From its origins the Blood on the Feathers spread all the way around the planet. In this brief expose, chookophiles will find plenty more hidden breeds lurking in the depths. If you have got this far, you are probably a chookophile, so take your shovel and start.

China

North America

South America

Spain

Europe

Afterword

China

Near Pekin in recent years, there was unearthed a large army of earthenware soldiers, horses, chariots and all the other accoutrements needed for the organisation and welfare of such a horde. The baked clay soldiers were all wearing the insignia of three black feathers tipped with red. This allowed them to be identified with the ancient dynasty of the Emperor Lang Shan, whose court was known to be held in Nankin, but whose tomb had been unidentified until this amazing discovery.

It was said that the Emperor was born at sunrise. At the moment of his birth, the sky was filled with wispy mares' tails cirrus clouds so that as the sun came over the horizon, it appeared to be dominated by this great plume of feathers. As the feathers were greater than the sun, and considering that all these oriental potentates are held to be divine in their own right, it was assumed that this was a foretelling that the Emperor himself would be greater than the sun in his godliness. And so it was that the three feathers were seen as a fitting symbol of his future hugeness and appropriated for this Chinese ruler.

Naturally as the rays of the sun spread across the morning sky, these clouds were tinged brilliant reds and oranges, making them seemingly appear to have been dipped in blood. Thus it was that the plain feather was not enough for this Emperor, it had to be the blood tipped feather. This story was revealed when the inscription on a large porcelain jar of indescribable beauty, was carefully translated by the archaeologists involved:

"The feathers' radiance bejewels the sky The sun nought but a speck in Lang Shan's eye The incarnadined plumes irradiate the earth And foretell the splendour of our Emperor's birth Wisdom and Justice will be the treasure of this one Whose feathered splendour outshines the rising sun." _____The Lang Shan Jar - Pekin Museum of Cultural History.

Fig 6 Lang Shan's Insignia.

That the symbol of the feather became black instead of red is indicative of the ego of Lang Shan. It would not do to have the symbol outshining the Emperor himself. Nor was 'Justice' a particularly strong trait of his character, for further investigation of the porcelain army reveals that within the beautifully embellished exterior of every horse and soldier is the body of a real one - thousands of them executed to protect their Emperor in the afterlife.

North America

Geologists claim that in times long past there was a land bridge joining the continent of Asia to that of North America. And that by means of this land bridge, the entire American continent became populated. It will now be seen that the inhabitants also brought with them the story of the Blood on the Feathers.

Extensive documentation of the history of the North American Indian tribes is available and it is clear that some tribes were very peaceful pastoral people and others were more bloody and warlike. To a man they were obsessed with feathers - they adorned their head-dresses, clothing, wigwams, weapons of hunt and war and later their horses when they arrived better late than never.

The Native American writers Tom Hill & Richard Hill explain five gifts that they say native Americans have received from their ancestors:

"The first gift . . . is our deep connection to the land. . . . The second gift is the power and spirit that animals share with our people. . . . The third is the spirit forces, who are our living relatives and who communicate with us through the images we make of them. . . . The fourth is the sense of who we are, which is expressed and sustained through our tribal traditions. . . . The last gift is the creative process - our beliefs made real through the transformation of natural materials into objects of faith and pride." _____Tom & Richard Hill - 1996.

This helps us to understand an artefact which is still being made as a cultural item by the members of several tribes, among them the Redcaps, the Chainsaw, the Wyandot and the Machete from the El Shamo region of the Southern USA. During a visit to this region you can purchase ceremonial bison hides, with heads and horns still attached, beautifully worked with bead and feather decorations and with hunting chants burned into the surface. A typical chant describes the valour of a noble brave who would come back to home from the hunt after having leapt from his horse, brought down a mighty buffalo, cut its throat, and returned with the prize and with blood on the feathers of his head-dress to show the extent of his valour.

Fig 7 Chainsaw Buffalo Motif.

The bison heads were heaped up into an enormous pile in the middle of the camp, then the reds rhode around the island of slaughter in triumph chanting this piece:

"the tom toms sound the hoofbeats pound the herd he hounds and circles round in valour frowned brave leaps to ground in bravery gowned the bull goes down its hide is brown its legs are bound its blood drips down its head is found in the island mound its horns are wound in his feathered crown the plumes are drowned . . . . . in the blood." _____Chainsaw Chant - El Shamo

It is obvious that the tradition of Blood on the Feathers is still alive and well in North America.

South America

Since archaeologists have penetrated deep into the past of Central and South America, the jungles have yielded many secrets of earlier civilisations. The theme of the Blood on the Feathers has proved constant throughout. In order not to hammer the same thoughts over and over, I will only mention the Maya (300-900 AD) and the later civilisation of the Aztecs (1300-1500 AD).

Maya
The Maya worshipped a storm god, 'Kulkulcan', a giant feathered serpent which is what its name meant. At a place known in Mayan times as Ixwortl, a pyramid has been uncovered with a series of chambers within it. An inscription over the entrance to the main chamber reads:

"He who Enters Here would but know the Wrath of Kulkulcan. His Silkie Feathered Coils will Crush, his Hungry Talons will Slash, who Dares to Raise the Blood of the Mighty Storm God." _____Sun Pyramid - Ixwortl.

Fig 8 Kulkulcan.

It is evident that the destructive theme of Blood on the Feathers' had totally pervaded the religious and ceremonial life of the Maya, and even with the sudden and mysterious passing of that civilisation, what remains still emphasises it.

