Phoenix Legends

A few legends of the Phoenix from Arabia, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Japan, the Jewish tradition, Native American, Roman, and Russian folklore.

Astronomy: Phoenix in the Sky

Phe (Phoenix) is a constellation in the Southern Hemisphere near Tucana and Sculptor. Phoenix was named by Johann Bayer in 1603 in his catalog, Uranometria. It lies between Grus and Eridanus.

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The Arabic Roc

In Arabic legends, the roc, or rukh, was a gigantic bird with two horns on its head and four humps on its back. It is mentioned in the Arabic tales, The Thousand and One Nights. The Venetian explorer Marco Polo referred to the roc in describing Madagascar and other islands off the coast of Eastern Africa. According to him, Kublai Khan inquired in those parts about the roc and was given what was claimed to be a roc's feather, which may really have been a palm frond. Sinbad the Sailor also told of seeing its egg, which was "50 paces in circumference." The roc is associated with strength, purity, and life.

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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.

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The Chinese Phoenix

The legendary phoenix was a symbol of high virtue and grace to the Chinese. The phoenix, representing power and prosperity, reflected the empress, and only she was allowed to wear its symbol. The "phuong" is the male phoenix, and the "hoang" is the female. As conceived by the Chinese imagination, the phoenix has a large bill, the neck of a snake, the back of a tortoise, and tail of a fish. It carries in its bill either two scrolls or a square box that contains sacred books. According to tradition, the phoenix's song includes all the five notes of the traditional musical scale; its feathers include the five fundamental colors and its body is a composite of the six celestial bodies: the head symbolises the sky; the eyes, the sun; back, the moon; the wings, the wind; feet, the earth; and the tail, the planets. The phoenix appears only in peaceful and prosperous times, and hides itself when there is trouble. Therefore, the phoenix is both a sign of peace and a symbol of disharmony. In Chinese mythology, the phoenix is represented by the feng-huang, a bird symbolizing the union of yin and yang.

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In China, Feng-huang, a bird that symbolizes the union of yin and yang, a sign of both peace and disharmony [sic].

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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.

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The Chinese have a group of four magical creatures that represented the primodrial forces of the feathered, armored, hairy and scaly animals. These beasts are Bai Hu (tiger) or Ki-Lin (unicorn) for the West, Gui Xian (the turtle or the serpent) for the North, Long (dragon) for the East and for the South, Feng, the phoenix. Feng represented power and prosperity and was an attribute of the Emperor and Empress, who were the only people in China allowed to bear the symbol of Feng. It is the personifications of the primordial force of the Heavens, and is sometimes represented with the head and comb of the pheasant and the tail of the Peacock. However, the Chinese wanted to give Feng the best attributes of all beasts, and so it has the crane's forehead, the fowl's bill, the swallow's throat, the neck of a snake, the shell of a tortoise, the dragon's stripes and the tail of a fish. In its bill it carries two scrolls or a square box that contains sacred books. It is also said that its song contains the five notes of the Chinese music scale, that its feathers include the five fundamental colours (green, red, yellow, white and black), and that its body is a mixture of the six celestial bodies: the head symbolises the sky; the eyes, the sun; back, the moon; the wings, the wind; feet, the earth; and the tail, the planets. Feng is sometimes pictured with a fireball, representing the sun, and is called the "scarlet bird". It is the emperor of birds.

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Feng (or Feng-huang) lives in the Kindgom of the Wise which is to the east of China. It drinks the purest water and eats bamboo. When it sings, all the roosters in the world accompany it in its five-note song. It only appears in time of peace and prosperity, and disappears in times of trouble. Unlike the European Benu, Feng can be male or female and live as a couple. This couple represents marital happiness. The Feng delivers the soul of the infant to the mother's womb, once she conceives it.

