etc.), much wider. The rooster not only announces the beginning of the day (in many traditions, it acts as a herald of the sun, light, cf. the French name of the Rooster, lit. “singing dawn”), but is also the conductor of the sun both in its annual and daily cycles . In China, the Rooster "accompanies" the sun on its way through the tenth "house" of the Chinese zodiac (Capricorn) and through the fifth - seventh hours in the afternoon. Among the ancient Jews, the Rooster is a symbol of the third watch of the night - from midnight to dawn. The rooster is as alert and all-seeing as the sun. Hence the widespread use of the Rooster in divination, weather forecasts in Ancient Rome. The image of the Guardian Rooster was placed on the roofs of houses, poles, spiers, weathervanes, as well as on caskets, chests, reliquaries. In China, the red Rooster is depicted on the walls of the house as a talisman against fire. The motif of the Rooster dispersing with its cry evil spirit and scaring away the dead, forms a culmination in a special type of fairy tales, is constant in bylichkas. But the Rooster is not only associated with the sun, it is similar to it: it is the earthly image itself, a zoomorphic transformation of the heavenly fire - the sun. The Rooster is also associated with the symbolism of the resurrection from the dead, the eternal rebirth of life. In this context, it is possible to explain the image of the Rooster, sometimes placed on graves, on a cross, stone, etc., often in alternation with the image of the sun; cf. Also symbolic images the sun in the form of a Rooster in a circle or dawn, sometimes lightning in the form of a cock's comb (in this row is the custom of the ancient Romans to donate cock's combs to Lares). Some data allow us to correlate the sacrifice of the Rooster (in those ritual traditions where there is no prohibition on this, it is the Rooster that is mainly used for this purpose) with its sunny, fiery nature. The Old Russian Word of a certain Christ-lover” (final edition) condemns the pagan rites that existed after the introduction of Christianity, when “... koura rzhyut; and fire to pray to yourself, calling him a svarozhichm ”(other Russian kur,“ rooster ”). In many cases, there is a clear connection between the sacrifice of the Rooster and the making of fire, its kindling (cf., for example, Latvian and Russian data on the sacrifice of the Rooster to propitiate the goose barn, which is in charge of the fire under the barn).
Like the sun, the Rooster is also associated with the underworld. IN Ancient Greece The rooster undoubtedly also acted as a chthonic bird; it was dedicated to Asclepius as an image of the healing death-rebirth. At the same time, the opposition of roosters by color turns out to be functionally significant: if a light, red Rooster is associated with the sun, fire, then a black Rooster is associated with water, underworld(cf. the ritual burying of the Rooster in the ground) and symbolizes death, God's judgment, evil. So, Kozma of Prague in the "Czech Chronicle" (11-12 centuries) reports on the custom of going to sources and strangling black Roosters and black hens with the simultaneous invocation of the devil; back in the 19th century. the custom was kept to drown Roosters and hens in ponds on St. Fate's day. The Russian ritual of sacrificing a black Rooster buried alive in the ground is also known, and the custom of keeping black Roosters and other animals (for example, cats) of black color at water mills, this color was considered especially kind to the spirit of water. The theme of the Rooster also arises in connection with the image of the fire bird (with the features of a dragon) Rarog (Rarashek), which is born from an egg laid black chicken. The participation of the Rooster in the realm of life, light, and in the realm of death, darkness makes this image capable of modeling the entire complex of life - death - a new birth. This is also facilitated by mythopoetic ideas about the Rooster as twice born, which, in particular, is often emphasized in the riddles about the Rooster: “Born twice, never baptized, he sang, but died - they didn’t bury,” etc. The idea of ​​dual nature or, at least, the paradox of the Rooster is also reflected in other riddles (“Not a king, but in a crown”, “I have a crest - I don’t use it, I have spurs - I don’t ride”, etc.). Associated with life and death, the Rooster symbolizes fertility, primarily in its productive aspect. The rooster is one of the key symbols of sexual potency (cf. in this regard, the "rooster" designations of the genital member in relation to the "chicken" designations of the female genital organ, as well as the idea of ​​the Rooster as a symbol of lust, existing in a number of traditions). Among the southern Slavs, Hungarians and other nations, the groom during the wedding ceremony often carries a live Rooster or his image. One of the manifestations life force The rooster is also its exceptional militancy, which is reflected in folklore, symbolism and emblematics (in particular, in heraldry). Arabic and Turkic sources invariably endow the ideal military leader with the courage of the Rooster. The correlation of the qualities of the Rooster and the person receives a certain support in the fairly common motif of the shapeshifting of the Rooster. (cf .. for example, Afanasiev Nos. 251-252). The Svans believed that the souls of men and women, after death, respectively, move into a Rooster and a chicken. For some Indian tribes of Central America, P. is on the gual, with which the life of a person is mysteriously connected; the death of a rooster entailed the death of a person under his care.
In the New Testament, the image of the Rooster has the symbolic meaning of a certain decisive edge (cf. Matt. 26:34:74-75; Mk 13:35). The rooster, in accordance with the gospel motif, becomes the emblem of St. Peter, a sign of repentance (in another interpretation, the Rooster is the messenger of the devil who tempted Peter). Sometimes the image of the Rooster is interpreted as a symbol of the true preacher of the Gospel. Among the Gnostics, the Rooster was considered the image of Phronesis, foresight, insight, wakefulness as emanations of the Logos. The rooster on the column was interpreted by the Gnostics as the Rooster of Abraxas. In Japan, it is believed that the Rooster prepares the heart of a pious believer for purification and reverence.
The idea of ​​the Rooster as a symbol of vigilance and wakefulness of the spirit turns into Renaissance and Baroque emblems (a girl with a Rooster is a detail that emphasizes the military virtues of the city guard in Rembrandt's Night Watch). In rural and urban arts and crafts (wooden carving, embroidery, pottery, ritual cookies, etc., a more ancient interpretation of the image of the Rooster as a symbol of the SUN of the masculine principle, an apotropic sacrifice, in a grotesque reduction - erotic attraction is also developing. images of the Rooster who found a pearl grain found up to the 18th century.In French political heraldry (" Gallic Rooster”), the motif comes from the mythological ideas of the tribal society. IN fine arts 20th century The rooster serves as the embodiment of the national, "Gallic" beginning (tapestry by J. Lurs), aggressive virility (series "Woman and the Rooster" by B. Buffet), "apocalyptic" tragedies of the modern" history of the Rooster in the works of N. Goncharova ("Mystical images of war" 1914 ), Yugoslav artist I. Generalic ("The Crucified Rooster").

