As a high-flying raptor, the hawk shares much of the symbolism of the eagle. It is associated with light, royalty, power, the sun, watchfulness, and the heavens. Many solar gods have the hawk as an attribute or messenger. Gods portrayed in the form of hawks or as being hawk-headed are almost always sun gods. Like the eagle, the true hawk was thought capable of staring directly into the sun.
In ancient Egypt, the hawk was considered a royal bird and a symbol of the soul (ba). Egyptians believed that the ba of a mummy walked the earth, visiting the body from time to time, until eventually being reunited with the resurrected body. The Egyptian sphinx is sometimes hawk-headed. According to Egyptian mythology Isis, in the shape of a hawk, fluttered above the body of her dead husband while she conceived Horus (the son who would avenge his death). Almos, the founder of Hungary, was believed to have been sired by a hawk named Turel while his mother, Emese, was dreaming.
In Greco-Roman mythology, the hawk is the 'swift messenger of Apollo,' and is associated with the sorceress, Circe. Aztecs also considered the hawk a messenger of the gods. Gayatri is the Hindu hawk who brought an intoxicating drink of immortality known as 'soma' from heaven. He is also a vehicle of Indra. Polynesians endowed the hawk with the powers of prophecy and healing. The Chinese associated this bird with war.
There are over 250 species of hawks around the world. Their tendency to seize prey with their sharp claws has caused them to be named after the Middle English word 'hafoc,' meaning "to grasp." The remarkable rapidity of their flight caused the Egyptians to make hawks the hieroglyphic emblem of the wind. Referring to the hawk's rapid annual southern migration, God put Job in his place by asking him, "Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, and spread its wings toward the south?" (Job 39:26). Most hawks prefer the wilderness to busy cities. So the Lord illustrated the destruction and desolation He was about to visit upon Edom by saying, "there also shall the hawks be gathered, every one with her mate" (Isa 34:15).
Because of the hawk's swiftness in darting down and grasping its prey, this raptor is a symbol of death, injustice, violence, and those people who prey upon the weak. In Christian symbolism this bird is the antithesis of the dove. However, Lactantius taught that at Christ's return "the dove shall be united with the hawk" (The Epitome of the Divine Institutes, Chapt. 72 - Early Church Fathers, Ante-Nicene).
According to Mosaic Law, hawks and other birds of prey are unclean and not to be eaten by Israelites (Lev. 11:16; Deu 14:15). Many early Christian teachers believed this rule was to teach God's people that they should not be united with predatory men and those who plundered the earnings of others (Epistle of Barnabas, Chapt. 10 - Spiritual Significance of the Precepts of Moses - Early Church Fathers, Antenicene; Clement of Alexandria - The Stromata, Or Miscellanies, Book 5, Chapt. 8 - Early Church Fathers, Ante-Nicene; Novatian, Chapt. 4 - Early Church Fathers, Antenicene). Thomas Aquinas taught that since the hawk assisted hunters in the sport known as hawking, it was a fit image of "those who assist the strong to prey on the poor" (Summa Theologica v. 2). In the Hymns & Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian, the devil is described as a hawk which pursued the sinful woman (figuratively a sparrow) who wept as she washed Christ's feet with her tears (Three Homilies; Luke 7:37-38).
In early Christian symbolism, the wild hawk represented evil; the tamed hawk signified the convert; and the hooded hawk symbolized the Christian hoping in the Light of Christ even though surrounded by the darkness of this earth.
The Lakota admire the hawk (Cetan) for its speed, endurance, perseverance, and sharp eyesight. The Shawnee tell the story of man named Waupee or White Hawk who captured and married the youngest daughter of a Star. They had a son together but the Star Maiden missed her family and, taking her son with her, ran back to her home in the sky. As he grew, the boy missed his father so much that Star told his daughter to take the child to visit Waupee and invite him to live with them in the heavens. Being a great hunter, Waupee took a claw, foot, tail, or feather of each animal that he hunted with him to make a great feast in the sky. The guests who took claws or feet turned into mammals; those choosing feathers or wings turned into birds. Waupee, the Star Maiden, and their son each chose a white hawk's feather whereupon they turned into white hawks and flew to earth. Kawaiisu legend tells of a fierce hawklike creature, known as Nihniknoovi, who carries people to his mountain home and eats them.
Aesop taught people to avoid remedies which are worse than the disease by telling the story of 'The Hawk, the Kite, and the Pigeons.' A group of pigeons hired a hawk to defend them from a kite. Unfortunately, within a day of being admitted into the coop, the hawk had eaten more pigeons than a kite could take off with in a year. Another of Aesop's fables features a nightingale, who, being swept up by a hawk, tried to persuade his attacker to release him and seek out a larger and more desirable meal. Being no fool, the hawk replied that a bird in the hand was better than birds yet unseen.
Except where otherwise indicated all scripture quotes are from the NKJV.
More information about hawks is available at:
© 1997 by Suzetta Tucker
To cite this page:
Tucker, Suzetta. "ChristStory Hawk Page." ChristStory
Christian Bestiary. 1997. http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/legend01/hawk.htm
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