The Philosopher's Dove (with Addendum)

 

The enigmatic glyph of a pigeon poised in flight, Albuquerque - one frame of a cellphone video - June 2, 2025, DS.

A pigeon is considered feral when one member of its line has, at some point in time, severed ties with (human-produced) domesticity.

Pigeons - rock doves - are free agents in human cities. Huddling together in small groups high up in the rafters of old, abandoned buildings, they are quiet, gentle, trusting creatures. We know them mostly by the snapping sound of their beating wings.

Time-stamped: August 1, 2025, 6:22 pm.

They are essentially travelers, vagrants and refugees and are generally despised (and exterminated) by property owners. After all, pigeons do not pay rent, nor do they sing for their supper. They search for seeds that have fallen on the pavement, trodden by human feet, or flattened beneath the wheels of a driverless car.

Time-stamped: July 31, 2025, 1:19 pm.

But, the sky glorifies those in flight and, in flight, the rock dove is as fleet as any bird.

Always, the sky, whispering in silent, Sylphid syllables, welcomes its feathered acolytes back into its cool, incorruptible embrace.

(Continued below the break...)

***

Rock Doves are often slipping into my cloud photographs (unnoticed) these days, but, almost never if I try to capture them. They are beautiful in flight, though, and I am always happy to see their tiny forms in my images.

The dove above was actually closer to me than it was to the cloud formation. Speaking of which, the cloud appears to be a word written in an alien tongue. We might logically suppose this cryptic group of symbols to be the work of carefully orchestrated currents of air.

Medieval alchemists, however, intuited a kind of intelligence also permeated Nature's design and they attributed this nonhuman intelligence to the four (or more) elemental groups responsible for natural manifestations. Their numbers and names varied.

The Sylphs, the elementals of air, were angelic in appearance, and controlled all matters of the atmosphere and all creatures who might navigate their medium. Moreover, both theoretically and physically, the Sylphs created weather patterns which brought rain, and kept the elemental fire - the sun - at bay.

A Sylphid Mansion with the Moon. Time-stamped: July 31, 2025, 7:06 pm.

*** Addendum***

"Coco has Escaped!"

 

A feral white dove, Albuquerque, August 11, 2025, 3:25 pm, DS.

Coincidentally, if coincidence exists, the resident pigeons entertained an unexpected guest today: a cloud white - as in, colorless - rock dove. Yes, the real deal, a pure white dove which was more than likely owned by

a human... or a group of humans (for example) before it escaped.

It ran around with it's grey companions for about 15 minutes*, pecking at bits of unidentifiable matter on the asphalt and then flew off. The grey pigeons seemed as excited as I was.

And, I really was enchanted. I could understand why the ancients identified the white dove with a Goddess and the Christians used it to symbolize the spiritual nature of their God. The white rock dove is the iconic symbol of the divine messenger.

However, our visitor didn't act as if it was iconic. It didn't put on any airs. But, it seemed as if it, too, was excited... possibly it was just happy to be free.

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* Most of which, I spent running around with a camera on the balcony failing get a decent shot!

From Pigeonpedia: Soaring in Slumber: The Fascinating Dream World of Pigeons.