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The City of Phoenix

By: Silvio Ibanez

This magical, mythical bird has long been a part of legends and lore, dating back to the ancient civilizations. In today’s culture, the phoenix’s legend is still going strong, with a major city in the United States named after the resurrecting beast and popular books and movies, including the phenomenally successful “Harry Potter” series encompassing the bird into characters and plots.

Just like any story that originated as an oral tradition, the context varied from teller to teller. Each story teller would put his or her own spin on the story, changing tiny aspects that influenced the next story teller. The origination of the myth is widely debated and the story cannot be nailed down to one specific place or time. The oral tradition has not only changed the story, but also the origination of the story as time has progressed.

The main facts of the legend of the Phoenix remain intact, even though history has adulterated the myth itself. The legend states that the Phoenix is a supernatural creature with an incredibly long life span. Some believe the bird is capable of living at least a thousand years and is unable to become sick or injured at any point in its lifetime. Others believe disease or drought can affect the bird, causing it to prematurely enter the next phase of its life.

Once a phoenix has either lived for a thousand years or succumbed to some outside disease or injury, it begins to gather twigs, branches, and wood. This gathering process does not create a nest like other birds, but rather a traditional funeral pyre. A pyre was used in ancient cultures to dispose of a dead body, often including personal artifacts in the rubble that would be burned with their owner. Some cultures even instructed spouses to sacrifice themselves into the pyre upon the death of their mate.

After the pyre has been built, the phoenix ignites and begins to burn. This part of the story has changed and some believe the bird does not need to gather items to create a pyre, but rather self ignites and the flames burn without any fuel. The alteration to the story is not the only one, as there is great debate what happens after the bird is burned.

The traditional story goes that the phoenix ignites himself, burns to ash, and then rises again from the ashes to live another thousand years. This triumph over adversity has caused to bird to become the mascot or symbol of many groups and organizations. Once the bird is born from ashes, the cycle begins anew.

Another variation on this story is that the fire consumes the bird, which has time to lay an egg in the ashes before being completely consumed. This egg hatches a new phoenix, who will live to be a thousand years old before having an offspring in the same method, thus continuing the life cycle of the bird. No one is sure which version of the story is true, but the gist of triumph over adversity is the same.

No one knows how this story began in the first place. Some believe that a story was created around a fire-colored bird that was captured long ago, while others say the phoenix was actually a raven that used to dance in the embers of a dying fire.

Article Source: Main Articles

Silvio Ibanez is the owner and operator of F phoenix, the #1 source on the internet for information about phoenix, For questions or comments about this article visit: www.findnphoenix.com/articles
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