The rooster, the crow of the daylight, loudly and joyfully singing its praise at the first glimpses of dawn, is naturally an emblem of the sun, light and spiritual rebirth after the scorching darkness of the night. In Europe, the rooster symbolizes such commendable qualities as vigilance, courage, courage and reliability, and in China, nobility and generosity are added to them. Ordinating only with these values, we would get a portrait of an ideal man, if it were not for the arrogance, arrogance, cockiness and lustfulness that are also inherent in our striated swarm. All these tails, however, only give the ero portrait more life. It is enough to look at them from a different angle of view so that shortcomings can easily turn into virtues: arrogance and arrogance ¬ into arrogance, cockiness ¬ into militancy, and lustfulness ¬ Into irresistible male sexuality and attractiveness.
In mythology, the rooster symbolizes a reliable vigilant guardian, a fearless fighter against the forces of evil and darkness.
The solar warrior is armed literally from nor to the head, because on the norax the nero has sharp spurs, on the head there is a red combat helmet with a rib, and instead of a sword there is a smashing beak. Acting at the forefront of the luminous host, as if encouraging himself, he flaps his wings on the sides and utters a loud battle cry, upon hearing which the evil spirits, without even accepting the battle, turn into a panicked frenzy. frightened ghosts hasten to scatter in the wind, grubby devils dive into a still pool in a crowd, and vampires and ghouls fussily pack into robes.
A vigilant and brave warrior, endowed with a rare gift of foresight, being lifted to the roof and planted on a spoke or spire, turns into an ideal watchman. The Golden Cockerel-Fluer from Pushkin's fairy tale regularly showed Tsar Dodon that dangerous direction from which one should expect "... Either gaining strength of war, or another unexpected misfortune." A rooster with a golden crest from Scandinavian myths reliably guarded Bivrest, a rainbow bridge that connected the earth with the devils of hogs.
Ares, the Greek warrior of war, coming to a secret meeting with the enchantress Aphrodite, put on guard his servant of Alectrion, so that he would wake up the lovers before morning. Once Alektryon overslept, and the enraged Ares turned ero into a rooster, rightly believing that in this guise a negligent servant would perform his duties much better. In addition to Ares, the solar bird faithfully served Apollo, Athena, Apis, repMecy, Asclepius and other ancient forests.
In Chinese mythology, a three-legged rooster with golden feathers, sitting on a high Fusang world tree in the Tanry valley, is considered a symbol of the yang ¬ masculine principle in the universe. The miracle rooster cries three times to the whole Celestial Empire: the first time when the sun takes a morning bath in the waters of the ocean; the second time when the luminary reaches the zenith, and the third time at sunset. The golden rooster on the peach tree from the Taodushan ropa is the first to respond to the ero cry, and then all the other roosters of the earth pick up their loud song. IN Indian myths The “rooster king” acts as an analogue of the golden rooster, the ancestor, who controls the chorus of earthly roosters from the top of the magical jambu tree growing on the middle mainland of Jambudvipa.
Not all mythical roosters are so good. Only the sacred white and golden solar birds are absolutely flawless, but the motley one has a dubious reputation. The red rooster, as a symbol of fire, is rather dangerous. “Let the rooster go” means setting fire, and such deeds are hardly done with good intentions. There is nothing to say about the black rooster - the gloomy coloring itself reveals in him a servant of Satan. Black roosters are kept in the household only by witches and sorcerers, and the Georgian evil spirits Kudiani ride on them and do dirty deeds. Even black-skinned nerps are afraid of black-finned kochets, fearing dark sorcery on their part.
The second group of the unreliable includes the so-called "krivtsy" - birds that have gone astray from the true path. As if having gone crazy, they begin to bark at the top of their lungs at the most inopportune
for Toro, the time is in broad daylight or after midnight, confusing both people and spirits. Such schizophrenic roosters are immediately put under the knife by superstitious owners, since the singing of a krivets, in their opinion, portends trouble or someone's death.
Birds that have reached the age of 7 and 9 are also dangerous. In that old age the roosters allegedly start laying eggs for no apparent reason from Toro. The eggs are not simple, and not at all golden, but simply crappy, fraught with the embryo of a demonic being. According to Belarusian beliefs, an egg laid by an old rooster is carried by sorcerers under the arm on the left side.
If the sorcerer at the same time manages not to crush the ero during half a generation, then a house snake will hatch from the egg. The Lithuanians believed that in this way it was possible to bring out and tame the fiery serpent Aitvaras, capable of bringing a lot of money to the owner: If you wish, you can also take food. Worse than Bcero, if a bug-leafed swamp toad acts as a brood hen, then a monstrous basilisk with a cock's head, a toad's body and a snake's tail will hatch from a cock's egg, killing all living things with the poison of its terrifying look.
In pagan religion, roosters were often used as sacrifices. When sacrificing, it was necessary to strictly observe the color regime. White birds were sacrificed to the good forests. Ancient rivers, wanting to be healed of the disease, dedicated the white rooster to Asclepius, and the Lithuanians slaughtered the rooster for the glory of Vayzhrantas, in order to ensure a large harvest of flax. ralaron, the Ossetian forest of the Wind, should have been bestowed only with a red rooster, and chthonic (underground) forests with a black one. Evil spirits were also not averse to indulging in chicken, so the Slavs, trying to appease them, strangled black roosters for water, bannik and other evil spirits. French witches went out at night to the crossroads with a black rooster under their arm to offer their gift to Lucifer himself.
The rite of sacrificing a rooster for the sake of obtaining a rich harvest was widely practiced in antiquity, and in the Middle Ages, and even in modern times. In Castile and Alicia, for example, on the days of the Maslenitsa carnival, the “rooster of the king” was hung on a rope and solemnly hacked to death with a saber, accompanying the execution with the recitation of comic verses. In Germany, Slovakia and Bulgaria, the rooster, considered the embodiment of the spirit of bread, was decapitated with a sickle during the harvest festival. Streams of sacrificial blood of unfortunate birds were shed by both pagans and Christians, even despite the fact that in this religion the rooster symbolizes the sun, light and rebirth. Little Toro, in Christianity the rooster is associated with a preacher announcing the sunrise true faith, and the first morning prayer, which sounded in Catholic monasteries at dawn, was called "Gallicinium", i.e. "Rooster crow".
In the East, the attitude towards roosters is more consistent and humane. In Mithraism and Mazdaism, our roy, personifying the sun, was the main attribute of Sraosha, the son and messenger of the light Ahuramazda. ABOUT high status The fact that the scepters of the shahs and the wands of the priests (atravans) were often crowned with a precious firyrka of a rooster eloquently testifies to the solar bird in Iranian religion.
The rooster is also considered sacred in Shintoism. The temple bird enjoys absolute freedom here, while voluntarily fulfilling an honorable duty: like a Muslim muezzin, it calls the faithful to prayer with loud singing. earned the highest respect from the Japanese already ancient ancestor roosters, who managed to lure out of the dark grotto, hiding her bright face, the goddess of the sun Amaterasu, the lava of the Shinto pantheon and the progenitor of the Japanese emperors.
Taoists honor the rooster, but in Buddhism he got not the best best role. The emblem of the rooster, depicted inside the evil wheel of samsara, personifies earthly carnal desires, which do not allow a person to break out of the closed chain of rebirths that leads ero along the path of endless suffering.
Ancient iconography presents a whole gallery of images, one way or another connected with the rooster. Abraxas, the serpentine nostic lord of Heaven and time, is depicted with a cock's head on human body, and the Taoist "great single" bot Tayi, on the contrary, with a human head on a cock's torso. The Freerian Bohr of the young moon Men, in the guise of a child, rides on a rooster. The militancy of the Hindu bora of war Skanda is emphasized by the emblem of the rooster on the ero banner. The Lithuanian boveta looks the most original and even funny. Veiopathis is two-faced, like the Roman Janus, and winged, like the Greek Nike; ero's arms are spread apart, mouths are wide open, and a rooster sits on the head.
In Christian iconography, the rooster became the emblem of the renunciation and repentance of the Apostle Peter. All four evangelists unanimously told about the reason for such symbolism. As follows from their notes, Christ revealed to his faithful disciple that on the night after the Last Supper, Peter will have time to renounce Hero three times, "before the rooster crows." That's how it all happened. When Christ was captured and delivered to the high priest Caiaphas, the apostle not only denied his teacher three times, but also swore that he did not know ero. At dawn, when the rooster crowed, Peter remembered the prophecy of Jesus and burst into tears of repentance. Since then, the rooster has become an invariable attribute of ero and a constant reproach.
Despite the fact that the pious Herald of the Dawn belonged as an attribute to other saints - fallunus and Witt, In Christian alleric art, the rooster sometimes personified one of the seven mortals - Lust.
In Chinese aerology, the rooster is one of a dozen spirit symbols of the animal cycle of the chronology, collectively referred to as "Shier Zhi" "12 Earthly Branches". According to Eastern horoscopes, a person born in the genus of a rooster is brave, monadean, conservative and always cuts the truth. But he shouldn’t cut Koro, because these are roosters, and chicken will have to be abandoned - for Hero this is a taboo. You should not anger the spirit of the patron, thoughtlessly waiting for the Toro moment until the roasted rooster pecks. Painfully, and in the most inappropriate place.
In the emblematics of France, the rooster settled a long time ago. Even the ancient Romans nicknamed the distant ancestors of the French "ralami"<петухами») за их вспыльчивый и задиристый характер. Меткое прозвище прижилось и, по¬види¬мому, даже понравилось ero обладателям, а впоследствии французский король Карл VIII (1483¬1498) утвердил изображение петуха¬rаллуса в качестве официальной rосударственной эмблемы. Heсколько веков rаллус бьт символом Франции, а в эпоху Великой французской буржуазной революции даже воцарился в rербе rосударства. Правда, ненадолrо. Haполеон Бонапарт, реставрировав монapхию, променял ero на птицу более высокoro полета ¬ на императорскоrо орла.
Since then, the rating of this national emblem has dropped significantly. In the twentieth century, the allus was often depicted as a caricature, ridiculing the adventurism, arrogance, cockiness and exorbitant conceit of French politicians. But in our time, he found a more worthy application - the rooster allus suddenly found itself in sports, turning into the emblem of the National Olympic Committee of France.
In classical rhetoric, the rooster symbolizes militancy and courage. Courage, determination and readiness for battle are demonstrated by a cheerfully marching red rooster in the historical coat of arms of Wallonia, and the ero African counterpart from the modern coat of Kenya not only Marches like a soldier, but also quite unequivocally brandishes a hatchet.
In Russian city emblems, they are not a militant, but a peaceful “speaking” emblem (for example, in the emblem of the river Petushka).

