East wind

An east wind is a wind that originates in the east and blows west. This wind is referenced as symbolism in mythology, poetry and literature.

In Greek mythology, Eurus, the east wind, was the only wind not associated with any of the three Greek seasons, and is the only one of these four Anemoi not mentioned in Hesiod's Theogony or in the Orphic Hymns.

In Native American Iroquois culture, the east wind is said to be brought by the Moose, whose breath blows the grey mist and sends down cold rains upon the earth.

Some 17 references to the East Wind exist in the Authorized King James Version of the English Old Testament. In chapter 41 of Genesis, the pharaoh's dream, that is interpreted by Joseph, describes seven ears of grain blasted by the east wind. In chapters 10 and 14 of Exodus, the east wind is summoned by Moses to bring the locusts that plague Egypt and to part the Red Sea so that the Children of Israel can escape pharaoh's armies. Several other references exist, most associating the east wind with destruction. Often, this destruction is of the wicked by God.

Joseph Fielding McConkie and Donald W. Parry, in A Guide to Scriptural Symbols, teach that - “The east wind is a destructive wind which originates in the east, the symbolic direction of Deity’s presence. Also called ‘the wind of the Lord’ (Hosea 13:15), it is ‘prepared’ by God (Jonah 4:8) for the purpose of destroying the ungodly and unrighteous. The Lord has stated, ‘If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction’ (Mosiah 7:31). Hence they are ‘smitten with the east wind’ ” (Mosiah 12:6; see also Job 27:21).

In Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, "The Garden of Paradise" (first published in 1839), it is the East Wind who takes the hero to visit the eponymous garden.

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