How birds inspired the ancient world
‘Across cultures, perhaps the most common mythic role played by birds was intermediary between the material world on earth and the spirit world of the heavens’. Ben H Gagnon
As we go about our daily lives, we always find ourselves accompanied by birds. They’re always there, in the skies, on the waters and in the trees, in our gardens, our cities and the countryside. So much so, that we often simply take them for granted.
Yet there’s a bond between humans and birds far older and more profound than we would ever have imagined today.
This is the subject of a new book, Church of Birds: An eco-history of myth and religion (Moon Books, March 2023), by Ben H Gagnon, who reminds us of an ancient alliance which was fundamental to human survival and the spread of civilisation. Indeed, here we have a new and significant geo-mythological element to add to our knowledge of human history.
I have to say at the outset that it would be unethical for me to review this book in my usual way because I was engaged on it as an editor and researcher, so I must limit myself to a description although, naturally, I have an interest in seeing the book reach as wide…
