People & Birds: A Spiritual Bond. Through History to The Present..

Even though many people might dismiss birds as not having much to do with what is happening to them or to the wider world, (other than may be the chicken-n-egg helping to feed the world;)

those who spy the goings-on in the bird world would tell you.., if you'd care to listen,

that Birds are also important as they are one of the best indicators of the overall health of, or changes in the environment..
[Also see, from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Q&A:
To a question posed by a general user, 'Which birds are most beneficial to mankind?', this was what the The Cornell Lab staff came up with as a consensus practical answer:  Red Junglefowl -aka the chicken! ;) In a way intuitive, they chose it 'because of the huge number of people who benefit from their eggs and meat.'

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1277 ]

Birds are still very tied to some religious beliefs and rites in India even today..

• In Hindu mythology, The hamsa , swan, is the vahana, the mount or vehicle, of the god Brahma, the creator. In the Vedas and the Purânas it is a symbol for the Soul- of purity and transcendence. ParamaHamsa (The Supreme Soul) is a title applied to the self-realized spiritual masters who are considered as liberated souls.
• The Parsis (Persian Zoroastrians who immigrated to india in 10th century AD to avoid persecution by Muslims in Persia) in Mumbai, is a small community which the Tata family belong to. They leave their dead out in the open in the "Towers of Silence" (in Mumbai, located at Malabar Hill) to be consumed by vultures. According their belief, earth, fire and water are all considered as sacred elements, which should not be defiled by the dead.. (They worship fire in Parsi Fire Temples).  Therefore, burial and cremation have always been prohibited in Parsi culture.

But in recent years, there has been drastic vulture population decline (extensive urbanization, as well as the other main reason sited being, due to poisoning by the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac which is often given to cattles.. the carcass of which the vulture often feed on). Some years back I was reading about the Parsi community working with Bombay Natural History Society for a vulture breeding program, to address the crisis affecting their funeral ritual.   

•  [Note: The item below is not related to my personal view/belief, but of some devout people. From anecdotes of the behind-the-scene 'secrets' I've heard, and my personal view as well, of the  is that the authorities are defrauding the devotees there with staged events, considering the huge amount of money in revenues from millions of people visiting every year!! ;) ]               On the most special day of Makara Sankranthi at Sabarimala temple pilgrimage in Kerala, a major auspicious event during peak pilgrimage season is appearing of a Brahminy Kite (Holy Garuda, an eagle, the vehicle of Lord Vishnu in Indian mythology).. Apparently, Sabarimala with a huge devotee-base across South and India and beyond, has "the largest annual pilgrimage in India with an estimated 45–50 million devotees visiting every year"

From Sabaraimala.org:

On Makarasankranti every year without fail, miraculous events occur. Firstly as the jewels (Thiruvaabharanam) of the Lord are transported from the Old Pandalam Palace to Sabarimala, a Krishnaparunth (holy Garuda - an eagle - the vehicle of Lord Vishnu), circles above the precious jewels (in fact guarding them), like a protector. This rare eagle is rarely seen in the midst of people for a long period of time, yet the auspicious bird follows the Thiruvaabaranam procession, finally circling above Sannidhanam at Sabarimala nine times as it pays its respects to Lord Ayyappan. During this time, there is not a single star in the sky except for a special Nakshatram. As the beautiful jewels are placed on the golden body of the Lord within the temple, the several hundred thousand devotees outside, crammed into any available free space, chant "Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa". When the jewels are finally all adorned on the Lord, the Nakshatram in the sky miraculously disappears. Within moments after the Lord being adorned with the Thiruvabaranam, an effulgence (Divya Jyoti) appears in the opposite hills of Shabarimala, shining 3 times. This hill is called Ponnambalamedu.

In some other parts of the world as well, Birds are still part of the lives of people..

• One of the most enchanting bonding by Birds I've ever watched on screen.. was the Spiritual bonding between man and birds..
  From the centuries old tradition..among the Kazakh Nomads of Altai Mountains in Mongolia, with their Golden Eagles. The vast open spaces make hunting for animals almost impossible. The Kazakh nomads use Golden Eagles to hunt.. for their survival in the harsh mountain climate..
  This was featured in the episode on Mountains, of the BBC Series HUMAN PLANET:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/humanplanetexplorer/environments/mountains#p00dwd5x

It's a  millenium-old tradition of the nomad's deep bonding with nature, using Golden Eagles to hunt.. they take the fledging eagle from the nest before it could fly, and keep as pet and use it for hunting.

In between they also release them and the birds come back. In the end, after years, they release them into the wild and don't call them back..

