Griffin

A fabulous animal with the body, tail, and hind legs of a lion and the head, wings, and forelegs of an eagle. A female griffin has wings while a male has spikes along his back. When standing on one hind leg, the heraldic term for the position of a griffin is "segreant" instead of the usual rampant. Probably originating in Syria during the second millennium B.C. and known in Greece by the 14th century B.C., the griffin is a pagan solar symbol and a Christian symbol for duality, such as the divine-human nature of Christ, because of the combination of a land animal and a bird.

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_{This page is adapted from the Glossary at Phoenixmasonry — Used with permission.}