Can anyone tell me all there is to know about a Phoenix?

Question

I mean everything

I mean everything about this mythical bird!

Not the city in Arizona!

Answer 1

The Phoenix is a Greek name, for a mythical bird which originated in Ancient Egypt mythology.

The best description of the Phoenix is in Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt by Rundle Clark:
"The Phoenix, known to the Egyptians as the Benu Bird, was one of the primeval forms of the High God. One has to imagine a perch extending out of the waters of the Abyss. On it rests a grey heron, the herald of all things to come. It opens its beak and breaks the silence of the primeval night with the call of life and destiny, which 'determines what is and what is not to be'. The Phoenix embodies the original Logos, the Word or declaration of destiny which mediates between the divine mind and created things. It is an aspect of God, self-created. But the heron form is not to be taken too literally; it is a way of expressing one of the basic activities of God rather than a naturalistic figure. It is the first and deepest manifestation of the soul of the High God.

The Egyptians had two ideas about the origin of life. The first was that it emerged in God out of the Primeval Waters; the other was, that the vital essence - Hike - was brought hither from a distant, magical source. The latter was the 'the Isle of Fire' - the place of everlasting light beyond the limits of the world, where the gods were revived and whence they were sent into the world. The Phoenix is the chief messenger from this inaccessible land of divinity".


This is from the entry for Benu Bird from the British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt:
"The sacred bird of Heliopolis, closely associated with the benben stone, the obelisk, and the cult of the sun-gods Atum and Ra. Its name probably derived from the Egyptian verb weben, to rise, and it was the protype for the Greek phoenix. There well may be an etymological connection between the two birds? names, and certainly there are distinct similarities in their respective links with the sun and rebirth, although a number of the other aspects of the phoenix legend are quite distinct.

The benu-bird appears in the Pyramid Texts as a yellow wagtail, serving as a manifestation of Atum. Later in the Book of the Dead, the bird was depicted as a grey heron, with a long straight beak, and a two-feathered crest, the physical manifestation of both Ra and Osiris".


Writing some 2,000 years later, the story was imaginatively retold by the Greek writer Herodotus:
"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".



And later in the medieval writings The Travels of Sir John Mandeville:
"In Egypt is the city of Heliopolis, that is to say, the city of the Sun. In that city there is a temple, made round after the shape of the Temple of Jerusalem. The priests of that temple have all their writings, under the date of the fowl that is clept phoenix; and there is none but one in all the world. And he cometh to burn himself upon the altar of that temple at the end of five hundred year; for so long he liveth. And at the five hundred years' end, the priests array their altar honestly, and put thereupon spices and sulphur vif and other things that will burn lightly; and then the bird phoenix cometh and burneth himself to ashes. And the first day next after, men find in the ashes a worm; and the second day next after, men find a bird quick and perfect; and the third day next after, he flieth his way. And so there is no more birds of that kind in all the world, but it alone, and truly that is a great miracle of God. And men may well liken that bird unto God, because that there ne is no God but one; and also, that our Lord arose from death to life the third day. This bird men see often- time fly in those countries; and he is not mickle more than an eagle. And he hath a crest of feathers upon his head more great than the peacock hath; and is neck his yellow after colour of an oriel that is a stone well shining, and his beak is coloured blue as ind; and his wings be of purple colour, and his tail is barred overthwart with green and yellow and red. And he is a full fair bird to look upon, against the sun, for he shineth full gloriously and nobly".

The Phoenix and Obelisks
The Benu Bird was closely associated with a stone called the Benben Stone. The two names are derived from the same word, which means "to rise". The Benben stone was placed on the top of a tall column, an obelisk, to catch the first rays of the rising sun.

The obelisk, with the Benben Stone on its cap, also has a similarity to Rundle Clark's description of the perch rising from the Abyss, with the grey heron perched atop, about to call the world into existence.

The capstones of pyramids have the same name, and may have had the same function. Obelisks were sometimes erected in pairs, one for the sun and one for the moon. When obelisks occur in pairs, they are called pylons.

it is also believed that after a phoenix died from its ashes a new child phoenix would arise

Answer 2

I'm going to pound that guy who said phoenix is a gay bird. It is not. I think it's a fascinating creature and I'm glad someone asked about it. I don't know everything there is to know about the phoenix, so if there is a person that gives you a full complete answer, give them the 10 points. I'll do the best I can to describe the phoenix. From what I know, the phoenix is a mythical firebird that can eat off ashes from one source and lives somewhere in the Middle East, some say the land of Air' ei' Chan, sorry if I spelled the name wrong. Every 500-1,600 years, depending on your source, the phoenix builds itself a nest, burns itself to ashes and is reborn into a new phoenix. I suggest looking on the internet, they have some great sites for knowledge of the phoenix.

Answer 3

In ancient Egyptian mythology and in myths derived from it, the phoenix is a mythical sacred firebird.

Said to live for 500 or 1461 years (depending on the source), the phoenix is a male 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 embalms the ashes of the old phoenix in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in Heliopolis ("the city of the sun" in Greek), located in Egypt. The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being almost immortal and invincible — a symbol of fire and divinity.

Answer 4

The Chinese Phoenix is called Fenghuang or Ho ho bird
and is a Yin symbol for The heavenly powers of the empress
(the yang symbol is the emperor's dragon)
A sign of virtue and grace It is said to be an omen of peace, prosperity and fertility that vanishes or hides when trouble approches. in the east it can also represent harmonious relations between spouses,

The western Phoenix is also known as a fire bird that is reborn from its ashes which others here have already posted about

one of the lesser known associations is its relationship to the constellation Ophiuchus the serpent handler who could bring the dead to life This Constellation is known as the 13th zodiac.

Answer 5

The Roman poet Ovid tells of the Phoenix (that name coming from the Assyrians). The Phoenix ate gums and frankincense. After living for five centuries, the Phoenix would build itself a nest to die within. From the body of the Phoenix would rise a young child Phoenix.

The Phoenix as a representation of the circle of life, is a recurring theme in the myths and stories of most cultures.

Answer 6

particular aspects of Phoenix is amazingly undesirable, it is what those who stay in Arizona seem at because the ghetto, some aspects are ok notwithstanding i imagine in case you go everywhere in Phoenix notwithstanding the south part you'd be ok notwithstanding the persons in Arizona overall are fairly cool there are some *** wholes yet it is each and every the position you go..and there is lot's to do you are able to play mini golf regularly the houses have swimming pools so swimming, there is many golf equipment etc..i imagine you'll make certain it out once you come back...sturdy luck

Answer 7

google the word bird+phoenix

Answer 8

The Phoenix is a gay bird, and asking questions about it will make you sterile.

Answer 9

It's in Arizona. Big city, lots of traffic, stores, malls, crime, desert, rich people, golf courses, hot, illegals, capital. How'm I doing?

Answer 10

firebird or town in Arizona both extremely hot.