Goldfinch in art
The bird that repeatedly, almost obsessively, turns up in Renaissance religious painting is the European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis, almost always in the hands of the Infant Jesus, and symbolising variously the soul, resurrection, sacrifice and death, but with a particular further dimension of m
Shi (personator)
The shi (Chinese: 氞; pinyin: shÄ«; WadeâGiles: sh’ih; lit. ‘corpse’) was a ceremonial “personator” who represented a dead relative during ancient Chinese ancestral sacrifices. In a shi ceremony, the ancestral spirit supposedly would enter the descendant
The lactating birds and the bees (gastrin, pepsin, etc)
Crop milk is a secretion from the lining of the crop of parent birds that is regurgitated to young birds. It is found among all pigeons and doves where it is referred to as pigeon milk. An analog to crop milk is also secreted from the esophagus of flamingos and the male emperor penguin. D
Columba constellation
Columba is a faint constellation designated in the late sixteenth century, remaining in official use, with its rigid limits set in the 20th century. Its name is Latin for dove. It takes up 1.31% of the southern celestial hemisphere and is just south of Canis Major&
Columba the cosmic dove and celestial toilet humor
The Columba constellation – where celestial family drama meets cosmic bathroom humor! Let’s dive into a delightful corner of Chinese astronomy that proves even the heavens aren’t above a good potty joke. A Family Affair in the Sky In Chinese astronomy, Columba isn’t just a pr
Jason and the Argonauts and the dove
The Symplegades or Clashing Rocks, also known as the Cyanean Rocks, were, according to Greek mythology, a pair of rocks at the Bosphorus that clashed together whenever a vessel went through. They were defeated by Jason and the Argonauts, who would have been lost and killed by the rocks exc
Asherah and Asherim notes
In the ancient Levant, doves were used as symbols for the Canaanite mother goddess Asherah. The Canaanite religion was the group of ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early&n
Colomba pasquale, Italian Easter bread
Colomba pasquale [koËlomba paËskwaËle] or colomba di Pasqua [koËlomba di Ëpaskwa] (“Easter Dove” in English) is an Italian traditional Easter bread, the counterpart of the two well-known Italian Christmas desserts, panettone and pandoro. The dough for the colomba is mad
Dovecote cake and the founding myth of MarseilleÂ
In Marseille tradition, the dovecote is a cake offered by pastry chefs at the time of Pentecost: cake made from almonds and melon, covered with sugar, generously colored, flavored with kirsch and inside is hidden a dove. This oval-shaped cake is adorned with a strip of marzipan on which is
Columbidae anatomy and physiology notes
Overall, the anatomy of Columbidae is characterized by short legs, short bills with a fleshy cere, and small heads on large, compact bodies. Like some other birds, the Columbidae have no gall bladders. Some medieval naturalists concluded they have no bile (gall), which in the medieval theory
In Judaism, The Guf or Treasury of Souls is sometimes described as a columbarium
In post-biblical Judaism, souls are envisioned as bird-like (Bahir 119), a concept that may be derived from the Biblical notion that dead spirits “chirp” (Isa. 29:4). The Guf, or Treasury of Souls, is sometimes described as a columbarium, a dovecote. This connects it to a related lege
The dove and the raven and the flood notes
According to the biblical story (Genesis 8:11), a dove was released by Noah after the Flood in order to find land; it came back carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf (Hebrew: ŚąŚŚ ŚŚŚȘ alay zayit),[Gen 8:11] a sign of life after the Flood and of God’s bringing Noah, his family and
Doves are shown on cult objects associated with Inanna as early as the beginning of the third millennium BC
In ancient Mesopotamia, doves were prominent animal symbols of Inanna-Ishtar, the goddess of love, sexuality, and war. Doves are shown on cultic objects associated with Inanna as early as the beginning of the third millennium BC. Lead dove figurines were discovered in the temple of Ishtar at Aƥ
A columbarium is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremains of the dead
A columbarium (pl. columbaria) is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin columba (dove) and originally solely referred to compartmentalized housing for doves and pigeons, also called dovecotes
A dovecote or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves
A dovecote or dovecot, doocot (Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest. Pigeons and doves we
Ossuary
An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an oss