Dragon Child Seen through his Egg Shell
Today is the beginning of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Black Water Dragon. I’m really excited about this year because as we mature through this growth spurt of industrialization and all the damage that teen behavior has caused us and the planet, we are beginning to recreate our world by remembering the ancient wisdom of traditional cultures. That wisdom is practical, economical, sustainable, and seems to be socially supportive so that we can sustain mutually effective living practices and perhaps live together. At least a bit more than we’re able to do at the moment. I like to set my expectations low so that I’m favorably surprised when things go well. 🙂
Meanwhile, dragons are symbols of the spiritual and the physical coming together actively to participate in a healthy life. They contain within themselves all elements: wings for air, scales for navigating the earth (some have crystals in and on their bodies as part of their anatomy), breath of fire, and long tails that allow them to swim efficiently and navigate the seas. They are purported to have existed since the time the earth was formed and some legends hold that they helped create the world. Dragons are part of almost every culture from the Welsh who still use the symbol for their people, the dragons of the earth which form the legends of Uther Pendragon and his right to hold the throne so King Arthur could inherit it, the dragons of China which graced their Emperors with wisdom, and even Native Americans have dragon legends including the Cherokee who received some of their greatest medicines from the Uktena.
Dragons give us inspiration to live our minds and our hearts up and consider what is possible. It’s not that we should remove ourselves from the mundane or move beyond it, but that we should move within it. It is only mundane if you are ignoring how amazing it all it. Like the birth of a child, while everyone is able to do it and it is a routine everyday occurence all over the world, the one I held in my arms today is a wondrous miracle that reminded me we all come into this world trailing clouds of glory. It’s only mundane if you’re not paying attention. Let this year of the dragon challenge you to lift your heart and sour into new realms of delight. We’ll all be better for it.