The Simurgh and Rebirth into the Self
“Where is the direction of life? From which way do I arrive at a hoopoe?” — Sohrab Sepehri

In the previous part we considered what the story of the phoenix can teach us about psychological rebirth.
From the phoenix we learned how logocentrism—continually standing toward the light—together with love, faith, acceptance of suffering, and acceptance of the death of what must die, can lead us toward psychological rebirth.

In the fourth and final part of the rebirth seminar, we move from the sign of the phoenix to the Simurgh.
The Simurgh is an ancient symbol in the culture and literature of the Iranian lands and a visual manifestation of perennial wisdom. It symbolizes consciousness and wholeness.
To understand the place of the Simurgh in rebirth and the lessons we can learn from it, we must first understand the hoopoe, because the journey toward the Simurgh begins with the hoopoe. We therefore turn to two stories from the treasury of Iranian literature: Attar of Nishapur’s story of the hoopoe and the birds, and Suhrawardi’s The Chant of the Simurgh.

In Attar’s story, the birds are searching for the king of birds to guide them toward greatness, unaware that each one carries a Simurgh hidden within.

The hoopoe, the wise bird, tells them that the Simurgh, king of birds, lives beyond Mount Qaf, while warning them that reaching Mount Qaf is extremely dangerous and arduous. The birds, initially eager, each begin to offer excuses for not going. Each bird symbolizes a human characteristic or weakness.

The sparrow speaks of its weakness and smallness; the partridge of the stones and jewels of this world that are enough for it; the nightingale of its love for the rose; and the sorrowful bittern worries that the sea’s water may diminish. The hoopoe, who has travelled through the seven valleys of love and already reached the valley of knowledge, awakens the birds and plants in them the longing for the journey. The hoopoe occupies the heroic position without which the journey cannot begin. It believes in itself and, with confidence in the Self, knows that it is worthy of the journey toward the Simurgh.

Under the hoopoe’s guidance, the birds travel through the seven valleys of love. In the end, of the thousands who began, only thirty birds remain, and each of them, through its own individuation, becomes a Simurgh.

Attar shows beautifully that the beginning of the journey requires, above all, seeking: the desire for something beyond the ordinary life we live. Then, by stepping into the valley of love, we release calculating reason and its advice and arrive at the valley of knowledge, where the acquisition of awareness and knowledge is necessary for passage.

A human being who passes through these three valleys becomes, like the hoopoe, a guide to the other birds—the other dimensions of one’s personality—within one’s own being.
To continue the road, the hoopoe must accompany the other birds and experience unity with all of them.
Together, the birds pass through the valleys of detachment, unity, and bewilderment until they reach the valley of poverty.

The beginning and end of the journey are very close. We begin with seeking and in the end return again to seeking. As Jung is quoted as saying here, we begin with the orphan and end our journey with the orphan.

With thanks and respect,
Hannah Saatchi

Seminar on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaf-0HCaXJk&feature=youtu.be