October 2016: Mythical Birds

Hello everyone, and welcome to Caitlin’s Corner! It is that time of year again: Halloween! This holiday means that everything gets sweet, scary, and full of stories. So, that is why this month I decided I would share some tales or backgrounds of mythological birds! Let’s get started:

1. Phoenix in Greek Mythology: This bird is probably one of the most well known from any mythology, as it appears in lots of pop culture these days (and happens to be my high school symbol). A phoenix is unique because it is reborn from the ashes of its death. Some sources even state it can live for 1,400 years before it even goes through this cycle! Imagine how long it could live since it is reborn again and again! The Egyptian equivalent is discovered to be the Bennu, discovered in Heliopolis, but is different in a sense. The Greek phoenix will continue to influence culture and show symbols of rebirth, time, and sun.

2. Crane in Chinese Mythology: These birds appear many times in Chinese myths, acting as a motif. Cranes are associated with immortality and transformation in magical abilities to fly. Greeks and Romans used cranes in their stories to show a celebration of life in their dance, also connected to Apollo or Ra, the sun god. As time has passed, paper cranes have become a tradition and are folded all around the world as part of origami. If you fold a thousand cranes, your wishes come true!

3. Sirin in Russian Mythology: Similar to a siren in Greek mythology, a sirin is a creature that has the head and chest of a women but the body of a bird, typically an owl. Merchants passed around the stories in the 700s and 800s. Sirins sing songs of perfection to saints, but these can hurt the ears of those that are mortals. Men would forget everything, follow the sirin, and eventually die. As time went on and we hit about the 18th century, people believed that they resemble paradise and those that are truly happy could hear them. That sounds better to me!

4. Boobrie in Scottish Mythology: What I love about this mythical bird is that it is one of the only ones I’ve found that has the ability to shape-shift into a horse and insect from a bird! But what is strange is that even though it can turn into a horse, it turns into a bloodsucking insect—one that goes after horses. And its wings must be used for flying, right? Isn’t that what wings are for? Think again. In these myths, the boobrie uses its wings to swim through bodies of water where it hunts. It can also make sounds of the prey’s baby animal in distress, luring the adults of cattle and sheep close enough to make a meal out of them. Good thing we aren’t what they attack for food!

5. Strix in Greek Mythology: The strix sure made its way though cultures, as it became part of Roman and Middle Age mythology in addition to Greek! The original story goes that a pair of brothers was turned into creatures and one of them was a strix. Yet, lots of cultures are not sure exactly what it is. In Latin, it means “screech-owl,” but elsewhere it is connected to mythological creatures such as witches or vampires. And yet other places, it is a witch at night, an owl by day, or said to be “servants of the devil.” Well, I’m glad that I never was turned into one of these!

Thank you for joining me this month on Caitlin’s Corner! I hope you have plenty of stories to go tell your friends and family and maybe some ideas for what to be for Halloween if you were thinking about being a bird. Meet you back here in November, bye!