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An odd but soulful question
I recently asked this question on a tech forum but got rather... media oriented responses (which isn't really supprising due to their massive influence on everyone today) so I thought I'd ask it in a much more... thoughtful surrounding. This is a serious question and, despite how... unorthadox it may seem, this, I believe is the correct forum for the question (Why? You may ask, well, I'll go into that privately if anyone is seriously interested).
What does the word/term "Dragon" mean to you? What does it make you think of and why? Try and be descriptive and verbose if you can as it helps provide insight into your answer. Also what is a Dragon to you? An evil monster? A creature of myth that should be killed whenever possible? An upwardly mobile steed? A noble creature of legend? Creatures that still walk with us today?
Thank you in advance.
What does the word/term "Dragon" mean to you? What does it make you think of and why? Try and be descriptive and verbose if you can as it helps provide insight into your answer. Also what is a Dragon to you? An evil monster? A creature of myth that should be killed whenever possible? An upwardly mobile steed? A noble creature of legend? Creatures that still walk with us today?
Thank you in advance.
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Comments
I haven't really thought about it too much. Dragon means a lot of things given the particular environment in which it's being discussed.
Dragon's in fairy tales and myth and go about destroying villages or hoarding gold in a lonely mountain - you view them as the villain - because that's their role in that particular setting.
Dragons in Chinese mythology can be very noble and wise creature - desired by humans because of these very traits.
The term dragon used to describe "komodo dragons" is just a term used to describe a very unique creature in, possibly somewhat of a, romantic or mythological way.
I think it depends on the circumstance with how a particular person has been educated and programmed during their life.
-bf
They are guardians (or representatives of guardians) in an eastern culture where there is no 'guardian angel' and for this reason can be seen guarding houses and temples. People here may think of dragons as a force protecting them from demons and other such horrible creatures. For this reason they are highly respected for their honourable and serene nature in the face fo adversity.
They are also people. The very same qualities, described above, in dragons when found in people can give the person a dragon like nature. Many names in Asian countries incorporate the Dragon symbol or noun in order to instill the name-bearer with some of these qualities.
No doubt you have met some dragons in your time - they are the people who act when it is time to act and rest when it is time to rest. Their energy is never scattered, it is always concentrated. They can be terrifying but this power is never used for evil ends. Indeed, it is evil that is terrified by the dragon.
It goes, therefore, without saying that I have a great respect for these creatures, in whatever form they take.
It isn't until the Roman Christians arrive that dragons became demonised. This is best summed up in the legend of Saint Patrick banishing the 'serpents' from Ireland and the Saint George and Saint Michael myths.
You may be amused to learn that the 'Michael' line of wouivre which runs from the Atlantic coast of Ireland all the way to the Middle East, a dragon line, is studded with churches dedicated to Michael (e.g. Saint Michaels's Mount in Cornwall) but that when it reaches the Balkans, the churches become places sacred to Phoebus Apollo!
There is a lot to learn about 'dragons' but I would just like to add that, in 'gnostic' wrirings, the Eden serpent (a dragon in another form) is seen as the messenger of the Mother, Sophia, who brings wisdom into the world against the wishes of the demiurge Yahweh!
Hodgetts,
If in doubt, blame the Romans or the Church: you are more likely than not to be right!
I find it fascinating that dragons, flying serpents and the rest appear to haunt so many mythologies across so many centuriesx and miles.
My statue of Kwan Yin shows her standing on a dragon.
For me, dragons are old, gentle giants, protectors from all sorts of dangers. Mythical whimsy. Psychological archetypes. Primordial shadows.
Many a true word said in jest.....
She represents wisdom, the underlying Wisdom of the Void which is beyond all good and all evil, the place where no shadow falls. She lies among the waters of the Abyss. On her back rides Kwan Yin, the avatar of Compassion, in the mudra of universal loving-kindness. The winds of samsara blow her clothes but she is unmoved by them. She holds the vessel of inexhaustible compassion which she pours straight into the dragon's jaws, tempering wisdom as a smith tempers steel.
But that is just my reading - and it is only part of the statue. Each part has come to have its story and, through that, its meaning and bearing on my life practice.
Your interpretation has stirred up all sorts of thoughts in me. It makes such perfect sense to me now that Kwan Yin would ride a dragon's back. Very beautiful.
I have a friend on MySpace who loves Kwan Yin and she is the center of much of my friend's practice. May I send her your interpretation?
When it is a statue like my bronze Kwan Yin, there are a number of ways to see:
* There are the 'classical' interpretations and meanings which can be researched: the mudra, the clothes, the expression, the headdress, the 'halo', etc. Learning about these symbols and their traditional meanings links us with the ancestral society from which they came.
* There is the storyteller's way, which is the one that I use. In this, all the stories that I have heard and all the symbols that I have learned are no more than grist to the mill. The story arises from that mix, connecting an 'alien' atrefact such as a Chinese statue with my own long mythology. Thus, the Abzu (Abyss) of Sumer and Egypt is there; all the British, French, Greek and Chinese dragons of which I have heard reconnect in new ways to produce this dragon. I do not claim that my reading is the only one or, indeed, the best. It is temporary and useful for meditation.
This "hermeneutic" can be applied to anything around us. Blake knew it:
To see the world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
Buddleia growing out between the bricks of Brunel's railway arch holds all the truths of impermanence for me. The empty cross of a Protestant church and the crucifix of the Catholics tell different stories as do the thousands of Buddha figures. The important thing is to make them personal, reflections of the truth we strive to glimpse.
Does that make sense?
Your Blake quotation reminds me of one of my favourite poets, Gerald Manley Hopkins, who taught me to see the wonder right in front of me.
I'm going to save your post because I know there will be times when my imagination runs dry and I'll need it to inspire me again.
Thanks, Simon. Wish we could share a pot of tea and a chat by the fireside.
You are very welcome, Brigid. And who knows? My 16-year-old wants to go back to Canada to visit his cousins in Ontario again so I may be dragged onto an airplane yet again!!!
And this you know how?
It's occured to me that I shouldn't really have asked this question not really wishing to hear the answer, so I turn the thread over to those that have used it most and take my leave.
My Kuan Yin posses qualities of both male and female. I've read that she was originally he. I like to think that my statue demonstrates pure compassion beyond sexual boundries or styles of thinking.
To be honest I know so little about dragons I dare not comment. Actually I dare not comment about most things....this way I feel "safe", and hopefully I don't sound like an a**hole.
anyway I'll be quiet this thread offers little left to say
I personally like baby dragons. I think it's a mom thing. I think of western looking dragons but with all the qualities of an eastern dragon. What this says about myself, I'm not really sure. Maybe confusion. I think that anything is possible. So why can't there be dragons? Just because we haven't seen them doesn't mean anything to me. There are lots of creatures that are not known to us that we discover every year. So why not dragons.......
Welcome!! So glad to see you here!
I love baby dragons, too. I wonder if dragons ever did roam this earth. I like your open mind. Maybe dragons are primordial memories, or memories from other planets we've lived on. Who knows? They make for good tattoos, though. lol!
I'll see you at MySpace later.
Your friend,
Brigid
LOL!