According to the Eastern calendar, 2017 is the year of the Fire Rooster. People from all over the world believe that a certain eastern sign affects their destinies in different ways. We decided to plunge into history and see what role the rooster played in the life of our ancestors.

Rooster in the beliefs of the Slavs

Both the eastern and southern Slavs were afraid of the cock crow at an inopportune time (such roosters were called "krivtsi", "mamnitsy").
Hearing such a cry - for example, after midnight - a quick death may await; perhaps the rooster lures him into the street to cause harm, and in order to drive the bird away, it was necessary to throw burning coal out of the house or shoot through the window. A rooster singing in the night can chase a devil or a brownie, and when a rooster cries, it was necessary to roll over to the other side in a dream.

The Serbs believed that a rooster should not be kept in the house for a long time: it can turn into a demon or bring trouble to the owner. The rooster, after living in the house for seven years, lays an ominous egg, from which hatches a small unclean creature that takes the form of a cat, a spark, a chicken, or a little man. For three years, it fulfills all the desires of the owner, and then takes his soul.
The Russian ritual of sacrificing a black rooster buried alive in the ground is known.

Rooster in Komi myths

For the Komi peoples, the rooster personified the shaman. He could penetrate the earth and heaven, control the cosmic elements and visit the afterlife. Fire did not take him, since he himself is in some sense fire (he has a fiery crest), and therefore the rooster seen on the roof foreshadowed a fire in the house. In Komi myths, a rooster falls into a well and returns unharmed, drives away evil spirits and sorcerers, and eats bears, wolves, and foxes. And the rooster is also a symbol of an imminent marriage: the expression “the morning rooster marks the time” meant that the girl would soon get married.

Bulgarian "rooster day"

The ancient Bulgarian holiday "Petlovden" ("Day of the Rooster"), which is celebrated on February 2, was once a day of youthful initiation, when a boy becomes a man in the eyes of the community. On this day, the walls in the house are whitewashed, the villagers put on white clothes and slaughter a specially prepared rooster. Cock's blood is smeared on the faces of the boys, the fence of their house, and it is also used to draw a special barrier line between the house and the street. To top it off, the cock's head is planted on the fence with its beak out, and a ritual dish is prepared from the rooster, which is eaten by relatives. Sometimes they even make a festive banner, decorated with rooster feathers. Now this holiday has turned into just a plentiful holiday dinner with chicken.

Rooster-soul of the Indians

In the beliefs of the Indians of South America, the rooster occupies a special place. It is believed that a person has several mystical companions - these are parts of the soul that lives separately from a person in any guise. The more such companion spirits a person has, the more powerful he is - strong sorcerers can have more than a dozen of them, and all of them take the form of predatory animals or birds. And an ordinary person can have only one such spirit companion - and most often it is a rooster: his death entailed the death of a person.

Rooster in Ancient Greece

The rooster was considered by the ancient Greeks as a symbol both powerful and disturbing - it is no coincidence that the red rooster was associated with the sun god Phoebus, and the black one was sacrificed to the god of Hades Hades. Of course, he was a symbol of the Sun and fire, and therefore the solar god Apollo and Zeus, who personified the morning dawn, were often depicted with him. But his militancy and red crest, associated with bloody battles, makes him an attribute of the god of war Ares - the ancient Greeks often staged cockfights to inspire warriors going to battle. The symbolism of the resurrection from the dead was also associated with the rooster - it accompanies Persephone, who spends most of her time with her husband in the kingdom of the dead, and Asclepius, the healer god. The convalescent was supposed to sacrifice a black rooster to Asclepius; Socrates whispered before his death: "Crito, we owe Asclepius a rooster."

The Greeks believed that the rooster helped Leto, the mother of Artemis and Apollo, in difficult childbirth, so it was customary to keep the rooster with a woman in labor to facilitate childbirth.

Rooster in China

The rooster is one of the twelve symbolic animals that make up the Chinese zodiac. The crest on his head means a literary gift, and the red color corresponds to sunset and autumn. Cocks with a large comb were especially loved to give to officials, since the rooster (in Chinese "kunchi") crows (in Chinese "min"), and "kun-min" means "honor and respect", in addition, the comb (kuan) in Chinese means official. In China, honor and respect for roosters were given in full measure - even on imperial robes a rooster (three-fingered, symbolizing Yang, masculinity, warmth and life) is depicted. Out of respect, the rooster is not eaten by the Chinese. But, on the New Year's table, fragrant green tea can take center stage. For example, delicate and refreshing Oriental Temple loose leaf tea from Lipton's new collection of tea discoveries.

