Birds as Spiritual Messengers
What birds teach us about ourselves
Throughout history, birds have been seen as messengers from the spiritual realms. Birds are seen as,
Symbols of spiritual ascension.
Symbols of death.
Omens.
Symbols of peace.
Supernatural links between the heavenly realms and earth.
Diviners of ill-fortune and as instruments of other-worldly communication.
Representatives of both the light and dark forces.
They are also messengers from the underworld.
In many myths and stories, birds are messengers from realms that lie beyond worldly experience. Birds can speak, often in tongues strange and inhuman, which only those with special abilities can understand. Often sources of extraordinary information, these birds may be gods or messengers of the gods. Birds tell great secrets, warn of future disaster, and guide those who will listen on their way.
In all forms of culture, art, and lore, birds appear as teachers, as entertainers, as symbols.
Birds symbolize the soul, enlightenment, and messengers between this worldly dimension and the spiritual realms. Birds seem to ignite our soul’s desire for flight, for release, and spiritual ascension. They invite us to ascend and to shed our earthly baggage.
Birds can be our helpmates, our guides and our inspiration.
Birds in Creation Myths
The Benu, the Phoenix and Other Creator Birds
In many cases, birds symbolize the creative force of the universe. In Ancient Egypt, the Benu bird is the prototype of the Phoenix story which is told in many forms in diverse cultures, from ancient Greece to ancient China to Western Occult Traditions and modern children’s stories.
In ancient Egypt, the Benu bird was represented as what is thought to be a wagtail or, later, as a grey heron.
It symbolized Atum, the Heliopolitan sun-god.
Later, in the Middle Kingdom, the Benu was called the ‘Ba’ (the physical manifestation of the soul) of the sun-god Re.
Though primarily associated with Atum and Re, the resurrection aspect led to an association with Osiris.
The hieroglyph for ‘Benu’, means to ‘rise in brilliance’ or to ‘shine’.
The heron also represented the ‘Ba’ — the soul of Ra.
The Benu was one of the manifestations of the creator god. Like the creator god, the Benu was imagined as being self-created. With the appearance of the Benu bird, existence came into being, and life itself began.
In mythological papyri from Dyn 21 the Benu is described as ‘He who came into being by himself’. He emerged out of the original darkness before creation to be:
“…that breath of life which emerged from the throat of the Benu bird, the son of Re in whom Atum appeared in the primeval nought, infinity, darkness and nowhere.”
In Rundle Clark’s, Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt, the Benu was ‘the herald of all things to come’. The Benu came from the ‘Isle of Fire’, the mythical place where the gods were born. The Benu also came from the center of the earth — Heliopolis.
Because of its role as a symbol of rebirth, the heron also became an aspect of Osiris. The heron was also depicted as representing ‘Dja’, the ‘Crosser’, the ancient Egyptian name for the planet Venus. Perhaps the idea of Venus as the messenger of the coming of the dawn was why the Benu became thought of as a herald of good news.
Herodotos was told about the Benu by priests at Heliopolis, during his travels in Egypt in the 500’s B.C. This is what he tells:
“They have also another sacred bird called the Phoenix which I myself have never seen, except in pictures. Indeed it is a great rarity, even in Egypt, only coming there (according to the accounts of the people of Heliopolis) once in five hundred years, when the old Phoenix dies. Its size and appearance, if it is like the pictures, are as follow:- The plumage is partly red, partly golden, while the general make and size are almost exactly that of the eagle. They tell a story of what this bird does, which does not seem to me to be credible: that he comes all the way from Arabia, and brings the parent bird, all plastered over with myrrh, to the temple of the sun, and there buries the body. In order to bring him, they say, he first forms a ball of myrrh as big as he finds that he can carry; then he hollows out the ball, and puts his parent inside, after which he covers over the opening with fresh myrrh, and the ball is then of exactly the same weight as at first; so he brings it to Egypt, plastered over as I have said, and deposits it in the temple of the sun. Such is the story they tell of the doings of this bird.”
There are unmistakable similarities between the Benu and the various Phoenix myths which exist around the world. Some examples of these are:
The Chinese Fenghuang.
The Persian Angha.
The Philippine Adarna.
The Indian Avalerion.
The Garuda.
The Finnish Kokko.
All of these stories associate a Phoenix like bird with rebirth, the sun and creator god, and the central birthing place of the world.
The egg, fire, and continuous regeneration are all common themes in many traditions.
The idea of the ‘Benu bird,’ the self-creating and immortal deity bird, seems to have begun in ancient Egypt.
