The cult of the heron in Egypt during the Old Kingdom. The image of a heron in the Pyramid Texts.

Content

• 1 Basic values:
• 2 Egypt
• 3 Antiquity
• 4 Northern tradition
• 5 Southeast Asia
• 6 China
• 7 Buddhism
• 8 Taoism
• 9 Christianity
• 10 Fortune telling
• 11 Heraldry
• 12 Emblems
• 13 Art
• 14 Ad vocem
• 15 Literature
• 16 Notes and comments

See also:

Birds Solar bird Poseidon Frigga Benu Stork Crane

The meaning of a heron tattoo in different cultures

What is the meaning of a heron tattoo in relation to different cultures of the world?

By the ancient Egyptians , the heron was revered as the creator of light. Instead, a heron with two heads was depicted. symbol of prosperity .

In China, the heron is a symbol of strength, patience, purity and longevity . In many Chinese legends, the heron was depicted as a guide that leads or ferries souls to heaven.

Instead active Americans , who, as we know, were accustomed to closely observing the nature in which they lived, noticed the curiosity and dogged determination of the heron. Many tribes actually considered this bird a symbol of foresight and wisdom .

To make the heron an important artistic subject, it was Japanese . In fact, in Japanese culture, the heron has been an animal symbol of beauty, elegance, nobility, and is often depicted in winter contexts.

Antiquity

The legendary enemy of the eagle and the lark, but the friend of the crow.

Sacred bird of Poseidon.

Mediterranean sailors considered the heron to be the bird of Aphrodite and the patroness of sailors.

Her appearance was perceived as a favorable sign (augurium). The white heron promised special luck.

“A heron appeared, flying from the right side, and although it was not possible to see it properly, since it was night, the cry of the heron delighted Odysseus.” Homer "Iliad"

By the way the heron hides, the weather, mainly rains and storms, was predicted with great accuracy.

Like the bittern, a symbol of constant idleness and laziness: in Ancient Greece it was believed that these birds, hiding in the reed thickets all day, were turned into slaves of herons.

When Aeneas destroyed the capital of the Rutulians - the city of Ardeen, birds were found among the ashes, which in Latin were called: “Ardeae”, that is, “a genus of herons” (“Metamorphoses” by Ovid).

According to Pliny the Elder, when mating, herons experience the same sensations as when laying eggs, and among other things, they could shed tears from sadness and sadness.

In Aesop's fable, she must risk her head to pull a bone out of a wolf's mouth.

Types of talisman and its place in the house

Some Feng Shui masters consider the best place for a heron according to Feng Shui to be a window facing the sunny side. However, there are also recommendations on where to place the home talisman, depending on the nature of the figurine:

• He stands on one leg, stretching his neck, and holds a stone in the other. It means vigilance, success in business, protection from negativity. You can keep such a talisman in any part of the room where you feel negative energy.
• The bird is depicted in flight with a stone in its paws. It symbolizes safety on the road and therefore is perfect for decorating the travel and helpers sector in the northwest.
• A bird with earth in its beak attracts wealth to the house. Place the figurine in the wealth sector, that is, in the southeast.
• A bird with a snake in its beak is a talisman that primarily protects children. Place the figurine in the children and creativity sector (west) or in the family zone (east).
• According to Feng Shui, two herons symbolize family happiness. They are best placed in the sector of love and marriage (southwest).

Often the heron in images is confused with the crane. It's easy to distinguish them. A heron's neck is always curved in flight, but a standing bird's neck is retracted and one leg is tucked.

Gerhard Gellinger/Pixabay

Christianity

One of the birds that knows “their specific times”[1].

The early Christian Physiologist points out that the heron is the most unpretentious of all birds: “its bed and its table are in the same place” and does not “fly here and there.” Therefore, it serves as a symbol of a Christian who should not visit many places of heretics, but must protect himself from the “brew of heretical and erroneous teachings.”

According to the medieval Bestiary, the heron has an aversion to rain and flies high above the clouds, foreshadowing a thunderstorm. Sometimes found as an allegory of believers rising above the storms of life like a heron overcoming rain clouds.

Symbol:

• Christ on the Mount of Olives - due to the legendary ability to shed tears;
• Christ “slaying” Satan - as a destroyer of snakes
• repentance - by the ashen color of the plumage of a gray heron.

What does a heron mean in feng shui?

According to Egyptian mythology, the heron is a divine bird, which with its cry announced the creation of the sun and all things by God. Therefore, the heron is considered a sun bird.

