About Dragons

7/28/2019 About Dragons

1/8


2/8

Now her stepson, Herakles (Glory of Hera) had to undergo 12 terrible trials as a result of a heinousmurder he had committed, and one of the last was to steal the apples from the Virgin Mother, Queen ofHeaven. { She renewed her virginity once a year at a sacred spring .]

With the help of the Titan Atlas, supporter of the Heavens, in exchange for relieving him of hisenormous burden for just a few moments, Heracles shot arrows at Ladon as a diversion but then hestruck and killed the dragon, and Atlas managed to fetch 3 of the golden apples. (Atlas was trickedinto reclaiming his burden again when Herakles asked for a moment to adjust his position so that he

could bear the weight a bit more comfortably. )

As for Ladon, Hera was distraught over its demise and did it great honour by placing it high in thenight sky where it is coiled to this day.

DivineAncestor

The flying dragon whose abode is the heavens is universally recognized as a symbol of the Chineseculture and its people. Chinese refer to themselves as Lung-tik Chuan-ren , that is "Descendents of theDragon."

It is believed that on rare occasions dragons have the power to transform themselves into handsomehumans who, male or female, can mate with people. For example, former Japanese Emperor Hirohito[fl. 1940] claimed descent from Princess Fruitful Jewel, daughter of a sea Dragon King. It is this beliefthat lies at the root of the dragon as crest or emblem of a royal house.

A dragon depicted full face was the exclusive Imperial symbol, but other kinds of dragon emblemswere used by ministers and representatives of the Chinese emperor, such as the ambans or viceroys.

Yu Pang was a peasant who rose to the highest rank and ruled China as its emperor. To legitimize thisunheard-of accomplishment, he was the first to claim descent from a dragon. From that time onwards,Dragon-face was the epithet used to refer to the ruler. Perhaps to encourage the notion that this wasmore than just a nickname, in Japan where the lifestyle owes much to China, the ruler adopted thepractice of sitting concealed behind a bamboo screen during audiences with visitors.

Weather

The rains that fertilize the land were attributed to the actions of the dragons, but so were thetremendous and devastating storms that sometimes occurred. These were attributed to the movementsof the great celestial dragons as they emerged in the spring or descended to their caves in the autumn.

MentorThe superior kind of Chinese dragon is said to have a great pearl in its throat which symbolizes itscustody of wisdom. (But also, a lunar eclipse .) It is believed that the knowledge of writing was given bya yellow dragon to legendary Emperor Fu Shi. This association of the dragon with the fertility of theintellect has a long tradition.

We have seen that the historical Buddha during his meditation under the bodhi tree is believed to havebeen shielded from the elements by a many-headed naga. In the long line of deities and saintsdescribed as having protection from this kind of serpentine creature is a 13th century Cambodian king.He is said to have spent his nights in a golden tower consulting with a nine-headed dragon. He couldbe accused of not heeding his advisor when there was a drought, flood or major storm.

Dragons were thought to be able to change size. When they were smaller, they could be the cause ofminor watery annoyances such as dripping eaves or a leaky roof. On the other hand, according to aTibetan lama, on occasions such as a dharma-teaching, the appearance of unexpected water as when asink overflows or the basement leaks, is considered an auspicious sign -- the approval of the nagas.

Dragon Robes at San Diego Museum with Chinese symbolism.
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_9/%22%EA%97%B2%E6%A3%AAy%E6%A1%92%D4%8F%C9%94%EC%9A%A8%3C%EC%84%B6


3/8

Panthaka is one of those numbered among Buddha's 16 arhats . He was said to have possessed magicpowers that were called upon when Buddha made an expedition to subdue and convert the fiercedragon-king Apulala . He could make himself smaller and smaller until he seemed to disappear. Whenhe is shown among the other disciples, he is the one depicted charming a dragon into his alms-bowl .

Lung-chun or Dragon-host is the Chinese form given for the Indian name that appears in that context.

The dragon is the vehicle of DorjeChang or Vajradhara , the Buddhist meditational deity. It is also theemblem of one of the Tibetan Buddhist schools descending from Milarepa. (The garuda, the snow lionand the tiger are others.)

That is because the founder of the Dragon or Drukpa lineage , Tsangpa Gyare,

" . . . whose existence was in fact earlier predicted by the Dakinis (you know, some formsof spiritual beings), while looking for a suitable site to build a proper place to spread theteachings of the holy lineage, met with nine dragons. These auspicious creatures flew upinto the sky, followed by a loud clap of roaring thunder. At this sight, Tsangpa Gyaredecided to build his monastery in this holy place then and there. Therefore, the firstmonastery, Nam Druk Sewa Jangchub Ling, was built, located not too far from Lhasa, thecapital of Tibet.

