Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



stition that to kill it was to offend a god. 

 Doubtless in earlier days and in its simpler 

 form this belief considered the peafowl as 

 the embodiment of some god of the forest 

 whose resentment it were wise not to rouse. 

 For several centuries at least it has been the 

 special companion of Subhramanya, a son of 

 Vishnu. 



From Ceylon to Lapland seems a far cry, 

 but there are many instances of analogies be- 

 tween far separated ideas and things which 

 would seem improbable to us, if they were 

 not so familiar. Families in Scandinavia and 

 England bear the lion in their crests or coats ; 

 yet the lion is not known to have penetrated 

 Europe or central Asia. I do not mean to 

 say that the peacock reached Lapland as a 

 bird god or the animal emblem of a god ; yet, 

 being transportable, it did reach Europe, not- 

 withstanding the fact that it is not a native 

 and reached it to become the emblem of 

 various deities. 



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