Rooster for Buddhists

Another popular interpretation of the image of the rooster associates it with sexuality, fertilization and lust. For Buddhists, a rooster, along with a pig and a snake, stand at the center of the wheel of samsara, representing the sensual desires and pride that keep a person in the circle of birth and death.

Rooster among northern peoples

This bird plays a special role among the Scandinavians, Celts, Germans - the northern peoples consider it a powerful and rather sinister bird, a messenger of hell. Among the Scandinavians, the rooster is the bird of the underworld, its cry resurrects the heroes of Valhalla for the last decisive battle. The Celts also considered the rooster to be the messenger of the underworld: it controls souls, calls the dead to battle, and warns the gods of danger. In North Germanic mythology, a golden-crested rooster guards the rainbow bridge leading to the abode of the gods.

Cockfighting in Bali

The most important Bali tradition of cockfighting was the occasion for anthropologist Clifford Geertz's textbook Deep Game: Notes on Balinese Cockfighting, which concludes that the rooster in Bali represents its owner, and thus cockfighting is a playful fight between people. , which prevent real wars between villages or communities: "You stir up enmity and rivalry between village and kindred groups, but in a 'playful' way." The rooster for the Balinese is an understandable metaphor for himself, and the best occasion for examples: the language of the male part of the Bali population is saturated with images from the rooster sphere, and comparing a man with a rooster is the best of comparisons.

Since ancient times, birds and animals have personified certain forces of nature, so people endowed them with a symbolic meaning. Sacred birds adorn the platbands of houses, and amulets in the form of birds are considered the most powerful.


Images of roosters and hens are especially common. They are usually located in pairs in the center of the cornice board of the casing and turned their heads to each other, often there is a tree between them, which indicates the traditional symbolism of the composition. Sometimes these images are given very realistically, especially of a rooster: with a comb, a beard and a magnificent tail.





The symbolism of ethnographic lighting fixtures is interesting. The sun was often depicted on the lights, inside of which they painted a rooster. The rooster is a stable symbol of dawn, sunrise and fire, more precisely, a fire with its glow (“let a red rooster go”). The rooster was also painted on candlesticks next to the sun.




Birds were of no less, if not more, importance for humans as protectors from all kinds of evil spirits. Perhaps the most famous "deliverer" is the rooster. This quality of his is repeatedly sung in folklore, and is often played up in fiction. In M. Bulgakov, N. Gogol and many other writers, the predawn crow of a rooster makes evil spirits disappear.

The same moment beats J.R.R. Tolkien. During the assault on Minas Tirith, even the supreme Nazgul was powerless against the crow of a rooster. According to folk legends, witches during the Sabbaths with the first crow of the rooster were supposed to return home.


One of the main sense organs in humans is vision. Deprived of the ability to see, he feels, to put it mildly, uncomfortable. Perhaps that is why the night of all the peoples of the world is at the mercy of all kinds of evil spirits. The night, and with it the undead, is driven away by the dawn. It is not surprising that the bird that heralds the sunrise (the third roosters) in the human imagination was itself endowed with great possibilities.

The rooster has become a sacred or at least respected bird among many peoples. Moreover, he was revered primarily as a harbinger of the sunrise.


In ancient Greece, it was associated with the deities of the underworld. He was an attribute of Persephone, who was forced to spend a third of the year with her husband in Hades. The goddess every spring came out of the underground darkness into the light, and the rooster proclaimed the light every morning. He was the messenger of light among the Persians, a symbol of abundance and the personification of the sun. In general, in most mythological traditions, the rooster was associated with the gods of the morning dawn, the sun, light, heavenly fire - Aurora, Helios, Mithra, Ahuramazda, etc.


Interestingly, he is not only the herald of the sun, but also its guide in the annual and daily cycles. So, in China, this bird accompanies the sun on its way through the tenth "house" of the Chinese zodiac (Capricorn) and through the fifth - seventh hours in the afternoon. Among the ancient Jews, the rooster was a symbol of the third watch of the night - from midnight to dawn. It was believed that he was as vigilant and all-seeing as the sun, so in ancient Rome he was widely used in divination and weather forecasting.


Images of a rooster as a guardian from all kinds of evil forces were placed on the roofs of houses, weather vanes, and chests.


In China, a red rooster is placed on the walls of the house as a talisman against fire. The rooster is also associated with the symbolism of the resurrection from the dead, the eternal rebirth of life.


In ancient Greece, he was also dedicated to Asclepius as an image of a healing death-rebirth. In Rome, this bird symbolized January - the month of the beginning of the new year and the awakening of nature.

The black rooster was associated with water, the underworld, personified death and evil. Hence the use of black roosters and hens for magical purposes.

The “normal” rooster was the best way to drive out demons and other evil spirits. For this purpose, it could be brought, for example, to a newborn or to a new home. In Christianity, the rooster has also become a symbol of light. It was often placed on the spiers of churches.


Images of a rooster were found on coffins - in the darkness of death, he was supposed to announce the morning of the resurrection. Finally, the rooster was a bird of fertility and harvest, as well as sexual potency. Among the southern Slavs, Hungarians and some other peoples, the groom during the wedding often wore a live bird or its image.

Among a number of Indian tribes of Central America, the rooster was considered an important nagual (patron spirit), with which human life is connected. The death of a rooster entailed the death of his ward (Myths of the peoples of the world, 1980-1982; Gattiker, Gattiker, 1989).


The rooster played an important role in the beliefs of the ancient Slavs. The Western Slavs honored him as the bird of Svyatovit (Vagurina, 1998). In Ukraine, it was believed that the rooster is the best amulet in the household. In his absence, Satan will surely appear. Even Chumaks, going on a journey, took the bird with them. Carved or tin figurines of roosters were often installed in cemeteries so that they “keep at bay” the dead and prevent them from getting up from their graves. And of course, the rooster is the messenger of the sun and light. According to one of the legends, he called on the sunlight in the morning, like a bird of the sun god. (Metropolitan Hilarion, 1994; Skurativsky, 1998). Apparently, in ancient times, keeping a rooster on the estate had a double meaning: both as a talisman against evil spirits, and for magical purposes - he called on the sun. He also needed help to come to the people, just like spring.


Roosters were also used for healing. In the Voronezh province, there was an interesting custom: if a child screamed for a long time at night, the mother wrapped him in a hem and carried him to the chicken coop to heal. She bathed him under a perch, saying: “Zorya-Zorenka, red maiden! Take your krixu, give us a dream” (Vagurina, 1998).


Belief in the extraordinary power of the cock's cry is well illustrated by the legend recorded by I. Franko. Seven brothers-princes before their death wanted to build a church in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, where they were supposed to be buried. But no matter how much it was built during the day, at night the masonry fell into the ground. Then the older brother ordered to build a golden ball, in which they placed a live rooster. When the ball was attached to the top of the tower, the rooster crowed, and she herself ascended from the ground all the way to the sky (Skurativsky, 1998).


The rooster is a pugnacious bird. No wonder he also became a symbol of combativeness and courage. Even the ancient Greeks used cockfights to "ignite" their soldiers. The Danes always kept two roosters during the war. One - as an "alarm clock", the second - to inspire the soldiers to fight. The Germans also had a rooster with them to stimulate vigilance (Gattiker and Gattiker, 1989).


