In Egypt, swans were known as vehicles for the journey to the otherworld, as they are in the shamanistic traditions of northern Asia. In ancient Greece, the priests of the mysteries at Eleusis were regarded as their descendants, and after their immersion in the waters of purification, they were called swans. In China and in ancient Persia, the swan was a solar bird as in ancient Greece. In Celtic myths, divine swans embodied the beneficent, healing power of the sun, and among the Sioux of the North American Plains, the sacred white swan was the form taken by the Great Spirit who controls all that moves and to whom prayers are addressed. The swan was also connected with divine music because of its sweet song: in Egypt, it was associated with the harp; in Greece, with Apollo's*
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