Have watched a movie based on this as well, that was screened at the London FilmFest/2009 

The Eagle Hunter's Son. 

Made by Swedish director;  with real Nomads of Altai Mountain and their Golden Eagles

In fact, history tells, Birds had a lot to do with the courses of action people took, in the ancient world, through their association with ancient religious rites and beliefs..

• In ancient Rome, very powerful priests, called "Augur" who could read omens from observing the birds, had a huge influence on the society.. They were central to the society of Roman Republic and the Empire.

Augurs were consulted by the commonfolk and the rulers,

for deciding whether to go ahead with their intended actions or not..

"including matters of war, commerce, and religion.."

[The Greeks called this bird-divining, as 'Ornithomancy']

..An Augur's main role was 'to interpret the will of the gods' (=Augury, from latin for it, 'Augurium'), 

by 'studying the flight/behavior of birds' (Latin Auspicium , literally "one who looks at birds", from 'aves spicere', Latin for 'looking at the birds')..

This was called "taking the auspices" and the words

' auspicious' and 'inauguration' are derived from these rites in Rome!

Ancient Roman Mosaic floor, in the "Domus of Birds" (House of Birds),

 Italica, north of modern day Seville, In Spain's Andalusia region.
[Photos from Dec 2007 trip]

The city of Italica was founded in 206 BC by the Romans.

Italica is the birth place of Roman Emperors Trajan[AD 53-117], and (his adopted son) Hadrian.

 ..

 ..

So, in a way, birds had such huge influence, and who knows--

 by affecting the decisions of wars and such, in the most powerful empire in the world,

 they might have even changed the course of human history!! ;))

Legend has it that even the founders of Rome- Romulus and Rimus, were bird diviners,

 who consulted the gods through birds, for even the founding of Rome!

• Also see, the blog about the Ancient Greek comedy play: 'THE BIRDS' by Aristophanes [414 BC] : http://greenwich-times.blogspot.com/2011/03/ancient-greek-comedy-play-birds-by.html

They might be a lil 'flighty' at times, but they are not to be taken too lightly!.. ;)

If you pondered on the decline, climate change and all the rest.. the OMENS are pretty clear..

The writing is on the wall, for us as a whole!.. ;)

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augurs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auspice

Celebrating The Skylark!- Shelley's Ode,'To A Skylark'.., poems, classical music and songs inspired by the Bird

Spotted! : A Skylark, dust-bathing! @Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk coast, 4-June-2011

Skylark :
Throughout its range ( Europe, Asia and North Africa) it is renowned for the song of the male, while in 'display flight', hovering, ascending vertically.. from heights of ~50 to 100 m, when the singing bird may appear as just a dot in the sky from the ground..

Songs lasting 2-3 minutes, and longer, later in the mating season..

Apparently, female Skylarks prefer males that sing and hover for longer periods (and so more likely to have good overall fitness! )

For a bird with such a lofty name, it might look rather dull and brown on the ground.

You might pass it for a dull-sparrow-next-door until you hear it sing from the sky! ;) 

It spends most of the time on the ground- including nesting

and foraging for seeds and insects.

Its recent and dramatic population declines locally make it a Red List species within Britain.

(In Britain, only 10% remain, of the numbers that were present 30 years ago, due to changes in farming practices and pesticides. English farmers are now encouraged and even paid, through wildlife-friendly farming subsidies, to maintain and create biodiversity for improving the habitats, including for Skylarks. See this for details of how agricultural practices are affecting these birds in particular, and some conservation measures are explained here. But with the economic turmoil and budget squeezes, it remains to be seen whether the governments will keep supporting wildlife friendly farming.)


Percy Shelley's Ode, 'To a Skylark' :

The famous poet Percy Bysshe Shelley waxed lyrical about their song,

in his poem "To a Skylark" (1820). It was inspired by an evening walk in the country near Livorno, Italy, with his wife Mary Shelley and describes the appearance and song of a skylark they come upon.

Here is a reading of the poem, and below it are some excerpted stanzas and comments from Shelley's Ode, "To a Skylark". 
Some stanzas mention about the behaviour mentioned above, while in 'display-flight'.
For the complete poem, click here.  

 [ It starts:

 Hail to thee, blithe spirit!
Bird thou never wert-
That from heaven or near it
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

Higher still and higher
From the earth thou springest,
Like a cloud of fire;
The blue deep thou wingest,
And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.

..

The pale purple even
Melts around thy flight;
Like a star of heaven,
In the broad daylight
Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight-

..

All the earth and air
With thy voice is loud,
As when night is bare,
From one lonely cloud
The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflow'd.

