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That would be Quetzalcoatl. Simurch. Roc. Bennu. (This last is surely ancient Egyptian for Benny ... whaddya think?) And--of course--for the literal translation: Fire Bird. Also known in inner circles as The Phoenix.
Lest there are thems amongst you that don't know the story ... Egyptian myth has it that this unique Arabian bird built a nest of myrrh ... then died ... its decaying flesh producing a worm which sprouted feathers. It then carried its parent's bones in a ball of myrrh (This has to be asked: Has anyone out there ever seen a myrrh shrub or a myrhh tree?) to the temple of Ra. Then the new Phoenix (doesn't say how it got from worm to Phoenix ... perhaps it's one of those things one takes on faith ... a topic which I feel is best left alone) returned to Arabia to start the whole cycle over again only to return again in five hundred years ... when it was five hundred years old or fourteen hundred and sixty one years old ... at which time it would burn itself to death. Don't ask for logic here folks. I can't help you.
It was ... for those of you who might be having trouble following the insane sequence of this whole process ... as it was burning to death that it built the nest and--after finally expiring--the worm came forth from the ashes to rise again as a new Phoenix.
Now then ... let us segue ... as we often do ... to a gentleman by the name of René Lalique. I'm not going to tell you his history. You all know it. I'm not going to give you his credentials. You all know it. What I am going to do is show you a glass lamp he made. A lamp which he called--by amazing co-incidence--L'Oiseau de Feu. Wait till you see this. It's a knock-out.
One last addendum. For those who might think this Tidbits is a bit muddled ... I am here to tell you it's late ... I'm racing the clock ... and it's all in your imagination. It's not muddled at all.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits...may I direct you to my home page at
And there ya have it. That's it for this week folks. Catch you all next week. Benjamin Mark
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