Throughout known human history Bird Men have featured in religious and cultural beliefs. All over the world for millennia mythical Bird Men have been worshipped as Gods or deities.
Why is this?
Why would seemingly unrelated cultures from all over the globe have similar depictions of bird/human hybrids?
Could there have been one original source that inspired ancient people to worship these mythical creatures or is it all just coincidence?
This post will be the first of a number looking into the Bird Men revered on different continents by different people at different times. Today we begin in Asia.
THE BIRD MEN.
ASIA - GARUDA.
Garuda is a large mythical bird like creature appearing in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology, often depicted with the upper body and wings of an eagle with the lower body of a human. Most commonly the body is golden, the wings red and the face white however as you move around the Asian sub-continent the depictions are known to change slightly.
Regarding Garuda in Hinduism Wikipedia states.......
Images Source
In Hinduism, Garuda is a Hindu divinity, usually the mount of the Lord Vishnu. Garuda is depicted as having the golden body of a strong man with a white face, red wings, and an eagle's beak and with a crown on his head. This ancient deity was said to be massive, large enough to block out the sun.
Garuda is known as the eternal sworn enemy of the Nāga serpent race and known for feeding exclusively on snakes. Such behaviour may have referred to the actual short-toed eagle of India. The image of Garuda is often used as the charm or amulet to protect the bearer from snake attack and its poison, since the king of birds is an implacable enemy and "devourer of serpent". Garudi Vidya is the mantra against snake poison to remove all kinds of evil.
The story of Garuda's birth and deeds is told in the first book of the great epic Mahabharata. According to the epic, when Garuda first burst forth from his egg, he appeared as a raging inferno equal to the cosmic conflagration that consumes the world at the end of every age. Frightened, the gods begged him for mercy. Garuda, hearing their plea, reduced himself in size and energy.
Garuda's father was the creator-rishi Kasyapa. He had two wives, Vinata and Kadru, who were daughters of Prajapathi Daksha. Kasyapa, on the pleadings of his wives, granted them their wishes; Vinata wished for two sons and Kadru wished for a thousand snakes as her sons. Both laid eggs. While the thousand eggs of Kadru hatched early (after steaming the eggs to hatch) into snakes, the hatching of the two eggs of Vinata did not take place for a long time. Impatient, Vinata broke open one egg, which was half formed, with the upper half only as a human and was thus deformed. Her half-formed son cursed her, decreeing that she would be a slave for her sister (she was her rival) for a long time, by which time her second son would be born who would save her from his curse. Her first son flew away and came to prominence as Aruna, the red spectacle seen as the Sun rises in the morning, and also as charioteer of the Sun. The second egg hatched after a long time, during which period Vinata was the servant of her sister as she had lost a bet with her. When the second egg hatched, a fully grown, shining and of mighty size, bird form emerged as Garuda, the king of birds. Garuda was thus born.
According to the Mahabharata, Garuda had six sons (Sumukha, Suvarna, Subala, Sunaama, Sunethra and Suvarchas) from whom were descended the race of birds. The members of this race were of great might and without compassion, subsisting as they did on their relatives the snakes. Vishnu was their protector.
Throughout the Mahabharata, Garuda is invoked as a symbol of impetuous violent force, of speed, and of martial prowess. Powerful warriors advancing rapidly on doomed foes are likened to Garuda swooping down on a serpent. Defeated warriors are like snakes beaten down by Garuda. The field marshal Drona uses a military formation named after Garuda. Krishna even carries the image of Garuda on his banner.
Unsurprisingly Buddhist fokelore regarding Garuda is similar with different protagonists involved in the stories as you would expect. The most fascinating part for me is the constant reoccurance of a 'snake type enemy' of these bird men as you will see as we journey through this series of posts. But I digress, let's see what the Buddhist traditions tell us.....
In Buddhism, the Garuda (Pāli: garuḷā) are enormous predatory birds with intelligence and social organization. Another name for the Garuda is suparṇa (Pāli: supaṇṇa), meaning "well-winged, having good wings". Like the Naga, they combine the characteristics of animals and divine beings, and may be considered to be among the lowest devas.
The exact size of the Garuda is uncertain, but its wings are said to have a span of many miles. When a Garuda's wings flap, they create hurricane-like winds that darken the sky and blow down houses. A human being is so small compared to a Garuda that a man can hide in the plumage of one without being noticed (Kākātī Jātaka, J.327). They are also capable of tearing up entire banyan trees from their roots and carrying them off.
