bird should have arisen, although the subsequent development of the myth was carried out by the Greeks and Romans.

Adolf Erman writes that in the mythology of Heliopolis, the Phoenix (bnu) is the patron of anniversaries, or great time cycles.

Herodotus, in a famous passage, recounts the original version of the legend:

“There is ... a sacred bird, her name is Phoenix. I myself have never seen her, except as painted, because in Egypt she rarely appears, once every 500 years, as the inhabitants of Heliopolis say. According to them, she arrives when she dies her father (that is, she herself) If the images correctly show her size and size and appearance, her plumage is partly golden, partly red. Her appearance and size resemble an eagle.

Also, in the fortune-telling inscriptions of Ancient China, created over 15 centuries BC, the wonderful phoenix bird - "fenghuang" is mentioned. The Chinese dictionary of the 1st century "The Interpretation of Signs" ("Showen") described the phoenix bird as follows: "It resembles a swan from the front, from the back - a unicorn (qilin), a snake's neck, a fish's tail, a dragon's color, a turtle's body, a cock's beak."

The Chinese "Catalogue of Seas and Mountains" also tells about the phoenix king bird: "Five hundred li east of the Heavenly Tiger Mountain is the mountain of Cinnabar Cave. There is a lot of gold and jade on its top. There is a bird, five-colored, with divorces. It is called a phoenix. The pattern on her head resembles the hieroglyph "de", which means "virtue", and on the wings - the hieroglyph "i" - "justice", on the back - the hieroglyph "li" - "good manners", on the chest - "jen" - " Perfection", on the stomach - "blue" - "honesty". She eats and drinks like an ordinary bird. She sings and dances herself. When they see her, calm and peace come in the Celestial Empire."

For the medieval Chinese, the phoenix bird personified marital fidelity and a life of prosperity. Therefore, she was often depicted on wedding dresses, was a symbol of the bride and the empress.

Coming from the ancient sage Confucius, the saying "phoenixes do not appear" means that happiness always comes and does not come.

However, one should not confuse the Chinese phoenix with the European phoenix, known from the books of ancient Greek authors and medieval treatises - this is a completely different bird.

At the end of the 17th century, the German scientist F. Wolf collected together all the information that was known at that time about the celestial bird Phoenix. The result of the search was published in a work with the intricate title "The Amazing Garden of the Wild, or On the Foolishness of Animals."

“The Phoenix bird is considered the most amazing of all the birds of the sky. Some write that she lives in Arabia, others talk about other places. This bird does not breed like other birds, but is reborn after death from its own ashes.

She lives 160 years, and some scientists claim that even longer. They also say about her that she is the only one in all the earth, so they see her very rarely. Hence the saying went: "More rare than the Phoenix bird." The size of a Phoenix from an eagle, the neck is shiny, golden, in the tail there are pink feathers, the face is round, there is a crest on the head.

The Phoenix is ​​not born like all other birds. When the bird reaches old age and senses the approach of death, it builds a nest of herbs and rare expensive plants such as coffee, myrrh, aloe, which are highly flammable. Then sit in the nest and wait for it to light up. And along with the nest itself burns to the ground. After the Phoenix burns down, a worm appears first, and then a Phoenix similar to the former one grows out of this worm. Ovid wrote about it.

Further, this new bird arranges an amazing funeral for the burnt one: it transfers the ashes of the burnt nest to the famous city of Heliopolis in Egypt and lays it there on the altar. She does it like this:
1) weaves an egg-shaped vessel from palm branches;
2) tries to see if he can pick it up;
3) carefully levels the vessel and fills it with the ashes of the burnt nest;
4) gently close the hole;
5) lays his burden on the altar in the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis."

Another version of the description of the Phoenix was left to us in the 6th century BC in the apocryphal "Revelation of Baruch". To Baruch's question, "what kind of birds are these?" neither the human race nor all creatures on earth would live from the heat of the sun. Thus, the Phoenix saves people from the withering gaze of the luminary.

