Legend: Birds

Please see the Introduction To Rabbit Hole Legend A-Z post for information about sources and purpose.

                                       Free As a Bird (a little music for your reading pleasure)

Birds (Parrot, Swan, Blackbird/Raven): Birds are a frequent image in Beatles' lyrics, with songs like, "Black Bird", "Blue Jay Way", "And Your Bird Can Sing", Paul's, "Jenny Wren", "Birds of Paradise", and "This One", which sounds like "This Swan" and features lyrics and imagery about swans. As well, Ringo recorded, "Bye-Bye Blackbird", Paul recorded, "Cold Turkey", and their post-mortem (John's at least) swansong, "Free as a Bird".  As well, the Magical Mystery Tour features a green bird (parrot?) as one of the 4 "mystery animals". 

"[Birds'] primary symbolic function is as messengers from the spiritual realms, from the gods. Arguably, the generic symbolism of the bird is one of the most universal of any." (ISS)


{Blackbird: Obviously, "Black Bird singing in the dead of night, take the broken wings and learn to fly...take these sunken eyes to see....". 
"Birds robed in black do not give up their secrets easily. They love to watch us marvel over their messages. Black birds demand our commitment to learning their wisdom, and do not reveal their meanings unless they are convinced we've devoted ourselves completely to the path of understanding (both dark and light sides of) energy.

This concept correlates to lunar themes too. The symbolic meaning of blackbirds is eternally linked to the "dark vs light" phases of the moon. I'm talking nocturnal awareness. Illumined lunar understanding which requires a different use of the senses. Sense which can only be utilized when transformative devotion is made. A commitment to higher knowing (flight) and an acceptance of the void (infinite vastness that eludes the ego and rational mind).

This is a fundamental concept of alchemy which is: Transition and Transformation. The bird is symbolic of life in the heavens (higher ideals, higher path of knowing) and the color black is symbolic of pure potential. Between the two, there is no limit to human transformation - all we have to do is close the shutters of the rational mind, and start sojourning with our darkly feathered friends.

Black birds (in general) are archetypes of living life in higher realms, and are symbolic of: Higher Intelligence, Higher Thought, Higher Ideals.

This is because birds are (metaphorically and mythologically speaking), situated in proximity to the higher energies of the Universe. This also positions them as heavenly or divine oracles and messengers in cultural myths across the globe.

Blackbirds and birds of black or dark colors are special among their airy clan as they are the symbolic of:: Mystery, Magic, Secrets, The Unknown Pure Potential, Non-obvious Perception"<follow link to internet source>

{Parrot: "Possibly the best-known quality of the parrot is its ability to talk, or more specifically mimic. To learn something "parrot fashion" is to memorize something without necessarily knowing what it means. It is not determined whether the parrot famed as a pet of Julius Caesar that was taught to shriek "Hail Caesar" whenever its master was near, was fully aware of what it was saying.[...] There's a traditional series of folktales, originally written in Sanskrit, called "Tales of a Parrot,' which is a "chain" of stories similar in style to the Arabian Nights. In this morality tale, the parrot relates 70 stories to stop a woman from taking the wrong path in life." (ISS)}

{Raven:  Though not mentioned specifically by the Beatles in lyrics, I would argue the imagery of "Blackbird", for most people leads to the visualization of a Raven or Crow; therefore I will include some Raven symbolism. Since Edgar Allen Poe is prominently on the Sgt. Pepper's album cover, and he is most notably known for his poem "The Raven", I feel the raven is rightly tied in.

 "The raven belongs to the most intelligent of all the birds. To give some idea of its intelligence, if the average IQ for a human being is measures at the 100 mark, then the average IQ of a raven is 138. Its linguistic skills are legendary, and it is possible that the raven can understand as well as imitate human words. It is this intelligence, and the playful nature of the raven. that makes it the ultimate symbol of the trickster. [...]

Even if the raven has never been taught to speak in human languages, its voice carries a surprisingly human inflection and tone. This led to a belief that the bird knew everything, as personified by the ravens that belonged to the Norse god Odin. Called Hugin and Munin, from the words for thought and memory, the birds flew back to the gods at the end of every day where they whispered into his ears all the doings of mankind. Odin- also known as the Raven God- had daughters, Valkyries, who appeared as ravens, and similarly, witches are said to be able to shape-shift into the form of ravens, which is how they travel, anonymously, to their meetings.

More sinisterly, the raven is seen as a harbinger of death, as personified in the Morrigan, the great Battle Goddess of Celtic myth who takes the form of a raven. The raven is a carrion bird and was often to be seen at the site of battles, making a grim meal of the bloody remains of the defeated army. In addition, the spooky black appearance of the bird certainly lends itself to the dark imagery posited by horror stories. In the Mahabharata, the bird is a messenger of death, but paradoxically to those of a Western sensibility, this does not mean that the bird is a symbol of ill omen. [...]