It remains a deep-rooted archetype in the human mind to this day.
According to ‘Myth Encyclopedia,’
“The firebird is a magical bird with golden feathers and crystal eyes that appears in many Russian folk stories. Several of the tales involve young Prince Ivan, son of the tsar.
In one story, Ivan captured the firebird in a castle garden but set it free in exchange for a magic feather from the firebird. Thirteen princesses came out of the castle and told Ivan that the owner was an evil magician who turned people into stone.
But Ivan, who fell in love with one of the princesses, ignored the warning and decided to face the magician and his demons. The magic feather protected Ivan, and the firebird cast a spell on the demons. When the bird showed the prince an egg that contained the magician’s soul, Ivan broke the egg, killing the magician and freeing the princesses.”
From this story, we see that the firebird is symbolic of life, protection, and the forces of goodness.
The Phoenix is a legendary bird mentioned in Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology.
According to ancient writers, the Phoenix lived for 500 years, then died and was reborn.
It had brilliant golden and red feathers.
The Phoenix built a nest of fragrant herbs and spices, set the nest on fire and died in the flames.
A new Phoenix rose from the ashes.
When the young bird was strong enough, it placed the ashes of the dead Phoenix in an egg made of myrrh.
Then the young Phoenix carried the egg to Heliopolis, the Egyptian city of the sun, and placed it on the altar of the sun god Ra (Re).
The Phoenix was associated with immortality and eternal rebirth in Egypt.
The Romans used it on coins to symbolize Rome, the Eternal City.
In ancient Rome, the Phoenix was used as a symbol for the Roman Empire’s ability always to renew its strength.
Early Christians saw the Phoenix as a symbol of resurrection.
The bird also appears as a sacred figure in both Chinese and Japanese mythology.
According to ‘Birds in Mythology’ by Macmillan Reference USA,
“Jewish mythology includes the story of the hoyl — a bird that, like the Phoenix, is devoured by divine fire only to rise from its own ashes. Legend says that after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, Adam offered the fruit to all of the animals. The hoyl bird was the only one that refused to eat the fruit that God had said must never be eaten. As a reward, the hoyl received a kind of immortality. It never dies but only goes to sleep, after which fire destroys it. An egg remains, however, and from that egg a full-grown hoyl hatches anew.”
Ara and Irik and the Cosmic Egg
Birds are symbolic of creation in many other traditions also. According to ‘Birds in Mythology’ by Macmillan Reference,
“A number of creation myths from Southeast Asia feature birds. On the great island of Borneo dwell the Iban people, who tell of Ara and Irik, two bird spirits floating above an expanse of water at the beginning of time. Seizing two eggs from the water, Ara made the sky from one egg, while Irik made the earth from the other. As Irik squeezed the earth into its proper size, mountains and rivers appeared on its surface. Then the two creator spirits shaped bits of earth into the first people and woke them to life with bird cries.
Other creation stories begin with the laying of a cosmic egg from which the universe emerges. Indonesia, Polynesia, and the northern European countries of Finland and Estonia have stories of deities flying down to the primeval ocean to lay eggs that hatch into the world.”
Thunderbird and the Birth of the Universe
Another important mythological bird that is connected to creation and the birth of the universe is The Thunderbird.
Myth Encyclopaedia says,
“An important figure in Native American mythology, the Thunderbird represents the natural forces of thunder, lightning, and storms. It is also believed to protect humans by fighting evil spirits. Many groups have their own stories about the bird.
The Thunderbird is one of the main gods of the sky. It creates thunder by flapping its wings and causes lightning by opening and closing its beak and eyes. Usually described as a huge bird, the Thunderbird is large enough to carry off a whale to eat and to split open trees to find insects for food.
The Algonquian people consider Thunderbirds to be ancestors of the human race, involved with the creation of the universe. According to a Shawnee tale, Thunderbirds appear as boys and can speak backward. Other cultures believe in four Thunderbirds that guard a nest holding an egg, which hatches all other birds of their type.
A Lakota Sioux myth says that the great Thunderbird Wakan Tanka was the grandson of the sky spirit that created the world and put people on it. But the water spirit Unktehi thought the people were lice, and she and her followers tried to drown them. The people retreated to the highest hill they could find and prayed for help. Wakan Tanka came to fight Unktehi and sent lightning crashing to earth. The ground split open, and Unktehi and her followers drained into the cracks. As a result, humankind was saved.”
Raven, Bringing Light to the World
In other Native American stories, it is Raven who brought light into the world. After finding the hiding place where the Creator kept the moon, the stars, and daylight, Raven released them so that they could shine on the world.
