Pelican

(Revision as of 00:38, 23 Jun 2005)

A pelican feeding its young, from a 1619 needlework pattern book, Leipzig

The pelican is a large water bird with a distinctive beak that acts as a pouch. Pelican adults feed their young by dipping their beaks into a natural pouch to retreive food. This led to the misperception that they feed their young by ripping open their own breasts so that they might offer their blood as food. In this way the pelican came to symbolise many things—namely the concept of self sacrifice.

More specifically, the pelican was a symbol for the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. In alchemy, it is symbolic of the Philosopher's Stone as it is dissolved in molten lead which results in the transformation into gold. Thus, the pelican represents the concept of selfless striving for self-purification.

In the system of Freemasonry, one who has reached the 18th degree is refered to as a "Knight of the Rosae Crucis" as well as a "Knight of the Pelican." In Ordo Templi Orientis, the Fifth Degree confers the title "Sovereign Prince Rose-Croix, and Knight of the Pelican and Eagle."

References

Biedermann, H. (1992). The Dictionary of Symbolism. Facts on File, Inc : New York, NY
Scarlet Woman Lodge, OTO. (2005). About Us: Ordo Templi Orientis (http://www.scarletwoman.org/aboutus_oto.html). Retrieved June 22, 2005.

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