Closely related to the chickens and partridges, the pheasants are long-tailed ground-dwelling birds that were initially endemic to Asia and Europe. However, nowadays, these birds have been introduced to other parts of the world as well. Have you ever thought about what they represent in the world of symbolism?
Pheasants are symbolic of imagination and creativity. The spirit of this bird is a great problem-solver and can invent a way for any of your troubles. They’re also symbolic of clairvoyance and clairaudience; their keen sense of perceiving their surroundings is what keeps them safe from any threat lurking around. In Buddhism, they symbolize the principle of change.
Are you curious to learn what these gamebirds could mean as a totem, spirit animal, or omen? This article holds the answers to all your questions.
Pheasant symbolism
Pheasants are among one of the most popular game birds in the world. However, there’s more to these birds than meets the eye. If you want to learn more about the symbolism of these birds, keep reading.
The symbolism of being grounded
As most of you might already know, birds like pheasants are primarily ground-dwellers. While they do have feathers and can fly short distances, if you ever see one of them fly, you’ll know that they’re not built for it.
Their take-off is always noisy and is soon followed by a messy landing. Whenever these birds are in peril, their first instinct is to run to take cover rather than fly. All these instances indicate that the spirit of the pheasants is more connected to the Earth element and feels more at home on the ground.
They believe in staying grounded and have no trace of superficiality to them, a quality that all of us can learn from.
The symbolism of confidence
Like many other birds, the male pheasants have an attractive plumage that comes in handy when they woo their prospective partner during the breeding season. These birds are aware of their beauty and aren’t afraid to flaunt it to get what they want. Such confidence sets an example for us all.
Very often, we feel insecure about ourselves, which holds us from exploring our true potential in life. The spirit of pheasants teaches us to shed all our insecurities and embrace our true selves. Once we do that, we will never lack confidence in any of our endeavors.
The symbolism of clairvoyance and clairaudience
Because pheasants are primarily terrestrial birds, they’re vulnerable to a large number of predatory mammals. Therefore, for their survival, these birds have developed keen eyesight and a sense of hearing. These help them detect any danger from far enough to escape it.
Due to these qualities, it is believed that the spirit of pheasants has a gift of clairvoyance and clairaudience. If you’re ever in need of these gifts, their spirit animals can help you.
The symbolism of patience and persistence
Pheasants are non-migratory birds for a good reason. Because they cannot fly long distances, the only alternative they’ll have is migrating on foot, which is no cakewalk.
Therefore, these ground-dwelling birds stay in their breeding grounds all year long, managing to withstand the harsh weather somehow. And when they face food shortages in the winter months, they survive without food for over ten days.
Such persistence makes the pheasants tough birds that can survive anything. They’re a fine example of the fact that if you’re patient and persistent, you can overcome even the most difficult challenges that life throws at you.
Pheasant in dreams: meanings and interpretation
As we discussed in the last section, pheasants are the kind of birds that are always aware of what goes on in their surroundings. For a bird as large as themselves, they have surprisingly fast instincts. In the world of dreams, these birds symbolize the same: instinct and knowledge.
Have you dreamt of the pheasants recently? If the details of your dream plot are still fresh in your memory, we can help you find its meaning. Take a look at these common pheasant dreams to understand what they might mean for you.
Dreaming of a flock of pheasants is symbolic of a celebration. If you’ve had such a dream, it indicates that very soon, you will be invited to a celebration or event where many of your friends from college or work will be gathered, and together, you people will have a great time.
If you see yourself eating a pheasant in your dream, it has a negative interpretation. Your dream is a sign that you’re not taking care of yourself as well as you should, and it’s going to take a toll on you soon.
However, if you dream of others eating a pheasant, it indicates that you’re missing out on a lot by being buried in work all the time. While it is understandable that you can’t give up your work, making time for other things in life is also important. Otherwise, there will be no point in earning all that money at the end of the day.
Did you dream of eating pheasant soup? As peculiar as your dream might seem it you, it has a concerning message for your waking life. It is a sign that someone close to you will fall sick or be injured in an accident in the near future, and their health and well-being will be on your mind all the time.
Instead of worrying about them from afar, you should just go and visit them to put all your concerns and fears to rest.
If in your dream, you see a pheasant crossing you by, it indicates that in the near future, you will be offered a business deal that will seem fishy to you from the beginning.
Your dream is a warning not to take the offer without considering all its ramifications. Otherwise, it might end up costing you more than it could offer.
Dreaming of feeding a pheasant has a negative interpretation as well. Such a dream is symbolic of the fact that the person that you’re currently involved with is not the right choice for you.
They might be smart, charming, and well-off, but they have no emotional depth, and living with them will feel more like a burden to you in the long run.
However, if you dream of someone else feeding a pheasant, it signifies that you’re soon to find a perfect person that will sweep you off your feet. But this person will have a disturbing past that they’re not over yet. Therefore, if you really like them, try to take things slow with them.
If you see yourself shooting a pheasant in your dream, it is a warning that you need to be more careful about the decisions you make in your professional or love life. In the past, your wrong decisions have cost you dearly. And if you want to prevent that in the future, you must change the way you think.
But if someone else shoots a pheasant in your dream, it signifies that you feel hurt by being undermined by the people you look up to. It could be your parents, teachers, or someone else that you idolize who has made you feel that way. The right way to deal with it is by confronting them about it instead of keeping it all inside.
