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Birds form an integral part of the natural world. Wherever you go you will see them in their myriad forms. Through the ages Mankind has greatly admired their colourful plumage, their graceful flight patterns and their varied cries, screeches and warbling songs. There is a wealth of natural lore concerning
birds that has come down to us through legends, folk tales, songs and superstitious beliefs.
In the Celtic tradition certain birds are associated with particular
mythological characters. Cliodna had three birds of bright colours that fed on Otherworld apples and whose song was so sweet it could lull you to sleep. In our legends the Tuatha De Dananns often took the shape of birds upon themselves, as in the tale of Messbuachalla, the cowherd's foster child. This
maiden was kept hidden away from the eyes of mortal men, but was visited by one of the divine immortal race in the shape of a bird man. She bears him a son, Conary, who is later to become High King. It is interesting to note that one of the geissa or divine prohibitions laid on Conary is that he is forbidden to hunt birds.
The shamans of old understood and knew how to make use of the gifts that birds could bring them. They could bestow on them the power of spirit flight, the cunning of the hunter as in the case of the birds of prey, and the gift of farseeing. In the shape of their totem bird they could journey in spirit flight to the lands of the Otherworld. The early Irish poets and seers wore cloaks of
bird feathers, as did Siberian shamans.
The most important totemic bird of the Gaels is undoubtedly Iolair, the eagle, the king amongst birds. Its ancient name is antar and it is associated with Chieftainship. Only the chief of a clan was entitled to wear an eagle feather in his bonnet. The eagle is associated with the sun; it makes its nesting place higher than any other bird. The eagle is greatly admired for its grace, its
speed and its immensely powerful flight. Its majesty commands our respect. Another name for this bird is Fireun, from an Irish root word meaning Truth, integrity, a just man - infact, all the qualities that a Chief must possess.
In the Bardic tradition we find the following: "Three times a stag, an eagle; three times an eagle, an oak." This is not to be taken literally to mean a measure of their respective life spans, but rather as a symbolic description of the divine principle of each. We can see that the bards considered the divine qualities of Iolair as second only to the oak tree.
Another important bird of prey is the hawk. The Fenian warrior Diarmaid O'Duibhne, who eloped with Grania, was known as the hawk of Ess Ruadh. When the sons of Tuirenn were seeking the magic apples in the garden in the East of the world, by no means an easy task, Brian the eldest gave his brothers this advice: "And what is best for us to do now is to go in the shape of swift hawks
into the garden."
The hawk is noted for its swiftness, its craftiness, its powerful grip in flight and its excellent vision. To have 'eyes like a hawk' is a well known saying used to describe someone who has the ability to observe everything carefully, noticing even the smallest detail. As a totem bird the hawk bestows the gift of far-seeing, or clairvoyance.
The crow is a bird that appears often in the legends. It is associated with the Morrigan, the supreme goddess of battle and destruction. She is called the Crow of Battle, for she would fly over battle fields in this shape, shrieking loudly to inspire her warriors on. There still remains today among the Gaelic people a superstitious dislike of hoodie crows. When Cuchulain first meets with the Morrigan she is disguised as a woman dressed in red on a red horse. She offers him her love but Cuchulain refuses her. She vanishes but Cuchulain sees a hoodie crow sitting on a branch, and realises that the woman in red was the Morrigan. From then on she persecutes him and at his death a crow comes to alight on his shoulder.
The swan is connected with the Tuatha De Danaans, as can be seen in several legends. They are known as the 'Clann righ fo gheasan', the enchanted sons of kings. This beautiful white bird of such elegance and poise is a symbol of pure love, innocence and purity. The dream maiden that Angus Og falls in love with
and seeks to find turns out to be a swan maiden. She agrees to be his love if he, too, will turn himself into a swan. In another of our legends, when the noble De Danann prince Midir is escaping to the Otherworld with Etain, they fly away as two swans linked by a golden chain. In the sad tale of the Children of Lir, one of the 'Three Sorrowful Tales of Erinn', the four children that are so
well loved by all are turned into swans by their jealous step mother, Aoife. The children were so pure and kind that Aoife's dark magic could not turn them into ugly creatures, but only beautiful swans, so that their inner beauty still shone through clearly. The children also kept their own voices, and their
singing was so sweet that it soothed the sick and brought happiness to their people for three hundred years.