Garudas are the great golden-winged Peng birds. They also have the ability to grow large or small, and to appear and disappear at will. Their wingspan is 330 yojanas (one yojana being 8 miles long). With one flap of its wings, a Peng bird dries up the waters of the sea so that it can gobble up all the exposed dragons. With another flap of its wings, it can level the mountains by moving them into the ocean.
So although the Buddhist traditions don't state the exact size they do indicate that Garuda is a massive creature with a wings span measured in hundreds of miles! We saw earlier the Hindu belief that Garuda was large enough to 'block out the sun' so I think it's fair to say we not talking about a creature currently inhabiting the earth!
Could this myth have been born out of ancient 'visitation' of some kind of craft mistaken for a bird? I can hear the groans, I'm just saying, I know of no known flying creature that has ever inhabited the earth that was so big it could block out the sun.
As I mentioned many times in my previous series 'When does a myth become truth' followers of Hinduism, Buddhism and all other religions believe that their holy scriptures are history written down in some cases many millennia ago by people who were chronicling events they were witnessing, with so many myths proven to be true in recent decades who is to say the Bird Men traditions aren't based on actual events that took place in antiquity?
Continuing....
Garudas have kings and cities, and at least some of them have the magical power of changing into human form when they wish to have dealings with people. On some occasions Garuda kings have had romances with human women in this form. Their dwellings are in groves of the simbalī, or silk-cotton tree.
The Garuda are enemies to the nāga, a race of intelligent serpent- or dragon-like beings, whom they hunt. The Garudas at one time caught the nāgas by seizing them by their heads; but the nāgas learned that by swallowing large stones, they could make themselves too heavy to be carried by the Garudas, wearing them out and killing them from exhaustion. This secret was divulged to one of the Garudas by the ascetic Karambiya, who taught him how to seize a nāga by the tail and force him to vomit up his stone.
In the Maha-samaya Sutta (Digha Nikaya 20), the Buddha is shown making temporary peace between the Nagas and the Garudas.
The Sanskrit word Garuda has been borrowed and modified in the languages of several countries. In Burmese, Garudas are called galone. In Burmese astrology, the vehicle of the Sunday planet is the galone. In Japanese a Garuda is called karura (however, the form Garuda ガルーダ is used in recent Japanese fiction.
In the Qing Dynasty fiction The Story of Yue Fei (1684), Garuda sits at the head of the Buddha's throne. But when a celestial bat (an embodiment of the Aquarius constellation) flatulates during the Buddha’s expounding of the Lotus Sutra, Garuda kills her and is exiled from paradise. He is later reborn as Song Dynasty General Yue Fei. The bat is reborn as Lady Wang, wife of the traitor Prime Minister Qin Hui, and is instrumental in formulating the "Eastern Window" plot that leads to Yue's eventual political execution. It is interesting to note The Story of Yue Fei plays on the legendary animosity between Garuda and the Nagas when the celestial bird-born Yue Fei defeats a magic serpent who transforms into the unearthly spear he uses throughout his military career. Literary critic C. T. Hsia explains the reason why Qian Cai, the book's author, linked Yue with Garuda is because of the homology in their Chinese names. Yue Fei's courtesy name is Pengju (鵬舉). A Peng (鵬) is a giant mythological bird likened to the Middle Eastern Roc.Garuda's Chinese name is Great Peng, the Golden-Winged Illumination King (大鵬金翅明王).
This article found at earthbeforeflood.com tells another interesting story regarding Garuda....
Many Indian legends contain stories about a huge mythical bird of Garuda which was capable to carry people. One of them tells about the theft of soma-amrita by this bird - a beverage of immortality from Indra garden on a top of the Meru mount. In the colourful ancient description Garuda appears before readers in the appearance of "a tsar of feathery, a bird-man or a bird-human", who can speak on-human. According to one myth Garuda had been created the first among the birds and then became the rideable (flyable) bird of Vishnu.
According to the "Vishna-purana", Garuda had received authority all over the birds. It (or he) had been endowed with great power and immeasurable force, on his back the bird could deliver several sacred wise men simultaneously to the distant northern mount Meru. The colourful appearance of Garuda in the description is amplifyed by the next fantastic details:
The body from gold, the wings is of dazzling red colour, a human head with a beak, when Garuda had a seat on trees, under his heaviness branches and trunks were broken".