Due to its great abilities and connections with a variety of deities, the rooster was a universal bird for sacrifices, often used in ritual and magical actions. Sacrifices could be made for a variety of purposes - to propitiate the gods and the forces of nature, to prevent illness and accidents, for a good harvest, when building a new house, etc. In Yugoslavia, the rooster and chicken were a symbol of marital unity, they were sacrificed by spouses (Gattiker, Gattiker, 1989).


At the same time, for the people themselves, there were many prohibitions on eating roosters and even chickens. Indeed, they were considered the food of the gods. Some peoples had a complete ban on eating their meat, while others introduced significant restrictions. For example, the Celts in Britain did not eat chickens (Aleksandrovsky, 1998).

CHILDREN'S RIDDLES ABOUT THE COCK:
Not a king, but in a crown, not a hussar, but with spurs.
Not a rider, but with spurs,
Not a watchman, but wakes everyone up.
http://ecoethics.ru/old/b11a/ (ECOLOGICAL TRADITIONS, RELIGIOUS VIEWS OF SLAVIC AND OTHER PEOPLES. Volume 2. Birds

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Key property: sexuality, vigilance and rebirth.

Activity period: dawn.

A very ancient symbolic tradition is associated with the rooster. Since one rooster can fertilize and satisfy a whole brood of hens, then, above all, it is a symbol of sexuality.

The rooster is extremely vigilant towards the chickens in his yard. He constantly patrols his possessions, and many believe that this is a reminder that one who has embarked on the path of spiritual development should not relax. This is reflected in Scripture when the rooster crowed after Peter denied Jesus three times. The idea of ​​spiritual vigilance was proposed in the 6th century, when the idea arose that a rooster would announce the coming of the Day of Judgment with its crow.

Among the Gnostics, the rooster was the main incarnation of the god Abraxas. This is a god with a rooster's head and with snakes instead of legs, combining light and darkness. The rooster has always been a totem endowed with great power and wisdom. It is connected with the ancient past and provides landmarks indicating the position of our own forces in the future.

A rooster as a totem can even say that in one of your past lives you were associated with early Christianity or lived in ancient Greece. In Greek mythology, the rooster is associated with the love story between Ares and Aphrodite. According to legend, Ares instructed Alektraon (rooster) to protect Aphrodite. In addition, the rooster was the symbol of Cadmill in the Samothrace mysteries.

In traditional Chinese astrology, the rooster represents enthusiasm and humor. Roosters are considered very whimsical and colorful, but they have an open and straightforward approach to life. If your totem is a rooster, then it will teach you how to become more direct. The Rooster can activate a new sense of optimism and help you come to terms with your own quirks and oddities.

GENERAL VALUES

Rooster ( lat. gallus, gallus; French. chante-clair - lit. "singing dawn")

The basis of the mythological image of this bird in most (excluding the northern, Celtic and Scandinavian) traditions is its connection with the sun, like which the rooster "counts" the time, announcing the beginning of the day and drives away the night demons. The motif of a rooster, dispersing evil spirits with its cry and scaring away the dead, forms a culmination in a special type of fairy tales, and is constant in bylichki. But in general, the functions of the gods to whom the rooster is dedicated (Apollo, Mithra, Ahuramazda, Amaterasu, Hermes, Asclepius, Ares, etc.) are much wider. Being associated with the deities of the dawn and the sun, the rooster often acts as a herald (herald) of the sun (light) and its guide in the daily and annual cycles. Already in the Romanesque period, the image of a rooster was installed on the spiers of churches as a symbol of an animal announcing the arrival of daylight and calling for morning prayer.

But the rooster is not only associated with the sun, it is similar to it: it is an earthly image itself, a zoomorphic transformation of heavenly fire. Some data allow us to correlate the sacrifice of a rooster (in those ritual traditions where there is no prohibition on this, it is the rooster that is mainly used for this purpose) with its sunny, fiery nature. In many cases, the connection between the sacrifice of a rooster and the production of fire, its kindling, is clearly traced.

On the other hand, he is perceived (especially the black rooster) as a magical and sacrificial animal for the forces of the underworld. Positive symbolism, however, prevails, and the chicken, which with its clucking even drives away a lion and a basilisk, was represented on amulet gems, shields and graves. The cockscomb protects against delirium, the consumption of the seminal testicles of a rooster eroticizes the woman, and she will give birth to a boy; also the rooster drives away embarrassment in the darkness of the night and makes childbirth easier at close range.

Like the sun, the rooster is vigilant and all-seeing; the image of the guardian rooster was placed on the roofs of houses, poles, spiers, weathervanes, as well as on caskets, chests, reliquaries.

The quality of the watchman made the rooster an attribute of the deities (Athena, Demeter); his willingness to fight puts him next to the god of war Ares (Mars) and the winner of diseases Asclepius (the image of a healing death-rebirth); as the herald of the sun, he belongs to Apollo. In North Germanic mythology, a rooster guards a rainbow-bridge leading to the dwelling of the gods with a "golden crest". In East Asia, its symbolic meaning is similar. The rooster, the tenth sign of the Chinese astrological circle of animals, is inedible. A red rooster protects from fire, a white rooster drives away demons. The rooster is considered not only brave, but also kind-hearted, as he calls the hens to feed, to the grains and is a reliable "alarm clock" (in Japan, the rooster calls the goddess of the Sun from darkness). The Indian saga says that the “rooster king” sits on a tree in the legendary country of Yambudvipa and his cry calls on all the roosters of the earth to also give their voice. According to the Chinese symbolism of sounds, the rooster (kun-hee) that cries (min) is at the same time “kun-ming”, which means merit and glory. Officials are given a rooster with a large comb (kuan, also an official). A rooster with chickens symbolizes paternal care for children (in the narrow sense of sons). Cockfighting in South China, despite the official ban, is still a beloved, cruel folk pastime, during which now it is not the aggressiveness of the animal that comes to the fore, but the subject of gambling, despite its reverence in mysticism, where in some traditions the sun is considered belonging to the fiery rooster.

Like the sun, the rooster is also associated with the underworld. The rooster is also associated with the symbolism of the resurrection from the dead, the eternal rebirth of life. In this context, it is possible to explain the image of a rooster, sometimes placed on graves, on a cross, stone, etc., often in alternation with the image of the sun.

Associated with life and death, the rooster symbolizes fertility, primarily in its productive aspect. The rooster is one of the key symbols of sexual potency. Indicative in this regard are the “rooster” designations of the genital member (for example, the English slang “cock”) in relation to the “chicken” designations of the female genital organ, as well as the idea of ​​​​a rooster as a symbol of lust, existing in a number of traditions. The Vatican collection contains a Roman "phallic totem" - a bronze image of a rooster with a male torso and a penis head instead of a head, on the pedestal there is an inscription "Savior of the World". One of the manifestations of the vitality of the rooster is its exceptional militancy, which is reflected in folklore, symbolism and emblematics.

Negative symbolic meaning was given to the rooster in medieval Western countries (also the goat), as the embodiment of lust (when young men are pursued by the "cock demon") and passion for fighting. At the same time, he became the coat of arms of Gaul (France) and St. Galla, also St. Veit, associated with the rooster (sitting on a book) that adorns luxury watches because of its ability to "wake up".