From these legends we can begin to see a deeper symbolic meaning of the swan as a totem bird. The swan represents communication between the worlds, being a bird of land, water and air. As all white animals are especially sacred, it
represents the divine intermediary between this world and the realm of the Otherworld. It also represents the inner light of the spirit. As the swan wings its way homeward, so, too, does our spirit throughout its journeying seek to return home to the Source.
Fishermen have always studied the behaviour of seabirds, indicating what type of weather they can expect at sea. If the flock of gulls that has been following a trawler suddenly makes for the shore, it is time to bring the boat in, for stormy weather is at hand. Gannets have always been good omens to fishermen as they show the best places to cast the nets for fish.
In the craft of divination birds play an important role. The seer would stand in the doorway at the entrance to the house looking out. The first bird he or she saw would be the all important sign. A crow was considered to bring bad tidings of disruption and disharmony, while a buzzard in certain circumstances could be a harbinger of death. The starling is associated with warriors, due to its aggressive manner with other birds. However, its name in Gaelic, 'druidh dubh' means black druid, indicating other associations. The black bird has a similar name in Gaelic. The song of the blackbird is incredibly varied and unmistakable; it is most often heard in those magical times of dawn and dusk.
The wren is an interesting bird in the Celtic tradition. Although it is a tiny bird, only 9cm in size, it has an astoundingly powerful warbling song. It is associated in the Celtic tree calendar with the oak tree, and it represents an important principle in the tradition of our ancestors. As the eagle is the largest bird that flies, so the wren is the smallest. The wren represents the peasant sun king, the sacrificial king, for the teachings of the ancients tell us that the smallest shall become the greatest. There is a folk tale that
concerns a competition between the eagle and the wren to see who could fly the highest. The eagle soared into the skies, and looking down observed that the wren was nowhere to be seen. Congratulating itself on having won, the eagle happened to hear a slight movement above. There was the wren, perched as fine
as you please on the eagle's back!
The crane, which sadly has become very rare in Britain, was considered the guardian of the Underworld. The god Midir was the keeper of the 'Three Cranes of Churlishness and Denial'. The crane is also associated with the sea god Manannan, who possessed a bag of magical treasures made from crane skin. The
crane is one of the shapes of the ancient Goddess; we find this still perpetuated in folk stories of the crane or stork as a bringer of new life, the new born infant. One of the wonders of Ireland was a crane which was to be found on the island of Innis Kea, in County Mayo, where it had lived since the beginning of the world.
Some interesting notes on Gaelic bird lore are to be found in the works of Fiona MacLeod, collected in the Highlands and islands of Scotland. The cry of the plover or curlew has for long been associated with sorrow. One of the names that the Highlanders have for the curlew is 'Guilbhron' (Wail of Sorrow) or 'Guilbinn' (Wailing Music). It is also known as 'the bogle wi the lang neb'.
The curlew is the bird of Dalua, the faerie fool, that Fiona MacLeod calls: "that unknown mysterious God". Yet the curlew and plover call to us in waste, desolate places to experience the wilderness, the wild and raw side of Nature. They also represent the wilderness and solitude within, where for some lurk so
many of their fears.
Another bird that also has 'dark' associations is the owl. This bird of the night has many names: the barn owl is the 'cailleach bhan', the old white wife, while the tawny owl is known as the 'bodach oidhche', the night ghost. The owl is associated with Scathach, the Shadowy Goddess of the Isle of Skye. On the one hand, the owl is a bird of mourning, of death and ruin, yet on the other it
is a bird of the moon and the Otherworld, a bird of the ancient Goddess.
Copyright: 1992 Lorraine MacDonald
Extract from 'Celtic Totem Animals - published by Dalriada
Celtic Bird Lore
The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. Benjamin Franklin
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Dry cereal, such as Cheerios, make a fun 'finger´ snack for your birds! Never give birds milk--their systems aren´t equipped to process it.
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