There is a description of the Phoenix in the old "Physiologist": "His head is adorned with a crown, and boots are on his feet, like a king's. The Phoenix lives near the Sunny City. It will rise for 500 years on the Lebanese cedars without food. It feeds on the Holy Spirit. Beats in the appointed hour is a bell, and the Phoenix in the church on the altar turns to ashes. And in the morning they find a bird in the same place in the form of a chick, and a day later - an adult "...

The phoenix was also known in Russia. The "Pigeon Book" says: Phoenix bird - "to all the mother birds." She has "feathers stronger than steel and damask steel, they cut bones and stones, and when guests come from across the sea, they buy feathers and cover or velvets and atlases."

Shakespeare, in the conclusion of Henry VIII (V, 5), wrote the following beautiful lines about the Phoenix:

Like a virgin - Phoenix, a miracle bird,
Burning itself, rising from the ashes
An heir as beautiful as herself.

Translation by B.Tomashevsky

Not surprisingly, the early Christians depicted the phoenix in the catacombs as a sign of the Resurrection. Saint Clement of Rome (1st century) connects the image of the phoenix with Christian teaching: repeating the story of Ovid about the five-hundred-year-old phoenix living in Arabia, Clement concludes his story with the words that the Creator, who created the phoenix, thus demonstrated that he grants immortality to those who dedicates his life to faithful service to Him. This idea of ​​Clement was picked up by later Christian authors - Tertullian, Lactantius, Rufinus, St. Gregory of Tours and others. In bestiaries, medieval books in which descriptions of animals were accompanied by religious commentaries, the legend of the phoenix symbolizes the resurrection of Christ.

In Christian teaching, the phoenix becomes a symbol not only of the immortality of the spirit, divine love and blessing, but also of God the Son, who resurrected on the third day after the crucifixion. Images of the phoenix adorn the cathedrals in Tours, Magdeburg, Basel, and many other European cities. The most impressive wall mosaic of the XII century in the cathedral in St. Petra in Rome: it depicts a phoenix with blue and white plumage, with gold and red wings, its head surrounded by white and gold halos.

Used materials from the Mythological Encyclopedia

Since the time of Herodotus (5th century BC), the phoenix has remained one of the most popular mythological characters. Not a single bird can compete with him in fame. No bird has captured the human imagination like the sacred phoenix of Heliopolis, the mystical bird of the ancient Egyptian "city of the sun." The phoenix served as a symbol of the sun that sets in the evening and reappears in the morning, and the eternal life of the soul leaving the body after death.

We find the first mention of the phoenix in the Greek poet Hesiod, who speaks of it as a well-known long-lived bird. However, its most detailed description was left by Herodotus. It served as the starting point for the development of numerous myths about the phoenix. According to Herodotus, the Egyptians revered the phoenix as a sacred bird. He himself did not see the bird and describes it from a fresco from the Heliopolis temple: the phoenix looks like an eagle with red and gold feathers. Here is the story told by Herodotus: a young phoenix flies to Egypt from Arabia once every 500 years, in his claws he brings the body of his ancestor embalmed in myrrh, which he buries in the Temple of the Sun in Heliopolis.

The Biblical prophet Ezekiel calls the phoenix the king of birds and admires its wonderful song. Diogenes Laertius (III century AD) mentions the phoenix as the only bird that does not need a partner to give birth to offspring.

The first description of the rebirth of the phoenix is ​​found in Pliny the Elder: the phoenix lives in Arabia for 540 years and then dies in a fragrant nest; from the bones and marrow of a dead bird, a small worm appears, from which a new phoenix grows. Since the time of Pliny (1st century AD), the mythological features of the phoenix have remained practically unchanged: the bird lives for a very long time, it appears to people only shortly before death, after death it is born again and, finally, the phoenix is ​​the bird of the sun.