What thou art we know not;
What is most like thee?
From rainbow clouds there flow not
Drops so bright to see,
As from thy presence showers a rain of melody:-

..Like a poet hidden
In the light of thought,
Singing hymns unbidden,
Till the world is wrought
To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not:

Like a high-born maiden
In a palace tower,
Soothing her love-laden
Soul in secret hour
With music sweet as love, which overflows her bower: 
 ..
Sound of vernal showers
On the twinkling grass,
Rain-awaken'd flowers-
All that ever was
Joyous and clear and fresh-thy music doth surpass.
 
Teach us, sprite or bird,
What sweet thoughts are thine:
I have never heard
Praise of love or wine
That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine.
..
What objects are the fountains
Of thy happy strain?
What fields, or waves, or mountains?
What shapes of sky or plain?
What love of thine own kind? what ignorance of pain?
..
We look before and after,
And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought. 


Yet, if we could scorn
Hate and pride and fear,
If we were things born
Not to shed a tear,
I know not how thy joy we ever should come near. 


Better than all measures
Of delightful sound,
Better than all treasures
That in books are found,
Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!
 
Teach me half the gladness
That thy brain must know;
Such harmonious madness
From my lips would flow,
The world should listen then, as I am listening now.
--x--

 That's quite ethereal expressions of his experiencing the bird song!.. Even 'rainbow clouds' do not rain as brightly as the shower of melody that pours from the skylark..

   its music is better than all music and all poetry..

  He asks the bird to teach him "half the gladness / That thy brain must know",

  for then he would overflow with "harmonious madness",

  and his song would be so beautiful that the world would listen to him,

  even as he is now listening to the skylark!!. ]

George Meredith's poem, The Lark Ascending, and the popular classical music composition by the same name, inspired by the poem:

George Meredith (1828–1909) , English novelist and poet, studied law and became a solicitor, but abandoned that profession for journalism and poetry in 1849, shortly after marrying Mary Ellen Nicolls, a widowed daughter of Thomas Love Peacock [what a name!! ;) Interestingly, Mr Peacock, English satirist and author, "was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other's work."]


Meredith wrote novels and poetry, often inspired by nature. His writing was characterized by a fascination with imagery and indirect references. He had a keen understanding of comedy and his Essay on Comedy (1877) is still quoted in most discussions of the history of comic theory.
George Meredith's 122-line poem about the Skylark,  The Lark Ascending inspired the English composer Ralph Vaughan William
 to compose classical music by the same name.. "The work was written in two versions: violin and piano, written in 1914; and violin and orchestra, written in 1920. The orchestral version is the one that is almost always heard now. It is one of the most popular pieces in the Classical repertoire among British listeners.".


Here, is a performance of 'The Lark Ascending' at Royal Albert Hall in London, by Dutch solo violinist Janine Jansen and the BBC Concert Orchestra -This was part of the annual 'BBC Proms' festival, promoted as 'The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival': This is an exquisitely beautiful piece.. very light, delicate,breezy, uplifting..
[Total 15 minutes, available in 2 parts on youtube. Can find 2nd part from this link ]




..and.. a Malayalam Song featuring Skylark:
Closer home, a Malayalam song featuring Skylark (Vaanampaadi) ,
by Jnanpeeth award winning poet and lyricist ONV Kurup
Music Director: Raveendran
Raaga: Mohanam (Those in the know, verify this. I don't know about the classical bit;)
Singer: Yesudas
[from the 1986 movie, Deshaadanakkili karayaarilla, directed by Padmarajan]:



Info about the Bird:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylark

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/skylark/index.aspx

Birds of Britain: Album

Ancient Greek comedy play: 'THE BIRDS' by Aristophanes [414 BC]

[The Complete Play script is availabe at:
  http://classics.mit.edu/Aristophanes/birds.html ] 

{Found out about this Play, when checking the Etymology of "Cloud Cuckoo Land":

It is Loan translation of Greek Nephelokokkygia, from nephele (cloud) + kokkux (cuckoo). The word was coined in The Birds, a comedy by Athenian playwright Aristophanes (c. 450-388 BCE).Nephelokokkygia was the name of a city in the sky, to be built by the birds in collaboration with some Athenians.

It refers to an unrealistically idealistic state where everything is perfect. ("You're living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.") It hints that the person referred to is naïve, unaware of reality or deranged in holding such an optimistic belief.

}

The Owl depicted on a copy of the original Greek Amphora from Athens, 625BC.

(This was bought during the Greece trip, collecting historic/cultural artefacts with Birds)

The ancient city of Athens was named after the goddess Athena.

In Ancient Greece, Athena was goddess of both wisdom and warfare, and patron goddess/protector of the great city of Athens.

