From Andrew Collins at Ancient Origins. “The idea that the human soul might take the form of a swan to journey from this world to the next could be one of the oldest fundamental beliefs of human kind, or so suggests a new discovery from the 420,000-year-old cave site of Qesem near Tel Aviv in Israel. “In 2006 [Andrew Collins] wrote a book titled The Cygnus Mystery . It...
The Lament of the Swan Planctus Cygni Anon, French, 9th century Clangam, filii Ploratione una Alitis cygni, Qui transfretavit aequora. O quam amare Lamentabatur, aridaSe dereliquisse Florigera Et petisse alta Maria; Ajens: ‘Infelix sum Avicula, Heu mihi, quid agam Misera?Pennis soluta Inniti Lucida non potero Hic in stilla. Undis quatior, Procellis Hinc inde nunc allidor Exulata. Angor inter arta...
In Ireland, it was believed that swans pulled the bark of the sun across the underworld sea each night. Swans also bore the souls of Celtic chieftains to the afterlife. Swans had magic powers that could make mortals sleep. Swan skins and feathers were used to make the cloaks of Celtic poets. In County Mayo, the souls of virtuous maidens were said to reside in swans. In Scotland, three swans...
In the symbolism of alchemy a swan was the emblem of mercury, being of the same color. It was thought to express the union of opposites (fire and water), and therefore an archetype of hermaphroditism. The Kabbalah associates swans with the Hebrew letter ר (resh), the 20th letter of Hebrew alphabet. Resh has a numerical value of 200. It is associated also with the head, and symbolizes beginning...
In a Sclavonian legend, a youth was reposing in a forest. The wind sighed through the trees, filling him with a tender melancholy which could find no expression in words. Presently there fluttered through the branches a snowy swan, which alighted on his breast. The youth clasped the beautiful bird to his heart, and resisted all its struggles to escape. Then the swan changed into a beautiful girl...