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Rising Like The Phoenix

By: Silvio Ibanez

This magical, mythical bird has long been a part of legends and lore, dating back to the ancient civilizations. In today’s culture, the phoenix’s legend is still going strong, with a major city in the United States named after the resurrecting beast and popular books and movies, including the phenomenally successful “Harry Potter” series encompassing the bird into characters and plots.

Stories emanating from oral traditions have a habit of varying from storyteller to storyteller. A teller would put his version of the story and pass it to the next one who would some thought of his or her own and pass it on. Nobody has been able to pin point the myth to one area or time. Hence not only the myth has morphed into various versions, but even the origination of the story has changed.

Nonetheless, the main facts of the legend of the Phoenix remain intact, even though the myth has been adulterated. According to the legend, the Phoenix is a supernatural creature that has an incredibly long life span, stretching to at least a thousand years. It cannot fall sick or get injured at any point in its lifetime. However, some believe that it does get affected by disease or drought, which leads it to prematurely enter the next phase of its life.

The legend goes on to say that when a phoenix has either lived for a thousand years or becomes sick or injured, it begins to gather twigs, branches, and wood. This resembles a traditional funeral pyre instead of the usual nest. This was the way bodies were disposed off in the ancient times. Some ancient cultures have even included personal artifacts to be burned with their owner, while others have a tradition where the spouses also sacrifice themselves along with their mate.

After the pyre has been built, the phoenix ignites and begins to burn. This part of the story has changed and some believe the bird does not need to gather items to create a pyre, but rather self ignites and the flames burn without any fuel. The alteration to the story is not the only one, as there is great debate what happens after the bird is burned.

There is unanimity that the phoenix burns it to ashes, and rises again to live another thousand years. This makes the phoenix the champion against all kinds of adversity and a symbol of hope for many organizations and groups. This cycle is repeated again and again by the phoenix.

Another variation on this story is that the fire consumes the bird, which has time to lay an egg in the ashes before being completely consumed. This egg hatches a new phoenix, who will live to be a thousand years old before having an offspring in the same method, thus continuing the life cycle of the bird. No one is sure which version of the story is true, but the gist of triumph over adversity is the same.

There are many twists to the fact that how this myth began. A fire colored bird, they say was captured and around this, the myth of the phoenix was woven. Others say that this phoenix was actually a raven that was "anting", that is, dancing in the embers of a dying fire.

Article Source: http://www.simplepetcare.com/pet-articles

Silvio Ibanez is the webmaster for F phoenix, the #1 source on the internet for information about phoenix, For questions or comments about this article visit: www.findnphoenix.com/articles
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