The appearance of the ancient Aryan igneous bird - the source of the dazzling red light (at Garuda birth, gods dazzled by his glowing have accepted this bird-man for an embodiment of the sun) - bears a strong resemblance to the appearence of the Firebird from Russian legends and the tsar of the birds - Simurg from Persian legends.
Garuda - the peculiar magic bird, exceeding by his size the sizes of eagles, with horns on a head, which symbolized in ancient times the energy of light considering in the Bon religion as the most active element among the five elements. Garuda - one of the main deities of the Bon.
The image of Garuda was saved in myths of many northern people and people of Central Eurasia. Buryats know him under the name (of) Herdig, Kalmyks - Herd, Mongols - Hangaruda. In the North Ural Mountains a great number of bird-men's bronzed figures is discovered. Some of the discovered bronzed figures show beings with three heads. Metallic amulets of Garuda occur very often in the Western and Northern Tibet.
On many statuettes and pictures Garuda is imaged with horns and a little resembles the "old people" from the "Popol-Vuh" and from the other works of Maya, Naua and Aztecs, and a mythical basilisk (cockatrice) . All of them had imposing sizes, large wings, as a rule, had a bird's beak and membranous paws, "wore" horns. However, if the first two types of mythical beings with high probability was dragons-people or demons-snakes (reptiles), Garuda had no any ratio to them. To the contrary, according to the "Vishnu Purana" and the "Mahabharata", it (or he) was an ardent opponent and a fighter of snakes.
Fascinating! So here not only do we have more countries Russia and Persia (modern day Iran) brought into the legend of Garuda, we also have a link to another continent....
South America!
We'll explore this link further in an upcoming post.
It is evident that the 'myth' of Garuda has had a huge influence throughout written history all across Asia, featuring in many stories, poems and epic's. To this day Garuda's image is used as a symbol to adorn government buildings, is the national symbol of both Thailand and Indonesia and sits proudly on the front of Thailand's Royal Barges.
There are many more countries in this region have been influenced by the myth of Garuda and as a result depictions can be found such as Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mongolia, Laos, Vietnam, Suriname and Bhutan. This is to be expected considering the widespread influence of both Hinduism and Buddhism. The stories are slightly different in each country which considering the passages of time since the original scriptures were written is no surprise. Even so the story of Garuda has stood the test of time.
In my opinion Garuda is much more than the religious icon depicted as a half bird - half man deity in the scriptures of these two great philosophies, it is a possible depiction of history. History in its purest sense as in 'His Story'. As we will see in the next and further posts Garuda is just one depiction of a half bird - half man creature said to have existed in antiquity and as I stated at the beginning of this post, I find it hard to believe that unconnected people's from different continents and epochs would have similar beliefs unless there was a shared worldwide experience.
As I often state in these posts, I invite you to do your own reading into the subject as the stories read better than so much modern fiction, not to say these stories are fiction, to millions of people they are recorded history, their truth with many being gripping tales of epic battles and heroism from deep antiquity.
Wow great post as ever @tremendospercy ! Listen these stories trvelling down from thousands of years sound strangely like info i read concerning the Secret Space Program with David Wilcock and his friend Corey Goude who was chosen as being our ambassador to meet with a race of blue feathered Avian Alien race who are incidently the arch enemies apprently of the shape shifting lizards or Drakos alien race !
Lets never forget the fact that both Horus of Ancient Eygpt and Quezecotayl of the Aztecs in South America were both described as being blue feathered Gods !! Strange and yet surely not coincidental ??
Check this link mate ) http://www.williamhenry.net/2016/06/the-blue-avians-and-blue-sphere-beings-do-you-know-what-love-can-do/
here is an artist impression made on the instructions of Corey after having met them !
Yes and I'll be getting into those deities in the next few posts. Western academia are incredibly arrogant when it comes to digging into our pre-history. The assumptions made regarding what may have happened in the distant past are disingenuous at best and deliberately obscuring the truth at worst.
I believe our past is deliberately covered up for many reasons, it's time to tell us the truth. We'll never progress in a positive sense as a race if we're blind to our true beginnings.
Another fantastic slice of our mysterious history @tremendospercy. Excellent work my friend, and I agree that there really does appear to be more here than meets the eye! Indeed when you think about the concept of angels you realise just how widespread this mystery has spread it's web.
