According to Eastern calendar, 2017 is the year of the Fire Rooster. People from all over the world believe that a certain east sign affects their lives 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 - can expect quick death; 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. A rooster who has lived in the house for seven years lays a sinister egg, from which hatches a small unclean creature that takes the form of a cat, a spark, a chicken, or 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 South America the rooster has 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 at ordinary person there can be only one such spirit companion - and most often it is a rooster: its 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 dawn. But his militancy and the red crest associated with bloody battles, makes it an attribute of the god of war Ares - the ancient Greeks often staged cockfights to inspire warriors going to battle. The rooster was also associated with the symbolism of the resurrection from the dead - it accompanies Persephone, who most spending time with his spouse realm of the dead, and Asclepius, the god of healing. 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 New Year's table fragrant can take center stage green tea. For example, the delicate and refreshing Oriental Temple loose leaf tea from new collection of Lipton 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 - northern peoples they consider her a powerful and rather sinister bird, a messenger of hell. The Scandinavians have a rooster - a bird underworld, his 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.
Often, when decorating the interior, we use symbols and talismans borrowed from Feng Shui. Each figurine of an animal, fish or bird is a kind of activator that attracts a certain type of energy. The talismans of this ancient oriental teaching act as magnets. They attract what a person wants to have, in other words, what he lacks for a harmonious existence.
Rooster: what does this symbol mean in Feng Shui
One of the most common talismans in the teachings of Feng Shui are animals. These include: a toad, a dragon, an elephant, a turtle and, of course, a rooster - a symbol of the accumulation of wealth, attracting good luck and prosperity to the house. This talisman, inside which positive energy is enclosed, is a minimized copy of a real bird with a muscular chest, a bright crest and a chic tail.
Depending on the type of material from which the figurine is made, the rooster may have different meaning. A bird made of natural materials is able to bring good luck, wealth, career. It is worth noting that the rooster is a symbol of masculinity, a protector that protects the house from ill-wishers and natural disasters (in particular, from fire). As a talisman, the bird is most often placed on a flat surface or on a hill made of money.
How to Choose a Rooster in Feng Shui
To attract good luck and wealth, Feng Shui talismans are made from natural materials: metal, wood, clay, etc. Moreover, each such rooster will have its own symbolism.
A bird made of metal, climbing a metal slide, symbolizes the accumulation of wealth and good luck in the entrepreneurial field. It will be useful to have such a figurine for people who want to receive not only a good income, but also public recognition. It is believed that this bird is able to endow its owner with patience and composure.
In family life, the rooster is a symbol of marital fidelity. Such a talisman in the house will protect against betrayal and help improve relations between partners.
A bird made of wood will bring comfort and peace to the house. With the help of such a talisman, you can increase the amount of positive energy in your home. The wooden rooster has a positive effect on the human psyche, helps to relax the body and restore strength.
A ceramic, porcelain or crystal rooster protects the house from ill-wishers. Such a talisman contributes to the transformation of negative energy into positive.
Where is the rooster located in the house?
Depending on the goal that a person wants to achieve with the help of his rooster talisman, he can place it in different areas of his apartment. For example, to achieve and accumulate wealth, a figurine is placed in the southeastern part of the room. If a person wants to achieve fame and fame, then his bird should be in the southern zone.
The rooster, located at the entrance to the house, symbolizes protection from ill-wishers. At the same time, he should look inside the dwelling, and not outside. The bird protecting family life from change, you can put in a closet.
How and to whom to give a rooster
The talisman of the accumulation of wealth, good luck and prosperity in the form of a rooster is great gift for all relatives and friends. But you also need to give it in the right way. The rooster, the symbol and meaning of which is directly related to wealth, is presented in a red opaque box. You can also choose an opaque bag and tie it with a red ribbon. Why this bright and saturated shade? The red color in Feng Shui symbolizes wealth and its multiplication, which coincides with the meaning of the talisman we have described.