According to the Internet Resource, Experience Festival,
“A raven story from the Puget Sound region describes the Raven as having lived in the land of spirits (literally bird land) that existed before the world of humans. One day the Raven became so bored with bird land that he flew away, carrying a stone in his beak. When the Raven became tired of carrying the stone and dropped it, the stone fell into the ocean and expanded until it formed the world which humans now live in.”
Owl, Bridge Between Men and Women
In the Navajo creation story, an owl is the bridge of communication between men and women, giving rise to the creation of the human race.
Quetzalcoatl, Symbol of Life
Quetzalcoatl is another important mythological bird that represents life.
According to ‘Myth Encyclopedia’,
“For thousands of years, Quetzalcoatl was one of the most important figures in the traditional mythologies of Mesoamerica. As deity, culture hero, or legendary ruler, Quetzalcoatl appeared in some of the region’s most powerful and enduring stories. He represented life, motion, laughter, health, sexuality, and the arts and crafts of civilization, such as farming, cooking, and music.
The name Quetzalcoatl means “Feathered Serpent.” It brings together the magnificent green-plumed quetzal bird, symbolizing the heavens and the wind, and the snake, symbolizing the earth and fertility. Quetzalcoatl’s name can also be translated as ‘precious twin’. In some myths, he had a twin brother named Xolotl, who had a human body and the head of a dog or of an ocelot, a spotted wildcat.”
In Daniel Pinchbeck’s book, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, Quetzalcoatl’s return is symbolic of the coming New Age, brought about by the date 2012 and the end of the Mayan Calender. Pinchbeck says,
“The hypothesis I propose is that the completion of the great cycle and the return of Quetzalcoatl are archetypes and their underlying meaning points toward a shift in the nature of the psyche…such a radical proposition may seem absurdly far-fetched and beyond rational analysis…however, it is my view that this transition can be approached sensibly, considered in a way that does not insult our reasoning faculties.”
Stork, Bringer of Babies
Another widespread view of bird as Creator is the European folklore of the Stork as bringer of babies. Even as recently as the 1970s, young children in England were told babies were brought by the Stork. Similar stories of storks and herons as bringers of life and babies exist throughout Europe.
In the Christian Easter tradition, and before that the European Pagan traditions, Easter, or Spring Solstice, is deeply associated with baby chicks and the egg, which is an obvious universal symbol of creation and renewal.
Birds as Divination Tools and Omens
Birds were also an essential tool for divination and fortune-telling in many traditions.
Julius Ceaser used white doves to predict future outcomes and scenarios of future events, although he often fixed the results in his favor.
Reading the birds’ flight for the purposes of divination is known as auspicy (messages coming from the sky).
In ancient Rome, the augur was a priest whose job was to decipher the will of the gods by studying birds’ flight. This was known as, ‘taking the auspices.’
According to Wikipedia,
“The Roman historian Livy stresses the importance of the augurs: “Who does not know that this city was founded only after taking the auspices, that everything in war and in peace, at home and abroad, was done only after taking the auspices?”
An augur (plural augures) was an official and priest who solicited and interpreted the will of the gods regarding a proposed action. The augur ritually defined a templum, or sacred space, declared the purpose of his consultation, offered sacrifice, and observed the signs that were sent in return, particularly the actions and flight of birds. If the augur received unfavorable signs, he could suspend, postpone or cancel the undertaking (obnuntiatio).
According to Emerson Institute,
“Italian diviners sometimes charged minimal fees to efferents to have parakeets choose among slips of paper with fortunes written on them. The Hittite version of ornithomancy was the forerunner to Roman Auspicium. In 1330 B.C., over twenty-seven species of birds and their movements in various environments were cataloged for interpretation. A specialist called a Bird Watcher was entrusted with observing the birds, often taking up to three days to note the movements and associated omens. Roman augurs not only adapted this earlier system, but went on to design a ritual around bird-watching. The augur would sit on a hill in a special robe and circumscribe an area of the sky with his littus, or divining staff, which was supposed to have no knots or bends in it to distort revelations. he would then watch this region of the sky for birds to determine a yes-or-no answer. Generally, the appearance of one or two birds was a good sign, while more than that was negative. Alternatively, an odd number of birds signified a ‘no,’ and an even number meant ‘yes’” (Telesco, 65–66).
