So much so, that he would stop in his vain strutting and shriek angrily whenever he caught a glimpse of this blemish in his otherwise beautiful and dignified appearance. The lesson learned from the peacock in early bestiaries was that Christians ought also to lament and hate their own spiritual imperfections. The cherubim are believed to have peacock feathers in their wings. Like many solar symbols, the peacock is an emblem of resurrection, immortality, and the incorruptible soul. These symbolic associations were strengthened by the belief that peacock flesh was not subject to spoilage and that when peacocks molted, their old feathers were replaced by ever more beautiful ones.
Peacocks often play the role of the mythical phoenix in religious art.
They are sometimes seen drinking from Eucharistic chalices or near the Tree of Life. Because of their association with the Tree of Life, peacock thrones were popular in ancient Babylon and Persia. Because Heliopolis is the city where the phoenix was said to build its rejuvenating funeral pyre, the peacock has become a substitutional emblem of that city. St. Barbara has a peacock feather as one of her attributes because she was born in Heliopolis. The peacock's restless activity at the approach of a storm has caused it to become a symbol of rain.