A strong influence on the spread of legends about the phoenix was provided by Ovid's Metamorphoses, who created the Roman version of the myth based on the Greek knowledge of the bird of the sun. The image of the phoenix is ​​the best illustration of the title of the book: "metamorphosis" in Greek means "reincarnation". According to Ovid, the phoenix is ​​an immortal bird, but its life consists of five hundred year cycles. At the end of each cycle, the bird builds a nest of myrrh, cinnamon and other spices on a tall palm tree. The sun ignites the nest, and the phoenix burns in the fire. A young phoenix born from the ashes lives for the next 500 years. When the chick becomes strong enough, it carries the ashes of its ancestor to the temple of the city of the sun.

Over the centuries, the number of references to the phoenix in the sources has grown exponentially. If for all the time before the Nativity of Christ only nine indications of the phoenix are known, then in the 1st century AD alone. e. we find already 21 mentions by ten authors. In early Christian times, there are already more than 100 of them, and the number of literary sources related to the Middle Ages is simply incalculable.

The symbolic meaning of the phoenix has changed over time. If, as has been said more than once, in ancient Egypt the phoenix was identified with the sun, then in Rome it became a symbol of imperial power. His images are often found on Roman coins.

In Christian teaching, the phoenix becomes a symbol not only of the immortality of the spirit, divine love and blessing, but also of God the Son, who resurrected on the third day after the crucifixion. Images of the phoenix adorn the cathedrals in Tours, Magdeburg, Basel, and many other European cities. The most impressive wall mosaic of the XII century in the cathedral in St. Petra in Rome: it depicts a phoenix, resembling an eagle rather than a heron, with blue and white plumage, but with gold and red wings, its head surrounded by white and gold halos.

Although the phoenix rarely appears on the canvases of European Renaissance artists, its images are widely used in heraldry. The phoenix adorns the shield of Joan of Arc, the seal of the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart, the medallion of Elizabeth I, the Queen of England. Lady Jane Seymour's brooch depicts a phoenix in flames.

Phoenix appears in Dante's Divine Comedy and in Petrarch's sonnets. The latter compares his undying love for Beatrice to a phoenix. Despite the fact that, according to ancient sources, only one phoenix lives on Earth, the heroes of the novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel" by Francois Rabelais meet 14 phoenixes on one tree at the same time during their travels.

The Phoenix is ​​one of Shakespeare's favorite images. The mythological bird is the hero of his play The Phoenix and the Turtle Dove. The phoenix is ​​a symbol of immortality and truth, and the dove is a symbol of love and beauty. Both are burned in the fire because of "marital chastity". As a symbol of rebirth and originality, the phoenix is ​​mentioned in the plays The Tempest, As You Like It, All's Well That Ends Well, Henry IV, The Life of King Henry V and Timon of Athens.

In 1646, Thomas Browne's book "The Study of General Errors" was published, one of the chapters of which is devoted to the phoenix. Brown analyzes descriptions of the phoenix in Greek and Roman sources, in the Bible and among Christian authors. He comes to the conclusion that the phoenix does not exist, since no one has ever seen it. Brown also questions the main mythological features of the phoenix - its uniqueness in nature, its mode of reproduction, its incredible longevity.

Chinese myths often describe a sun-born bird of wonderful beauty with feathers of five colors, singing a beautiful song of five notes. This is the Feng Huang bird - one of the sacred Chinese symbols along with the dragon, turtle and unicorn. The Chinese dictionary of the 1st century "The Interpretation of Signs" ("Showen") described the phoenix bird as follows: "It resembles a swan from the front, a unicorn (qilin) ​​from the back, a snake's neck, a fish's tail, a dragon's color, a turtle's body, a cock's beak."
The Chinese "Catalogue of Seas and Mountains" also tells about the phoenix king bird: "Five hundred li east of the Heavenly Tiger Mountain is the mountain of Cinnabar Cave. There is a lot of gold and jade on its top. There is a bird, five-colored, with divorces. It is called a phoenix. The pattern on her head resembles the hieroglyph "de", which means "virtue", and on the wings - the hieroglyph "i" ("justice"), on the back - the hieroglyph "li" ("good manners"), on the chest - "jen" ("Perfection"), on the stomach - "blue" ("honesty"). She eats and drinks like an ordinary bird. She sings and dances herself. When they see her, calm and peace come in the Celestial Empire."