Using birds for divination purposes (‘Ornithomacy’)was also known among a variety of other cultures. The Emerson Institute says,
“Ornithomancy is divination by the appearance, number, movement, and cry of birds. The Greeks favored eagles, crows, and vultures for observation, while the Celts preferred crows, eagles, and wrens… Besides tracing the history of ornithomancy among the pagan Germans, Tibetans (for whom bird divination was known as Bya-rog-kyi-skad-brtag-pa, and which relied on the crow),and Aztecs, who used the method to pick the location for Mexico City, the handbooks on divination list the birds and meanings most commonly used in such systems. (“If you hear a crow cawing on your righthand side, be very cautious in all you do that day.”)
In contemporary United Kingdom, magpies are still used as a divination tool, as indicated by the popular ‘Magpie Chant’, known to every British school-child. ‘One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told’.
As well as divining tools for good and bad, birds have often been considered simply as bringers of ill-fate and omens of death.
The Hottentot people of southern Africa believe that the hammerhead, a wading bird, can see reflections of the future in pools of water. When the bird learns that someone is about to die, it flies to the person’s home and gives three cries of warning.
In Europe, the eagle was considered to be a symbol of the death Gods, such as Beli.
In Welsh mythology, Llew was turned into an eagle at the moment of his murder. In the same way as the eagle, the crow was linked to death Goddesses such as Badb, the archetypal Crone, and to the Goddess of death the Morrigan.
The Celtic Goddess Battle and Strife was a Raven Goddess. The ravenalso was considered an envoy of death deities and frequented the Celtic battlefields.
According to Experience Festival,
“Because of its black plumage, croaking call, and diet of carrion, the Raven has long been considered a bird of ill omen and of interest to creators of myths and legends. The Raven was a common device used by the Vikings. Ragnar Lodbrok had a banner called Reafan, embroidered with the device of a raven. It was said that if this banner fluttered, Lorbrok would carry the day, but if it hung lifeless the battle would be lost. King Harald Hardrada also had a raven banner, called Landeythan (land-waster).”
Ravens play an important part in the psyche of the British people to this day.
According to the Internet resource, Castles.me.uk,
“The Ravens in the Tower of London have an important part to play in its history. The legend of the Ravens in the Tower of London is so important to the people of England that a number of ravens are kept at the Tower of London at the expense of the British government. Legend has it that failing to keep ravens at the Tower of London will mean the great White Tower will crumble and a terrible disaster shall befall England.”
The peacock was also often seen as the bringer of evil and the evil eye. In modern Wales, it is still considered bad luck to have a peacock feather in the house by many people.
Owl as Ambiguous Omen
Perhaps no other bird has been considered an omen that the owl.
When owls appear in ancient stories their significance is often ambiguous. They are neither good nor bad but exist in the shadow existence between the worlds.
Owls can be symbolic of wisdom and learning but are also associated with secrecy and nighttime.
The Internet Resource, Owl Pages, says,
“In the mythology of ancient Greece, Athene, the Goddess of Wisdom, considered the owl the night bird her favorite among feathered creatures. Athene’s bird was a Little Owl, (Athene noctua). This Owl was protected and inhabited the Acropolis in great numbers. It was believed that a magical “inner light” gave Owls night vision. As the symbol of Athene, the Owl was a protector, accompanying Greek armies to war, and providing ornamental inspiration for their daily lives. If an Owl flew over Greek Soldiers before a battle, they took it as a sign of victory. The Little Owl also kept a watchful eye on Athenian trade and commerce from the reverse side of their coins.”
In China, owls are seen as symbols of ill-fate.
The Hottentot people of Africa consider the hooting of an owl as an omen of death.
Many Western traditions also consider them to be omens of death and darkness and black magic. In Western traditions, witches and warlocks often take on owls as familiars. Owls are the totems of adepts and mystics (see ‘Birds in children’s entertainment’). Western tradition associates Owl with magic and Astral Projection.
The Mescalero Apache believe Owl carries the souls of the recently deceased.
The Aztecs viewed them as evil demons.
Some Native American legends portray owls as malicious.
In ancient Rome, an owl nailed to the door of a house averted all evil that it supposedly had earlier caused. This tradition was found in England right up until the 19th century.
In many traditions, including ancient Rome, to hear the hoot of an owl warned of imminent death. The deaths of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Commodus Aurelius, and Agrippa were all predicted by an owl.
“…yesterday, the bird of night did sit Even at noonday, upon the market place, Hooting and shrieking” (from Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”)
According to Owl Pages,
‘The Roman Army heard an Owl’s screech before its downfall at Charrhea, on the plains between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. According to Artemidorus, a second Century soothsayer, to dream of an Owl meant that a traveler would be shipwrecked or robbed. Another Roman superstition was that witches transformed into Owls, and sucked the blood of babies.”
