ChristStory Bestiary

CRANE

RESURRECTION & VIGILANCE

In many parts of the world cranes are revered as the messengers of the gods. Ancient Egyptian legend states that a two-headed crane was once seen flying over the Nile, announcing an age of joy and prosperity. Cranes are symbols of happiness, justice, diligence, purity, loyalty, piety, filial gratitude, beauty, and love. They are killers of snakes and so, in Christian symbolism, the enemies of Satan. Their migratory flight made them symbols of endurance and their wings were once used as talismans to protect travellers from exhaustion.

In China and Japan cranes are symbols of longevity and immortality. It was believed that these birds had a special breathing technique which enabled them to live for thousands of years. Humans tried to copy their breathing in order to lengthen their lives and possibly even obtain immortality. Some believe that a mysterious crane cult existed in China during the Chou and Han Dynasties. Cranes were steeds of the gods and in China humans on stilts performed the Crane Dance as an imitation of the crane's flight to the Isle of the Immortals. This bird's eggs were used in potions designed to bestow eternal life upon its drinkers. In Japan cards and paintings of cranes along with other symbols of longevity such as the turtle are suitable gifts for the aged.

In Greece the Crane Dance, modeled on the bird's mating ritual, is performed by humans as an expression of love. It is thought to have its origins in a long forgotten solar cult. After Theseus killed the Minotaur of King Minos, ending the annual sacrifice of young people in the Labyrinth, he danced the Crane Dance as an expression of joy. In many areas including Ancient Babylon, this bird's dance was believed to be divinely inspired and it was watched as a form of divination. In some countries ballerinas and loose women are called "cranes."

The crane's habit of standing on one leg led to the legend that at night the flock forms a circle around its king. Its loyal guards are said to hold a rock in one foot so that if they fall asleep the rock will fall on their other foot waking them up. This story has made the crane a symbol of vigilance. This bird's strange posture has also made it a symbol of contemplation, self-knowledge, and wisdom. It is said that human speech was inspired by that of the crane and that without his example we would not speak at all. In the West, the same one-legged stance which in the East gives the bird a reputation for contemplation and wisdom causes it to be a symbol of ignorance and clumsiness.

The return of the cranes to the northern regions each spring made them symbolic of the Resurrection. They were sacred to Demeter who renewed the earth each spring when her daughter Persephone was released from the underworld. In Ancient Greece the bird's southern migration marked the beginning of the fall plowing.

In the fall, cranes were thought to migrate to the land of the Pygmies believed to exist in India or somewhere near the source of the Nile. Every year their arrival led to bloody warfare as the 13-inch-tall Pygmies tried valiantly to defend their crops from the ravages of the cranes. These wars were a popular subject in classical art. Ovid's Metamorphoses mentions that the goddess Hera, enraged at the Pygmy queen, Gerana, changed her into a crane who was then, of course, attacked by her own subjects (Met. 6.90f). The Iliad compares the noisy Trojan warriors to shrieking cranes descending upon the silent Pygmy soldiers (the Greeks or Achaeans) in the following passage: "The Trojans came with cries and the din of war like wildfowl when the long hoarse cries of cranes sweep on against the sky and the great formations flee from winter's grim ungodly storms, flying in force, shrieking south to the ocean gulfs, speeding blood and death to the Pygmy warriors, launching at daybreak savage battle down upon their heads. But Achaea's armies came on strong in silence, breathing combat-fury, hearts ablaze to defend each other to the death" (Il3.3f Penguin Classics translated by Robert Fagles).

In India, the crane has a reputation for deceit. The treacherous and destructive Indian goddess, Balgalamukhis has the head of a crane. In the southern United States, the crane is an evil omen and the sight of one circling one's house three times is an indication that a family member will die soon.

There are many stories about the crane. In Native American legends, Grandfather Crane offers his long leg to fugitives as a bridge so they can flee across any rivers in their path. However, when their pursuers attempt to cross, he withdraws his leg-bridge causing them to fall into the water. The crane is said to trick fish into its hungry beak by offering to fly them to lakes where there are no fishermen.

In Ancient Greece the story of the Cranes of Ibycus became a symbol of the belief that murderers are always found out. According to this legend a poet named Ibycus was killed by a band of thieves near Corinth about 550 B.C. As he lay dying he spotted some cranes flying overhead and called upon them to bring his murderers to light. Shortly after the incident, while one of the thieves was enjoying the theater in Corinth, the cranes flew overhead compelling him to cry out, "Behold the avengers of Ibycus!" Investigation being made as to the meaning of his strange cry, the story was soon out and the murderers punished.

All scripture quotes are from the NKJV Bible unless otherwise indicated.