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The Phoenix in Egypt

In Egypt the phoenix was usually depicted as a heron, but also as a peacock or an eagle. The brilliantly red and golden plumed Bennu was the sacred bird of Heliopolis. Identified as a heron with its long straight back and head adorned at the back with two erect feathers, the Bennu was later named Phoenix by the Greeks. The Bennu lived on the ben-ben stone or obelisk within the sanctuary of Heliopolis and was worshipped alongside Ra and Osiris. It was said to create itself from the fire that burned on the top of the sacred Persea tree in Heliopolis. The sun rose in the form of the Bennu each morning. Bennu was also considered a manifestation of Osiris, said to spring from his heart as a living symbol of the god. The Bennu symbolizes rebirth as it rises from the ashes, just as the new sun rises from the old.

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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.

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The Egyptians were the first to speak of Benu, which later became the Phoenix in Greek legends. Benu is mostly depicted as a heron, with a long straight back, a head adorned with two erect feathers, and its plumage red and golden. It was the sacred bird of Heliopolis, city of the Sun, where it stayed on the ben-ben stone or obelisk, inside the town's sanctuary. Its true home was however the Arabian desert, it only came back to Heliopolis to die/be born. Benu was associated with the Sun god Ra and with Osiris, god of the Underworld, who is said to have given the secret of eternal life to Benu. It symbolises rebirth, as it rises from its ashes like a new sun rises when the old has died. It also symbolises a new period of wealth and fertility, when the Nile flooded the earth each year.

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It is said that Benu had created itself from the fire that burned on the top of the sacred Persea tree in Heliopolis. Another story says that the heron Benu was the first life form to have appeared on the mound which rose from the watery chaos of the first creation, which links Benu to the nile and its periodical floods. The mound was called the ben-ben, and was the origin of the town of Heliopolis. Benu is, one way or the other, the personification of creation and life-force. After 500 years, according to Herodotus, Benu flew to the Sun temple in Heliopolis to build its funeral pyre with incense twigs. It then climbed onto it and waited for the sun's rays to consume it, singing a song of rare beauty as it did so. According to Pliny, from the ashes emerged a small worm that the sun's rays turned into a new Benu at the end of the day. It is also said that a new Phoenix rose immediately from it's father's ashes and flew with it's predecessor's emblamed remains to Heliopolis, accompanied by a flight of turtledoves.

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The planet Venus was called the 'star of the ship of the Bennu-Asar' (Osiris), and is mentioned as the Morning Star in this invocation to the sacred sun bird, Benu:

I am the Benu, the soul of Ra, and the guide of the gods in the Douat *,

Let it be so done unto me that I may enter in like a hawk,

And that I may come forth like Bennu, the Morning Star.

* the Douat is the Egyptian Underworld.

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The Phoenix in Greece

Greek mythology places the phoenix in Arabia, where it lives close to a cool well. Every morning at dawn it bathes in the water and sings a beautiful song. So beautiful is the song that the sun god would stop his chariot to listen. There only exists one phoenix at a time. When the phoenix feels its death approaching (every 500 or 1461 years) it builds a nest, sets it on fire, and is consumed by the flames. A new phoenix springs forth from the pyre. It then embalms the ashes of it's predecessor in an egg of myrrh and flies with it to the City of the Sun. There the egg is deposited on the altar of the sun god.

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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 calculation 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.

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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 IVth 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.

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The Greek believed that the Phoenix lived in Arabia, in a cool well. At dawn, each morning, it sung a beautiful song, so beautiful that the Sun god would stop his chariot to listen. The Phoenix is a unique bird, there may only exist one at a time, which makes it a solitary bird. It does not reproduce, which adds to its loneliness, as only its death will bring on another of its race. When it feels its end approaching (between 500 and 1461 years, depending on the legend), it builds a nest with the finest aromatic woods, sets it on fire, and is consumed by his own flames. From the pile of ashes, a new Phoenix arises, young and powerful. It then embalms the ashes of its predecessor in an egg of myrrh, and flies to the city of the Sun, Heliopolis, where he deposits the egg on the altar of the Sun god.

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The Indian Garuda and Japanese Karura

In the Hindu and Buddhist culture, the phoenix is called Garuda, or Karura in Japan (see lyrics of "You Are Phoenix"). Garuda in some legends has an eagle's beak and wings, and a human body, with a white face, scarlet wings and a golden body. In others, especially in Japan, he is an enormous fire-breathing eagle with golden feathers and magic gems crowning its head. Garuda is the mount or avatar (earthly embodiment) of the god Vishnu (Hindu tradition), and is one of the supreme seers of infinite consciousness.