The owl is Athena's attribute or mascot. According to the mythology, Athena at times also took the very form of her owl. The owl species depicted on Athenian Owls is the 'Athene Noctua', also called the Little Owl or Minerva Owl

http://rg.ancients.info/owls/

The other side of the Amphora from 625BC, 

depicting the the great Greek warrior, Achilles.

 (Played by Brad Pitt in the movie Troy!, taking revenge of Hector in this scene;)

Intro, summary, overview from wiki: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_(play)

The Birds (Greek: Ὄρνιθες Ornithes) is a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed in 414 BCE at the City Dionysia where it won second prize. It has been acclaimed by modern critics as a perfectly realized fantasy remarkable for its mimicry of birds and for the gaiety of its songs.

...

Quick overview: Pisthetaerus, a middle-aged Athenian, persuades the world's birds to create a new city in the sky, thereby gaining control over all communications between men and gods. He is miraculously transformed into a bird-like figure and, with the help of his friends, the birds, and with advice from Prometheus, he soon replaces Zeus as the pre-eminent power in the cosmos.

Summary: The play begins with two middle-aged men stumbling across a hillside wilderness, guided by a pet crow and a pet jackdaw. One of them advises the audience that they are fed up with life in Athens, where people do nothing all day but argue over laws, and they are looking for Tereus, a king who was once metamorphosed into the Hoopoe, for they believe he might help them find a better life somewhere else.

...

{Note: EPOPS the bird is one main character. Latin/scientific name of Hoopoe is 'Upupa Epops'. Upupa refers to the common call of the bird, "OopOopOop", and Epops might have been taken from its Greek name! ;) }

The current €1 coin minted in Greece,

 which incorporates the design of the ancient Classical Owls tetradrachm 

(first introduced c. 478 BC.)

http://rg.ancients.info/owls/

Athenian Owls, thick, heavy, high-relief silver coins

 minted more than 2,000 years ago,

 were arguably the most influential of all coins.

The Scene, in which "The Chorus of Birds" is addressing the audience:..

The birds are completely won over and urge the Athenians to lead them in their war against the usurping gods. The clever one then introduces himself as Pisthetaerus (which can be translated to mean "Mr. Trusting"/Trustyfriend) and his companion is introduced as Euelpides (which can be translated to mean "Mr. Hopeful"/Goodhope). They retire to the Hoopoe's bower to chew on a magical root that will transform them into birds. Meanwhile the Nightingale emerges from her hiding place and reveals herself as an enchantingly feminine figure. She presides over the Chorus of birds while they address the audience in a conventional parabasis: 

[The following text, part of the play script which I found the most interesting,

is taken from   http://classics.mit.edu/Aristophanes/birds.html  ]

EPOPS

Let us go in.

PITHETAERUS

Lead the way, and may success attend us.

EPOPS goes into the thicket, followed by PITHETAERUS and EUELPIDES.

CHORUS singing

Lovable golden bird, whom I cherish above all others, you, whom I associate with all my songs, nightingale, you have come, you have come, to show yourself to me and to charm me with your notes. Come, you, who play spring melodies upon the harmonious flute, lead off our anapests.

The CHORUS turns and faces the audience.

LEADER OF THE CHORUS

Weak mortals, chained to the earth, creatures of clay as frail as the foliage of the woods, you unfortunate race, whose life is but darkness, as unreal as a shadow, the illusion of a dream, hearken to us, who are immortal beings, ethereal, ever young and occupied with eternal thoughts, for we shall teach you about all celestial matters; you shall know thoroughly what is the nature of the birds, what the origin of the gods, of the rivers, of Erebus, and Chaos; thanks to us, even Prodicus will envy you your knowledge.

At the beginning there was only Chaos, Night, dark Erebus, and deep Tartarus. Earth, the air and heaven had no existence. Firstly, black-winged Night laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite deeps of Erebus, and from this, after the revolution of long ages, sprang the graceful Eros with his glittering golden wings, swift as the whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in deep Tartarus with dark Chaos, winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the first to see the light. That of the Immortals did not exist until Eros had brought together all the ingredients of the world, and from their marriage Heaven, Ocean, Earth and the imperishablerace of blessed gods sprang into being. Thus our origin is very much older than that of the dwellers in Olympus. We are the offspring of Eros; there are a thousand proofs to show it. We have wings and we lend assistance to lovers. How many handsome youths, who had sworn to remain insensible, have opened their thighs because of our power and have yielded themselves to their lovers when almost at the end of their youth, being led away by the gift of a quail, a waterfowl, a goose, or a cock.

