Crane of hope....

Please let's hear some good news coming out of Japan.

There is a crane that I sometimes see which when I do always brings a smile and feeling of hope and good luck so I always look forward to seeing it. Today, it flew across my head, above the tenement houses which line the New Town streets, making its way to another spot along the Water of Leith where I sometimes see it fishing. I have never seen it fly literally across my head before, I have seen it fly off, but this time, today as I took a lunch break, it really felt even more special and I hope that I am right....

Did you know, the Crane is associated with longevity, health, happiness, wisdom and good luck?

In Asia, Cranes are symbols of longevity and immortality. The White Crane can fly to the heavens and it is a Chinese symbol for "wisdom" and is sometimes called the "heavenly" or "blessed" Crane. Cranes were vehicles of the gods and in China fly them to the "Isle of the Immortals", the legendary home of the eight immortals. A Crane's eggs were used in magic potions to grant eternal life upon its drinkers.  

In many parts of the world, Cranes are regarded as a messenger of the gods. In ancient Egypt, legend says that a two-headed crane was once seen flying over the Nile, to announce a new age of joy and prosperity.

Cranes are masters at killing snakes, thus, in Christian symbolism, they were seen as natural enemies of Satan.

Their long annual migration, made them symbols of endurance and their wings were once used as talismans to protect travelers from exhaustion. The return of the Cranes, each spring made them symbolic of the Resurrection.

In Greco- Roman myth, the Crane was sacred to the Mother Goddess, Demeter, who renewed the earth each spring, when her daughter, Persephone, was released from the underworld.

Sunday Creative word prompt this week is Crane.