The Phoenix

The Phoenix is a mythical sacred fire bird in ancient Phoenician mythology, and in myths derived from it.

A phoenix is a mythical bird with beautiful gold and red plumage. At the end of its life-cycle the phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises. The new phoenix is destined to live, usually as long as the old one. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of the old phoenix in an egg made of myrrh and depoits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopis. The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being immortal and invincible --- a symbol of fire and divinity.

Although descriptions (and life span) vary, the Phoenix became very popular in early Christian art, literature and Christian symbolism, as a symbol of Christ representing his ressurection, immortality, and life after death. Michael W. Holmes points out that early Christian writers justified their use of this myth because the word appears in Psalm, but in that passage it actually refers to a palm tree, not a mythical bird, however, 'twas the "flourishing aof Christian Hebraist interpretations of Job that brought the Joban phoenix to life for Christian readers of the seventeenth century. At the heart of these interpretations is the proliferation of richly complementary meanings that turn upon three translations of the word, 'chol' -- as phoenix, palm tree, or sand -- in Job" Originally, the phoenix was identified by the Egyptians as a stork or heron-like bird called a benu, known from the Book of The Dead and other Egyptian texts as one of the sacred symbols of worship at Heliopolis, closely associated with the rising sun and the Egyptian sun-god 'Ra'.

top: the three bells. to right of that:Fawkes the Phoenix