Certainly it's not too much of a stretch to think of the bird as some form of craft, I mean how would you explain an aeroplane it you saw one even 200 years ago! I have heard of these legends attributed to unconected cvilisations having similar brain archetypes, but that really doesn't cut it for me. For one these aren't simply scratchings of bird men on cave walls these are intricate re-countings of history/myth. Imagine if our world was taken back to the stone age, imagine how the story of this world would pass into legend. The age where man was bewitched by the by the black screen, began to rebel against the concept of gender and build an artificial intelligence that went on to become his God .. alright the last one I added (but watch this space) but shit it would be a hard sell eh? ;)
I happen to think that there is more than a shred of truth within all these stories and I'm looking forward to seeing where you take it next! Great to have you back with another excellent post dude!
Thanks for reading and leaving an awesome comment as always mate.
You're dead right regarding ancient people trying to explain futuristic technology. You would only need to go back 100 years and you'd look like you were from 1000's of years in the future to the people of 1917. Imagine a planet millions of years ahead of us in development which isn't really a stretch considering the vast expanse of space and the billions of years our Universe has been forming. The people would seem godlike to us, their technology would be beyond description.
I don't see it as a leap to hypothesise that this happened multiple times on a worldwide scale in the distant past, to not consider it is ignorant and shortsighted.
Thanks again my freind.
Every time I read a @TremendosPercy #history post I'm left with a feeling of awe and wonder, excitement about life again. I also feel pretty shocked each time about how little I know on these subjects. I do recognize those 'bird men' symbols used in government today. I didn't know about the origins...
Thanks Lyndsay.
This kind of history isn't generally taught in schools, however it should be. It's way more interesting than the crap they do teach. The bird men are a worldwide phenomenon and I'll continue with more in the next post.
You and I both know that life is so much more fun and exciting when you step away from the depressing government propaganda fear porn being spewed out of every TV these days.
Digging into our ancient past excites me which I'm sure sounds boring to many however the stories passed down from pre-history can be gripping. More people should delve into them and glimpse at a past deliberately hidden from us.
I'm so pleased you enjoyed it babe, more to come soon ❤️
Yeah, this is the kind of stuff that would keep children captivated and eager to learn in school. I can't wait for more from you for this Big Kid to read haha! :) Once again, so good to have you back.
Aww thanks babe, it's great to feel excited about writing again.
This is bloody brilliant and I would kindly ask that you message me when the next instalment is released, PLEASE TP! I find it fascinating how many countries incorporate a bird into their national flag, or the Dragon. The Garuda spanned across Europe, Middle East and South America, wow, this really is intriguing and I'm eager to know more about this enigmatic bird man. You're definitely back TP!! :-D When does a myth become a truth? series is back, my favourite series on Steemit. Thanks for the heads-up and for posting this, looking forward to the next one, excellent work mate. Resteemed.
Thanks a lot buddy, I’m really pleased you're enjoying my work. The history we’re taught is so bland but these ancient mysteries are the complete opposite.
Thanks for the support mate I really appreciate it 😉
You're most welcome TP and your work is the dog's b******s mate! I've always enjoyed your work and history is unravelling before our very eyes through your awesome articles.. Always dude. ;-D
You're too kind dude. 😉
Great to see you back where you belong, pumping out interesting posts such as these.
Cheers mate, feels good to be researching and writing again.
Thanks for the support bro
Very interesting. I'm amazed on how some specific things are usually worship or treated as gods in different parts of the world. I'm also very intrigued how similar things, structures, beliefs and even some words mean the same for different cultures. Thanks for such a great post.
Cheers Roberto, it has always fascinated me how similar beliefs were found across the world when there was never any contact. Intriguing stuff my friend. Thanks for reading and commenting buddy.
I agree, fascinating post! :)
What about the angels, human like creatures with wings?
or is that something for another post?
Just asking.
& Chicken man.... he's everywhere, he's everywhere!
Damn you Jack, you've ruined the surprise a the Chicken man post now 😂
There will be a number of bird men posts as there are some significant ones. I'm sure I'll allude to angels however chicken man is on the cutting room floor now!
Buckets of KFC!
Coincidentally my steemit name is redgaruda so I felt really excited when I read your article!
I agree with you and believe that beings like garudas and nagas are much more than mere myths. There must be a reality to these mythological beings but this is a reality which is not very evident anymore nowadays.
It seems that the usual human consciousness is obscured in a way so it is unable to connect with these different realities and beings.
As you point out, it is not only hinduism or buddhism speaking about beings like gods and demigods (titans) but this is an element in almost all of the ancient cultures, including the sumerian, greek/roman, germanic and countless others.