Dreaming of killing a pheasant is symbolic of a creative block in your waking life. You have on your hands a task that requires imagination, and you just can’t do it no matter how hard you try. The best way to get over this block is by taking a break.
You should go out for a walk, listen to music, or do whatever it is that can help you clear your mind. By the time you’re done, you’ll certainly come up with something.
To dream of a dead pheasant signifies that you’ve been struggling with the same problem for a long time. And if that’s the case, you should try a different perspective of looking at it. You can also enlist the help of a friend or family with it.
The significance of pheasants in different cultures and mythologies
While pheasants are not powerful like eagles or elegant like swans, they still possess a powerful spirit and are admired in many different cultures of the world. Let’s learn about the significance of their symbolism in the following cultures and mythologies:
In Buddhism
The Buddhists view the male pheasants as a symbol of good fortune. In fact, they also believe in the superstition that spotting a male pheasant for three days in a row is a good omen and symbolizes the arrival of good fortune and abundance in your life.
In Buddhism, the pheasants are praised for their ability to flee a threat or danger quickly. To them, this behavior is indicative of the fact that we should never hesitate to change ourselves to accommodate the demands of our circumstances.
In Greek mythology
In Greek mythology, pheasant birds were symbolic of authority and power. In Ancient Greece, all generals carried a ruling staff. Atop the staff of many of the generals was the carving of two pheasants, often polished with gold or silver.
These pheasants were said to represent the ability of the generals to rule their subjects fairly. Moreover, because these birds didn’t migrate during winters and managed to survive the harsh climate, they were also associated with mortality.
In the far eastern culture
Pheasants are equally popular in the far eastern cultures. In Japan, these birds were admired for their attractive plumage and were also seen as a messenger of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess.
And because Amaterasu was considered the ruler of heaven in the Shinto tradition, being connected to her worked in favor of these birds. All those who followed this tradition associated pheasants with potential, power, and abundance.
On the other hand, in China, these birds are symbols of authority and immortality. In any ancient Chinese ritual, the priests would always wear pheasant feathers on their ceremonial robes.
Pheasant feathers symbolism
In many tribal cultures around the world, the feathers of pheasants are widely used for adoration. Be it for their robes, crowns, tools, fishing gadgets, or carnival masks, the pheasant feathers can be seen on it all. But have you ever wondered why?
In the world of symbolism, the pheasant feathers are used to symbolize a gift. Their spirit can guide you on how to use your talents and skills in the right direction in order to succeed in life. Just as pheasants are great at motivating others, so are their feathers.
Pheasant feathers are not only symbolic of using one’s gift wisely but also of sharing your gifts with others and growing together.
Pheasant totem
The pheasant totem will approach you when your morale is down due to some setbacks in life. Perhaps your failures have convinced you of the fact that you don’t deserve better. But the pheasant totem is here to shake you up and reprimand you for doubting and belittling yourself.
While you can’t always control what turn your life takes, you can certainly control how you react to it. And if you truly want to overcome your shortcomings, wallowing in self-pity isn’t going to help you. The pheasant totem will encourage you to get over your insecurities and think about how you can turn your failures into learnings. And once you’re back on track, you’ll soon find ways to deal with all your challenges.
Alternatively, their totem might also come into your life when you’ve lost touch with your sexuality and are either single or having trouble with your partner. Under their guidance, you will learn that the key to being attractive and keeping the romance alive lies in your self-confidence.
In other words, they’ll show that your general lack of confidence is the reason why you’re going through a rough patch in your life. Once you address the first problem, the second one will be remedied on its own.
Pheasant spirit animal
Are you someone who can always come up with a creative solution to any problem you have? The spirits of pheasant are watching over you.
Blessed with creative minds and colorful souls, these people never seem to get stuck in life. Because instead of panicking or feeling anxious about what they don’t know, they focus on learning what they need to in order to find a solution and move on.
The pheasant-spirited people are smart workers with an instinctive sense of when to strike back and when to hold their tongue. They can read the room better than anyone else and are quick to act.
Looking at them from afar, you’ll easily assume that they’re just extremely lucky in life. However, in truth, they’ve just mastered the art of perception, much like their spirit guides. They have learned early in life that if you’re patient and capable of perceiving what others think, you will always win in life.
Another remarkable attribute of the pheasant-spirited people is their attraction. Governed by the flashy spirit of pheasants, these people can easily charm anyone they like and are, therefore, very popular wherever they go. Some people might find this behavior intentional, but it really isn’t.
For them, it’s natural; they cannot control it at will, which is a bad thing for them, too. Many will think of them as untrustworthy because of these attributes. Moreover, perhaps for the same reasons, these people are quite lonely in life. While they’re surrounded by people who fawn all over them, they don’t have true friends who trust and understand them.
Being the partner of a pheasant-spirited person is not an easy task. You’ll constantly feel over-shadowed in their company and will worry if you truly deserve them. But if you can keep all your insecurities aside and choose to trust that they love you despite it all, you’ll be a match made in heaven.
Conclusion
As humans, we generally consider all gamebirds to be naïve, foolish, and incapable of looking after themselves. However, we often tend to forget that these birds have diverse personalities.
For instance, we talked about pheasants in this article and learned that apart from their attractive plumage and bold personality, these birds have many other lessons for us. They have a grounded spirit, sharp senses, perceptive nature, and the ability to survive even the toughest circumstances.
For these reasons, the pheasants were kept in high regard in many ancient tribes and cultures. Even their feathers have a powerful symbolism, which is why they’re a part of many cultural adornments.
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