Those are some links to get you started, mostly about how they look and stuff. ^^
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.
"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach
I know that they were originally an Egyptian mythical creature - used as a metaphor for the Ah-ten (sun) how it dies and comes to life in flames etc etc
...I also know that a phoenix's makes it's nest in either Cyprus trees or fig palms...
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. — Genesis 3:19