Also called Phoinix.
Their story
Herodotus heard at Heliopolis in Egypt of a sacred bird, red and gold like an eagle, that came every five hundred years carrying its dead father in an egg of myrrh to the temple of the Sun. Later writers such as Ovid tell that it builds a nest of spices, dies there, and a new phoenix rises from its body. It became a symbol of renewal in Roman and Christian thought.
Best times to give to them
- After a great loss or change
- At a new year
- At sunrise
What they like being given
- Myrrh or frankincense
- A red or gold feather
- A candle
How to honour them
- Burn a little incense for something that has ended, and name what is beginning.
- Honour those who rebuild their lives.
How they can help you
- Renewal after loss
- Hope
- Starting again
Symbols
- red and gold feathers
- myrrh egg
- flame
- nest of spices
Herodotus says he had only seen it in pictures; the rising from flames is a later development.
Sources
- Herodotus, Histories 2.73
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.391-407
- Tacitus, Annals 6.28