Based on this remarkable incident, I think that was the first time the dragon wasassociated with our lineage. Then it became quite natural for the followers of this lineage,or for that matter, the lineage holder and the lineage itself to be called the Drukpa orDruk lineage. As you know, the dragon is supposed to be an important and auspiciouscelestial creature, and even Bhutan is commonly called Drukpa or Druk Yul , meaningthe Country of Dragon. The Bhutanese people also refer to themselves as Drukpa,meaning people from the dragon country."

~ an interview with HH the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa

Guardian

The Chinese, Fa Hsien (394-414 CE) and 200 years later, Hsuan Chuang, both visited Shankashya one ofthe eight important places of pilgrimage for Buddhists. It is the site of Buddha's descent from theTushita Heaven and is reputed to be the place on earth where all Buddhas descend. People told bothpilgrims that there was a white-eared dragon living close to the monastery which housed about 1,000monks and nuns. The dragon cared for the monastery and the whole surrounding area. Fa Hsien's journal entry in particular emphasizes the abundant produce of the land, and the prosperity andhappiness of the people.

In that case, we have the prototypical eastern type of dragon. It is generally benevolent -- theembodiment of divine protection, vigilance and fertility. In its form that combines fish, reptile and bird

it has the ability to swim in the seas, fly in the heavens and coil up in the land where its humped backforms the ridges of mountain ranges.

Generous and kind, it wards off wandering evil spirits and protects the virtuous and the innocent.Therefore children born in a dragon year of the 12-animal cycle especially are considered to enjoyhealth, wealth, and long life.

Medea, Mistress of Dragons

Greek mythology relates that once a king of Thebes, desperate to protect hiskingdom from his nephew Jason, sent him off on a deadly mission: to journeyacross the sea far to the northeast to retrieve the Golden Fleece of Hermes' flyingram. (Sheep's fleece has been documented in western Asia today as still beingused to filter and trap gold from mountain streams.) But this fleece, besidesbeing of sacred origin, was also the totemic object bound to the longevity of theking of Colchis. It was protected there, not far from the Black Sea where it hadbeen nailed to a tree in a dragon sanctuary.
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_9/%E5%BD%9B-6%EE%90%BFX%DE%A4F%E6%AB%85%1C%E1%83%A5%E5%A1%80


4/8


5/8

While male dragons are described as having undulating steep, concave horns, female dragons are saidto have straight noses, round manes, thin scales (81 in number) and a strong tail. They lay their eggsnear water and they can take 1000 years to hatch. When fluid runs from the eggs as they begin to hatch,it is said that the parents cry out. The sounds of father and mother differ and they dramatically affectthe weather in different ways causing darkness, torrential rain, and the essential thunder and lightningthat induces the dragon eggs to crack.

The different forms of the dragon are attributed to its stage of development. At 500 years they areconsidered Kiao (scaled dragons,) at 1000 years they are mature Lung . It takes another 500 years for the

horns to develop fully- Kioh-lung- and another millennium for the dragon to fully develop into the Ying-lung or winged dragon capable of flight. They are believed to have shape-changing abilities exceptwhen being born, sleeping, lustful or angry.

There are four major kinds of Chinese dragon: t'ien lung, (celestial guardians)who support the mansions of the gods; shen lung (weather makers) who govern the clouds and bringrain; ti lung (earth-dragon) who control rivers; and the fu-ts'ang lung (treasure keepers) who guarddeposits and hoards of precious metal.

Dragons are said to like precious stones and roasted swallows but to be afraid of the leaves of the wangplant, leaves of the lien tree, 5-coloured silk thread, wax, iron and centipedes [scorpions?].

~ Alt.fan.dragons "Eastern dragon"

Classes of DragonsThere is a popular classification of Chinese dragons that aims to identify 9 types. It lists: the horneddragon, the winged dragon, the celestial dragon supporting and protecting the mansions of the gods,the spiritual dragon which generates wind and rain for the benefit of mankind, the dragon guardingconcealed wealth and the sinuously moving water dragon.

The most powerful is the horned dragon or Lung which produces rain and is believed to be totallydeaf. It is described as having a head like a camel, horns like a deer, eyes like a hare, ears like a bull, aneck like an lizard, a belly like a frog, scales like a carp, paws like a tiger, and claws like those of aneagle.

The homeless dragon known as Ii lives in the ocean, and the Chiao is a scaly green creature with yellowsides and a crimson underbelly that inhabits marshes or mountain dens. It has a pair of large canineteeth in its upper jaw and long whiskers which it uses like those of a catfish. It can vary from greenishto golden and is said to have alternating short and long spines all the way down its back and tail,ending in a long brush.

