Bird Magic: Wisdom of the Ancient Goddess for Pagans & Wiccans - Sandra Kynes 2016

Bluebird: Eastern Bluebird, Mountain Bluebird
The Profiles

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Impressed with this little bird, American naturalist John Burroughs (1837—1921) wrote that the bluebird “carries the sky on its back and the earth on its breast.” ⁴⁶ With a robin-like song, the mountain bluebird begins its melody at first light and ends just after sunrise. The bluebird’s genus name, Sialia, was derived from the Greek sialis, meaning a “kind of bird.” ⁴⁷

The bluebird’s cheery song and bright colors made it the symbol of happiness in France. Long romanticized and considered magical in Europe, the bluebird held a special place in the hearts of English settlers in North America. This bird was reminiscent of the robin redbreast back home and they called the American bird blue redbreast. The colonists were also fond of bluebirds because of their willingness to nest in human-made boxes as well as feed in open areas where they could be seen and enjoyed.

According to folklore, if the first bird you see in the spring is a bluebird, you will have good luck. However, if you eat a bluebird’s eggs, you will be restless for as long as you live. Weather lore notes that when a bluebird is seen, it is an indication that the following day will be fair. Although this bird was long associated with happiness, Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck’s (1862—1949) fairy tale entitled The Blue Bird coined the phrase “the bluebird of happiness.” Also, in current sales jargon a bluebird refers to an opportunity that lands in your lap from out of the blue.

Since early times, blue has been considered a spiritual color as well as the color of heaven. Known as the mother of gods, Phoenician goddess Tanit had a bird as her emblem and was depicted in a blue gown wrapped in such a way that its folds suggested wings. In the Minoan temple of Knossos on Crete, the bluebird fresco wall painting represented spring and renewal.

Magical Workings

The bluebird heralds change and foretells good things to come. This unassuming little bird can help us find confidence and motivation to accomplish our goals. Call on bluebird to provide a gentle boost to love spells.

Place a piece of blue lace agate, larimar, celestine, or lapis lazuli on your altar to work with this bird’s energy for aid in spiritual growth or transformation. Bluebird can hold us in a time that is outside of time to connect with spirit. Call on bluebird to activate creative forces for artistic expression as well as for fertility. Use a bluebird figurine as a talisman to invite happiness into your life. As the wheel of the year turns, bluebird brings renewal as well as continuity to hearth and home.

Make Connection

With “the sky on its back and earth on its breast,” bluebird is symbolic of above and below. Although it is the color of the sky, blue is also symbolic of rain, snow, and ice and connects us with the heavenly waters. Take a walk in the rain or snow to feel the sacredness of this water that comes from above to below. Bluebird instills a flowing yet grounded feeling, as though you can touch the sky while keeping your feet on the earth. When you feel this as you walk in the rain or snow, bluebird is with you.

Associations

Element(s): Air, earth, water

Goddesses: Aphrodite, Tanit

Trees: Elder, hackberry, holly, oak, pine

Bird Identification

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Size: 6 to 8 inches

Wingspan: 9 to 12 inches

Comparative size: Sparrow to robin

Description: Large, rounded head; plump body; tail and legs fairly short; short, straight bill

Male: Vivid blue upper body; rusty reddish throat and breast

Female: Grayish upper body; bluish tinge on wings and tail; orange-brown breast

Range: East of the Rocky Mountains across southern Canada and down to the Gulf of Mexico

Habitat: Rural gardens, orchards, and suburbs near farmland

Eggs: Pale blue

Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)

Size: 6 to 8 inches

Wingspan: 11 to 12 inches

Comparative size: Sparrow to robin

Description: Large, rounded head; chunky body; long wings; medium-length tail

Male: Sky-blue to turquoise colored head, upper body, wings, and tail; paler blue underparts; white belly; dull brownish blue in winter

Female: Head and back bluish-gray; pale sky-blue rump, wings, and tail; white eye rings

Range: From central Alaska through western Canada and throughout the mountains and western prairies and parts of California to Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas into Mexico

Habitat: High mountain meadows, ranch land, fields, and prairie or forest edges

Eggs: Pale blue; sometimes white

46. Budd Titlow, Bird Brains: Inside the Strange Minds of Our Fine Feathered Friends (Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2013), 141.

47. James Sandrock and Jean C. Prior, The Scientific Nomenclature of Birds in the Upper Midwest (Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 2014), 132.