Giant, Graceful Blue Heron of the Past , Present and Future
When starting off I could not but help but be overwhelmed; there is so much to write about. Then it came to me when the family and I were out at one of the state parks, and to our great astonishment we found a great blue heron just a short stone’s throw away. Now this was just an amazing experience. It was after that, when we were heading back home, that I decided to dedicate each entry to a certain animal or plant or geological site. In honor of my muse this entry will be about the great blue heron.
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias
 Photo by Erica Marshall. Published under Creative Commons license. |
This bird’s average adult height is 46 inches.
The different cultures have their views on the meaning of many creatures. It is wonderful what can be found about the views that people had back when there was no such term as technology. Yet here we are a world and a lifetime away and we find ourselves circling back. Here are some of the views that I have found online.
Native Americans
Because of the strife in the First World, First Man, First Woman, the “Great Coyote Who Was Formed in the Water”, and the Coyote called First Angry, followed by all the others, climbed up from the World of Darkness and Dampness to the Second or Blue World. They found a number of people already living there: blue birds, blue hawks, blue jays, blue herons, and all the blue-feathered beings. 1
Most Native American tribes took note of the heron’s inquisitiveness, curiosity and determination. As such this set the heron as a symbol of wisdom in that this creature seemed to have good judgment skills.2
The Indians who live on the farthest point of the northwest corner of Washington State used to tell stories, not about one Changer, but about the Two-Men-Who-Changed-Things. So did their close relatives, who lived on Vancouver Island, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.3
One of the creatures was a great fisherman. He was always on the rocks or was wading with his long fishing spear. He kept it ready to thrust into some fish. He always wore a little cape, round and white over his shoulders. The Two-Men-Who-Changed-Things transformed him into Great Blue Heron. The cape became the white feathers around the neck of Great Blue Heron. The long fishing spear became his sharp pointed bill. 3
It is interesting what must have been running through their minds to see this giant, graceful bird and to watch it while it is hunting so seemingly motionless for so long then to move so quickly to catch a fish. This explains why some Native-American Tribes considered it a good omen to see a heron before a hunt. Native Americans weren’t the only ones to see each animal as something sacred. It is something that every culture at one point or time believes in, and some still do.
Ancient Egyptians
The ancient Egyptians were master symbolists. They selected and consistently used their visual symbols with great care and precision through several millennia, which has given their carved walls profound powers of communication through the ages. Most of their symbols are perfectly obvious symbols which easily capture the essence of universal human experience. But the Egyptians curiously picked a Great Blue Heron to serve as the basic symbol of the Phoenix, to which they added some minor feathery ostentation to make the visual image of the Phoenix slightly distinct from the Heron and Ibis.4
In Egypt the Heron is honored as the creator of light. A double headed Heron in Egypt is symbolic of prosperity.2
In Egyptian mythology, the bird benu (or purple heron) played an important role. During the flood of the Nile, this beautiful, bluish bird rests on high places and resembles the sun floating over the waters. Therefore this bird, sometimes called ‘the ascending one’, was associated with the sun god Ra, whose ba (soul) it was thought to be. The benu was especially venerated in the town that is usually called Heliopolis (’city of the Sun’).5
The animals around the people of ancient times played a great role in their daily lives. There were no wasted things or days. We are quick to dismiss them and think them inferior to us, but archaeologists are finding things to the contrary in that way of thinking.
We need to progress with the thought of the living creatures around us. We survive when they survive. But one thing we must realize is that for some there is an instinct to build or create. This can be a very positive thing. We need, however, to look at the things that we built in the past that can be great once again. Instead of looking at a lot full of trees, why not the lot with the run-down building. I have run across more run-down lots that could be so much more, if someone with enough vision could see. We can only learn if we want to.
1 The DÎNÉ: Origin Myths of the Navaho Indians By Aileen O’Bryan
2