Bird Magic: Wisdom of the Ancient Goddess for Pagans & Wiccans - Sandra Kynes 2016
Are Her: Transformer and Eternal Spirit
The Practices
As mentioned in the introduction, Marija Gimbutas referred to this third aspect of the Goddess as transformation, timeless energy, and unfolding. To me, this represents the eternal spirit that links life and death, the manifest and unmanifest. Timeless energy and unfolding is the perpetual source of ongoing transformation and unfailing rhythm. Although eternal, the soul is in a continual state of becoming that flows with the pulse of life. It is constant, yet changing. It is what animates the clay of our physical bodies and it is the ultimate mystery. The energy of birds and their long association with spirit makes all birds appropriate for this aspect of the Goddess.
The Goddess As Bird
With its ephemeral fragility, the bird came to represent the transcendent quality of the human soul and its ability to rise and soar. The epiphany gesture that represents the presence of the Goddess can equally represent the human spirit rising to reunite with the Great Mother.
There have been two nearly universal and mystical functions of birds relating to spirit and soul. One is that the soul took the form of a bird at death. A bird’s ability to fly symbolized freedom and the unfettered human spirit as it passed from this world into the next. The other function is that a bird served as a guide for the soul. Eagles depicted on Syrian tombs represented soul guides. Likewise Isis and her sister Nephthys were frequently depicted on sarcophagi as protectors and guides for the deceased.
As mentioned, the Egyptian ba represented a person’s immortal soul that was released at death. The ba was originally depicted as a stork and later as a human-headed hawk. In both Greek and Celtic cultures it was believed that the dead could reappear as birds in the realm of the living. The Romans believed that the soul left the mouth as a raven; however, the souls of their emperors were said to take the form of eagles. In addition, there is a Turkish saying that a person’s soul bird has flown away, which means that he or she has died.35
The metaphor of the soul departing as a bird at death or serving as a soul guide persisted in Europe and was carried to the New World. Funeral symbols on old gravestones include an angel releasing a bird from a wicker cage, a dove in the tree of life, or spring birds singing to awaken the soul to new life.
In addition to the spirit, birds have been associated with inspiration and widely used as metaphors in literature. This seems no coincidence as the words spirit and inspire come from the same Latin root spir, meaning “to breathe.”36 When we are inspired, our thoughts soar, and when we are in-spirit, our souls soar. Inspiration also relates to the breath and brings us full circle to the belief that the soul took the form of a bird and left the body on the last breath.
Eggs: The Circle of Life
The egg relates to all aspects of the Bird Goddess. As life-giver, it represents birth as well as the Goddess’s power as cosmic creatrix. In her aspect as death-wielder and regeneratrix, it represents double birth or rebirth. In this transformer and eternal spirit aspect, the egg represents the power of transformation and the promise of new life.
Being of circular shape, the egg is a symbol that encompasses and represents the eternal cycle of life into death and death into life. Images of eggs and splitting eggs were widely used by Neolithic people as symbols of becoming and the energy of change. These depictions were used along with spirals, whirls, and Xs to represent becoming and life in transition.
On Minoan vases, eggs were depicted as the source from which trees (possibly the tree of life) sprang and grew. Much later, in medieval literature, the egg symbolized the four elements, which all together represented cycles and completeness. The egg also represented life and its various manifestations as well as an incubator of enlightenment and source of divine light.
Symbols of Transformation and Energy of Spirit
Symbols associated with this aspect of the Goddess are dynamic, representing the pulse of life. Defying stagnation, the energy of these symbols portrays the movement or transition from one place, stage, or phase to another. The essence of this energy is easily seen in the movement of a flock of birds as it flies in unison and creates vigorous, flowing patterns.
The spiral is an ancient symbol of energy that is still widely used although it is not often regarded as sacred today. Dating to about 16,000 to 13,000 BCE, the oldest-known use of the spiral was found in the area of present-day Siberia.37 Carved into a piece of mammoth ivory, a spiral was created with a series of dots that wind around seven times from a hole drilled into the center of the ivory. This center spiral is flanked by six smaller ones.
To the people of Old Europe, the spiral embodied energy and cyclic time. Like the meander, it symbolized a path between the worlds of the seen and unseen. The spiral has been found on pottery dating to 6500 BCE, and it was in common use throughout Old Europe by 3500 BCE.38
On vases, the spiral was used singly, in running bands, or as an S-shaped double spiral. Bands of spirals represented the energy that awakens dormant life forces. Echoing the mammoth ivory, a spiral was sometimes drawn in the center of a dish with circles around it. On figurines, spirals occasionally took the place of the Goddess’s eyes, or were located on her breasts. The intention has been interpreted as amplifying her life-force energy. I wonder what the people of Old Europe would think if they knew that our galaxy was just one of many vast spirals formed by stars.