Stux/Pixabay

The animal symbolizes:

• The arrival of spring.
• New love.
• Success in a new endeavor.
• Positive changes in life.
• Protection from negativity.
• Vigilance and caution.
• Freedom.
• Calm.
• Devotion.
• Delicacy and tact.
• Comprehension of wisdom and spiritual purity.

Emblematics

“This bird is a symbol of the souls of the chosen ones, who, out of fear of the storms of this world, direct all their aspirations beyond the boundaries of mortal existence to the heights of their heavenly homeland. Some of the herons are white, others are ash-gray; white is the color of innocence, ash-gray is the color of repentance...” Unterkircher “The heron, when it senses impending bad weather, Prudently rises above the storm clouds. So the pious heart, when trouble is about to strike, tends to seek refuge only in God’s Kindness.” Hochberg. 1675

A heron carrying a flower in its beak.

• You know them all.

A symbol of the instincts and knowledge that herons are endowed with.
EMSI 51-15 Heron flying above the clouds.

• I am above all hurricanes and storms.

A symbol of aspiration to heaven. “He whose goal is above the clouds becomes inaccessible to hurricanes and storms - unrest and anxiety.” EMSI 23-9

The meaning of the heron tattoo

We can say that the heron feels at home in 3 elements: water, earth and air. Symbolically speaking, a heron tattoo can represent the ability to adapt , switching from one context to another with ease. It can also symbolize a versatile personality , capable of achieving success in many areas.

Another meaning of a heron tattoo is that there may also be patience . In fact, the heron has a very unique way of hunting, which makes it a master of patience, speed and quickness. In fact, this bird is capable of remaining motionless for several hours, seemingly doing nothing, waiting for the right moment to dip its beak into the water and catch a fish, insect or other. In other words, the heron “seizes the moment” it needs. Therefore, a heron tattoo can be a valid symbol, reminding us of the importance of patience and the need to live in the present , seizing the moment when the time has come.

Typically, herons live alone and prefer quiet environments. So, there are those who might choose a heron tattoo to emphasize the same attitude towards silence and loneliness.

More on the topic: Absolutely brilliant Simpsons tattoos

Location

Of great importance in fortune telling by coffee is which part of the cup the sign is located in:

• Upper - life in abundance and with all positive things is determined for you by fate. You are a person with a pure heart, an innate nobility of spirit and patience, for which you are loved and respected by those around you. This, in turn, will soon lead to material wealth, career advancement and happiness. With such a character and on the personal front, a worthy partner will soon appear, with whom you will live happily ever after.
• Middle. If there is a bird in the middle of the coffee grounds, then you lack self-confidence. There is a feeling that you are not strong enough physically and/or psychologically to achieve something. In fact, you are much better than you seem to yourself. Try to get rid of complexes, and things will immediately go up both materially and in your personal life.
• At the bottom. A heron at the bottom when fortune telling on coffee grounds is a sign of a crossroads. Until some things prevent you from deciding to move on. At this point, it is important to seek advice from an elder or someone whose experience and integrity you trust. If there are no such people nearby, then seek professional help from a psychologist. And remember that psychological help is not a sign that you are sick, it’s just that a specialist should help you cope with some life problems.

If you see several symbols scattered through the coffee grounds in a chaotic manner, then this is a clear sign that you need a break from work or creativity. Change your surroundings and you will immediately feel much better.

General value

When interpreting symbols, you should first proceed from their most general interpretations.

In ancient times, it was believed that the heron was directly connected with the Almighty due to the fact that in nature the bird behaves boldly, decisively and is very inquisitive.

A heron in a cup means that you will live a long life, be happy, and have success and prosperity ahead.

Besides this, the heron is at the bottom - fortunately. Your life is now in a state of stability, there is self-sufficiency in it. You are a person who knows how to plan and lives exactly as you intended.

When characterizing a personality based on coffee, the symbol indicates curiosity. This trait usually helps a person at work - he is smart and decisive, quickly makes the right and useful contacts, finds a good hobby for leisure, which will not only bring joy, but will also develop him as a person. Such people are characterized by great patience, which, combined with the previous qualities, are simply ideal characteristics for a leader who will always and everywhere live well.

Meaning of the word heron

Examples of the use of the word heron in literature.

Among truffles, flowers cut from carrots, halves of lemons and artichoke hearts, a giant sterlet lay, and on its back stood a whole baked heron with a golden ring in its raised beak, standing on one leg.
Near the copse, the praying mantises looked like herons that stand on the shallows in the evenings like black pillars.

But then the heron freed herself and flew on, although she was flapping her wings heavily - apparently, the deadly embrace had not been in vain.