Kadru, mother of all serpents, had picked a fight with the mother of Garuda, that she locked away. Garuda then went to fetch the Soma, which gave him immortality, to free his mother from Kadru. Vishnu, impressed, chose him as his avatar or mount. However, Garuda kept a great hatred towards the Naga (family of serpents and dragons), and killed one every day for his meal. But a Buddhist prince taught him abstinence, and Garuda brought back to life the bones of many serpents he had killed.

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The Jewish Milcham

In Jewish legend, the phoenix is called Milcham. After Eve ate the forbidden fruit, she became jealous of the immortality and purity of the other creatures in the garden of Eden. She managed to persuade all the animals in the garden to eat the forbidden fruit and share her fallen state. All except for the phoenix gave in to her. God rewarded the bird by setting him up in a walled city where he could live in great peace for 1000 years. And at the end of every 1000 year period, the bird was consumed and reborn from an egg found in its ashes.

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The Native American Thunderbird

In the legends of native North Americans, the thunderbird is a powerful spirit in the form of a bird. Lightning flashes from its beak, and the beating of its wings is creates the thunder. It is often portrayed with an extra head on its abdomen. The majestic thunderbird is often accompanied by lesser bird spirits, frequently in the form of eagles or falcons. The thunderbird petroglyph symbol has been found across Canada and the United States. Evidence of similar figures has been found throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe.

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Roman Phoenix

In Greek and Roman legends, the Phoenix is the symbol of immortality and resurrection. It is associated with the Sun god Phoebus (Apollo). Its name "Phoenix" is the Greek word for "red", which links this magical bird to fire and the sun. It is said to resemble an eagle or a peacock.

The following is a text by a Roman author, Claudian, which tells the story of the Phoenix. This poetic version is translated by Henry Vaughan.

THE PHOENIX

He knows his time is out! and doth provide

New principles of life; herbs he brings dried

From the hot hills, and with rich spices frames

A Pile shall burn, and Hatch him with his flames.

On this the weakling sits; salutes the Sun

With pleasant noise, and prays and begs for some

Of his own fire, that quickly may restore

The youth and vigor, which he had before.

Whom soon as Phoebus * spies, stopping his rays

He makes a stand, and thus allays his pains......

He shakes his locks, and from his golden head,

Shoots on bright beam, which smites with vital fire

The willing bird; to burn is his desire.

That he may live again; he's proud in death,

And goes in haste to gain a better breath.

The spice heap fired with celestial rays

Doth burn the aged Phoenix, when straight stays

The Chariot of the amazed Moon; the pole

Resists the wheeling, swift Orbs, and the whole

Fabric of Nature at a stand remains.

Till the old bird anew, young begins again.

* Phoebus another name for Apollo, but is also a poetic word to describe the sun.

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The Russian Firebird

The Russian Firebird

by Cyril Korolev

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/f/firebird.html

In Russian folklore the Firebird (Zshar-ptitsa) is a miraculous bird. Its feathers shine like silver and gold, its eyes sparkle like crystals, and it is usually been seen sitting on a golden perch. At midnight this bird comes to gardens and fields and illuminates the night as brightly as a thousand lights; just one feather from its tail could light up a dark room. The Firebird eats golden apples which give any who eat them youth, beauty and immortality; when the bird sings, pearls would fall from its beak. The Firebird’s chants can heal the sick and return the vision to the blind.

Symbolism of Orion's Belt

The identification of these three stars as a belt is a very old one. The Arabic names of two of the stars reflect this: Mintaka means 'the belt' and Alnitak means 'the girdle'. (The name of the third star, Alnilam, means 'the string of pearls'.) It has been suggested that the three Belt-stars influenced the placing of the Pyramids at Giza, and it is certainly true that there is a remarkable correspondence of position between the Pyramids and the stars. (courtesy of glyphweb.com)

Across the centuries, the three stars we know familiarly as Orion's Belt have held a special meaning to many people in many cultures, especially when the number three held spiritual significance as kings, wise men, or gods.

