| The bird is second only to the cat in the hierarchy of animal familiars. Wings and feathers imply and impart the ability to fly, thus enabling the shaman to travel to the spirit land. On a less pragmatic level, birds and flight represent the shaman's ability to leave his body, to let his soul roam, to become the all-seeing eye. Normal humans only attain this capacity through death; the shamanic experience is symbolic death. Eagles, the greatest raptors of the sky, were aligned with the sun; their ferocity and valor were conveyed to Plains Indians through their feathered war bonnets. The juxtaposition of bird and cat, seen here at Panther Cave, was perpetuated in the two primary Aztec warrior societies -- Eagle and Jaguar.
On Halloween, when witches fly through the night on their broomsticks accompanied by their black cats, the pairing of bird and feline characteristics that originated in shamanism persists in our modern mythology. |
