Mystery Of The Phoenix
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Unraveling The Mystery Of The Phoenix: The Bird Of
Immortality
What is really behind the story of Phoenix, the bird of
immortality, the bird that rises from the ashes?
The Phoenix is known in various forms and by various names
throughout the Middle and Far East, the Mediterranean, and Europe. It is a
symbol of resurrection. The name Phoenix may have come from the Greek phoinix
and may be related to phoinos (blood-red).
In ancient Egypt the Phoenix was called the “Lord of
Jubilees,” and was considered to be the ba (spirit) of the Sun God Ra. In Mesopotamia
the Phoenix symbolized by the horned and winged solar disk. Alchemists used the
Phoenix to symbolize the color red and the successful end of a process. The
medieval Hermeticists used the Phoenix as a symbol of alchemical transmutation.
Legends tell that the Phoenix had feathers of red and gold,
the color of the rising Sun. It had a wonderful melodious voice, which became
mournful with approaching death. Other creatures were then so overcome by its
beauty and sadness that they fell dead.
From ancient texts we learn that only one phoenix could live
at a time. Hesiod, the Greek poet wrote that the Phoenix lived nine times the
lifespan of the long-living raven. According to other sources, the Phoenix can
live up to 97,200 years.
Tradition says that the Phoenix fed only on air, harming no
other creature. It lived a solitary life in a far-away land, coming to
human-inhabited land only when it was ready to die. If the bird was injured it
possessed the power to heal itself.
When the Phoenix reaches the end of his life, it sets the
nest and itself on fire and is burned to ashes. Shortly, the Phoenix rises
again and begins its life anew. In some traditions, the new Phoenix gathers up
the old ashes and takes them to the Egyptian city of Heliopolis to offer them
to the Sun God. The ashes that are laid on the Altar of the Sun are said to
have the power of bringing a dead man back to life.
When the Roman emperor Elagabalus (203-222) tried to become
immortal, he dined off a bird of paradise, sent in place of a phoenix, but the
substitute did not work. Instead, the emperor was murdered shortly afterward.
Unfortunately, there is little information about the
Phoenix, the bird of flames.
Some people strongly believe that it is a God’s pet, let
loose on the world now and again, to give the people a glimpse of a Gods’
powers. Others swear by the fact that the Phoenix is, itself a God, the
incarnation of Foiros, bringing peace to the righteous and swift retribution to
the evil and corrupt.
Yet another group, says it is not more then a near extinct
animal, no different from a swan or dove. So far, scholars have been unable to
trace the true origin of the Phoenix legend. It is believed, but not certain
that the legend came from the Orient and was adopted by Sun-worshipping priests
of Heliopolis, as an allegory of the Sun’s daily setting and rebirth.
In Christianity, the resurrected Phoenix became a popular
symbol for how Jesus Christ has risen from the grave.
The legend of this wonderful supernatural creature has
survived for centuries. The Phoenix never died permanently. Legend says it
existed when the universe was created.
It knows secrets of life and reincarnation, knowledge even
the most powerful gods do not possess…
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