Phoenix

The old myths tell us the storys of the Phoenix small tidbits about the phoenix. They are said to be 'beings spring from other individuals; but there is a certain kind which reproduces itself.' The Assyrians call this facinating bird, the Phoenix. It does not live on fruit or flowers, but on frankincense and special gems. When it has lived about five hundred years, it builds itself a nest in the branches of an oak, or on the top of a palm tree. In this it collects cinnamon, spikenard, and myrrh, and uses these materials to build a pile on which it seats itself, and dying, breathes out its last breath amidst odors of frankincense and other perfumes. Then after the bird has passed on, from the body of the parent bird, a young Phoenix emerges into the world, destined to live as long a life as its predecessor. When this has grown up and gained sufficient strength, it lifts its nest from the tree that was once its cradle and its parent's death bed. The phoenix then suposidly carries the nest of to the city of Heliopolis in Egypt, and deposits it in the temple of the Sun.

the Mythology Link

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