The ravens at the Tower of London are a symbol of protection par excellence. Birds have been kept in this spot for a thousand years, due to the ancient legend that the country would be safe from invaders while the Ravens remained there. Indeed this idea is so firmly entrenched in the national psyche that when the raven population dwindled during the Second World War, Winston Churchill arranged that ravens be "imported" from Wales to keep the country safe.

Despite its color, the Ancient Greeks had the raven as a solar symbol, and it is dedicated to the Goddess Athena and the God Apollo." (ISS)

"[...]The raven's intelligence is possibly its most winning feature. Indeed, these birds can be trained to speak. This speaking ability leads into the legend of ravens being the ultimate oracle. In fact, the raven is often heard to cackle utterances that sound like "cras, cras." The actual word cras is tomorrow in Latin. This lends more fuel to the legendary fires that distinguish the raven as a bird who can foretell the future, and reveal omens and signs.

Countless cultures point to the raven as a harbinger of powerful secrets. Moreover, the raven is a messenger too, so its business is in both keeping and communicating deep mysteries.

Raven symbolism of wisdom and knowledge-keeping is connected with the Welsh hero Bran, the Blessed whose name means raven. Bran was the holder of ancestral memories, and his wisdom was legendary. So much so, that he had his head (the vessel of his powerful wisdom) removed and interred in the sacred White Mount in London. Ravens are still roosting there (in the Tower of London), and they're thought to keep Bran's wisdom protected and alive by their presence."       <Follow link to source site>; Also- It's very worthwhile to learn more about Bran as a Celtic oracle here:More about Bran and Celtic Skulls Symbolism}



{Swan: The song "This One" by Paul McCartney features swans, Krishna and hand mudras.  "The appearance of a swan, an ethereal, otherworldly creature, floating gracefully upon the calm waters that resemble the spirit world and the ethereal feminine, packs a powerful symbolic punch even without any prior knowledge of the myths and legends surrounding the bird that have aided and abetted its significance. Its pure white color, its strength, and its beauty make it a symbol of light, both of the direct light of the sun, and the reflected light of the moon.

Despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, the swan is believed to be silent until its moment of death, when its song is said to be the first and last sound it utters. Therefore, ":Swansong" has come to mean the final expression of an artists work, for example, or the late resurgence before a final demise. Curiously, though, the name "swan" comes from an Anglo-Saxon word sounder, which has the same root as "sound" or "sonnet".

Swans are said to mate for life and so are emblematic of fidelity and longevity.

Leda and The Swan - Leonardo da Vinci

In the UK, the swan is under the protection of the Crown. This legislation is believed to date back to the twelfth century, even today only the household of the ruling monarch is allowed to eat the meat of the swan. In Germany, oaths were taken upon the swan.

The swan is a symbol of the poet; Druidic bards wore cloaks made of swans feathers as a shamanic totem to enable them to contact the spirit of the muse. It was because of this that Ben Johnson refers to Shakespeare as the "sweet swan of Avon". In ancient Greece, the swan was the attribute of the muses and the symbol for Apollo, the god to whom poetry and song belong. Apollo could shape-shift into the form of a swan, and when he was born, seven swans flew around the island of his birth, seven times.

Two swans are frequently depicted as being joined by a chain. This imagery appears all over the world, and although there is likely some conjecture about what this symbol means, it is likely to signify the spiritual and material worlds that the bird symbolizes, because it moves in the elements of water, earth and air. Sometimes one of the birds appears with the solar wheel, signifying the fourth element, fire. Swans pulled the chariot of the Sun. Eros, too, the God of Love, traveled in a chariot drawn by swans in their guise as symbols of fidelity and love.

The otherworldly appearance of the swan has led to its being regarded as one of the shape-shifting birds, and stories from all over the world have the swan transform into a beautiful human girl who will live among humankind until circumstances conspire to return her to her own world once again.

Hindu belief supports this idea supports this idea of the swan as symbolic of a creature that resides between two worlds. Because it moves in the elements of water and air, the swan represents both the spiritual and material world. Some myths have the goose as the bird that laid the egg from which the Universe hatched, but in India, the swan is given this honor: the Hamsa is a mythical water bird that symbolizes the union of spirit and matter and is symbolized with two swans. The Parama Hamsa represents the Supreme Self, and its name means Supreme Swan." (ISS) See also: The Cygnus Mystery Swan-goose

Bonus: "Rinse the Raindrops" by Paul McCartney, "See the sunlight, break the ice/ For the birds of paradise/ Listen to the song they sing/ Awakening [...]