In Roman Mythology, Proserpine (Persephone) was transported to the underworld against her will by Pluto (Hades), god of the underworld, and was to be allowed to return to her mother Ceres (Demeter), goddess of agriculture, providing she ate nothing while in the underworld. Ascalpus, however, saw her picking a pomegranate, and told what he had seen. He was turned into an owl for his trouble — ‘a sluggish Screech Owl, a loathsome bird.’
Birds as Messengers and Teachers
Many traditions saw birds as symbols of the transition between life and death and as messengers of other worlds.
Celtic myths tell us of a heroic figure or god who was changed into a crane. For example, we have Aife, the Lady of the Lake and Munanna, who were transformed into cranes.
Early cultures in Central America saw owls as sacred messengers of the rain god.
In native American traditions, Eagle was the Spirit Connection to Higher Realms. In the Zuni Tradition, Eagle symbolizes the direction Up. Images from the ancient Near East and Iran show the sun with an eagle’s wings, a sign that the bird was linked to the sun god.
Ancient stories tell of heroes with magical abilities to understand what the birds are saying. In Greek mythology, a snake licked the prophet Cassandra’s ears who could then understand what the birds were saying.
The god Apollo punished the birds, either for telling secrets or for failing in their duty as guardians, by turning them black.
In Aesop’s Fables we find that birds are portrayed as teachers and messengers, tricksters, and symbols, but more than anything providers of lessons. In ‘The Complete Fables’ by Robert and Olivia Temple, we find a variety of the fables with bird characters, including ‘The Vain Jackdaw’, ‘The Crow and the Pitcher’, ‘The Wolf and the Crane,’ to name but a few.
Birds as Symbols of Love, Life and Spirituality
The dove has been a universal symbol of love throughout history and to this day.
In the ancient world, the dove was a symbol of fertility.
The Greek Goddess Aphrodite loved doves.
In China to this day doves represent faithfulness in marriage and are often used in feng-shui.
In India, doves are representative of the soul.
In contemporary Western Culture, doves are used as symbols of fidelity and love and are frequently used in weddings and anniversaries.
Doves in the Bible
In the Bible and in popular culture, angels have many bird-like qualities and are often portrayed as having the wings of swans. Doves are seen in the Bible repeatedly.
When Noah wanted to see if any land had appeared after the great flood, he released a dove. The dove returned with an olive branch. This indicated that the flood was over and subsiding.
This image of the dove with an olive branch in it’s beak has come to be a universal symbol of renewal and peace and triumph over adversity.
The following quotations from The Bible are all God’s Word translations:
Genesis 8:8–12 “Next, he (Noah) sent out a dove to see if the water was gone from the surface of the ground. The dove couldn’t find a place to land because the water was still all over the earth. So it came back to Noah in the ship. He reached out and brought the dove back into the ship. He waited seven more days and again sent the dove out of the ship. The dove came to him in the evening, and in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf. Then Noah knew that the water was gone from the earth.”
The dove was also described as something lovely, sweet, and romantic. A woman in love describes the man she loves as like a dove.
Song of Solomon 2:14 “My dove, in the hiding places of the rocky crevices, in the secret places of the cliffs, let me see your figure and hear your voice. Your voice is sweet, and your figure is lovely.”
Later, the man who she loves describes her in a similar way. In this case, he compared her as being perfect like a dove. He then described her eyes as like a dove.
Song of Solomon 6:9 “…she is unique, my dove, my perfect one. Her mother thinks she is unique. She is pure to the one who gave birth to her….”
The dove is also described as something graceful coming from heaven. In several of the Gospels, the Spirit of God descends upon Jesus at the point of His baptism. In Luke, the Spirit is actually described as looking like a dove.
Matthew 3:16 “After Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up from the water. Suddenly, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down as a dove to him.”
Mark 1:10 “As Jesus came out of the water, he saw heaven split open and the Spirit coming down to him as a dove.”
Luke 3:22 “…and the Holy Spirit came down to him in the form of a dove.”
John 1:32 “John said, ‘I saw the Spirit come down as a dove from heaven and stay on him.”
Saint Frances of Assisi is a famous biblical character who was a great friend to the birds. Through his words, we see birds as connectors between heaven and earth.