"One specimen had wings at its side, and walked on top of the water. Another tossed itsmane back and forth making noises that sounded like a flute. Cow-heads are alsocommon. A ten-footer, found lying on the banks of China's Yangtze River, was differentfrom most because of its long, thick eyebrows. A Yellow River variety, seen on shore in the1920s by a Chinese teacher, was bright blue, and as big as five cows. Both dragonscrawled into the water as soon as it started to rain."

~ Crystal Links ChineseDragons page .for above quotation and some of the other material

The four directional Dragon Kings form a distinctive type of Chinese dragon. In paintings, the red oneis associated with the West, black is for the North, yellow for the Eastern one and green for theSouthern one. When a central one is depicted, it is usually white, but may be blue.

Dragons are also thought of as features of geography. For having brought rain to humankind withoutthe Jade Emperor's permission, the troops of heaven were ordered to arrest four rebellious dragons andthe Mountain God collected mountains with which to pin them down.

What type of dragon is represented on the Qing dynasty (17th century) robe described as a chuba,from the Metropolitan's collection?
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_9/G%03~8-%E2%90%AE%E2%99%90%22%EC%BC%B9-%1C%E2%9F%84%E9%AE%80


6/8

" Determined to do good for the people forever, they turned themselves into four rivers,which flowed past high mountains and deep valleys, crossing the land from the west tothe east and finally emptying into the sea. And so China's four great rivers were formed --the Heilongjian ( Black Dragon) in the far north, the Huanghe ( Yellow River) in centralChina, the Changjiang (Yangtze, or Long River) farther south, and the Zhujiang ( Pearl ) inthe very far south."

~ Crystal Links ChineseDragons page .

Reversal of Fortune

A type of European dragon known as theguivre can cause disease with its breath, but it has thecurious characteristic of being so embarrassed by nudity that it will flee from the sight.

There is a legend that relates how Bishop St. Romain of Rouen subdued the gargouille:

The sinuous monster emerged one day from the waters of the Seine and causes a great flood. Thearchbishop of Rouen accompanied by a volunteer, a prisoner who was slated to die, manage toconfront the monster. The archbishop place one finger across another, making the sign of the cross, andthe gargouille was immediately tamed. Sadly, tamed or not, it was led submissively to a place ofexecution where it was burned to death.

Shuker, Karl. Dragon: A Natural History . New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.

The Western dragon is the diametric opposite of its Eastern counterpart. We can almost visit the timeand the place where the transformation occurred.

The scripture designated by its opening Babylonian words Enuma Eli sh describes how "gorgeous Tiamat " whose domain is the earth's water is cruelly slain by Marduk . This Lord, the champion of thesky gods and titans, slays the dragon with a blow from his mace and a bag of evil wind that he gets herto swallow so that she explodes. Her remains "like a clam shell" form the heavens and earth as weknow it.

King of the Indian devas, Indra, slays Vritra the water dragon also by means of a blow from the mightymace.

Beowulf

As metal-working is refined, the spear and sword replace the mace or hammer. The skill of temperingblades moves west and the dragon, too, changes. In the Cotton-Vitelius manuscript #15 that was giventhe title Beowulf , a monster called Grendel periodically emerges from his deep marsh den to raid thedarkened castle hall during the night. "Every nail, claw-scale and spur, every spike and welt on thehandof that heathen brute was like barbed steel."

The tale is estimated by scholars to be from the 6th or 7th century CE, though the one survivingmanuscript dates from around 1000. It tells how Grendel and his mother are killed by the Geat [ Jut =southern Swede ] hero, Beowulf. He and his men had come south from across the sea to aid the Danes,who for 20 years had been preyed upon, sometimes 30 at a time.

The 'dragons' are described as "... huge marauders from some other world. One ... looks like a woman;the other, warped in the shape of a man, [but] bigger than any man, ... . They dwell ... on windsweptcrags ... where cold streams pour down the mountain and disappear under mist and moorland." but atnight "the water burns." and when "the skies weep ... out of its depths a dirty surge is pitched towardsthe heavens."

The Prophet "tranquilizes" the dragon . [16th-C Turk. miniature ] and images of 2 other Persiandragons.
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_9/%E3%93%9Fo@%E8%BA%AF%D6%BE/A%1C%7D%D0%89%01%1DK%CF%8A%EF%80%80


7/8

There are three encounters with Grendel, and we learn that this monster does not conform to thestandard dragon type. He is described as wanting to cram the men into "this roomy pouch ... intricatelystrung and hung at the ready, a rare patchwork of devilishly fitted dragon-skins." The dragon escapes,but loses his right "hand" which is pinned to the castle wall as a trophy. (When he is finally beheaded ittakes 4 men to carry off the head.)

