In its embodiment and high purpose, this magical bird is very similar to the famous phoenix, since it is also associated with the daylight. The legend says about the firebird as follows: “It flew from the thirtieth kingdom, where everything is wonderfully colored gold, and each feather was so painted and light that, if you bring it to a dark room, it shone as if many candles were burning in that room."
The image of the firebird known from folk tales and the ballet of Stravinsky, which Ivan Tsarevich rescues from Koshchei the Immortal, appeared, apparently, under the influence of both Western and Eastern legends. Afanasyev's collection of Russian fairy tales contains two stories about the fiery bird - "Vasilisa the Beautiful and the Firebird" and "Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf." The fabulous creature has "fiery red and gold feathers, wings like flames, and eyes sparkling like diamonds."
If you try to restore the history of a wonderful creature according to the preserved legends, then it is best to do this in the footsteps of one of the Russian tales. “The beautiful Bird with dazzling plumage has existed from the very beginning of the world, dying and reborn in the cleansing flame at the turn of the ages. She herself sacrificed herself, and each time, again rising from the ashes, she turned her gaze beyond earthly limits, through the stars, to the world of pure light, to the place where the once immortal gods were born and where she went in those three days, while the body her turned to dust, and her soul became free. The bird knew what was, what is and what will be, and yet she kept the peace in which she made her nest. People who heard about the Bird believed that, like her, they also have an immortal soul that only changes its shell.
The magic Bird lived far, far away, on the very edge of the earth. Nobody knew exactly where. Some said that her nest was hidden from human eyes on the top of the mountain, others - that she had built it in the middle of the endless desert, in the thirty “other” state, perfect and far from the bustle of the world. on a quest, for any path to a being that contains the fire of the original creation is thorny and unpredictable.
To get to the Bird, one had to overcome the Valley of Search, the Valley of Love, the Valley of Knowledge, the Valley of Separation, the Valley of Unity, the Desert of Astonishment, the Desert of Destruction and Death. And this long way could be tried to go along the roads, washing iron boots and gnawing iron loaves, or it was possible - in your heart, overcoming and changing yourself.
Rarely did mortals see the beautiful Bird in all its glory. For this to happen, peace and harmony had to reign on earth. Only a desperate daredevil with pure thoughts, led by a dream, could see her, having overcome many trials. It is not for nothing that the Bird was sometimes called the Firebird, because heat, fire is creativity, and creation, and combustion.
She was the perfect creation of the One, and everyone who saw her at least from afar became the owner of a wonderful gift. The light of divine radiance that surrounded the Bird also fell on the person, endowing him with what he most wanted in his heart: talents, skills, happiness. And now the person who received the gift from the Bird himself bore a reflection of the magic light."
Despite the general similarity, the image of the firebird in different retellings acquired its own details and shades. In size, she reaches a peacock, and lives in the Garden of Eden of Iria, in a golden cage. At night it flies out of it and illuminates the garden with itself as brightly as thousands of lighted lights. The firebird has a favorite food in the garden - rejuvenating apples, which give it beauty and immortality.
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The mythical creature has the ability to heal by singing, and when she sings, pearls fall from her beak. Around her, a blazing light. Every year, in the fall, the firebird dies and is reborn in the spring. Sometimes you can find a feather falling from its tail - brought into a dark room, it will replace the richest lighting. And when it goes out, it immediately turns into gold.
The golden color of the Firebird, its golden cage, is associated with the fact that it arrives from another ("thirtieth") kingdom, from where everything that is colored golden comes from. She can act as a kidnapper, approaching in this case with the Fiery Serpent: she carries away the mother of the hero of the fairy tale "beyond the distant lands." One can also assume an ancient connection between the firebird and the Slovak firebird, as well as with other mythological images that embody fire, in particular with Rarog, the fiery horse-bird.
As a character in Russian fairy tales, the firebird is usually the target of a hero's search. The catch of the firebird is fraught with great difficulties and is one of the main tasks that the king (father) sets in the fairy tale to his sons. Only a kind young son manages to get this creature. To catch her, he must place the bait - a cage with golden apples inside. Since all its plumage is on fire, you cannot grab such a bird with your bare hands. So Ivan has to lure her into the cage and throw a sack so as not to burn himself.
In addition, the Slavs associated the firebird with gold and treasures, believing that it can point to them: where it goes down, there treasures are hidden in the earth. It was sometimes said that on the Kupala night the firebird descends to the ground, and it is its radiance that is mistaken for a fern flower.
There is another Slavic legend. It says that when the gods saw people walking on the earth, not loving anyone, and killing themselves with the coldness of their hearts, they sent a magical fire of love to earth in the form of a winged creature - a firebird. And since then it flies on the ground and spreads this fire. Happiness is to the one who succeeds in catching her, but a hundred times greater happiness to the one to whom she obeys of her own will: she will give her wholesome warmth all her life. But as soon as he feels indifference, he will immediately fly away. And if you put her in a cage, she will certainly die. Her fiery body will cool down, and in the cage, instead of hot love, a dead piece of gold will shine with a cold shine …
Pernatiev Yuri Sergeevich. Brownies, mermaids and other mysterious creatures