Ancient
Greece
In Greek myth the founder of Athens was Cecrops,
who was born of the earth (without parents), as a half-man, half-serpent - he
had a tail from the waist down:
As the
first king of Attica, Cecrops greatly contributed to the civilising of the state.
He was the provider of laws, and encouraged monogamy. He invented writing, ended
human sacrifices and encouraged a new practice of burying the dead. He called
his principal city Cecropia but his people wanted the city to be associated with
a god, either Poseidon or Athena. Poseidon demonstrated his power by striking
his trident and cracking the rock of the Acropolis, causing a stream of water
to flow out. Athena simply created an olive tree, which the people preferred,
and so they designated her the patron deity - hence the city's modern name of
Athens. Poseidon was greatly upset by his loss and punished Cecrops and the city
by sending a disastrous flood. The people survived and built a new city of Athens.
There
are further serpentine links to be found in these stories, as well as connections
to floods:
Athena was the goddess of wisdom, prudent
warfare, arts and crafts, and defender of the law. She taught the science of
numbers, and she invented such things as the potter's wheel, flute, chariot, ship,
and plough. To this day she is a patroness of art, science, and learning - not
unlike Quetzalcoatl across the Atlantic.
Athena
could not prevent Hephaestus (the god of fire and metal-working) falling in love
with her, yet she wished to remain a virgin. Hephaestus pursued her and caught
her on the Acropolis. He brushed up against her, spilling his seed. Athena wiped
it off with a piece of cloth and threw it onto the ground, fertilising it. This
produced Erichthonius, a boy with a serpents tail like Cecrops, who Athena decided
to keep as her own son.
| Children
of the soil, such as Cecrops and Erichthonius were known as Autochthons, literally
"sprung from the earth". They were said to have neither father nor mother, and
therefore they just arose from the ground like a plant does. This race usually
appeared during those periods in which the motion of the universe was reversed
- caused by the withdrawal of divinity. Under such conditions, lacking a divine
overseer, normal birth was not possible, so the people were born from the earth
instead. |
The
two-shap'd Ericthonius had his birth
(Without a mother) from the teeming Earth;
Minerva nurs'd him, and the infant laid
Within a chest, of twining osiers
made.
The daughters of king Cecrops undertook
To guard the chest, commanded
not to look
On what was hid within. I stood to see
The charge obey'd,
perch'd on a neighb'ring tree.
The sisters Pandrosos and Herse keep
The
strict command; Aglauros needs would peep,
And saw the monstrous infant, in
a fright,
And call'd her sisters to the hideous sight:
A boy's soft shape
did to the waste prevail,
But the boy ended in a dragon's tail.
From Ovid's Metamorphoses
Aglauros
and Herse went mad at the sight of him and hurled themselves from the top
of the rocks of the Acropolis. Pandrosos, who had obeyed the rules, was made
the first priestess of Athene. Athena then secretly looked after Erichthonius
in her sanctuary while he grew up, and eventually he became the next King of Athens.
After
the Flood of Deukalion, Zeus commanded Prometheus and Athena to call forth a new
race of men from the mire left by the waters of the deluge.
[13] Prometheus shaped men out of mud, and Athena breathed life into
the clay figures. Also born of the mud was a great snake named Python who lived
at the centre of the world, and held it together. Soon after it was killed by
Apollo.
 This
is just a small portion of my online book, Survive 2012 - a look into possible
ways our world might end, and how to survive. Available in bookstores sometime
before 2012, fingers-crossed... |
Chinese
Dragons
Wherever the Chinese New Year is observed,
the dragon is the most prominent symbol. Long weaving dragons ride upon the shoulders
of dozens of men, undulating through streets crowded with festive onlookers.
Apart from festivities, dragons dominate the architecture, fabric and ceramics
of China.
"The Chinese, when they wish
for rain, make a huge dragon out of wood and paper and carry it in procession;
but if it does not rain, then they destroy the dragon. Chuang-tzu maintains that
this arises from the fact that the dragon and the serpent, invested with the most
profound and all-embracing cosmic significance, are symbols for 'rhythmic life'."
[14]
The
Chinese calendar runs in cycles of twelve years, each named after a different
creature:
Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon,
Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar.
But
why is the dragon included here, alongside eleven very real species that are alive
today? It might just be a zodiacal image that snugly fits a pattern of stars,
but if that were so, if the patterns were so obvious, then why doesn't the western
zodiac contain the same symbolism?
Five clawed dragons,
especially yellow ones, were the most fearsome and powerful of their kind. It
was once the law in China that only the Emperor could use the symbol of a five-clawed
dragon. If someone other than the Emperor was caught wearing this symbol, he
or she would be put to death.
In Chinese legends
dragons are capable of many things. They tend to appear at favourable moments
to indicate periods of prosperity. But if disturbed they might cause a drought
by shifting all the water of the area into baskets, or they could choose to eclipse
the sun. They were benevolent yet also moody and volatile. Historically the worst
floodings in China have been attributed to a mortal upsetting a dragon.
In the beginning, according to Chinese mythology, there was
only a cosmic egg. Within it, amongst the swirling darkness of chaos, slept a
giant called P'an Ku, who had been developing for eighteen thousand years. Upon
awakening he smashed the egg and allowed the darkness to pour out, as well as
light that had been trapped within the chaos.
The
darkness fell and created earth, while fragments of light rose up and created
heaven. Disturbed by the idea that chaos could return if the light and dark were
to mix, P'an Ku set himself the task of keeping the earth and sky apart until
he could be sure all was safe.
After tens of millennia
P'an Ku decided that everything was okay - so he sank into the earth and died.
His final breath became the wind and clouds. His body and limbs formed the mountains
and hills, and his blood flowed as streams and rivers. Vegetation grew from his
hair, and his teeth gave us precious jewels. P'an Ku created order out of chaos.
[15]
A
beautiful creature emerged from the heavens and saw the remains of P'an Ku. She
was the dragon goddess Nü-Kua, one half woman and one half dragon. All alone
on a beautiful planet she decided to create humans by fashioning them out of clay,
and animating them with her breath of pure love.
[16]
Discuss Survive
2012 at our forumGive the author your thoughts, and discuss any 2012
ideas with others, at 2012 Forum |
Comments from Visitors
Art G. O'Malley:
I really enjoyed your descriptions of the genesis myth. I would refer you to the Mayan Oracle which I have recently purchased which I believe has the 20 symbols which represent fundamental vibrations and images of our creation
(03.04.2004, 14:49)
alex:
Have you come across any myths about she-dragons and the belief that one formed an island?
(21.04.2004, 09:27)
casandra playfoot:
I think that this is a very good sight because it has lots of info on dragons!
(04.05.2004, 14:34)
Joanna:
Hey, I found this page while reseaching on the fundamentals of chinese dragons. Thanks for the insight!
(03.10.2004, 11:22)
Ben:
Would'nt it be interesting if it was one day discovered that dragons and draconians alike really do still exist but only on a different dimensional plane here on earth sort of like the faires and gnomes and pixies and so forth. Perhaps David Icke and others like him are on to something.
(24.02.2005, 15:42)
The comments section is now closed, but you can still email me, or even
better, visit 2012 Forum
Script by Alex
|
[13]
Ovid's Metamorphoses.
[14] J.E.Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols
