BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS

The mythology of the 'bluebird' has deep roots that goes back to thousands of years. Indigenous cultures across the globe hold similar myths and beliefs about the bluebird. It is the most universally accepted symbol of cheerfulness, happiness, prosperity, hearth and home, good health, new births, the renewal of springtime, etc. Virtually any positive sentiments may be attached to the bluebird.
In magical symbology, bluebirds are used to represent confidence in the positive aspect and egotism in the negative. A dead bluebird is a symbol of disillusionment, of the loss of innocence, and of transformation from the younger and naive to the older and wiser.

Contents

Bluebird symbology in America

Bluebird symbology in Europe

Bluebird symbology in Asia

See also

References

External links

Bluebird symbology in America

Many Native American tribes considered the bluebird sacred.
According to the Cochiti tribe, the firstborn son of Sun was named Bluebird. In the tale "The Sun's Children" from ''Tales of the Cochiti Indians'' (1932) by Ruth Benedict: "She nursed him until the Sun father came back. Sun returned to the girl, and the girl offered the child to him, saying, 'Here is your baby. It is a little boy.' They named him Bluebird (Culutiwa)."
The Navajo hold the Mountain Bluebird to be a great spirit in animal form and associate it with the rising sun. The Bluebird Song is sung to remind tribe members to wake at dawn and rise to greet the sun:

''Bluebird said to me,''

''Get up, my grandchild.''

''It is dawn, it said to me.''

The Bluebird Song is still used in social settings and is also performed in the nine-day Ye'iibicheii winter Nightway ceremony. It is the most revered song, as well as the closing act, performed just before sunrise on the final day.
A popular song by Jan Peerce and Art Mooney and His Orchestra titled 'Bluebird of Happiness' was recorded in 1948 and introduced at the Radio City Music Hall.
Based on the popularity of the phrase "the bluebird of happiness", Terra Studios of Fayetteville, Arkansas has mass produced a small blue crystal figurine of a stylized Eastern Bluebird. This figurine is recognized and well-loved throughout the state of Arkansas. In fact, when Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife made a visit to the United States, they were presented with a pair of the bluebirds.

Bluebird symbology in Europe

Bluebird mythology in Europe is noted in a fairy tale called '''L'Oiseau Bleu (The Blue Bird)''' by Madame d'Aulnoy (1650-1705). This seems to be the root source of most modern accounts of bluebird symbology and myth. In this tale, King Charming is transformed into a bluebird, who is the love interest of the younger princess Fiordelisa and aids her through her trials.
'''The Blue Bird''' was made into a 1908 stage play by Maurice Maeterlinck and into several films throughout the 20th century, including the 1940 original starring Shirley Temple. The story begins with two child heroes, Tyltyl and Mytyl, whom are sent out by the fairy Bérylune into various lands to search for the Bluebird of Happiness. Returning home empty-handed, the children see that the bird has been in a cage in their home the whole time. Tyltyl later gives the bird as a present to a sick neighbor. However, the bird flies away and never returns. The moral is that happiness comes more from the journey than the reward and that happiness is fleeting.

Bluebird symbology in Asia

A mythological Korean bluebird has similar symbolic meanings. Yet the bird also operates as a kind of metaphysical operative for the gods by flitting around and spying on the activities of mortals. This is reflected in the English colloquialism "A little bird told me."

See also

★ The Blue Bird (fairy tale)

★ L'Oiseau Bleu (version by Maeterlinck)

References

"The Sun's Children" in ''Tales of the Cochiti Indians''
Navajo Bluebird Song - Navajo Songs from Canyon De Chelly
Bluebird of Happiness History
''Bluebird of Happiness'' (1948) Lyrics

External links

★ Terra Studios

★ Arkansas Travelogue

★ Travels with Gertie