A Magpie for May
May. 31st, 2011 09:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wrenstarlingThis month, I chose the bird instead of letting it choose me. My wedding anniversary is this month, and the magpie is the bird I associate with my spouse. :) Sorry to come in just under the wire again, but it's been a hectic month for me!
Magpies are another of those birds that seem to draw attention in the form of superstition and stories around the world. In Europe, this popular (and oft varied) rhyme tells the meaning of the number of birds one sees:
"One for sorrow.
Two for joy.
Three for a girl.
Four for a boy.
Five for silver.
Six for gold.
Seven for a secret never told.
Eight is a kiss.
Nine is a wish.
Ten is a chance never to be missed."
It is also considered important to show respect to the bird, unless it makes it clear, by meeting your eyes, that it respects you.
While much of the mythology suggests the bird is "bad luck", from the bird's point of view, it's quite lucky indeed, respected and feared by its most dangerous predator.
It is certainly far from universally reviled, though. There is a Chinese legend in which magpies make a bridge for two star-crossed lovers to meet year after year, and the birds are considered a symbol for both joy and marriage.
These birds, like most of those around which much lore has sprung up, are highly intelligent. However, perhaps the most important feature of magpies is their fearlessness, which doesn’t get them in trouble nearly as often as it should. They are natural risk-takers, though not without reason, and they thrive on the constant change life provides. These are playful, charming birds of the earth, little interested in matters of spirituality; they live in the here and now. They do have a love of shiny things. They are not irresponsible, however; they are builders who assemble a complete domed nest rather than the more common halfway-done affair, and therefore also speak to us of the importance of completing things and following through.
Magpies are beautiful, brazen birds that bring with them a unique blend of luck, courage, and responsibility, which is a rather nice thing to associate with my own beloved. :)
Magpies are another of those birds that seem to draw attention in the form of superstition and stories around the world. In Europe, this popular (and oft varied) rhyme tells the meaning of the number of birds one sees:
"One for sorrow.
Two for joy.
Three for a girl.
Four for a boy.
Five for silver.
Six for gold.
Seven for a secret never told.
Eight is a kiss.
Nine is a wish.
Ten is a chance never to be missed."
It is also considered important to show respect to the bird, unless it makes it clear, by meeting your eyes, that it respects you.
While much of the mythology suggests the bird is "bad luck", from the bird's point of view, it's quite lucky indeed, respected and feared by its most dangerous predator.
It is certainly far from universally reviled, though. There is a Chinese legend in which magpies make a bridge for two star-crossed lovers to meet year after year, and the birds are considered a symbol for both joy and marriage.
These birds, like most of those around which much lore has sprung up, are highly intelligent. However, perhaps the most important feature of magpies is their fearlessness, which doesn’t get them in trouble nearly as often as it should. They are natural risk-takers, though not without reason, and they thrive on the constant change life provides. These are playful, charming birds of the earth, little interested in matters of spirituality; they live in the here and now. They do have a love of shiny things. They are not irresponsible, however; they are builders who assemble a complete domed nest rather than the more common halfway-done affair, and therefore also speak to us of the importance of completing things and following through.
Magpies are beautiful, brazen birds that bring with them a unique blend of luck, courage, and responsibility, which is a rather nice thing to associate with my own beloved. :)
no subject
Date: 2011-05-31 04:31 pm (UTC)My brain is a magpie - it hoards useless but shiny bits of information ;-)
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Date: 2011-05-31 05:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-31 07:43 pm (UTC)Also, nice peacock ;-)
I just sent a hat I made to a fellow radiation-therapy patient who's losing his hair; the hat is decorated with a cockade containing a lovely peacock feather. ("Gaudy, but in a tasteful way.")
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Date: 2011-06-01 12:49 pm (UTC)I hope he liked it! :)
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Date: 2011-06-01 06:27 pm (UTC)