The correlation of the qualities of a rooster and a person receives a well-known reinforcement in a fairly common motif of a werewolf rooster.

Opposition of roosters by color is functionally significant:

• a light, red rooster is associated with the sun, fire;
• black - with water, the underworld (cf. the ritual burying of a rooster in the ground).

Basic values:

• Sun, solar deities, dawn;
• male principle, activity, awakening;
• glory, superiority;
• boldness, bravery, courage;
• caution, vigilance, wakefulness, reliability;
• foresight;
• (spiritual) rebirth;
• fight, war, battle, fight, call to fight;
• pride, arrogance;
• lust;
• fire - red
• divine judgment;
• evil, witchcraft, devil, death - black rooster.

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Africa

Some African peoples consider him a soothsayer and possessor of secret knowledge and therefore associate him with sorcerers.

The Ancient East

Among the Sumerians, the god Nergal is sometimes depicted with the head of a rooster.

Egypt

The Egyptians mean vigilance and foresight.

Antiquity

Both among the Greeks and the Romans, it personifies vigilance and fighting spirit (readiness for battle). He is vigilant and all-seeing, like the sun; with his crowing, he heralds the coming of dawn and scares away the demons of the night. At the same time, the rooster (primarily black) undoubtedly acted as a chthonic bird, a traditional magical and sacrificial animal dedicated to underground forces.

Greece

Serves as an attribute or companion to many gods and goddesses of rebirth, warlike deities, messengers of the gods and gods of healing:

• Zeus;
• Apollo - as a messenger of the Sun;
• Asclepius (Aesculapius) - as an image of a healing death-rebirth (chthonic);
• Ares (Mars);
• Mercury;
• Priapus;
• Athens;
• Demeter;
• Persephone-Spring - as a symbol of the renewal of life;
• Attis - as a symbol of spring fertility;
• Lar - the custom of the ancient Romans to donate cockscombs to lares.

Sacrificed to Priapus or Asclepius, it should cause healing.

The predominance of the positive symbolism of the bird, with its singing, driving out even lions and basilisks, determined the popularity of the rooster as a symbol depicted on gems, amulets, weapons (protective) and, sometimes, on tombstones. The latter are represented by images of a rooster on a cross, stone, etc., often alternating with the image of the sun.

As an all-seeing (solar) bird, it was widely used in ancient Rome for divination and weather forecasting.

The symbol of the "third watch" - the length of time between midnight and dawn.

northern tradition

Among the Celts, the rooster is a chthonic image, an attribute of the underground gods. The usual messenger of the afterlife in both the Celtic and Northern European traditions. He governs souls, calls the dead to battle, warns the gods of danger.

In North Germanic mythology, the "Golden Crest" rooster guards the rainbow bridge leading to the abode of the gods.

Among the Scandinavians, the rooster is the bird of the underworld, and its cry resurrects the heroes of Valhalla for the last decisive battle.

Slavs

Among the Eastern Slavs, the rooster is the “double” of the owner when moving into a new house: it was believed that the move-in was possible if the rooster spent the night safely in it.

An ordinary sacrificial animal and a shore from evil spirits associated with the element of fire. In the Old Russian “Word of a certain Christ-lover” (final edition), pagan rites that existed after the introduction of Christianity, when “... koura rzhyut; and fire to pray to yourself, calling him a welder. In many cases, the connection between the sacrifice of a rooster and the production of fire, its kindling, is clearly traced.

The Russian ritual of sacrificing a black rooster buried alive in the ground is also known, and the custom of keeping black roosters and other animals (for example, cats) of black color at water mills, this color was considered especially kind to the spirit of water. Kozma of Prague in the "Czech Chronicle" (XI-XII centuries) reports on the custom of going to springs and strangling black roosters and chickens while invoking the devil; back in the 19th century. the custom was kept to drown roosters and hens in reservoirs on the day of Saint Feith.

A popular motif for ritual and wedding towels. Among the southern Slavs, Hungarians and other nations, the groom during the wedding ceremony often carries a live rooster or its image. In some Christmas divination, the rooster usually personifies the future groom.

As a security sign, the roof spike often adorned.

Near East

Arab and Turkic sources invariably endow the ideal military leader with the courage of a rooster.

Caucasus

The Svans believed that the souls of men and women after death, respectively, move into a rooster and a hen.

China

The tenth symbolic animal (the only bird among them) of the Twelve Earthly Branches, referring to the yang principle. "Accompanies" the sun on its way through the tenth "house" of the Chinese zodiac (Capricorn) and through the fifth - seventh hours in the afternoon. Corresponds to the dawn and the Pleiades. The crest (crown) on his head means a literary gift (a penchant for literature) and its red color corresponds to sunset and autumn. With its spurs and warlike nature, the rooster is a symbol of war and is associated with October, the month when military preparations were made.

According to ancient mythology, the red (fiery) rooster is the original form of the Sun, and the white one probably correlated with sunlight. Accordingly, the image of a red rooster is depicted on the walls of the house as a protection from fire, and a white one scares away demons, spirits and ghosts. A live rooster or its image is used as a talisman to ward off evil (evil spirits) in the funeral ceremony. (Out of respect) roosters are not eaten by the Chinese, but in some ceremonies the rooster is killed to emphasize the death of the old life and the purity of the new.

The rooster is a symbol of five Chinese virtues:

• dignity in war
• nobility in peacetime,
• bravery (daring, bravery)
• reliability (fidelity),
• generosity (from the habit of a rooster to offer the found food first to the chickens and only then eat it himself).

In homonymous Chinese symbolism, the rooster is associated with an official career and serves as a sign of "good fortune":

• the combination of the words "kun-chi" - a rooster, and "min" - crows, are consonant with the expression "kun-min" - honor and glory;
• the name of the cockscomb "kuan" also has the meaning "official";
• homophonous also with the word "luck".

Therefore, it is customary for officials to give a rooster with a huge comb.

The rooster also symbolizes:

• the delights of rural life - with a chicken in the garden;
• paternal guardianship over children (already - sons) - with chickens.

In the southern part of China, despite the official ban, cockfights are still a favorite mass spectacle.

Japan

According to the myths, a rooster once summoned Amaterasu from the cave where she hid her light.

A sacred animal symbolizing Shinto, standing on a drum and calling the people to pray at the temple. It is believed that the rooster prepares the heart of a pious believer for purification and veneration. Therefore, roosters in Shinto shrines are given complete freedom.

Mesoamerica

For some tribes of Central America, the rooster is the nagual with which human life is connected; the death of a rooster entails the death of a person "ward" to him.

Australia and Oceania

Australian Aborigines sometimes refer to the peewoo as "the bird that laughs at dawn".

Iran

Among the Iranians, the rooster is a good bird, often depicted on scepters.

In Mithraism, it is dedicated to Mithra as the god of the Sun.

Hinduism

In the Vedas, the rooster personifies "souls, the righteous, awaiting dawn."

The “rooster king”, seated on the tree of the Jambudvipa mainland, gives a signal with his singing to the singing of all other roosters in the world.

