Peacock (peafowl) ⎯ the sentinel
peacock symbolism
Peacock the Sentinel. The peacock symbolism represents beauty, grace, renewal, and spiritual awakening. The peacock is native to India, Asia, and Central Africa, where various tales give it deep significance.
Peacocks symbolize beauty, as they have vivid feathers pleasing to the eye. The rich colors of its feathers, combined with its crown-like crest on the top of its head, conveys stateliness, a employing majestic quality. It deploys masculine power in its highest expressing during the mating season when the colors of its feathers are at the height of maturity.
The male peacock exemplifies the beauty of masculinity at its pinnacle. Male peacocks gather, demonstrating the brotherhood of men. With a fierce and unyielding nature, they embody aggression, serving as a symbol of protection to safeguard their loved ones and keep them secure. Translated in human terms, it conveys spiritual, emotional, and psychological well-being both for self and the ones we love; relating to fulfillment of the oneness of humankind.
Female peacocks have a reputation for assisting each other in raising and caring for their chicks. Because of this, people consider female peacocks as symbols of sisterhood and the spirit of women supporting other women.
The peacock symbolizes good-luck, wealth, renewal, rebirth, and immortality. Peacocks shed their feathers at the end of the mating season and grow new feathers in time for the next mating season, a symbol of renewal, rebirth. In human terms, this symbolizes the appropriateness of transitioning into a new era.
Peacocks symbolize versatility: able to live in different climates, thrive in warm and tropical conditions, and tolerate winter-like temperatures. In human terms, this means adapting to changing times and in ways that value sustainable environmental conditions and the benefits derived from a diversity-inclusive humanity.
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was the north-eastern region of ancient Ethiopia, the northern sector of the Ethiopian empire that is the object of world attention from the earliest times. The six cataracts of the Nile were the abiding watermarks. They are in the heartland of the black peoples, from which African culture spread throughout the continent, but remained more pronounced in Egypt. In this area, peacocks were symbols of healing, protection, well-being, and the large circle on a peacock’s feather was a symbol of protection.\
West Africa
The Congo peafowl (Afropavo congensis), also known as the African peafowl or mbulu by the Bakôngo, is a species of peafowl native to the Congo Basin. It belongs to one of the three species of peafowl and is the sole member of the Pavoninae subfamily that is native to Africa.
Buddhism
In Buddhism, the way the peacock is able to regenerate his feathers is thought to be a symbol of reincarnation. It also symbolizes the ability for us to learn and transform ourselves. The peacock’s ability to open its feathers symbolizes how we expand our consciousness to become enlightened.
Chinese
In China, the peacock is symbolic of majesty, protection, divinity, and beauty, as well as the triumph over evil. In Chinese myths, the peacock was associated with Guan Yin, a goddess who could turn evil into beauty.
Islam
In Islam, the peacock comes with various meanings, and meanings excite controversy. In one tale, the peacock was tricked by the devil, who came in the form of a snake. The snake appealed to the peacock’s vanity. Therefore, the snake entered the gates of Paradise, and after, the snake would corrupt it. In some Islamic stories, the peacock is thought to have the ability to move in and out of paradise.
India and Hinduism
The peacock is India’s national bird, making it an important figure in Indian and Hindu culture. In addition, the peacock is much like the Phoenix. Some say that the Phoenix is part peacock.
Dravidian tribes thought that the peacock’s feathers are sacred, which makes them an essential totem animal. The Dravidians, an ethnolinguistic group that includes people from India and other parts of Southern Asia, view the peacock as a symbol of Mother Earth.
Greek Mythology
Alexander the Great was perhaps the first one to introduce the ancient Greeks to peacocks, perhaps during the 4th century BC. Later, the ancient Greeks incorporated the peacock into their creation myths.
Persia
The peacock is the symbol of the Persian/Iranian monarchy. This symbolism originates from the Peacock Throne, a famous golden throne stolen from India by the Persians in 1739. The peacock is a popular motif in Persian designs.