Right there, white herons wandered through the fields and, noisily flapping their wings, flew from place to place, raising clouds of insects into the air, which the long-eyed cows sluggishly waved away.

There is no doubt about the sincerity of his delight at the sight of a herd of musk oxen in Taimyr, colonies of cormorants and herons in the Volga delta, a capercaillie showing in the Darwin Nature Reserve or Siberian Cranes in the Oka Nursery of Rare Cranes - they are genuine.

“It is necessary,” he said, “to ensure that our factory heron can fly higher than all eagles and golden eagles, so that it can kill sables and beavers in flight.

Our factory heron was deliberately invented so that people would labor in vain, but this one - on the contrary, to free a person from the pickle and shovel, to make him feel better.

Here and there herons were walking through the mud, and large noisy groups of loonies were running and jostling in the shallow water, their long curved beaks and black plumage completely out of harmony with their cheerfulness.

False palm trees on the tables, a sad stuffed heron on the cabinet, Armenians at the buffet and numbered Kasimovs in tailcoats, with wide behinds and small shaved heads.

The situation is exactly the same as with storks, with night herons, but not with all herons in general.

Robert let her approach and, when the heron was about three hundred feet away from him, he took off the falcon's leather hood and with a sharp movement of his hand threw the bird into the air.

As the car bounced across the tussocky ground, huge, bat-like, black and lemon-colored butterflies flew out of the bamboo thickets, frightened herons soared into the darkening sky.

Then comes Toulouse-Lautrec, who created a goat, and several celebrities who made, respectively: Jean de La Fontaine - a seagull, Edith Piaf - a rooster, Jean-Jacques Rousseau - a turkey, Voltaire - a marmot, Auguste Rodin - a bull, Nadar - a bat, Sarah Bernard - a horse, Erik Satie - a nightingale, Mata Hari - a wolf, Marie Curie - an iguana, Simone Signoret - a heron, Victor Hugo - a bear, Camille Claudel - a sea urchin, Gustave Flaubert - a bison.

Egrets in the fields are as integral to the Madagascan landscape as the winged predators of the kani, which are called papangos here.

In an official robe with images of a heron sewn on the chest and back and a white marble ball on her cap, which meant she belonged to the sixth class of the civil table of ranks, in a blue palanquin carried by four porters, Rong Mei arrived in Tsung-li-ge-guo. Shivu-Yamyn, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Celestial Empire.

Source: Maxim Moshkov library

The main symbolic meaning of the talisman is a purifier from filth and protection from evil spirits. Accordingly, the Heron is used as a guardian of the hearth, family traditions and customs. On the other hand, the Heron symbolizes the arrival of spring and changes in life, therefore it promotes favorable changes as a talisman. The talisman helps to bring happiness into the home.

Images and figures of the Heron can be of any kind. True, some variants of the talisman are possible, emphasizing its action in a certain direction. For example, the Heron, which brings a snake to feed its chicks, as a mascot specializes in protecting and caring for children. A heron flying with a stone clutched in its paws (to increase its weight so that it does not get carried away too far from the goal of the flight) is a talisman for travelers (in the broadest sense), allowing them not to go astray. Holding a stone in one paw and a Heron standing on the other leg, with its neck retracted, is a symbol of vigilance.

Activation of the talisman

The heron is a sunny bird, so placing a figurine or drawing in a room on the sunny side is preferable to anything else, as it activates the talisman into action. The same role is played by the proximity of water - an aquarium, a fountain or a vase with water. Placing a heron in a nest (even symbolic) also stimulates the work of the talisman: the bird will be firmly “connected” with your apartment and, naturally, will take care of its “nest” "

The legend says

In various mythological traditions, herons are deities, heroes, and ancestors - totemic ancestors. They act as symbols of the top, sky, sun, thunder, wind, freedom, growth, life, fertility, abundance, inspiration, prophecy.

A heron is often confused with a stork or a crane. According to legend, the heron originated from a rebellious man: “God gave the man a bag of reptiles (snakes and other reptiles) and ordered him to throw it into the abyss, but the man, out of curiosity, untied the bag, and all the reptiles crawled across the ground. As punishment, God turned man into a bird with legs and beak red with shame. She was ordered to cleanse the earth of reptiles.”

Feng Shui master's story

The Chinese are kind to the heron (they even erect altars to it) and actively use talismans with the image of this bird. It is believed that a house that does not have a figurine or image of a heron is not a Chinese house. However, in the European tradition, Heron talismans are also very popular.