Home›Birds›TraditionBrowse ByTraditionThis page groups mythical creatures by the wider artistic and religious tradition that pictures them. Wikipedia notes that "in medieval art, animals, both real and mythical, played important roles." Browsing by tradition lets a visitor read every creature from one cultural tradition together.FactsLearn MoreTraditionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedGreat or wondrous birds, collected by body-form as the comparative folklore indexes collect them. Their functions in their own traditions differ completely. 2Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedChinese: the fenghuang is an emblem of auspicious rule and of the empress. Translating it "phoenix" imports a death-and-rebirth-in-fire story that is no part of it. 3Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedGreek and Egyptian: the phoenix enters Greek literature as a report about an Egyptian bird, which Herodotus says he knows only from pictures. 4Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedHindu: Garuda is Vishnu's mount and the enemy of the nagas - a divine being who receives worship, not a fabulous animal of story. 5Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedThe thunder beings belong to particular nations, in their own languages and their own terms - Basil Johnston writes of the Anishinaabe. "Thunderbird" is an English cover word across unrelated traditions, not the name of one being. 6DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedMythical Creatures 1Learn MoreThe mythical birds This group gathers mythical birds, the great and wondrous birds of world mythology, from the fire-reborn phoenix to the storm-bringing thunderbird and the vast birds of Persian and Indian legend. Birds often serve as messengers between earth and sky, or as emblems of renewal and the soul. The browser will find the bird figures the atlas gathers. The entries describe each creature's form, powers and mythological role across the traditions that tell of it.TraditionFilter Results10 entriesCreature kindAllSolar and Fire Birds (3)Region of OriginAllChina (1)Egypt (1)Persia (1)Southern Africa (1)Attested In RegionAllArabia (1)Eastern Europe (1)North America (1)Persia (1)Associated WithAllManidoo (1)Ra (1)Vishnu (1)Attested InAllTalmud (1)HistoricityAllLegendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record (5)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being (3)Adherents Today MaximumAll121,962 (1)14,800,000 (1)1,200,000,000 (1)2,000,000,000 (1)Adherents Today MinimumAll111,691 (1)14,800,000 (1)1,200,000,000 (1)2,000,000,000 (1)Basis of the Membership FigureAllIndependent Survey (5)Scholarly or Demographic Estimate (4)Era of Decline End YearAll529 (1)550 (1)1200 (1)1976 (1)Era of Decline Start YearAll380 (2)651 (1)863 (1)1966 (1)Era of Modern Revival End YearAll1990 (1)Era of Modern Revival Start YearAll1930 (1)Establishment StatusAllDeclared Not Established (1)Disestablished (1)Varies by Province (2)How the Expectation Is EnforcedAllCodified Obligation With Consequences (1)Customary Norm (3)Membership Figure As OfAll2004-01-01 (1)2005-01-01 (1)2010-01-01 (2)2011-01-27 (1)2012-01-01 (2)2012-12-18 (1)2013-01-01 (1)2016-01-01 (1)2018-01-01 (1)2020-01-01 (3)Origin Period End YearAll3000 BCE (1)1046 BCE (1)700 BCE (1)600 BCE (1)500 BCE (1)400 BCE (1)632 (1)988 (1)Origin Period Start YearAll3300 BCE (1)1600 BCE (1)1500 BCE (2)1400 BCE (1)586 BCE (1)500 (1)610 (1)Position on MarriageAllMarriage may licitly be polygynous (1)Position on SexualityAllSame-sex orientation or practice is held to bar full membership or participation (1)The body holds no single settled position; the question is actively and openly contested within it (1)Position on UsuryAllInterest is permitted but bound by ethical constraints against exploiting the poor (1)Interest of any kind on a loan is forbidden (1)Practice StatusAllDiscontinued as a state religion (2)Living, and in active revival (1)Living, and practised in varied local forms (2)Partly restricted: some elements are closed to outsiders (4)Standard Rate ExpectedAllTen percent. (1)Two and a half percent. (1)Status TodayAllHistorical; not practised continuously (2)Living tradition, practised today (8)Revived or reconstructed in the modern era (1)TheologyAllAncestor-centred (2)Animist: persons and powers in land, water and living things (1)Dualist: two opposed cosmic principles (1)Henotheistic: a supreme being above served lesser divinities (1)Monistic: one ultimate reality behind all appearance (1)Monotheistic: one God (3)Panentheistic: the divine both within the world and beyond it (1)Polytheistic: many gods (5)Show ResultsBrowseCompareAncient Egyptian ReligionTradition1 entryAncient Greek ReligionTradition1 entryChinese Folk ReligionTradition2 entriesHinduismTradition1 entryIslamTradition1 entryJudaismTradition1 entryNative American ReligionTradition1 entrySlavic Native Faith (Rodnovery)Tradition1 entryZoroastrianismTradition1 entryZulu Traditional ReligionTradition1 entrySources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 1Category: Mythical Creatures2. Motif-Index of Folk-Literature: A Classification of Narrative Elements in Folktales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Mediaeval Romances, Exempla, Fabliaux, Jest-Books and Local Legendstier 1Stith Thompson, Indiana University Press, 1958B0-B99, Mythical Animals3. Chinese Mythology: An Introductiontier 1Anne Birrell, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993on the fenghuang and the mythical birdsView the Source4. Historiestier 1HerodotusBook 2.73View the Source5. Encyclopedia of Hinduismtier 1Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson and Michael York (eds.), Routledge, 2008the article on GarudaView the Source6. The Manitous: The Spiritual World of the Ojibwaytier 1Basil Johnston, HarperCollins, 1995on Anishinaabe thunder-beingsView the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. 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