The ancient Slavs treated the image of the rooster very respectfully and associated it with the Sun itself. We can safely say that the Slavs ancient Rus', as well as other peoples and tribes, the rooster was a sacred bird.
The rooster was revered fire symbol and sun symbol. As a symbol of fire, the rooster was revered, as it was associated with the hot Sun. First of all, he was still associated with the daylight and, of course, the god who was the personification or patron of the Sun - or. Why was the rooster given such an honor?
First of all, and there is no doubt about it, for the reason that the roosters announce the surroundings with the first rays of light. Those people who live in the village or have repeatedly visited villages and towns where chickens and roosters are kept on the farm are probably aware of this unusual feature of birds. As soon as the night expires and the time approaches closer to morning, at the very dawn, the roosters begin to make very loud crow cries. At the same time, roosters always try to climb as high as possible so that they are not only heard, but also seen as far as possible. If we explain this from the point of view of zoology, then with cries and defiant behavior, roosters declare their territory, show other roosters that they always guard their possessions, their chickens and offspring. Such a feature as the protection of their possessions is present in many animals, for example, bears leave deep notches on trees with their claws, cats mark territories with a special fragrant secret, and with the help of vocals, not only roosters and many other species of birds declare their territory, but and some animals, such as gibbons.
This feature of roosters, how to scream at the very dawn, warning the whole district that daylight is approaching, made them popular in the mythology and beliefs of the Slavs. Many folk tales, whose origins are observed in ancient myths Slavs, they tell that evil spirits or evil forces disappear with the crow of a rooster. As soon as the evil forces, which, according to fairy tales, crawl out at night to do various dirty tricks, hear a cock's cry, they immediately rush away, since it is this cry, like a natural alarm clock, that portends the sunrise. For this reason, the Slavs compared roosters with helpers of the Sun itself and the solar gods. Since roosters herald the sunrise, in ancient times they were called prophetic birds. It is impossible to deny such a possibility that it was the roosters that became the prototypes of the mythical bird of things that appeared later.
In addition to all of the above, it is also worth mentioning the comb on the head of a rooster. The crest on the rooster's head is a bright red wavy protrusion that looks very much like a flame of fire. Probably, this form of the crest on the bird, which heralds the sunrise, also to a large extent contributed to the fact that the rooster was given a special role in mythology also as the patron of fire. Worth remembering at least famous saying"let the red rooster go" (fire, set on fire).
The rooster was not only a symbol of the Sun, but even a talisman. Images of a rooster were placed on the roofs of houses and weathervanes. Such images, according to the beliefs of the Slavs, were supposed to protect the house from fire, since the rooster is its patron, from evil spirits, since the rooster is a symbol of the main enemy of evil spirits - the Sun, and could also protect the house throughout the night, since evil forces who are afraid of the cock crow will never come to the house, on the roof of which, like a guard, there is always a rooster. It is worth noting here that for the same reason, not only roosters were installed on the roofs, but also images of horses - skates (also), since the horses of the ancient Slavs had the same solar symbolism (the Sun, according to legend, moved across the sky in a horse team ). When building a house, the Slavs sacrificed and laid a black rooster under the house under construction. When moving to new house the rooster and the cat were the first to launch. All these rituals were aimed at protecting the house from fire and scaring away evil forces.
In addition, the rooster was also revered as fertility symbol. Due to the fact that the rooster always has a whole chicken coop, which constantly brings eggs to the owners or new chicks, the rooster is considered a real inseminator, which simply has no equal. A symbol of fertility, life, fire and the Sun - the rooster participated in many rituals of the pagans of ancient Rus'. Often, roosters became a ritual dish for the holidays in honor of the harvest. The rooster was also sacrificed and served on the table in the form of various dishes on the holidays of commemoration of the ancestors. Until now, the tradition has been preserved to cook for the commemoration without fail chicken soup. There is also information about such a ritual among the Slavs, when the deceased was taken out to the chicken coop for three days, so that for three days the rooster would sing the deceased, drive out everything bad from him, keep evil spirits away from his body and his soul, and, in the end, spend to another world.
