Phoenix Bird Sparkly Dichoric Glass Pendant

I got a wild hair this week to hand paint the majestic Phoenix Bird. After excitedly removing it from my kiln and the residual ooohh's and ahhh's had passed, I thought, "what exactly is the meaning behind these beautiful and strong birds?" Suppose I should know since I just spent 2 hrs painting one!! So here is what I found out!!

The Phoenix bird symbolizes rebirth, especially of the sun, and has variants in European, Central American, Egyptian and Asian cultures. In the 19th century, Hans Christian Anderson wrote a story about the phoenix. The Phoenix Bird is described as a Peace Symbol by some. Others describe the phoenix is a mythical bird that is a fire spirit with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again.

Phoenix Detail from the Aberdeen Bestiary

While the Phoenix is traditionally associated mainly with rebirth - something rising from destruction to begin again, or the daily rebirth of the sun - it is also strongly connected with peace. In many tales, the bird lives only on dewdrops and never harms anything; rather its powers of healing and regeneration bring comfort and an end to suffering.

The saga of Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling has elevated the Phoenix to new heights of mythical and magical ability—the great wizard Dumbledore has a Phoenix bird that not only blazes and returns much more often than every 500 years, but plays a frequent role in saving the lives of others.

The fabled virtues of the Phoenix, gathered from J K Rowling and other sources, include:
* The tendency to inspire creativity and hope with its beautiful appearance and song.
* The ability to heal mortal wounds with its tears.
* The ability to heal itself, either spontaneously or through cremation and rebirth.
* The ability to disappear, sometimes with a flash of light or sudden blast of flame that is unlike the blaze that marks the beginning of a new life.
* Magical feathers that impart special properties to other objects they are used in, such as magic wands.

The sparkling Phoenix Bird was created in my home studio utilizing glittery dichroic glass. I hand painted the phoenix bird which took a lot of time and patience!! I then fired the glass in my kiln to very high temperatures so the image of the phoenix will never chip, flake or rub off. Painting the phoenix image took a lot of time but I love the idea and the imagery of the Phoenix Bird. I like the idea that something can be created from nothing and that in the midst of destruction and death, you can rise again to be majestic and strong.

To visit my shop and see more pictures and information on my Hand painted Phoenix Bird, Click here!