Here are a few of those stories:

The Three Kings of the pyramids

http://ad2004.com/Biblecodes/Hebrewmatrix/pyramidspt1.html

Pyramid	Egyptian Name	Greek Name	Star in Orion
great pyramid	Khufu	Cheops	Alnitak
center pyramid	Khafre	Chephren	Alnilam
smallest pyramid	Menkaura	Mycerinus	Mintaka

The Three Magi of Christian Tradition
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi

The word Magi is a Latinization of the plural of the Greek word magos (μαγος pl. μαγοι), which is a derivative from Old Persian Magupati. The term is a specific occupational title referring to the priestly caste of a branch of Zoroastrianism known as Zurvanism. As part of their religion, these priests paid particular attention to the stars, and gained an international reputation for astrology.

The phrase from the east is the only information Matthew provides on where the Magi came from, apart from identifying that they come from their own country rather than Judea. Traditionally the view developed that the Magi were Persian or Parthian, a view held for example by John Chrysostom, and Byzantine art generally depicted them in Persian dress. The main support for this is that the first Magi were from Persia and that land still had the largest number of them. Some believe they were from Babylon, which was the centre of Zurvanism, and hence astrology, at the time. Brown comments that the author of Matthew probably didn't have a specific location in mind and the phrase from the east is for literary effect and added exoticism. Though the Bible does not number the Magi [nor, apparently, name them], traditionally there were always seen to be three, as three of the gifts were specifically named.

In the Eastern church a variety of different names are given for the three, but in the West the names have been settled since the 8th century as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. The names of the Magi derive from an early 6th century Greek manuscript in Alexandria, translated into the Latin Excerpta Latina Barbari. The Latin text Collectanea et Flores continues the tradition of three kings and their names and gives additional details of their clothes, coming from Syria. This text is said to be from the 8th century, of Irish origin. In the Eastern churches, Ethiopian Christianity, for instance, has Hor, Karsudan, and Basanater, while the Armenians have Kagbha, Badadakharida and Badadilma.

In China, the three stars of Orion's Belt represented the Three Pristine Ones in Daoism: Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure, Celestial Worthy of Original Beginnings, Celestial Worthy of the Dao and Inner Power

Also from China, the three belt stars represented the Chinese Star Lords of Good Fortune whose worship began in the 15^th c., Fu (Prosperity/Wealth), Lu (Success) and Shu (Longevity). However, Shu was worshipped much earlier, as early as the 3^rd c. BCE

In Shinto beliefs: http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/orion.htm According to Uchida (1973), many Japanese came to call the three belt stars of Orion Taishikou San Daishi. Taishikou refers to Winter, and San Daishi refers to three great preachers or teachers. Around the 11th month of each lunar calendar year, on the 23rd and 24th days, various celebrations were and still are made honoring three particularly significant Buddhist teachers who founded sects of that religion in the Nara and Heian eras of Japan: Tendai Daishi (founder of the Tendai Buddhist Sect), Saichou (follower and teacher of the Tendai sect), and Kobo Daishi (founder of the Shingon sect and also famous for establishing the 88 temples of Shikoku around the 9th century).

One can hardly speak of the stars of the Belt of Orion without mentioning the significance of Sirius, the Dog Star. For more information on Sothis/Sopdet/Sirius the Dog Star see How Long Does a Phoenix Live .

How long does a Phoenix live?

There are various numbers tossed around as the lifetime of a phoenix: 300 years, 500 years, 1,000 years, 1461 years. The first three numbers sound poetically rounded; the number 1461 has the ring of truth. No one is going to make up a number like 1461. It's not a pretty number to say, it isn't easy to write, or to add or subtract with, so what gives?

Oftentimes, the number that looks like the odd-ball is the real deal, but the reasons for it have been forgotten. Not so with the phoenix's lifetime of 1461 years! The reason the phoenix is reborn every 1461 years has to do with astronomy, the cycle of a star and the sun, and the ancient Egyptian growing season.