Video. In the village: The rooster crows and ... lows
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Chickens were domesticated by man more than 4,000 years ago, and the rooster managed to leave a noticeable mark in the history and culture of mankind. We offer our readers 20 fun facts about the symbol of the coming year.
1. Russian word"rooster" comes from the verb "to sing". But the local population of Australia call the rooster "the bird that laughs at dawn." WITH French name birds "chanteclair" literally translates as "singing dawn".
2. Since ancient times, people have lived in sundial”, and not mechanical: they got up with the sunrise, but went to bed with its sunset. Therefore, the rooster was a kind of living alarm clock. Even the ancient Greeks believed that the crowing of a rooster begins the first hour of the day. “The first roosters”, “second”, “third”, “up to ... roosters” - they said in Rus'.
3. Russian peasants believed that the gates of heaven were closed at night, after which evil spirits got the full opportunity to harm a person. This belief was widespread not only in Rus', but also in Europe. With the first cock crow in the morning, the evil spirits leave for their unclean world. With the third cry, the action of all evil spirits ceases.
4. The crowing of the rooster announces to the world about the victory over the forces of evil. There is a legend connected with the famous roasted rooster. After the Resurrection of Christ, a Jewish girl came to her father and said that she had seen the resurrected Savior. The old Jew, a cautious man, did not believe it and answered his daughter: “Then he will be resurrected when the roasted rooster flies and sings.” And at the same moment the roasted rooster fell off the spit, flew and screamed.
5. IN Christian religion roosters were entrusted with the time of the end of the world. It was believed that the end of the world would come when the rooster did not crow its traditional "ka-ka-river".
6. The cry of the rooster left a mark in the Christian religion - “the rooster will not have time last time shout how Peter will deny Christ three times. It was the cock that became the symbol of the Apostle Peter, and then catholic church. Since the 9th century, by decree of the Pope, the spire of each church temple had to be crowned with the image of this bird - the emblem of the Apostle Peter. According to another version, the rooster on the spire of the church served as a reminder that "God's church watches over the souls of believers."
7. One of the oldest symbols of the capital of Latvia is the Golden Cockerel weather vane, installed on St. Peter's Church. He appeared on the church steeple in 1491. There were seven cockerels in the entire history of the temple. The latter ascended to the spire of the restored tower on August 21, 1970, at ten o'clock in the morning. In 2009, it was removed again, restored and put back on the spire.
8. IN Ancient Egypt roosters were kept in temples dedicated to the Sun, ranking birds as divine beings. Among the ancient Jews, the rooster was a symbol of the "third watch of the night."
9. During the Renaissance the name warlike people“Gauls” (lat. Galli - pl. from Latin Gallus) began to be associated with its Latin homonym “rooster” (gallus), which later became a symbol of France, taking the place of the “horse”, which since ancient times was the symbolic animal of the Gauls.
10. In the distant past, Greek soldiers, watching the fight of roosters, learned courage, stamina and perseverance. The rooster as a symbol of victory was depicted on the shields of warriors. In ancient Rome, more than 2 thousand years ago, cockfights were also popular. The courage and passion with which the roosters fought were set as an example for young legionnaires.
As far back as the 16th century, European travelers described cockfights on the islands of Java, Tahiti, Sumatra and Celebes. English schoolchildren in the 12th century, they had fun during the holidays with cock competitions, Indian rajas did not disdain these competitions.
11. The outcome of the battle was determined by the behavior of the roosters. There were sacred roosters in the army, who were given grain before the battle: if the birds pecked it with appetite, the troops went forward, if not, the generals did not expect anything good from the battle.
12. In the old days, the Chinese often stuck or painted on the door of the house the image of a red rooster, as a talisman against fire, during the celebration of the New Year. lunar calendar. This tradition has been preserved in our time only in the north-west of China, in the rural areas of Shaanxi province.
