Superstitions and Dragons by Antonia Tiranth

Hello!  I'm going to talk about one of my favorite topics and how it relates to superstitions.  If a dragon crosses your path...wait, that's a black cat.  If you walk under a dragon...no, that's a ladder.  Okay so you're thinking what in the world kind of superstitions are there in relationship to dragons?  I admit, I had a hard time figuring that one out at first until I looked up the definition of superstition and found that this is one of its definitions :  A belief, practice, or rite irrationally maintained by ignorance of the laws of nature or by faith in magic or chance

Now things get a little easier.  Beliefs about dragons are world wide.  From Nevada to Alaska to Meso-America to China.  Every culture has a tale of dragons and what they mean.  Of course, everyone knows about the Chinese Dragon Dance.  It is said that the dance originated as sort of rain dance and has evolved into a dance of luck and fortune for the new year.  In Repulse Bay, Hong Kong, one of the apartment complexes has a hole in the middle of it so that the dragon who lives at the center of the earth has a clear view of the sky.  In Europe, the dragon was once seen as a symbol of bravery but in the Middle Ages, during the Festival of Rogotian a statue of a dragon was paraded through town as a symbol of evil and sin.  Later it was later kicked and stoned by villagers as a way to rid themselves of sin. 

 Even the Americas have their dragons.  The Ancient One was believed by the Piute of Nevada to live in Lake Pyramid and that whirlpools were a sign that the creature was searching for victims.  Alaska has Pal-rai-yuk, a water dwelling beast.  Inuits painted a picture of Pal-rai-yuk on their boats as a ward against his attentions.  In Meso-America, it was believed that mistreating Palulukon was the cause of natural disasters.  There are many more myths and legends associated with dragons.  One could spend a whole day just reading them all. 

In closing, I think its safe to say that the big picture here is be nice to your dragons or you might be the cause of the next earthquake.  :)

Antonia Tiranth

www.antoniatiranth.com