Phoenix Tattoos and Tattoo Designs - Symbolism and Meaning

Thursday 29th of January 2009 01:49:50 PM [Add To This Article]

Phoenix Tattoo Designs:
Into the Flames & Out of the Ashes

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix."
(Christina Baldwin)

The legend of the phoenix has captivated men across time and borders, and has been appearing in literature and "common knowledge" since the 8th century B.C. Wrapped up in lore of fire, flames, ashes, and rebirth, Egyptians, Greeks, oriental cultures and the world of the Middle Ages have all given it reverence and honor in tales, stories and discussions. In America, and throughout other cultures of the world, body art is the newest way to celebrate this magical creature, and phoenix tattoo designs are growing in popularity and imagination.

The Symbolism & Cultural Influence of the Phoenix
As a symbol, the phoenix has long been used to represent the sun. In Egyptian myth, at the end of its life cycle, the phoenix returns to the city of Heliopolis and leaves the sacrifice of its nest (or sometimes, its body) at the Temple of the Sun. The phoenix has also inspired us with ideas of paradise, eternal youth and immortal life. The myth was even adopted (and slightly changed) by Christians to be representative of Christ's, and through Him, Christians' rebirth.

If you ask the feng shui master, Lam Kam Chuen, he'll tell you that:

"It represents our capacity for vision, for collecting sensory information about our environment and the events unfolding within it. The phoenix, with its great beauty, creates intense excitement and deathless inspiration."

The phoenix has appeared in many cultures in often slightly different variations.

Chinese culture. The phoenix is known by the name Feng-Huang. In this role, it serves as a symbol for high virtue, grace, power and prosperity. Only the Empress was permitted to wear this ultra-elite symbol. The Chinese phoenix differs in appearance from its western counterparts: it has a large bill, the neck of a snake, the back of a tortoise the tail of a fish. It is the perfect representation of the marriage of yin and yang, and its feathers radiate the colors black, white, red, green and yellow.
Aztec/Maya/Toltec. To these early Mesoamerican people, the phoenix, known as the Quetzal (the companion of the sun god Quetzalcoatl), represented the sun and all of its solar power; blessings; and also happiness.
India. Garuda, one of the sacred mounts of Vishnu has often been associated with the phoenix. However, there is another Indian legend that ties in closely with that of the phoenix. Known as the Avalerion, this was a mythical pair of birds, and like there was only ever one phoenix at a time, there were only a pair of these birds in existence for any given amount of time. Every 60 years, this pair of birds would lay a pair of eggs, and once the eggs had hatched, the parents would go and drown themselves in the river.
Arabia. The Arabian version of the phoenix is known by the name Cinomolgus. As the name suggests, this bird built its nests from cinnamon and situated the nest high in the treetops. It was popular for people to try to sabotage the nest by throwing rocks and sticks in an effort to get to the cinnamon.

The phoenix has been known by other names, in other lands. In Japan, the phoenix is the "Ho-Oo"; in Russia, "fire bird"; in Native American circles it was refered to as "Yel", and the proper Egyptian name for the phoenix was "Benu".

The Modern Myth
The phoenix, as we know it, is a creature that has been explained and expounded upon by some of the greatest thinkers and writers of all time. Ovid mentioned the phoenix as follows:

"Most beings spring from other individuals, but there is a certain kind which reproduces itself. The Assyrians call it the Phoenix. It does not live on fruit or flowers, but on frankincense and odoriferous gums. When it has lived 500 years, it builds itself a nest in the branches of an oak, or on the top of a palm tree. In this, it collects cinnamon and spikenard and myrrh, and of these materials builds a pile on which it deposits itself, and dying, breathes out its last breath amidst odors."

Then, according to his recounts, from the body of the parent bird, a young Phoenix issues forth, "destined to live as long a life as its predecessor".

It's important to mention that as long as history goes back, there is only record of one phoenix alive at any given moment. She was a female, as were all of her descendants.

Its cycle of rebirth is widely disputed, with life spans ranging from 500, 540, 1000, 1461, to even 12,994 years.

Ovid wasn't the only man to mention the phoenix. Tacitus attests to the fact that the myth of the phoenix was, at one time, widely accepted as a reality.

"During the consulship of Paulus Fabius and Lucius Vitelluis, the bird called the phoenix, after a long succession of ages, appeared in Egypt and furnished to most learned men of that country and of Greece with abundant matter for the discussion of the marvelous phenomenon."

The reign of these consuls occurred in the year 34 B.C. Using the five hundred year cycle, by the year 2034, the phoenix will appear again!

Herodotus captured for us the legend and origination of the phoenix, a story he found quite hard to swallow:

"They tell a story of what this bird does, which does not seem to me to be credible: that [s]he comes all the way from Arabia, and brings the parent bird, all plastered over with myrrh, to the Temple of the Sun, and there buries the body."

When describing the bird, he said that its plumage was composed primarily by the colors red and gold, and that the general make and size of the bird made it incredibly similar to an eagle.

Much later, in the 14th Century A.D., the French author Sir John Mandeville re-acquainted the western world with a renewed interest in the phoenix.

"Only one bird which brings itself to the Temple of the Sun every five hundred years to burn [her]self upon the altar. And at the five hundred years' end, the priests array their altar honestly, and put thereupon spices and sulfur and other things that will burn lightly, and then the bird phoenix cometh and burneth [her]self to ashes. And the first day next after, men find in the ashes a worm; and the second day next after, men find a bird quick and perfect; and the third day next after, [s]he flieth h[er] way."

It is interesting to note that the phoenix seems to have adapted his natural habits slightly here, to closer affiliate itself with the Christian religion. It may be widely due to the writings of Mandeville that the phoenix was adopted as a symbol of Christianity and the Resurrection. It is also Mandeville who provides us with the most captivating image of the phoenix:

"And he hath a crest of feathers upon his head more great than the peacock hath; and his neck is yellow after color of an oriel that is a stone well shining, and his beak is colored blue as ind, and his wings be purple of color, and his tail is barred over thwart with green and yellow and red."

The Phoenix Tattoo Design
With all of the attention it gathers from mythology, legend and even from the Harry Potter book series, it's no wonder that phoenixes are rising in new places. Its broad cultural diversity makes it the ideal image for all sorts of body art, from tribal tattoo designs, tattoos with a more Celtic leaning, or even an Oriental flare.

It is common to find the phoenix depicted in flames, or rising from its ashes. Generally, the colors of the ink are rich oranges, reds, yellows, and shades of gold all colors capturing and reflecting the power of the sun and fire.

Phoenixes can be seen rising from sexy, seductive lower back tattoos, and bursting forth from shoulders and chests. Galleries across the globe feature phoenixes in flight, nesting in the cliffs and treetops, or clutching the remains of its parent in her talons.

As a reminder to all the regenerative nature of life, and the interconnectedness of our pasts and our parentage, the phoenix serves well as a symbol to be absorbed into your eternal body and eternal soul.