When the men visit the blood-tinged waters, they see "writhing sea-dragons" and all manner ofmonsters. The hero goes into the water and it takes him all day to reach the lair at the bottom. Hestruggles with the idesaelwyf or "hideous alewife." That is, the monstrous eel-like naga who is Grendel's

mother, but she "pounced upon him and pulled a broad, whetted knife." Beowulf finally manages to cutoff her head but only with an enormous sword from her own hoard.

The men have given him up for dead when after 9 hours he emerges, but his sword "began to wilt intogory icicles, to slather and thaw" from the effects of the dragon-blood so that only the golden hiltremained. The inscription on the hilt tells the tale of God's destruction of thegiants that the 'ides aelwyf' isrelated to.

Years later, from the depths of a barrow that someone had plundered came again "the slick-skinneddragon, threatening the night sky with streamers of fire." It "rippled down the rock" and later "hurtledforth in a fiery blaze" that did "burn bright homesteads" so that Beowulf now an old man, goes forthonce more.

Assisted by young Wiglaf, the dragon is stabbed to death but it "caught the hero in a rush of flame andclamped sharp fangs into his neck." The hero gets to see its golden hoard but "The wound began toscald and swell" and he dies, the last the Geat warriors from over the sea. Before the cremation ofBeowulf, "The fire-dragon ... scorched all colours." and measuring 50 feet from head to tail who had"shimmered forth on the night air once." is pitched unceremoniously over a cliff.

The poem ends with a Geatish woman singing a dirge "a wild litany of nightmare and lament" withpredictions of invasion, "bodies in piles, slavery and abasement." The hoard along with Beowulf'sremains are covered up in a great stone barrow that 12 warriors ride around singing the praises of thegreat and good Beowulf.

~ excellent bilingual verse translation by Seamus Heaney (N.Y.: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2000.)

It was Professor J. R. R. Tolkien (famous for his Lord of theRings trilogy) who first showed that the taleof Beowulf was more than a fictional work of entertainment. Though there are references throughoutthe poem of the Judeo-Christian world view, but there are also allusions to the beliefs and customs of anearlier tradition. Surely the dire prediction at the poem's end is in some way related to the slaughter ofthe dragons - especially "Grendel's mother."

Saint George , a dragon-slayer along the model of the Beowulf of folk memory, is the patron of Russia,Greece and England (adopted by Edward III in 1348). The characteristic depiction showing a helmedknight on horseback spearing a recumbent dragon in defense [?] of a lady appears in Uccello's painting

ca. 1455.

In mediaeval Christian art, Michael theArchangel (usually depicted standing) slays the dragon underhis feet that represents the Evil One a.k.a. the 'Old Serpent'. Michael's opponent is frequently alsodepicted as a man.

The Greek Cadmus is said to have sowed the ground with dragon's teeth from which sprang numerousranks of armed men.

The chariot of the Greek moon goddess, Cynthia, was drawn by dragons.

Old Testament references to "dragons" result from an error in translation of the Hebrew " tan " which

The legend of Cleodolinda and GeorgeNov. 1883 Society of Antiquaries article on Dragon of St. George plus Edward Burnes-Jones' pre-raphaelite painting [ not avail .]Reproduction of romantic St. George et al.
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_9/N%7Fn%D3%BD%CD%B6%E6%97%B1J%D1%BDf%06%12%E1%BD%ADGw%5E


8/8

means jackal but it was taken to refer to a giant water-serpent, as a consequence of its relation to thename Tanith , a Semitic (Phoenician and hence also Carthaginian) goddess ie. a naga.

To play a St. George game .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------There are literally hundreds of dragon pages on-line ranging from the silly to the scholarly. This page isintended only to underline the fact that a naga by any other name is still a naga. When it flies, it is oftenreferred to as a dragon.

The phrase 'fire drake' that is, 'fiery dragon' was used to refer to comets especially as ill omens such asthe one that is reported to have preceded the Battle of Hastings (1066) when the Normans successfullyinvaded England.

Some European legends of dragons .

See frogs , also serpents (2 pages) & nagas (2 pages) on this site.

Beowulf for beginners .

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ]

[ Dragons ] [ Garuda ] [ Makara ] [ Yalli & Mukha ] [ Nagas ] [ Abominable Snowman ][ Spirits ]

Copyright 1998-2007 Khandro.Net All rights reserved. Email mailto:%[email protected]

This comprehensive web site is designed to be viewed in all browsers. However, if you eliminate underlining in your Preferences youmight miss some of our 5, 000+ links.
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_9/H%D3%B8%CA%9EVSu%18/%E1%9F%9ES%10%056%1E%E9%96%92

Documents

About Dragons