We have to bear in mind however that these gods and demigods are relative beings like us humans with emotions like jealousy, anger, pride and attachments, when you read the greek epic myths, this point becomes very evident. These gods are extremely long living and powerful but not really immortal, omniscient or transcendent beings.
This is the reason why in buddhism, these powerful gods are not really reliable objects of refuge but spiritual transcendence is only possible through eliminating the causes of suffering and experiencing our real nature beyond ego.
Having said that, in the buddhist texts there are examples of gods, nagas and also garudas who have permanently transcended ego, suffering and delusion.
These deities are usually depicted with a wisdom eye between the eyebrows, you can have a look! In the case of garudas, they are called wisdom garudas.
Thanks for reading and the great comment buddy, I'm pleased the post resonated with you.
You're obviously well read and knowledgable in this subject. You should take a look back to my earlier posts where I have spoken at length about many of the things you mention here. I did three posts on the Annunaki alone.
Thank You, @tremendospercy, for telling the story of Garuda to the world and especially showing the Garuda of Thailand (symbol of the government). It is such a beautiful symbol. Like the Kinnaree, the Yak, the Singhto, the Payanak (naga) I made a quick post in the past about it here. Thank You on the behalf of @thaiteam and Thai community. :)
Thank you @ricko66 you're welcome.
I lived and travelled in Thailand in my youth for about a year and a half and it is one of my favourite countries.
Such a rich and diverse place with fantastic history, wonderful people and beautiful scenery.
Yes, it is such a great country. I also traveled to Thailand in my youth but now live here for the past 18 years. And won't go back to EU for nothing. :)
I don't blame you mate, the place is a joke now.
I look at it from far and it is really bad to my eyes. the politicians are worst than ever and the facts are less important than propaganda. It seems to be a kind of communism who not say what it is. Really I feel like I don't belong to there anymore.
It is a communist/fascist model mate. The politicians are doing what they always do. Lining the pockets of themselves and their corporate masters. That's what I love about most of Asia, there is a healthy mistrust in government and people don't expect them to look after them. As soon as people expect the government to take care of them they take over your life. Every single time!
Fascinating, in depth study on Garuda. I learned quite a bit through your research. I often wondered about this symbol and had no idea just how in depth this creature went. Thanks for the excellent history lesson!
Thanks Janelle, you're welcome.
Most people know the image from the Indonesian national airline of the same name. 😉
Ahh I didn't even know that! 😘
Just this past week I was researching fairy legends for my podcast and very often came across parallels between bird-men, fairies, angels, and (of course) aliens.
Like you said, it's fascinating that unconnected cultures from all over the world share such uncanny similarities in their myths and deities. It can't be coincidence. I do truly believe in an ancient cultural memory that has persisted throughout the many thousands of years of man's survival and evolution.
Great minds eh?! I don't believe in coincidences especially when it comes to history.
Thanks for reading.
I enjoyed this!
I remember asking what the difference was between angels and aliens, when I was a small child in Sunday school. My question was treated with suspicion and never adequately attempted to be answered.
I suppose that may have made me more interested to learn about this. (Horus has been of major importance for me.)
I can only imagine how these beings would be received if they suddenly reappeared now.
I've asked the question many times, 'what's the difference between aliens and gods? Nothing as far as I can fathom.
As for this statement ....
I suppose it depends on where they reappeared. If it was in Asia I suspect they would be recieved with open arms, if it was in the US or some other western country I suspect they'd be shot or thrown in GitMo.
Depending upon where in Asia that might be, too, yes.
I imagine that's a good part of why they haven't appeared in some long time...or perhaps they prefer to stick to indigenous areas.
I enjoyed this post very much. History is so fascinating. Truth is often stranger than fiction and makes for better reading. Upvoted and following.
Agreed and thanks for reading.
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Oh damn - Let's come out and say it. ancient astronaut theory. I'm not a believer per se - wanted to mention I'm working an a fictional anime that has strong themes related. Not to spam and not sure if you or anyone would be interested but I just started and it's right here on steemit.
What a farkn post! As a Buddhist living in Hindu Bali, and our Volcano is about to pop, this resonates with me. This picture is not photoshopped, it was taken last month after Vulkan spat out ash and smoke.
Yes, we are rather spiritual and we took it as a sign. Great read, as usual.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
I don't think I'd be too happy being close to that volcano.
Hopefully it won't kick off too bad.
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Thanks guys.