THE EAGLE:Since ancient times, the eagle has been a symbol of war and courageous qualities. It has long been considered a solar bird and a symbol of sky deities. It represents majesty, authority, spiritual power, victory, courage, and strength. Ninurta, a war god of Assyria, Babylon, and Canaan, used the eagle as his emblem, as did the god Marduk. This bird was also shown with the Assyrian storm god Asshur as a symbol of lightning and helpful rain. The eagle was the royal bird of ancient Egyptian pharoahs and the Greek Thebans. It was the only bird said to live on Olympus with the Greek deities. Originally, this bird was an emblem of Pan, who gave it to Zeus. Later, Roman emperors put the eagle on their legion standards as a symbol of bravery. When an emeror died, an eagle was released at his funeral. Because of its connection with sky gods, the eagle was also associated with lightning, the Sun, and fire itself. In the East, the eagle was the bird of Indra. Garuda, the solar storm bird-mount of Vishnu, resembles an eagle in many ways. In the Persian religion of Mithraism, both the eagle and the hawk were symbols of Mithras, the Sun deity. To the Chinese, the eagle represented the warrior, carnage of war, fearlessness, and keen vision. In the legends of Scandanavia, an eagle sat at the top of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Odhinn once took the form of an eagle when he stole the poetic mead. Finnish tales say that the Supreme God could turn himself into an eagle. The Finnish-Ugrian people of Siberia considered holy any tree where an eagle built a nest for several years. Celtic tales all call the eagle a bird of wisdom and long life. In North America, the eagle was considered great medicine power. To the Native Americans there were differnet kinds and divisions of eagles. The golden eagle had a very high rank. The most potent and magickal was the sky eagle which the Iroquois called Shadahgeyah. Among the Hopi, the eagle god was called Kwahu. According to Hopi legend, this great bird seldom came below the clouds; only the holiest of shamans ever saw it. Even the Aztecs said this bird represented celestail power and the rising Sun. Nearly every Native American tribe had an eagle clan. They had songs to the eagle, eagle dances, eagle cerimonies, and even eagle secret societies. If an eagle was seen or dreamed of during a vision quest, the seeker gained special medicine or spirit power. That person then had the priviledge of using the eagle symbol on a medicine shield. The eagle had the greatest power of all birds and was associated with the Sun. They believed it could live in both the spiritual and the Earth realms. Alchemists used the symbol of the soaring eagle to denote the liberated spirit and a double eagle to represent mercury. A crowned eagle shown with a lion symbolized quicksilver and sulphur. SuperstitionsAn ancient Irish legend says that Adam and Eve did not die, but changed into eagles and went to live on an island off the coast of Ireland.The Egyptians believed that every ten years the eagle flew into the fires of the Underworld, lost its feathers, but gained a new life. The Welsh say that when the eagles of Snowden ( an ancient sacred mountain there) fly over the plains, disease and death will follow. A stolen eagle egg brings peace of mind. (Please don't do this though, eagles are protected species). The eagle has each of its chicks stare at the Sun. If any do not, they are destroyed. Magickal AttributesSwiftness, strength, courage, wisdom, keen sight.Knowledge of magick. The ability to see hidden spiritual truths. Seeing the overall pattern of life. Rising above the material in search of spiritual direction. Connecting with spiritual beings. Creating a stronger connection with spirit guides and teachers, deities. ChantGreat wings outstretched in the wide skies,The eagle soars, majestic, bold. My heart cries out to the wise sky-traveler. He hears my plea. Illumination and truth come to me as his blessing. |