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Phoenix
The phoenix is a mythical sacred fire or sun
bird which originated in the ancient mythologies mentioned in Phoenician
and Egyptian Mythology, and later the Greek Mythology. It has a 500 to
1,000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of
myrrh twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are
reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises,
reborn anew to live again.
in alchemy the phoenix is the symbol for
the red sulfur, which is the end of the Great Work at the stage of
Rubedo or Redness. The Great Work has been accomplished and man has been
reborn.
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