A little knowledge of the Egyptian calendar is in order. The Egyptians had a calendar of 365 days; three seasons of 120 days each, and a 5-day period of feasting. The season that interests us is Akhet, the summer growing season. The first day of Akhet which, in 3000 BCE, was at the time of the Summer Solstice, heralded the yearly flooding of the Nile and meant the first day of the agricultural year, the growing season

There is another astronomical event which takes places at that time; the heliacal rising of Sirius, the star we call the Dog Star, one of the most important astronomical bodies to the ancient Egyptians. (A heliacal rising is the appearance of a star above the horizon just before the sun rises.)

While we, today, call Sirius the Dog star because it is the brightest star in the constellation of Canis Major, the Ancient Egyptians called it Sothis or Sopdet/Sepdet. Sopdet, sometimes identified with Isis, was a fertility goddess associated with the star Sirius and the agricultural year. When Sirius/Sothis/Sopdet became visible in the morning sky just before the sunrise, the sighting was celebrated with a festival called "The Coming of Sopdet" because it was the time of year for the waters of the Nile to rise; she brought with her the waters that would bring fertility to the land.

At the same time, Sothis herself was returning to life, too, because she had been missing for 70 days. Sirius can be seen in the morning sky for all but 70 days of the year, and those 70 days that Sirius is invisible (or "dead") are the 70 days immediately preceding the first day of Akhet. Here is the parallel with the Phoenix being burned: Sirius/Sopdet is considered to be dead for those days because she was "burned" into invisibility by the sunrise.

Interestingly enough, an embalming took 70 days, after which the deceased began the journey to the Otherworld ruled by Osiris (husband of Isis), so 70 days became associated with reincarnation of another sort, re-vitalization of the spirit and the spirit's ability to travel.

The association of the bird-Phoenix comes with the Bennu Bird. Bennu is related to the words "to rise" and "to shine." The Bennu bird was further associated with the Ba, the roaming spirit often depicted as a human-headed bird, of Ra/Re the Egyptian Sun god. Therefore, the Bennu bird became the symbol of the solar spirit. After the 70 days of embalming, the star Sirius represented the "rise" and "shine" of the Bennu bird which also meant the re-vitalization of the spirit.

The Greeks called the star Sirius, "scorching" or "burning," and probably made that association due to the rising of the star with the sun at the time of the Summer Solstice, and the hottest season of the year.

Phoenix is from the Greek and Latin and means purple-red color (possibly the color of the sky just before sunrise), or a Phoenician, a member of a well-known sea-faring folk from Phoenicia, the ancient kingdom in the area of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. I believe the location of Phoenicia accounts for the idea that the Phoenix comes from the Arabian wilderness. Phoenicia as well as the heliacal rising of the Phoenix/Sirius/Sothis star with the Summer Solstice sun, is in the east for anyone living in Egypt, Greece or Rome.

The 1461 year lifetime of the Phoenix is due to the 365.25 day year and the lack of a Leap Year in the ancient Egyptian calendar.

As already stated, Sirius "died" for 70 days, consumed by the fire of the sun, and was "reborn" on the first day of the planting season known as Akhet, the day of the Summer Solstice, when the star was again visible on the eastern horizon just before sunrise.

So, for several generations of Egyptian astronomical observers, the floods were marked by the rise of Sirius, the rebirth of the Phoenix, in the pre-dawn morning on the first day of Akhet.

However, they accounted for only 365 days in each year, so that every four years, the day that Sirius was "reborn" came one day earlier! Instead of on the Summer Solstice, it would be one day earlier, and then four years later and another day earlier, and then another, and another. The rise of the fertility star and the day of the Summer Solstice became seriously out of alignment.

In order for the Phoenix/Bennu/Sirius star to be "reborn" on the first day of Akhet, 1,461 years would have to pass!

In fact, what did happen was that every 1460 years, the Ancient Egyptians would add an entire Leap Year of 365 days. .25 of a year X 1460 years = 365 days, or a full Leap Year. Add the Leap Year to the 1460 years equals the 1461 years known as a Sothic Cycle for the goddess Sothis and the star Sothis/ Serius/ Bennu/ Phoenix.