“My little sisters, the birds, much bounden are ye unto God, your Creator, and always in every place ought ye to praise Him, for that He hath given you liberty to fly about everywhere, and hath also given you double and triple rainment; moreover He preserved your seed in the ark of Noah, that your race might not perish out of the world; still more are ye beholden to Him for the element of the air which He hath appointed for you; beyond all this, ye sow not, neither do you reap; and God feedeth you, and giveth you the streams and fountains for your drink; the mountains and valleys for your refuge and the high trees whereon to make your nests; and because ye know not how to spin or sow, God clotheth you, you and your children; wherefore your Creator loveth you much, seeing that He hath bestowed on you so many benefits; and therefore, my little sisters, beware of the sin of ingratitude, and study always to give praises unto God.” — Saint Francis of Assisi — c1220
Birds in Jungian Thought
According to Carl Jung,
Birds represent thoughts while birds in flight symbolize moving and changing thoughts.
Jung considered a dream of birds to be symbolic of a desire for freedom.
Birds in Literature
We see the themes of bird as trickster, as symbol and as messenger woven throughout literature.
The starling in ‘Henry IV’ was capable of tormenting a king by speaking the name of Mortimer.
In the ‘White Bird Passes’ by Jessie Kesson, a small Scottish classic based on the author’s own impoverished childhood in the north-east town of Elgin in the 1920s, the bird is symbolic of lost dreams and hope.
In the children’s story by E. Nesbit, ‘The Phoenix and the Magic Carpet’, a group of children are befriended by a talking phoenix who lifts them out of their ordinary and somewhat troubled lives.
Birds are also frequently used as a spirtual metaphor in literature.
The iconic illustrated modern fable by Richard Bach, ‘Jonathon Livingston Seagull’, tells the moving story of a seagull’s journey through the skies and is symbolic of the soul’s journey.
“You’ve got to understand that a seagull is an unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the Great Gull…You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way.”
In Tolkien’s famous epic work ‘The Lord of the Rings’, the eagles are seen as messengers and helpmates, strong, powerful forces for good and righteousness in the fight against darkness.
In the contemporary classic, ‘I know Why the Caged Bird Sings’, by Maya Angelou, the bird is used as metaphor for freedom and triumph of the soul.
In many cases, birds and flying are intrinsically tied in with the nature of reality and unreality.
In Carlos Castenada’s ambiguously fictional or perhaps non-fictional work, ‘A Yacqui Way of Knowledge’, there is a famous event in which Carlos Castenada flies in the form in the bird. Afterwards, he discusses the event with his teacher, Don Juan, trying to understand the reality or unreality of the event.
“But what I mean, don Juan, is that if you and I look at a bird and see it fly, we agree that it is flying. But if two of my friends had seen me flying as I did last night, would they have agreed that I was flying?”
Birds in Visual Art
The great artists Chagall, Picasso, and Matisse had a vision of birds as spiritual and feminine beings, decorative portrayals of peace and sensuality.
In the great works of the Renaissance, we see angels with bird-like wings and white birds swooping down from heaven, as in the work ‘Annunciation Angel’ by Garofalo.
In Van Gogh’s, ‘Wheatfield with Crows’ we see a darker vision. Many have said that this was his final work and that he had seen the sky filling with crows as a vision of his impending death.
Dali also frequently had a more disturbing vision of the bird. In his work, ‘Bird’ we see a surreal and skeletal image of a bird, devoid of softness or life.
We see this darker vision echoed in the work of artists such as the contemporary outsider artist Kelly Moore in his Native American flavored portrayal of crows and ravens.
America’s most famous bird artist, John James Audubon, cataloged birds in a photo-realistic and scientific fashion.
William Morris, the early 19th century artist, businessman, writer, and great thinker, saw birds as decorative elements intertwined with flowers, flourishes, and whimsy.
Decorative birds were often used as motifs throughout the ‘Art Nouveau’ movement era.
Asian artists during the Neolithic period depicted birds with prominent eyes, large crests, curved beaks, and long tails.
In more recent times, Asian art portrays elegant cranes with long legs and sweeping necks.
The Celts too often incorporated the crane into their designs and elegantly exaggerated their necks and legs.
The Victorians were greatly fond of ‘The Robbin Red Breast’, and many Christmas images made use of the image of this chirpy, jolly character.
‘The Victorian Language of Birds’ was a symbolic language which assigned metaphor to each bird species and was incorporated into jewelry and greeting cards.
In contemporary times we see decorative images of birds used in many places, from advertising to jewelry, to home décor, to clothing. The popular site ‘Etsy’ sells thousands of hand-made crafts and art products with bird motifs. Our contemporary culture has become infused with decorative images of birds as benign and pretty creatures.
