The Phoenix



via Amazon.com

 The US cover of the Jonathan Stroud's latest book sports a gorgeous specimen of the phoenix. Don't you think?

The Ring of Solomon is a prequel to the Bartimaeus Trilogy. This installment of the series is based on the grandfather of all djinn tales, King Solomon's supposed connection to the djinn and an infamous ring talisman. Even I couldn't avoid mentioning it my MS. But back to the phoenix. I love those too and I guess I'm not the only one who thought it was a fitting creature for a djinn. Except my use of the phoenix is more symbolic and sometimes metaphysical.

For example, some important lore that led to my use of the Phoenix for dinn nature and more specifically, my MC:

• Phoenix Rising has many similarities to Kundalini, which I use as an energy source for djinn.
• A phoenix is a creature (or person) rising from the ashes of the former self. An arabian Phoenix is born of fire, dies by fire, and is symbolic of rebirth.
• In Chinese culture, the phoenix represents the female or the yin. The Taoist idea of duality of all things is the balance of Yin and Yang.
• The bird famously kills snakes - even a basilisk. If you read my earlier post, The Seed, you'll know where I'm going with this.

Related articles

• The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud (collectedmiscellany.com)
• Kundalini in ancient Greek and other non-Indian cultures (auromere.wordpress.com)

Tao of the Phoenix & the Dragon

"While Eeyore frets ...

... and Piglet hesitates
... and Rabbit calculates
... and Owl pontificates
...Pooh just is."

That's the Tao of Pooh.

It was required reading for my roommate in college and I wonder if that's where she learned to be clueless. (Probably not.) I'm more of a cross between Eeyore and Piglet myself. In fact, good characters have more than just the one personality trait. (Usually that combination is more interesting than fretting and hesitating.) Matthew Rush argues that Finding Balance in our characters is essential to a successful novel and I agree.

Of course, when you have characters with unique, paranormal or superhuman powers, equilibrium can be harder to come by. Djinn energy can be an unstoppable force so the struggle for balance is a core element of Sybil's character arc. It's difficult for her to acknowledge kundalini/phoenix rising until she learns to manage it with a particular ballast.

In Taoism, the counterweight of the phoenix is the dragon.  Phoenix is female, representing the yin or the empress, and the dragon is male, representing the yang or the emperor.  An excess of one or the other is unwise, while equalization between the two is symbolic of harmonious yin and yang.

As any student of Taoism knows, there is no good or evil, only balance.