Not surprisingly, another important symbol was the circle. Like the spiral, it implies continual motion and cycles. As keen observers of nature, the people of Old Europe were in tune with the ongoing transformation of the earth through its seasons. Punctuating spring and autumn, the arrival and departure of migrating birds would have seemed like harbingers of change. In addition to emerging from circular-shaped eggs, when birds molt their feathers they themselves embody transformation.
Figure 1.6: Symbols of energy and transformation: spiral, double spiral, and triple spiral (top row); the cross/quartered circle, whirl, and tri-line (bottom row)
From the Paleolithic onward, ring or circle dances have been depicted—first on cave walls and later on pottery. In addition, the imprints of human feet in a circle have been found in the caves of France, suggesting that these were places for sacred dance. Through dance, people could attain ritual or shamanic ecstasy as well as communicate with the Goddess. Besides circle dances, stone circles represented the power of Goddess energy. Standing stone circles are mostly found in the British Isles. While over nine hundred still exist, the best known, of course, is Stonehenge.39
The circle symbol was often quartered with two lines, a cross, in the middle. Pagans and Wiccans should not shy away from the cross just because it is a symbol of Christianity. In older times, crossed lines represented the four directions and the four phases of the moon. It also served as a symbol of life and elemental energy. Together, the circle and cross is a fourfold motif representing the unifying power of nature that encompasses the four seasons. Found in Central Europe and Italy, some fourfold designs contain a center circle surrounded by four circles within which are Ms, zigzags, or crosses. Taken altogether these represent the completeness and predictable rhythm of the natural world and the wheel of life.
Round like a circle, the earliest loaves of bread were often marked with a cross before being baked. In Egypt, a cross was incised on loaves that were dedicated to Isis in the springtime. Thousands of years later, the people of Elizabethan England believed that eating a loaf decorated with a cross would provide protection for a year
The whirl is a symbol that is best described as a cross in motion. An example of one that is still commonly used is Brigid’s cross. The whirl was a symbol of becoming that was used throughout Old Europe and found on a range of sacred and secular objects. As a sign of becoming, Brigid’s cross is the perfect symbol for Imbolc. Whirls stir energy, and their presence seemed to be critical for healing or when used in tombs for aiding the process of regeneration. According to Gimbutas, “whirling signs seem to ensure a smooth transition from one phase to the next.” 40
The power of three is an ancient concept that had special meaning to the people of Old Europe, perhaps because of the Bird Goddess’s association with water. She was regarded as the source of water that fell from the heavens, that flowed on the surface of the earth, and that welled up from under the ground. The Goddess’s power encompassed the sky, the earth, and the underworld. The power of three was also prevalent in the trinity of woman, bird, and egg. The symbol that represented the power of three was the simple tri-line, or three parallel lines. It was commonly included on beaked Bird Goddess figurines beneath the eyes or down the neck. Tri-lines were sometimes accompanied by chevrons on figurines, and sometimes it was the only marking on vases.
Associated with energy and symbols of becoming, tri-lines have been found inside circles, in the center of whirling patterns, and with spirals. Tri-lines were used on spindle whorls, altars, vases, pebbles, and pendants. Depicted in the center of an egg, it echoed a cosmic connection among the domains of the Bird Goddess. In temples, flat triangular stones or clay altarpieces were marked with meanders and tri-lines. In addition, symbols and objects appear to have been used in threes, including triple columns and shrines with three rooms.
The power of three was also an important concept in the megalithic culture outside of Old Europe. This is most famously represented by the triple spiral in the passage tomb of Newgrange in Ireland. As the winter solstice sunlight penetrates the dark passageway, it dramatically illuminates this spiral on the back wall of the structure. In addition, the large horizontal curbstone in front of the entrance to Newgrange was carved with triple spirals and other flowing symbols. Although not as ancient as the spirals in Ireland, the motif of a triple spiral or whorl of bird’s heads has been found in both Wales and Germany.
The power of three echoes down the ages as we continue to draw on its significance for incantations, spells, and rituals. The power of three brings us full circle to the three important aspects to the Goddess, which also embody the three great mysteries of life, death, and spirit. In the next chapter, we will see how we can incorporate these symbols into our practices and everyday lives as we connect with this aspect of the Goddess and her birds.
35. Constance Victoria Briggs, Encyclopedia of the Unseen World (San Francisco: Red Wheel/Weiser, 2010), 60.
36. E. Bernard Jordan, The Laws of Thinking: 20 Secrets to Using the Divine Power of Your Mind to Manifest Prosperity (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2006), 136.
37. Baring and Cashford, The Myth of the Goddess, 23.
38. Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess, 279.
39. Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess, 313.
40. Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess, 295.