Birds in Music
Popular music is full of reference to birds.
In the famous Beatles song ‘Blackbird’ the bird is a symbol of hope, longing, and rising above daily struggle.
‘Blue Birds Over White Cliffs of Dover’ sung initially by Vera Lyn during the second world war, it was a similar perception of birds of symbols as hope as the song is singing about a time in the future when Britain was no longer at war.
“There’ll be bluebirds over The white cliffs of Dover Tomorrow Just you wait and see There’ll be love and laughter And peace ever after Tomorrow When the world is free…”
We can see that the theme of the bird as a symbol of joy and freedom has taken a strong and universal hold on the modern mind.
‘Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley is a song in which birds speak to the singer and tell him that ‘every little thing is gonna be alright.’
‘FreeBird’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd is a rock classic that again uses the archetype of bird as a symbol of freedom, overcoming of restriction and joy.
‘Fly Like an Eagle’ is a song written by Steve Miller and uses the image of a bird to symbolize freedom and transcension.
In the modern classic ‘Songbird’ by Oasis, the singer uses the beauty of a songbird to symbolize a woman’s beauty.
According to popular wisdom, Mozart’s bird sang his music back to him. But Mozart may also have used a few of the bird’s notes in his compositions.
Birds have been an inspiration for other classical works.
The Russian stories of the ‘Fire Bird’ inspired Russian composer Igor Stravinsky to write a ballet called ‘The Firebird’ in 1910.
The beauty of bird song and birds as symbols of freedom is a recurrent source of inspiration in music.
Birds in Poetry
In poetry, birds are often used to portray the darker, wilder areas of our emotions and psychology.
In the Anglo-Saxon poem ‘The Seafarer’, birds are symbols of solitude and absence of worldly comforts. The laughter of men is replaced by ‘the singing gull’.
In Bede’s ‘Historia Ecclesiastica’, our passage through life is like a sparrow flying through the mead-hall on a winter night: from darkness through the bright light and out again into the unknown dark.
In ‘The Parliament of Foules’, Chaucer writes of bickering birds commenting on the superficial ways of the world.
In Emily Dickinson’s, ‘A Bird Came Down,’ birds ‘bit an angle-worm in halves / And ate the fellow, raw.’
Elizabeth Bishop discusses the obsessive Sandpiper with its ‘dark, brittle feet’.
‘The Albatross’, by Charles Baudelaire, portrays the cruelty of man whilst praising the great birdbird’s magnificence.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the poets Robert Blair and William Wordsworth referred to the Barn Owl as a ‘bird of doom.’
In ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allen Poe, the Raven is a mysterious and dark character that seems to mock the narrator’s heartbreak.
“Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he, But, with mien of Lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-Perched, and sat, and nothing more.”
In more recent times, Ted Hughes writes of, ‘The Hawk in the Rain’, whose ‘wings hold all creation in a weightless quiet’, and later going as far as to forge his own gospel story in Crow.
In Heaney’s Blackbird of Glanmore ‘on the grass when I arrive / filling the stillness with life’ birds are a symbol of grief’.
Paul Farley’s, ‘For the House Sparrow, in Decline’, talks of, ‘a roofless world where no one hears your cheeps / only a starling’s modem mimicry / will remind you how you once supplied / the incidental music of our lives’.
From this, we see a recurring theme in poetry of birds as vehicles of dark metaphor.
Birds in Movies
Contemporary culture sees birds frequently used as dark and frightening omens.
In the famous 1963 suspense horror movie ‘The Birds’ by Alfred Hitchcock, we see birds used as dark and horrific symbols of evil. Images of carrion birds are often used in movies to signify death.
Conversely, in ‘The Birdman of Alcatraz’, a Hollywood movie that tells the life story of Robert Stroud, a convicted murderer who kept three hundred Canaries in two adjacent cells for over twenty years, birds are a symbol of redemption and beauty.
Birds in Children’s Entertainment
In children’s entertainment, we see a lighter and happier anthropomorphising of birds.
The children’s classic, ‘The Owl and the Pussy Cat’ by Edward Lear uses the owl as a somewhat romantic and comforting figure.
We also see a friendly owl character in, ‘The Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton.
We see this theme of the owl as an anthropomorphic and kindly figure repeated in, ‘Winnie the Poo’ by A.A. Milne. Owl is an elderly, long-winded and comical character.
‘So Owl wrote…and this is what he wrote:
HIPY PAPY BTHETHDTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY Pooh looked on admiringly.
“I’m just saying ‘A Happy Birthday’,” said Owl carelessly. “It’s a nice long one,” said Pooh, very much impressed by it.’