Buddhism

For Buddhists, a rooster, along with a pig and a snake, stand in the center of the wheel of samsara, representing sensual desires (carnal passion) and pride that keep a person in the circle of birth and death.

Judaism

The ancient Jews - a symbol of the third watch of the night - from midnight to dawn.

Gnosticism

Among the Gnostics, it serves as an image of Phronesis, foresight, insight, wakefulness as an emanation of the Logos.

A rooster with a spike of wheat in its beak is a vigilance that brings abundant fruit.

The rooster on the column was interpreted as the rooster of Abraxas - the demon of annual time and eons with the head of a rooster and snakes instead of legs.

Christianity

In the New Testament, the image of a rooster has the symbolic meaning of a certain decisive facet. St. Gregory turned the rooster into an allegory of the good shepherd, since he “beats his loins (repents) with his wings before he raises his voice.”

In subsequent Christian tradition, the symbolism of the rooster is predominantly positive:

• Christ is like the sun of faith, opening a new day and putting to flight the forces of darkness and evil;
• light (faith, truth, etc.);
• the personification of the true preacher of the Gospel, who tells about the coming of the Dawn-Christ;
• readiness to meet the morning dawn, awakening to life in Christ;
• vigilance and vigilance in relation to evil, confrontation with the darkness of spiritual ignorance;
• Christians fighting for Christ - cockfights;
• revival - in the scenes of the Passion;
• Passion of the Lord;
• human weakness and repentance - in the scenes with the apostle Peter.

Weathercocks in the form of a (gilded) rooster, "which were almost always placed on the spire of a high tower, belfry or town hall":

• greet the rising of the Sun-Christ;
• indicate where the forces of evil threaten from;
• they guard the bell towers in the hours of darkness, when the bells are silent.

Davi notes that “watching in this context should be interpreted in the sense of striving for the incorruptible and caring for the primacy of the spiritual: to be awakened and greet the Sun - Christ - even before his appearance in the east - which serves as a living image of enlightenment.”

The rooster is endowed with liberality, as it allows its laying hens to share food with it.

The rooster is often depicted in opposition to the lion.

Most often, the "reminder cock" is depicted in connection with the gospel motif of the denial of Peter, the scenes of which were liked to be depicted on early Christian sarcophagi. When Peter openly confesses his devotion to Jesus, Jesus answers him:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow until you deny me three times.”

In an alternative interpretation, the rooster is the messenger of the devil who tempted Peter. In this plot, the rooster serves as a symbol of renunciation, subsequent repentance, a warning against arrogance, etc. In addition, the rooster serves as a sign of Peter's preaching, papal activity.

The role of the rooster as a natural clock and its connection with St. Peter, contributed to the fact that the latter became the patron saint of watchmakers. the figure of a rooster often adorns watches. The clock of Strasbourg Cathedral is crowned with the figure of a rooster, which crows every time the figure of St. Peter appears among the apostles.

In the Middle Ages in the West, a negative aspect appears in the symbolism of the rooster, which is the embodiment of lust and pugnacity, characteristic of young people possessed by "cock demons".

• St. Apostle Peter is an allusion to his denial and repentance.
• St. Vitus - sitting on a book.

Islam

It is believed that the rooster was the giant bird seen by Muhammad in the First Sky of Paradise, crying: "Here is not God, but Allah."

Alchemy

The symbol of the volatile part of the substance of the stone is living, active, dry water.

In this sense, it is opposed to the image of the Fox:

“The Salt of the Stars is protected from corruption; and when necessary, he will make them fly like a bird, and the Rooster will devour the Fox, jump into the water and drown, and then, gaining life with the help of fire, will be torn apart by the Fox. Vasily Valentin "The Twelve Keys"

Magic

It is believed that:

• cockscomb protects against nightmares,
• eating cock testes eroticizes, and predisposes women to the birth of boys,
• “a cock dispersing clots of darkness near a woman in labor” encircles the exit of the fetus.

Heraldry

The "armored" animal of Gaul (France) and St. Galla (Gallunus). The rooster became the emblem of France thanks to the play on words of the Latin language, in which the word "gallus" means both "rooster" and "gall" - the ancient name of the inhabitants of France. It should be noted that the Gauls themselves willingly put the image of a rooster on their banners and weapons ...

Widespread on coats of arms and banners after the French Revolution and wide interest in antiquity in the con. XVIII century. Napoleon replaces it with an imperial eagle. The unofficial emblem of the July Revolution of 1830, which Marianne joined in the 60s of the same century, is an allegory of France. The gradual redistribution of everything positive to Marianne, and everything negative to the poor rooster (adventurism, cockiness, untenable political ambitions, arrogance and conceit) is largely due to the efforts of cartoonists.

De Gaulle introduced him to military medals as a symbol of the fighting spirit of France.

Emblem of the National Olympic Committee of France.

In the coat of arms of Kenya - vigilance and national revival, holds an ax in a raised paw< напоминание об антиколониальном восстании 1952 года и возможный намек о своих претензиях на спорные территории.

It can symbolize both military courage and religious enthusiasm.

• The beak (singing), comb, beard can stand out in color.
• Raised leg - readiness to take the fight.

Emblem

• personified Debauchery (Lust);
• Mercury - they are carrying his chariot.

“Only a vigilant rooster will crow out its appointed hour - Others will sing along, listening to the song, in their turn. And to the Lord of praise, a powerful chorus will burst out juicy Look, so that your mouth will not be silent in that singing. Hochberg. 1675

A rooster neglecting a diamond.

• One grain of barley would be more useful to me than all the precious stones on earth.
• To each his own.

A symbol of difference of opinions, desires and motives. "Often Fortune patronizes those who do not deserve it."

Rooster on the pipe.

• A symbol of vigilance and prudence both in peace and in war.

The trumpet is a symbol of war.

Rooster

• I am a servant of Apollo and Mars.

A symbol of vigilance and courage. “The ancients dedicated the rooster to Apollo, but for the reason that he proclaims with his cry the end of the day. He is the messenger of the day, and thanks to his insomnia, he is the watchman of the night. His courage is such that he would rather die than surrender. In this regard, Aristophanes called him the bird of Mars.

Rooster on a laurel tree

• I'm not in any danger

Security symbol. Protected from the attack of predators that live below. Also storms and thunderstorms, which, according to legend, do not touch the laurel.

Rooster

The symbol of a warrior gifted with unstoppable courage, well-armed for battle and constantly on alert. “The scallop serves him as a helmet or shishak, a sharp and hooked beak - an ax with which a warrior inflicts wounds on the enemy, even the legs of a rooster are armed with deadly weapons. Thus, the rooster is an example of a valiant warrior who does not seek salvation in flight, but bravely enters the fight.

Art

In rural and urban arts and crafts (wooden carving, embroidery, pottery, ceremonial cookies, etc.), the city of art is developing. an ancient interpretation of the image of a rooster as a symbol of the sun, masculinity, apotropaic sacrifice, erotic attraction (in grotesque reduction).

In the art of the Renaissance and Baroque, the "emblematic" conception of the rooster as a symbol of vigilance and wakefulness of the spirit prevails: a girl with a rooster is a detail that emphasizes the military virtues of the city guard in Rembrandt's Night Watch.

The ancient fable tradition is associated with those encountered up to the 18th century. images of a rooster who found a pearl grain.

