Hi there,
It seems that the ultimate reason is that they were a convenient
explanation, because:
- storks are migratory, which means they could be fetching the baby
from some mystical place
- they like to live on rooftops, perfect for delivering a baby down
the chimney
- they mate for life, the same as humans do (sometimes)
- they are big enough to imagine them carrying an infant
Here's what I found online:
"Storks are fertility symbols and are associated with springtime and
birth. Children throughout Europe and America are taught that the
stork delivers newborns to their mothers. In some areas, it is thought
that the stork can cause a woman to become pregnant merely by looking
at her.
It was believed that the souls of unborn children lived in watery
areas such as marshes, wells, springs, and ponds. Since storks
frequented such areas, they were thought to fetch the babies' souls
and deliver them to their parents. In Germany, storks found human
infants called "stork-children" dwelling in caves hidden in rocky
steeps called "Adeborsteine" or "stork-stones," and carried them to
their expectant parents. Children who wanted a baby brother or sister
were encouraged to sing their desires to the stork. Naughty little
boys were carried in the bird's bill while nice ones rode upon its
back.
The stork is found in pictures of the Annunciation, not only because
of its association with babies, but because of its association with
spring. The coming of Christ was equated with the coming of this
season which is often heralded by the arrival of the migratory stork.
Its return to its northern nesting grounds each spring along with its
connections to new life and rebirth make this bird an emblem of Easter
and the Resurrection."
"Its migratory habits made it an emblem of the traveler. Along with
other migratory birds, storks were biblical symbols of sensible
backsliders who knew when to return to the straight and narrow. [Jer
8:4-7] In the lands they departed from, storks were believed to become
people and dwell as humans when they arrived at their winter
destinations. It was thought that they cried human tears when hurt or
saddened.
Storks are commonly believed to bring good fortune. In Germany, they
were known as "Adebar" which means "luck-bringer." In the Netherlands,
a stork nesting on one's roof is welcomed as a good omen, but in
Morocco it is a sign that the house will be abandoned by its
occupants. "
http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/legend01/stork.htm
"In Scandinavia, storks - gentle birds with strong family ties,
habitually nested on top of peoples chimneys. So when Scandinavian
parents needed to explain to youngsters how babies arrived, the stork
was a handy answer. This traditional tale was spread in the 1800s by
Hans Christian Anderson, in his fairy tales."
http://www.jhargis.com/reader.htm
The Storks, by Hans Christian Anderson
http://www.fairytalescollection.com/Hans_Christian_Anderson/The_Storks_print.htm
"This species nests on roofs and it is considered good luck to have a
stork on your house. They use the same nest year after year, adding
material so that some nests are 97 inches in diameter, 6.5 feet high,
and weigh 1100-1980 pounds! The Dutch once believed that if a stork
was encouraged to nest on a house it would leave one of the young ones
for the owner. The returning of the mated pair of storks made them a
symbol of fidelity and it was thought that when a stork became old, it
was cared for by one of its offspring."
http://www.sazoo-aq.org/02meet/02sublinks/stork.html
"Storks were sacred to Venus in Roman mythology. If a stork builds a
nest on your roof, you have received a blessing and a promise of never
ending love from Venus. Aristotle made killing a stork a crime, and
Romans passed a stork law, saying that children must care for their
elderly parents."
http://www.geocities.com/sonhedaze/third.html#Pregnancy or
http://e-musicbox.com/super.htm
Search strategy
---------------
It took many searches, including:
storks fertility
storks fertility Europe
"storks * * * * * associated with"
baby stork originated
Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga |
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