The dodo in, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is also a friendly and comical character.
Walt Disney created the characters of Tweetie Pie and Donald Duck and Road Runner, who are all used as figures of comfort and humor, although each with their particular streak of wicked fun.
Big Bird in the 1970’s hit children’s television program, Sesame Street, is a comforting, adult replacement character with a gentle disposition and kind nature.
The popular and timeless children’s fairy stories that are told to this day, The Ugly Duckling, Henny Penny and the Golden Goose in Jack and the Beanstalk, all portray birds as messengers, teachers and sources of goodness.
In ‘The Magic Finger’ by Roald Dahl, birds are moral characters that must be protected by humans.
In E. Nesbit’s, ‘The Phoenix and the Carpet’ some bored children are befriended by a magical talking phoenix who brings adventure into their lives.
In C.S Lewis’s, ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ the dual character of birds is seen, some of them being on the side of Aslan, some on the side of the witch.
In the hit series, ‘Harry Potter’ by JK Rowling, birds play an integral role. Owls in these stories are seen as magical and helpful creatures, albeit with the ambiguous dark / light energy, which is characteristic of Rowling’s works.
Birds as Political and Cultural Symbols
The eagle was a symbol of Jupiter, the most powerful Roman deity, and was a sign of strength and courage. By utilizing the eagle as their symbol, leaders throughout the ages have laid claim to the divine and courageous qualities of the eagle.
The eagle has been the favored emblem of the Roman Empire, the Nazi Regime and now, The United States of America.
We also see the eagle used in many coats of arms and corporate logos.
Many countries have adopted a particular bird as their national symbol, from the robin redbreast in England and the peacock in India.
We also find birds throughout modern advertising, logos and corporate identities, from ‘Twitter’ to ‘Harley Davidson’ to ‘Nestle’.
Discussion
The attributed qualities of birds are vast and their interpretations as varied as human culture itself.
In mythology and folklore, in stories and superstitions, in art, literature, movies, music and politics, we see the recurrent theme of deeper meaning attributed to birds, flying and indeed to eggs themselves.
All of these associations have become such deep archetypes that we barely perceive their existence.
These deep associations with all things avian permeate nearly every aspect of our psychology and our varied cultural heritages.
Birds as symbols of spiritual awakening may be our primary interest. Yet we cannot ignore the associations birds have had throughout many cultures as messengers of the dark.
Through understanding this darkness and the murkier metaphysical meaning of birds, we can embrace the entirety of bird-lore and choose instead to reach for the lighter and higher aspects. It is not through shutting out the darkness that we find the light but through an understanding and acceptance of the entirety.
If we look upon birds and their meaning to humans as projections of the very psyche of the humans concerned, we can see how the human mind has traveled a long road to our current day interpretation of birds. In the early human mind, birds were often thought of as integral to the very creation of the universe. Perhaps it was a natural association to make when we take into account the very visible hatching of eggs.
Later, we see the darker aspects of the human psyche reflected in bird projections as omen and evil beings. Through magic and divination, humans grasped at the power of the bird in an attempt to assimilate this power for themselves and so harnessed their mystical, trans-worldly power.
Through listening to the messages of birds, whether they be light or dark, humans have long sought to bridge the gaps between the worlds and achieve greater mystical knowledge.
As the meaning of birds for humans became lighter and the aspect of bird as a symbol of higher thought, of divine communication, of hope and inspiration became more prevalent in culture, we feel a lightening of the human psyche itself.
Summary & Conclusion
We have explored the role of birds in many capacities.
As we have learned, birds were deeply associated with the creation stories of many cultures.
They were seen as aids to divination and as omens, messengers between the worlds and as symbolic of life and transition.
Their role as metaphor of love, light, goodness, and spiritual ascension has been uncovered.
We have explored their role in literature, music, and art, as well as briefly touched upon their meaning in contemporary psychology and as cultural icons.
We have gained an objectification of how birds are embedded in our personal psyche and explored our relationship with birds through it all.
As we allow our culturally indoctrinated ideas of birds to be cleansed from our minds through this objectification process, we become more open to perceive and receive the higher and more glorious potent messages that birds have for us.
When we deepen our understanding of birds throughout human history and culture, we open ourselves to a richer and more sensitive relationship with birds and their teachings.
To aspire to the highest aspect of the bird, bird as symbol of the liberated and ascended soul, as freedom and spiritual transcendence, we can aspire to these things in ourselves, and soar to the highest realms as surely as our avian teachers do.
