Cultural Notes about the Phoenix

Cultural notes – The Phoenix – FOI Goddess Festival East Asia Phoenix – Ruler of the Birds, Symbol of the Empress Feng – male bird; Huang – female bird also: Hoang, Wong Japanese – Ho-o’ Korean – Hangul Vietnamese – Phüng Hoång Vermilion Bird of the South - Nan Feng Zhu Que – Vermilion Peafowl of the Stars Zhu Que – Chinese Suzaku – Japanese Jujak – Korean Chu Tuøc - Vietnamese “August Rooster” – The Vermilion Bird takes the place of rooster in zodiac – there is a phoenix star; the direction and element are south/fire Phoenix constellation, phoenix star? In Yaodian, the cardinal directions are determined by the marker-stars of the mega-constellations known as the Four Celestial Animals:[46] East – The Azure Dragon (Spring equinox)—Niao (Bird 鳥), α Scorpionis - Antares South – The Vermilion Bird (Summer solstice)—Huo (Fire 火), α Hydrae - Alphard West – The White Tiger (Autumn equinox)—Mǎo (Hair 昴), η Tauri (the Pleiades) Alcyone North - The Black Tortoise (Winter solstice)—Xū (Emptiness, Void 虛), α Aquarii, β Aquarii Sadalmelik, Sadalsuud The diagrams are also linked with the sifang (four directions) method of divination used during the Shang dynasty. The sifang is much older, however. It was used at Niuheliang, and figured large in Hongshan culture's astronomy. And it is this area of China that is linked to Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, who allegedly invented the south-pointing spoon (see compass). . . This form of Feng Shui bears resemblance to the Celtic-British theories about ley lines by Alfred Watkins, and their place in both natural and man-made landscapes. The Phoenix in many forms has been known since the Hongshan Neolithic period (6000 BCE), seen in art motifs. This is a wonderful blog article about the phoenix and Vermilion Bird: http://japanesemythology.wordpress.com/tag/phoenix/ Various forms of the sacred bird we call the Phoenix: Bennu bird (Egypt), simurgh/semrug(Persia), senmurw (Pahlavi), samruk (Khazaki), samran, semurg (Uzbeki); saena (Sanskrit), konrul (Turkic), roc (Arabic, Persian), firebird (Russian), Garuda (India - they have a Garuda missile), Griffin/Gryphon (Greek), Huma or Homa bird (Avestan), khyung (Tibet), bird of paradise, Turul (Hungarian), Angha/Anka (Iranian), Anqa (Arabic) A Sumerian god of Lagash (Turkic name) Oksoko, also Zuzulo; this double headed raptor deity is eagle-like. The iconography dates back to 3800 BCE in Sumer, the symbol also being used in the Hittite Empire of the 2nd Millennium BCE. The double headed eagle Oksoko was a symbol of the Seljuk Dynasty of Islam, and is similar to the Polish double headed eagle. Greek phoenix, Chinese, Egyptian, Iranian/Persian – Nekhbet vulture sometimes called phoenix by those who don’t know she is a vulture; adopted by Christianity as a symbol of renewal. Phoenix - names of places, symbols on famous seals and flags Atlanta GA, Phoenix, Arizona, and San Francisco have the phoenix on their city flags. Phoenix, IL., Fenghuang Ancient City, Hunan province; Phoenix Mtn., China, Kun Lun Mtns. Dunhuang (“Flourish & Prosper”), (“Blazing Beacon”), (Big & Grand”) – “Dun” means “honest, earnest, sincere” and Huang means “bright, brilliant”, like the glittering feathers or flame of the phoenix . Dunhuang is a city that was founded in 2000 BCE, and is near the Mogao Caves where travelers over the centuries made murals and Buddhist monks stashed scrolls of texts. There is now the Dunhuang Academy to study the artifacts in them. The International Dunhuang Project is digitizing the murals and texts found in the caves and making them freely available online to the world. Dunhuang was formerly governed by Tibet and is now administered by China. (Dunhuang is in Gansu Province, NW China; It is situated in a rich oasis containing Crescent Lake and Mingsha Shan (鸣沙山, meaning "Singing-Sand Mountain"). Mingsha Shan is named after the sound of the wind whipping off the dunes, the singing sand phenomenon. It commands a strategic position at the crossroads of the ancient Southern Silk Route and has the main road leading from India via Lhasa to Mongolia and Southern Siberia,[1] as well as controlling the entrance to the narrow Hexi Corridor which led straight to the heart of the north Chinese plains and the ancient capitals of Chang'an (today known as Xi'an) and Luoyang.[3] (Wikipedia, Dunhuang) Byodo-in Temple, Ho-o-do Phoenix hall/Amida Hall (Buddhist) – Kyoto Prefecture Phoenix – brother, father, king, founder from Phoenicia (Tyre). Phoenicia, red, pink, rose, lilac, lavender, purple, violet – colors produced by the Murex snail from the Levant coast. Date Palm tree – Phoenix silvestris. This ancient tree gives us products from all its parts: leaf, root, wood, sap, oil, dates give us fresh and dried fruit, date sugar, and wine. Date palm fossil analysis show that they have existed for over 50 million years. UN Security Council room has a mural that features a phoenix at peace in the center of the canvas, symbolizing the renewal of the world after war. Symbol of U. Chicago on their coat of arms and banners, their charitable organization for donors is called The Phoenix Society. The Phoenix is a symbol of the City of Chicago, rising from the ashes of the Chicago Fire. This was part of the inspiration for U. Chicago adopting the symbol. The Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research and the Royal Anthropological Institute.