And what important services do not the birds render to mortals! First of all, they mark the seasons for them, springtime, winter, and autumn. Does the screaming crane migrate to Libya,-it warns the husbandman to sow, the pilot to take his ease beside his tiller hung up in his dwelling, and Orestes to weave a tunic, so that the rigorous cold may not drive him any more to strip other folk. When the kite reappears, he tells of the return of spring and of the period when the fleece of the sheep must be clipped. Is the swallow in sight? All hasten to sell their warm tunic and to buy some light clothing. We are your Ammon, Delphi, Dodona, your Phoebus Apollo. Before undertaking anything, whether a business transaction, a marriage, or the purchase of food, you consult the birds by reading the omens, and you give this name of omen to all signs that tell of the future. With you a word is an omen, you call a sneeze an omen, a meeting an omen, an unknown sound an omen, a slave or an ass an omen. Is it not clear that we are a prophetic Apollo to you?

More and more rapidly from here on.

If you recognize us as gods, we shall be your divining Muses, through us you will know the winds and the seasons, summer, winter, and the temperate months. We shall not withdraw ourselves to the highest clouds like Zeus, but shall be among you and shall give to you and to your children and the children of your children, health and wealth, long life, peace, youth, laughter, songs and feasts; in short, you will all be so well off, that you will be weary and cloyed with enjoyment.

FIRST SEMI-CHORUS singing

Oh, rustic Muse of such varied note, tiotiotiotiotiotinx, I sing with you in the groves and on the mountain tops, tiotiotiotinx. I poured forth sacred strains from my golden throat in honour of the god Pan, tiotiotiotinx, from the top of the thickly leaved ash, and my voice mingles with the mighty choirs who extol Cybele on the mountain tops, totototototototototinx. 'Tis to our concerts that Phrynichus comes to pillage like a bee the ambrosia of his songs, the sweetness of which so charms the ear, tiotiotiotinx.

LEADER OF FIRST SEMI-CHORUS

If there is one of you spectators who wishes to spend the rest of his life quietly among the birds, let him come to us. All that is disgraceful and forbidden by law on earth is on the contrary honourable among us, the birds. For instance, among you it's a crime to beat your father, but with us it's an estimable deed; it's considered fine to run straight at your father and hit him, saying, "Come, lift your spur if you want to fight." The runaway slave, whom you brand, is only a spotted francolin with us. Are you Phrygian like Spintharus? Among us you would be the Phrygian bird, the goldfinch, of the race of Philemon. Are you a slave and a Carian likeExecestides? Among us you can create yourself fore-fathers; you can always find relations. Does the son of Pisias want to betray the gates of the city to the foe? Let him become a partridge, the fitting offspring of his father; among us there is no shame in escaping as cleverly as a partridge.

SECOND SEMI-CHORUS singing

So the swans on the banks of the Hebrus, tiotiotiotiotiotinx, mingle their voices to serenade Apollo, tiotiotiotinx, flapping their wings the while, tiotiotiotinx; their notes reach beyond the clouds of heaven; they startle the various tribes of the beasts; a windles sky calms the waves, totototototototototinx; all Olympus resounds, and astonishment seizes its rulers; the Olympian graces and Muses cry aloud the strain, tiotiotiotinx.

LEADER OF SECOND SEMI-CHORUS

There is nothing more useful nor more pleasant than to have wings. To begin with, just let us suppose a spectator to be dying withhunger and to be weary of the choruses of the tragic poets; if he were winged, he would fly off, go home to dine and come back with his stomach filled. Some Patroclides, needing to take a crap, would not have to spill it out on his cloak, but could fly off, satisfy his requirements, let a few farts and, having recovered his breath, return. If one of you, it matters not who, had adulterous relations and saw the husband of his mistress in the seats of the senators, he might stretch his wings, fly to her, and, having laid her, resume his place. Is it not the most priceless gift of all, to be winged? Look at Diitrephes! His wings were only wicker-work ones, and yet he got himself chosen Phylarch and then Hipparch; from being nobody, he has risen to be famous; he's now the finest gilded cock of histribe.

PITHETAERUS and EUELPIDES return; they now have wings.

----x----

Photos of Roman mosaic flooring with birds, from Italica (founded in 206BC) near Seville, Spain, taken during the 2007 trip

Ancient Roman Mosaic floor, in the "Domus of Birds" (House of Birds),

 Italica, north of modern day Seville, In Spain's Andalusia region.

The city of Italica was founded in 206 BC by the Romans.

Italica is the birth place of Roman Emperors Trajan[AD 53-117], and (his adopted son) Hadrian. 

Domus of Birds:

http://www.spanisharts.com/arquitectura/imagenes/roma/i_italica_casa_pajaros.html