13. The worship of roosters led to the fact that 300 years ago, Yokohama chickens were bred in Japan, in which the tail length reached 7 meters or more. And the longer the tail feathers were, the more valuable the bird was considered.
14. The invasion of the Tatar-Mongols in Rus' also began with the crow of a rooster. Jan's novel "Batu" tells the story of how Subudai-Bagatur, one of the commanders of Genghis Khan, issued an order to the army: "In the morning, after the first cock crow, build up on a plain among the hills. I will move on the Uruses." Subudai always carried a rooster with him on campaigns, which was monitored by a special caretaker, and checked his internal biological clock with his cry.
15. Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov also used a rooster as an alarm clock. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the commander often took a rooster with him on a campaign. The first crowing of the cock raised the army to go on a campaign early in the morning.
16. In Germany, there is a monument to a rooster. In the 16th century, one of the German cities was besieged by a foreign army. The inhabitants, locked in the siege ring, began to starve. And then a cunning trick was invented - the rooster, which miraculously escaped the cauldron of soup, was allowed to walk along the top of the fortress wall. Seeing the bird, the invaders decided: since the rooster feels completely safe, it means that there are too many supplies in the city. Consequently, the siege could drag on for many months. The enemies left, the city was saved.
17. The Vatican has a bronze statue of a rooster with a male torso and a penis instead of a head. Something mysterious is written on the pedestal - "The Savior of the World."
18. September 9, 1783 at Versailles, a rooster in the company of a cat, a duck, and a ram took off at the first hot-air balloon Montgolfier brothers. The entire flight took about 8 minutes. During this time, the structure covered a distance of 3 kilometers. At an altitude of 500 m, the sphere broke through, but descended to the ground so smoothly that the animals were not injured.
19. The rooster is the symbol of France, the national hallmark of Portugal and Sri Lanka, its image is on the coats of arms of the states of Kenya and Trinidad and Tobago.
20. IN different countries roosters crow in the language spoken by the inhabitants: in Germany - “ki-ke-ri-ki”, in Sweden - “ku-ke-li-ku”, in Italy - “chi-ki-ri-chi”, in France - “ko-ko-ri-ko”, in Spain and the Czech Republic - “ki-ki-ri-ki”, in Poland - “ku-ku-ri-ku”, in Bulgaria and Romania - “ku-ku -ri-gu", in Japan - "ko-ke-kok-ko".
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 domain, and many believe that this is a reminder that those who embarked on the path spiritual development you can't relax. This was reflected in Holy 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 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")
At the core mythological image 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 night darkness and near facilitates childbirth.
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 his symbolic meaning similarly. 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. By Chinese symbols The sound of the rooster (kun-hee) that cries (min) is both "kun-min", 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 fun, during which now the object is not the aggressiveness of the animal, but the object gambling, despite its veneration in mysticism, where in some traditions the sun is considered to belong 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 life force rooster is also its exceptional militancy, which is reflected in folklore, symbolism and emblematics.
A negative symbolic meaning was attached to the rooster in medieval times. Western countries(also to the goat), as the embodiment of lust (when young men are pursued by the "cock demon") and a 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, 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 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 birds with their singing, even banishing 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. Ordinary Messenger 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
At Eastern Slavs the rooster is the “double” of the owner when moving into a new house: it was believed that the move 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 peoples, the groom during wedding ceremony often carries a live rooster or its image. In some Christmas divination the rooster usually represents the future groom.
As a security sign, it often adorned the roof spike.
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 signify death. old life and cleanliness 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:
- charms rural life- with 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, the roosters Shinto shrines 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 the 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 high tower, bell towers or town halls":
- 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 story 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 gigantic bird seen by Muhammad in the First Sky of Paradise, crying out: "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 a play on words Latin, 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.
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.
Rooster on the pipe.
- A symbol of vigilance and prudence both in peace and in war.
Rooster
- I am a servant of Apollo and Mars.
Rooster on a laurel tree
- I'm not in any danger
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 a 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:
