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Dragon myths, East vs. West - Looking closer - Lu Dong Bin also a dragon slayerFrom: Dylan
Subject: Philosophy
Date/Time 2007-09-11 07:39:02
Remote IP: 193.224.83.130
MessageThere are destructive aspects to the Dragon energy depicted by the East too. I read somewhere about virgins being sacrificed to the river dragon in China too, not just in the west.
Also, in the tales of the eight immortals, Lu Dong Bin uses a magical sword to slay a malignant Dragon. So there are definitely dragons and dragons.
As a counterpoint to this, in the West we have the Red Dragon on the flag of Wales, the oldest flag in the world. This was originally a Golden Dragon banner carried by ancient British war leaders and seen as a positive figure. Arthur Pendragon (Dragon head) is a good example.
The point I'm making is that its more than a battle between Christianity and Paganism - oversimplification. The dragon was seen as both positive and negative by pre-christian peoples too. What about Indra slaying the Dragon, Thor and the midgard serpent, Marduk and Tiamat?
You can't even explain it away as Patriarchy versus Matriarchy either, as ancient Cretan origin myths have the Earth mother stamping on the head(repressing) of the serpent- this time depicted as male energy.
So I think in the end, slaying the dragon can be seen as transmuting energy or mastering energy in the body, Kundalini and in the earth - a kind of Feng shui. I've heard that Slaying the dragon with a spear for example represents a kind of Geomantic acupuncture, the spear being a stone of somekind.
The dragon can be slain but never really dies because its also the symbol of rebirth and regeneration.
One word about St George, he was originlly a much older figure, Green George (green Knight) who protected the earth and was/is a symbol of green fertility. He later became christianised in the same way as St Nicholas.
Dylan
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