"Gallic rooster" - the motif of French political symbols (and, in part, heraldry) goes back to the mythological ideas of tribal society.

In the fine arts of the XX century. the rooster is the epitome of:

• national, "Gallic" origin - tapestries by J. Lurs;
• aggressive virility - the series "Woman and Rooster" by B. Buffet;
• "apocalyptic" tragedies modern history:

- a rooster in the works of N. Goncharova ("Mystical Images of War", 1914), - ~ Yugoslav artist I. Generalich ("The Crucified Rooster").

The rooster attracts the attention of any person with its special bright beauty, pomp and pride. In various types of art, the image of this bird occupies one of the leading positions. His type due to the brightness of the color and proud posture becomes very advantageous. But attention to the rooster should not be explained only by its external characteristics.

In different cultures and religions, the rooster has been given special attention throughout the history of mankind. It has long been assigned various correspondences and symbols.

As a rule, it is considered a symbol of the sun and heavenly fire. This correspondence is rooted in mythology. Like the sun, he “counts the time”, proclaiming to the world about the coming of a new day with his cry. For people, the crowing of a rooster has always been a landmark of time, that is, a living clock, a natural awakening signal. The villagers who set out on their journey wait for the first roosters to sing in order to be blessed to set off on the road. After the second cock crow, the village women get up from their beds to knead bread and milk the cows. Together with the third roosters, the entire working population of the village is already going to their daily work.

In most cultures, the rooster is considered a zoomorphic transformation of the deity of the dawn and the sun. Most often, such deities were depicted with a cock's head. In many religions, the gods are accompanied by a rooster.

According to folk legends and beliefs, night ghosts, spirits and devils disappear with the first cock crow. The motif of a rooster, dispersing evil spirits with its voice, becomes the culmination of many folklore epics. Often, along with the sun, he was depicted on the cross as a protection from the other world.

In Scandinavian myths, the cock with its “golden comb” guarded the rainbow bridge leading from the human world to the abode of the gods.

In ancient Greece, the rooster served faithfully to many gods - Apollo, Athena, Hermes, Asclepius. According to one of the myths, Ares - the god of war - turned his servant into a rooster when he did not wake up Ares and his mistress Aphrodite in time during one of the secret dates. Since then, a servant in the guise of a rooster woke his master before morning.

A figurine of a cockerel adorns the spire of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. It was on this spot that during pagan times the idol of Svyatovit stood, whom the Czech tribes considered the main god. Wine, kalachi and, of course, a black rooster were sacrificed to the idol. Prague is a kind of capital of warlocks and magicians. For alchemists, the rooster has always been a symbol of the Sun. One of the elements of the astronomical clock at the Old Town Hall is also a golden rooster, which is located above the clock and before the chiming clock.

The rooster, as a guard, was depicted on roofs, weathercocks, spiers and poles. Here his image acted as a symbol of vigilance. Remember "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel" by A.S. Pushkin: the weather vane turns in the direction from which evil threatens. His images adorned chests and relics.

Among the Eastern Slavs, the rooster is the "double" of the owner. It was believed that moving into a new house is possible only if the rooster spent the night safely in it. Among the Slavs, a cockscomb protects people from nightmares. The rooster is alert and all-seeing. The image of a rooster on the walls protected the houses from possible fires.

Often the rooster was given the traits of a dragon. It is the black rooster that is associated with witchcraft, divination and evil spirits. For example, among the Western Slavs, such a monster as the Basilisk is known - with the head of a rooster, the eyes of a toad, the wings of a bat and the body of a dragon. It was believed that such a monster was born from a black rooster, whose age exceeded 7 years. The image of a black rooster in folklore and in many traditions of many nations is associated with water and the underworld. He was often sacrificed to the water man.

One of the manifestations of the rooster's vitality is its exceptional militancy. Pugnacity, enthusiasm, characteristic of the behavior of the rooster, make it the personification of the masculine principle, which is also very often reflected in folklore.

The progenitor of the domestic chicken and domestic rooster is the Banking chicken, a wild bird from the jungles of Southeast Asia and China, which turned out to be very easy to tame. They began to domesticate even before our era. The possession of a rooster was considered at that time a royal privilege, and these birds were used only as participants in cockfights. In 700 BC, from India and China, the fashion for owning roosters passed to Babylon, and then cockfights spread to Greece, Asia, and Sicily. Until the middle of the 19th century, cockfighting was one of the favorite pastimes among the noble and royal families in almost all of Europe. In Russia, thanks to Alexei Orlov, cockfights also gained their popularity. Church and police protests did little to stop the barbaric use of roosters.

The rooster in many cultures is a sacred bird of deities not only of the sun and war, but also of fertility. The rite of sacrificing a rooster for the sake of obtaining a rich harvest has been widely practiced since ancient times. And in Germany, Slovakia and Bulgaria, the rooster was considered the embodiment of the spirit of bread.

The rooster is a popular motif in ritual and wedding towels. Among the southern Slavs, Hungarians and other nations, the groom during the wedding ceremony often carries a live rooster or its image. In many fortune-telling, the rooster usually represents the future groom.

China should be noted separately, as a country in which the honor to the rooster is incredibly huge. The rooster represents five basic qualities: dignity, nobility, courage, reliability and generosity. Regarding the latter, it is interesting to note that the rooster offers the found food first to the hens and only then eats itself! In Chinese culture, the golden-feathered rooster is the tenth symbolic animal of the 12 earthly branches, related to the power of Yang, the masculine principle in the universe. A person born in the year of the rooster, according to the eastern horoscopes, is considered brave and strong. A live rooster or its image is used in funeral processions as a force that drives away evil spirits. Out of respect for roosters, they are not eaten, but, it is true, in some ceremonies they kill him to emphasize the death of the old life and the auspicious arrival of a new one. In addition, the rooster is considered in China a sign of “good luck”. It is customary for officials to give roosters or a figurine of a rooster with a huge comb with a wish of good luck in business.

In Buddhism, the rooster personifies sensual desires and serves as one of the three animals (along with the pig and the snake) that accompanies a person in the circle of birth and death.

In Christianity, the rooster is the bird of the Apostle Peter. With its triple cries, the rooster confirms the prophecy of Christ that Peter will deny his teacher three times (Matt. 26:34).

And now the rooster is considered a revered bird in many cultures.

The rooster is one of the symbols of France, it was once considered a sacred bird in Gaul. The word cock comes from the Latin word "gallus", which means both "cock" and "gall".

The ancient Romans called the Gauls of the ancient ancestors of the French for their quick-tempered and cocky character. The rooster is still the emblem of the National Olympic Committee of France. The flag of the Walloon (French-speaking) region of Belgium depicts a red rooster with its right leg raised, ready to fight, against a yellow background.

No matter how you feel about the symbolism, the rooster will become a proud and majestic decoration of your porcelain collection! The masters of porcelain manufactories paid sufficient attention to the image of the rooster in their art.

Svetlana Ponomareva - consultant at the Art Salon on Sadova Street in Karlovy Vary
Sources used: materials provided by manufacturers, websites meissen.com, lladro.com, robbeberking.com,
antique forums, scientific literature on topics related to the technology of production of porcelain and silverware
and with their manufacturers, in Russian, German and English