The Sothic Cycle of 1461 years is the lifetime of the Phoenix: the star Sirius again rises in conjunction with the Summer Solstice….after 70 days of death, the Phoenix Rises, reborn on the Summer Solstice.

Feng Shui Land or Landform School

I guess I would have to call this feng shui phase one, the Form or Landform school.

This was the first form of feng shui, and we know for sure it was practiced around 200BCE, though probably much earlier. It was initially used to determine the best placement for the coffin of a deceased loved-one. It was believed that if the ancestor were in a favorable location where their spirit could be happy, the descendents would be happy and prosperous also. This art of placement is still practiced today, and is often called Yin Feng Shui.

The art of placement for living people is Yang Feng Shui. In the landform school, when we talk about the art of placement, we don't mean placement of items inside the house, we mean the placement of the house!

Animals and constellations.
Viewing orientation: standing in the center, looking up at the sky.

The four sovereign animals you will meet in a moment are derived from the twenty-eight constellations and stations of the moon. At the time this style of feng shui was developed thousands of years ago, on the winter solstice night you looked up into the sky and saw the constellations that comprise the Black Tortoise from horizon to horizon. On the spring equinox, the Green Dragon's constellations filled the sky. The summer solstice saw the constellations of the Red Bird fly overhead, and on the Autumnal equinox, the seven constellations of the White Tiger stalked the night.

The Chinese constellations are quite different from those which we are familiar, but we can roughly compare the area of the four seasonal animals. The Green Dragon spreads across Spica, Virgo, Libra, Antares, Scorpius, and Sagittarius. The Red Bird or Phoenix includes Gemini, Cancer, Hydra, Alphard, Crater, and Corvus. White Tiger covers Andromeda, Aries, Pleiades, Taurus, and Orion (which you may have noticed is now a winter constellation). The Winter Black Tortoise reaches across Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pegasus.

Landform.
Viewing orientation: facing North.







Perhaps you are familiar with the phrase "as above, so below?" Here is where we transfer the symbolism of the animals in the sky above to the earth below.

Qi is scattered on the wind, but can be caught and retained by the water in the stream there at the front of the house thereby bringing good fortune to the residents. This is why the practice is called Feng Shui which I'm surer you already know means Wind & Water.

Landforms are the first thing you should consider in a feng shui reading. Looking at the layout of the land in the diagram, notice that the house is protected on three sides by hills or mountains, and that the front of the house is open to receiving qi or energy. This is often called the "armchair configuration." You can see why if you imagine yourself sitting in an armchair, the Tortoise supporting your back, and resting your arms on the Dragon and Tiger. (Just as you wouldn’t sit sideways or backwards in the chair, your house shouldn't sit in an unfavorable position, either!) There are exceptions to every rule, but generally speaking, you want the land in the back of the house to be higher than the front of the house to afford protection. If there isn't a mountain handy, a raised garden bed or fence will do.

Your front door should never be blocked unless you know that unfavorable energy or qi will enter there. (Frankly, it's best not to live in such a house.) Blocking the front door prevents qi from entering and circulating. Your house needs energy circulation – preferably favorable energy – just as your body does. Stagnant environmental qi can be as unhealthy as sluggish or blocked flow of your qi or your blood through your body.

For the purposes of feng shui, streams and streets are equivalent since both can be corridors of qi. The stream or street should meander past your home instead of rushing past and taking the good qi with it. Living on a busy street can negatively impact your energetic quality of life. You should also avoid living in a house at a T junction where oncoming traffic zooms directly at your home.

Landforms are also symbolic of the five phases of energy (see the previous post on the five phases of energy if this is new to you) based upon shape: Very pointed forms represent the fire phase, flat forms like wide plateaus represent earth phase, rounded-top hills are metallic in energy, rolling hills are considered to belong to the water phase, and tall, thin hills with flat tops symbolize the wood phase of energy.

This is very basic knowledge about environmental qi, but a good first step in understanding traditional Chinese feng shui.

Sand Fantasy - video

This four-minute video is breathtaking, absolutely stunning, and of course birds are prominent figures playing important roles in the art and design. Enjoy!


Thank you Ilana Yahav!