Aztec
Much has been written about the barbarity of the Indians - very game, swift runners through the jungle, etc., but primarily about their bloodthirsty treatment of slaves and captives. They worshipped the god Quetzalcoatl, a later incarnation of the Feathered Serpent, but by this time it had attained the all important position of Creator God. The Aztecs had this rather haunting and terrifying thought that indeed the sun might not rise tomorrow, and that the onward harmony of the world was something which was for ever in jeopardy. This meant that the Sun required human blood: this was the ideology of human sacrifice and stimulus to warfare to capture fodder for the god.

There was a brief period where physical self-mutilation was practised as a means of offering a piece of oneself, in order to bring back the light each morning. This period was known as the 'Rumpless Indians' era. This didn't last long as intertribal warfare began to provide a better means of satisfying the need. The ritual soon saw the hearts of the victims being torn out while they were still alive, then lifted aloft to the feathered serpent who himself hovered above to receive the bloody offering. The hearts were symbolically impaled by the large plume of the Quetzal bird.

Fig 9 The Sacrificial Heart.

Not only did the Blood on the Feathers dominate the religious life of the Aztecs, but it also pervaded the everyday life of the people. A writing translated by Barneveldo de Salagún says in part:

"The wise man: a light, a torch, a stout torch that does not smoke. A perforated mirror, a mirror pierced on both sides. His are the black and red ink, his are the feathered quills, his are the illustrated manuscripts, he studies the illustrated manuscripts. He himself is writing and wisdom. He uses the feather and the black ink, the feather and the blood. . . ." _____The Toils of the Everyman who would be Wise

Spain

In the 16th century Hernan Cortés and his army of conquistadores arrived in Mexico to commence a dialogue on whose war cries were more blood-curdling than the other's. Among his merry men was one José María Aves de Corral Pollos y Pollitas Fritos de Minorca. José loved his life as a soldier/explorer/nobleman because whenever he got back to Spain he could really charm all the ladies of the court with his heroic tales of bravery and adventure. He was entranced by the theatricality of the Aztec sacrificial demolition rituals, especially the Quetzal feather through the victim's heart. As his special interest was as an 'avicultor', he thought he might be able to do something equally dramatic when his surplus birds were brought to the King's table.

He began to wear a long Quetzal feather in his red heart-shaped helmet and took this fashion back to Spain where he soon acquired the title 'El Splendido de Andalusia'. The style was quickly copied to the extent that it was possible without proper Quetzal feathers, and became known as 'La Sangria en las Plumas'. José's monopolisation of the entire Spanish supply of these feathers infuriated King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. They decided that it was an insult to their sovereignty and had him thrown into prison, after confiscating all his Aztec gold and relics and the entire supply of Quetzal feathers. Later José was executed and one of his friends in the Spanish court mentionned this in his diary, part of which has been preserved, and to which we are obliged for the entire anecdote:

"The gold encrusted feathered snake Whose very riches José did take Has proved to be a curse too heavy to bear The King has taken off his head For insults better off not said The offense of feathered plumes up in his hair "As his feathered helmet fell to earth Was this all that his life was worth? His blood dripped down and stained its tawdry plumes The King and Queen just took the lot Of all the wealth that he had got His corpse was laid with Marsh Daisy blooms." _____from the Diary of Vasco Ancona Campines de Rouen, 1563.

Europe

From the court of Spain, the fashion of "La Sangria en las Plumas" spread to other countries of Europe. A German ditty first heard at the time goes:

"Mein Hutte der hat drei Ecken Drei Ecken hat mein Hutte Und had er nicht drei Ecken Denn ist das nicht mein Hutte!"

(My hat has 3 feathers 3 feathers has my hat and if it hasn't got 3 feathers then it isn't my hat!)

Also there has been discovered an actual hat that once belonged to a merchant from Antwerp. He was known as the 'Bearded One' (Le Barbu D'Anver) for the elaborateness of the feathered regalia which he wore tied beneath his chin. The preserved scarlet relic still has its three foot long feathers attached with a rose comb. Underneath the band are embroidered the words:

"In rain or sun no matter what the weather A man's hat is not dressed without a feather The hat should be scarlet, the feather blood red Without them the fashionable merchant is dead."

Fig 10 The Merchant's Hat.

This no doubt was meant to be an amusing satire on the fashion at that time, but it probably had an element of seriousness in it, as class distinctions made it imperative that a merchant should be seen to wear the absolute pinnacle of fashion or his prosperity and worth would be highly suspect. Maybe not actual death, but certainly social death.

Afterword

It didn't seem to matter what section of history I looked at, there were feathers and blood all over the place. It amazes me that I had never noticed before how obsessed the world has been with them. Especially has the Blood on the Feathers had a very long, although sometimes hidden, association with all breeds of paltry throughout history.

As this symbol has, at the same time, been involved primarily with death, it is therefore a fitting title for any caring funeral industry. And to be strictly accurate, there are many people who care more about dead chooks than about live ones. In fact, whole industries have grown up around 'le coq mort'. (For example Chicken Treat, Steggles, etc) In that respect I will happily apply the ethos of Blood on the Feathers to any chook people care to bring to me.

Fig 11 This Chook is Definitely Dead.

"Today there's never been a rose so red As where some chooky lost his head To gain a sanguinary necklace so sublime Enfeathered yet in death as life His reddened neck has kissed the knife And thus his death deserves a funeral rhyme." _____CM.

Did you find 35? Return the jar for a refill.



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