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appear together. In Roman literature Tacitus says the Phoenix is consecrated to the Sun and is distinguished by its rich appearance and variegated colours, symbolizing those in Paradise enjoying eternal youth and pleasure.

Though descriptions and life-span vary, the Phoenix became popular in early Christian art, literature and Christian symbolism, as a symbol of Christ, and represented the resurrection, immortality, and the life-after-death of Jesus Christ.

The Old Testament says: "I shall die in the nest and shall multiply my days like the Phoenix" (Job 29:18). Christianity adopted the bird as a symbol of resurrection, of Christ rising again on the third day, triumphant over death.

In the medieval Bestiaries [a Bestiary is a medieval collection of short descriptions about all sorts of animals, real and imaginary, birds and even rocks, accompanied by a moralising explanation] the Phoenix [sometimes spelt as Fenix] also carries the same significance.

The Physiologus which is a probably one of the earliest bestiaries was one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages, appearing in most of the languages of Europe, as well as Greek (its original language) and Latin. It was the basis of the later bestiaries, which added to the stock of stories and to the moralisations. Many versions of it were written by a variety of authors, both in prose and in verse says that the Phoenix is a native of India and Arabia and, when 500 years old, flies to Lebanon, fills its wings with fragrant gum, then hastens to Heliopolis in Egypt where it burns itself on the High Altar at the Temple of the Sun. The priest comes the next day to remove the ashes and finds a small worm of exceedingly sweet odour, which in three days, the develops into a young bird and on the fourth day attains full plumage, then, greeting the priest, it returns home.

In this medieval moralization the Phoenix symbolizes Jesus who said, "I have the power to lay down my life and I have power to take it again". The perfume denotes' the sweetness of divine grace.

Coins of the early Christian Emperors often bore the image of the Phoenix as an ancient emblem of the Roman Solar cult; it also appeared on Roman cremation and burial urns and this passes through the years until it appears on Christian tombs. Christianity maintained that the Phoenix alone of all birds did not share with the sin of Eve when she ate the forbidden fruit.

The symbolism of the Phoenix is used extensively in literature. In Heraldry, the bird usually appears as a crest, depicted as a demi-eagle rising from the flames. It is also an Alchemical symbol of burning and regeneration, the Magnum Opus.

The Phoenix like the Dragon is a fable, a myth, a fantastic creature that has become deeply woven into the strands of culture, religion, myth and legend, symbolic of many things to different people, it even represents the death of the old year into the birth of the new one and was away of our forebears explaining what was happening in the world around them.

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