Mythical Creatures
The world of mythical creatures is an interesting one (though not quite as weird as some of the things being created by the GMO folks). People often wonder where the ancients got the ideas for such strange creatures as the minotaur, the unicorn, or the phoenix. Some have suggested that people found bones of ancient creatures such as dinosaurs, sometimes with the bones of two or three different animals mixed together, and attempted to come up with an idea of the animal they came from. Another popular theory is simple misidentification, like seeing the head of a narwhal and thinking it's the head of a unicorn. And a third possibility is that they say some one-of-a-kind mutant and thought it was a new species. All of those things are possibilities, but there is another, more likely one.
Many of these mythical animals have spiritual or social symbology associated with them. This is usually not a case of symbology being attached to something that already existed, but rather a case of designing a mythical animal to represent a spiritual or social concept. So the unicorn becomes a symbol of purity, innocence, beauty, etc. The minotaur is symbolic of male aggression, anger, stubbornness, and animalistic behavior. The phoenix is symbolic of eternal life, among other things. And there are other cases where the creature may have been invented as a symbol.
Why would someone want to make a mythical animal to symbolize a spiritual truth? For several reasons:
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In most ancient civilizations, only a small percent of the population could read and write. They had to be taught verbally and a symbol made it easier.
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A symbol is easier to remember than the words of the priest or teacher.
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A symbol can be made into a carving or a piece of jewelry and carried around as a reminder.
Categories: Spirituality, philosophy
Tags: Myth Mythology phoenix unicorn Symbols
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