(81) He learned birds' language from "what we were taught." But thou art only a bird of the air; understand then That thou hast never seen the true spiritual birds! The nest of the Simurgh is beyond Mount Qaf, Not every thought can attain thereto; Save thoughts which catch a glimpse thereof, Yet not all shut off, rather intermitted for a wise end, For the blessing abides, though shut off and hidden! In order to preserve that body which is as a soul, The Sun is veiled for a while behind a cloud;

(71) Yea, they used technical expressions one to another, The vulgar learn the words of this "language of birds," And make boast of their mastery thereof; But these words are only the outward form of the language, The "raw" man is ignorant of the birds' meaning. He is the true Solomon who knows the birds' language, A demon, though he usurp his kingdom, is quite another. The demon has taken upon him the form of Solomon, His knowledge is fraud, not "what we have been taught." When Solomon was blessed with inspiration from God,

(8) Being scavengers, the vulture, the buzzard, and the condor signified that form of divine power which by disposing of refuse and other matter dangerous to the life and health of humanity cleanses and purifies the lower spheres. These birds were therefore adopted as symbols of the disintegrative processes which accomplish good while apparently destroying, and by some religions have been mistakenly regarded as evil. Birds such as the parrot and raven were accorded veneration because, being able to mimic the human voice, they were looked upon as links between the human and animal kingdoms.

(92) Sound the note of every bird that draws near; When God sent, thee to the birds, To the predestinarian bird talk predestination, To the bird with broken wings preach patience, To the patient well-doer preach comfort and pardon, To the spiritual 'Anka relate the glories of Mount Qaf, To the pigeon preach avoidance of the hawk, To the lordly hawk mercy and self-control; As for the bat, who lingers helpless in the dark, Acquaint him with the society of the light;

(1) AS appropriate emblems of various human and divine attributes birds were included in religious and philosophic symbolism that of pagans and of Christians alike. Cruelty was signified by the buzzard; courage by the eagle; self-sacrifice by the pelican; and pride by the peacock. The ability of birds to leave the earth and fly aloft toward the source of light has resulted in their being associated with aspiration, purity, and beauty. Wings were therefore often added to various terrene creatures in an effort to suggest transcendency. Because their habitat was among the branches of the sacred trees in the hearts of ancient forests, birds were also regarded as the appointed messengers of the tree spirits and Nature gods dwelling in these consecrated groves, and through their clear notes the gods themselves were said to speak. Many myths have been fabricated to explain the brilliant plumage of birds. A familiar example is the story of Juno's peacock, in whose tail feathers were placed the eyes of Argus. Numerous American Indian legends also deal with birds and the origin of the various colors of feathers. The Navahos declare that when all living things climbed to the stalk of a bamboo to escape the Flood, the wild turkey was on the lowest branch and his tail feathers trailed in the water; hence the color was all washed out.

(90) And I saw till the †shepherds and† eagles and those vultures and kites came, and †they cried to the ravens† that they should break the horn of that ram, and they battled and fought with it, and it battled with them and cried that its help might come.

(7) Nocturnal birds were appropriate symbols of both sorcery and the secret divine sciences: sorcery because black magic cannot function in the light of truth (day) and is powerful only when surrounded by ignorance (night); and the divine sciences because those possessing the arcana are able to see through the darkness of ignorance and materiality. Owls and bats were consequently often associated with either witchcraft or wisdom. The goose was an emblem of the first primitive substance or condition from which and within which the worlds were fashioned. In the Mysteries, the universe was likened to an egg which the Cosmic Goose had laid in space. Because of its blackness the crow was the symbol of chaos or the chaotic darkness preceding the light of creation. The grace and purity of the swan were emblematic of the spiritual grace and purity of the initiate. This bird also represented the Mysteries which unfolded these qualities in humanity. This explains the allegories of the gods (the secret wisdom) incarnating in the body of a swan (the initiate).

(14) And birds came down upon the pieces, and Abram drove them away, and did not suffer the birds to touch them.