Phoenix

The Phoenix. A legendary bird, mentioned in Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Chinese and Hogwartian mythology and probably many more. A symbol of immortality, life after death and rebirth, the creature’s main theme is sun worship. The Egyptian story has it that they live for hundreds of years and just before death, they build a nest of twigs, cover it with spices like cinnamon and wait for the sun's rays to set it alight. They then sit in the fire and burn to ashes, from which a little worm crawls. This then turns into another Phoenix and transports the ashes in an egg of myrrh to the City of the sun, Heliopolis, and places it on the alter of the sun god Re. My phoenix here is based on a chinese Golden Pheasant. They’re often described as huge eagles, but I prefer a slightly slinkier bird, so to speak. It is hard not to see one of these pheasants fly, without immediately assuming this is where the myth started. Without trying to sound like a kids TV programme, what do you know about the Phoenix? It’s a very old myth, and perhaps these myths only survive by what a culture continues to believe about them...