Nu Wa the Sun Crow

Photo by Millenium Twain.
The Chinese goddess Nu Wa may have been the original model for the phoenix in China. Here she is shown as a bird associated with the sun, "Nu Wa the Sun Crow," which resonates well with the associaton of the phoenix with fire.

As the original Earth Mother, Nu Wa repopulated the earth following a Great Flood by fashioning people from the yellow clay of the earth and giving them the breath of life. (Her husband/consort/brother was FuXi, the legendary first emperor of China, and the man who received and revealed to humankind the secrets of universal balance and harmony through the I Ching.)

In later eras, the Earth Mother was associated with the Queen Mother of the West, one of whose names is Nine-Phoenix Supreme Perfect Queen Mother of the West of the Jade Tortoise Platform. She dwelled in the Kunlun Mountains where she tended the Peaches of Immortality.

The Jade Tortoise Platform is, of course, the earth. Possibly the Nine-Phoenix refers to birth through the association of the sun's movement through nine constellations (i.e. nine months of human gestation).

The Phoenix

Fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix, has no connection with the phoenix of the Western world. The images of the phoenix have appeared in China for over 7,000 years, often in jade and originally on good-luck totems. It is a totem of eastern tribes in ancient China.

During the Han Dynasty (2,200 years ago) the phoenix was used as a symbol depicting the direction south, shown as a male (feng) and female (huang) phoenix facing each other. It was also used to symbolize the Empress in a pairing with a dragon where the dragon represents the Emperor. It might come from the merging of eastern and western tribes of ancient China. 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 were in the people that lived there.

The Fenghuang has very positive connotations. It is a symbol of high virtue and grace. The Fenghuang also symbolizes the union of yin and yang. It appears in peaceful and prosperous times but hides when trouble is near.

In ancient China, they can often be found in the decorations for weddings or royalty, along with dragons. This is because the Chinese considered the dragon and phoenix symbolic of blissful relations between husband and wife, another common yin and yang metaphor. -End Quote- -Wikipedia.

I've read elsewhere that the feng and the huang lived on opposite sides of the land and that when an omen needed to be delivered to someone on earth, they flew together and then descended to deliver the message. This fits nicely as I am a diviner in I Ching (Yijing) and Tarot.

As it happens, in Chinese Four Pillar astrology, the day of my birth was the day of the Rooster which is also known as the day of the Phoenix.



More from Wikipedia:

Phoenix (also known as Garuda in sanskrit) is the mystical firebird which is considered as chariot of Hindu God Vishnu. Its reference can be found in Hindu epic Ramayana.

The Greeks adapted the word bennu (and also took over its further Egyptian meaning of date palm tree), and identified it with their own word phoenix φοινιξ, meaning the colour purple-red or crimson (cf. Phoenicia). They and the Romans subsequently pictured the bird more like a peacock or an eagle. According to the Greeks the phoenix lived in Arabia next to a well. [The symbolism of the well is extremely significant in the I Ching.] At dawn, it bathed in the water of the well, and the Greek sun-god Apollo stopped his chariot (the sun) in order to listen to its song.

One inspiration that has been suggested for the Egyptian phoenix is a specific bird species of East Africa. Another suggested inspiration for the mythical phoenix bird, and various other mythical birds that are closely associated with the sun, is the total eclipse of the sun. During some total solar eclipses the sun's corona displays a distinctly bird-like form that almost certainly inspired the winged sun disk symbols of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. -End Quote-

Here is a composite photo of a total solar eclipse that occurred on July 11, 1991. Photo copyright Steve Albers published on Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 24, 1995

Note the appearance of a bird-like head in the NNW direction, a tail in the SE direction, and wings spreading out over the NE and SW directions.

A solar eclipse often symbolized the death of one era and the birth of a new one, so you can see why the lifespan of a phoenix may have been so long (500 years), and the symbolism of the "rebirth" into the new era. Furthermore, it's very likely that a "new era" was measured from the beginning of a new dynasty with the ascension to the throne of a new Emperor, King, or Pharaoh. If this followed a lenghty conflict with a neighboring empire, fire may have been involved in the destruction of the former ruler and his nation, hence the death of the phoenix (the old era) by fire.