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Another Q & A: Dragons
This questioner requested not to be identified.
Question:
Being a Christian, I understand that "dragon" or "serpent" often depicts Satan from a biblical perspective.I was recently asked by a mainland Chinese who is interested in Christianity but cannot comprehend why "dragon" is often depicted as evil in the Bible whereas the Chinese race has always embraced the dragon as a symbol of wealth & prosperity & all things the Chinese consider good.
Your opinion & words of wisdom, please
My reply:
Hi,
Hebrew and Asian culture are very different.
You are correct. In the Bible the dragon, Leviathan, is the embodiment of evil. In China, India, Japan and other Asian cultures, as well as in many Welsh and other European traditions, dragons are protectors and bringers of good fortune.
If you look into some of the early European tales of dragon slaying you will find that it is often the followers of "the New Religion" (ie Christianity and its solar knights) slaying the dragons while the followers of "the Old Religion" seek to protect them, often in "caves."
This is often depicted in Christian accounts (as the victors write the histories of course) as evil "Pagans" and "Heathens" opposing the "God of Light" from the "Satanic dragons of Darkness." As the Church established itself as the ruling authority dragons, along with Pagans and Heathens were mainly vanquished into the "Night." But we are told to beware because the dragons may yet lurk in the darkness of the mind (cave).
When the world was a smaller, more isolated series of independent cultures diversity abounded but as it become a smaller, more interconnected place in which to live the more powerful cultures determined the paradigms and symbolism upon which they, as the dragons, once rode.
Western, formerly Christian, culture has dominated much of the planet for the past 2000 years and is now culturally redefining the Asian paradigms through globalization. In much of the East the dragon is now coming to be viewed as a symbol of evil as a result. In my opinion this is tragic but not surprising considering the normal flow of history. Most Europeans made this transition long ago.
Western culture is now transforming itself however from Christian to Secular Humanist and this is being gradually reflected in the changing globalist paradigms as well. The dragon may now be transforming into a creature of dark authority and oppression. Where this will lead only time will tell.
Hope this helps,
~ John of AllFaithOrder of the Defeated Dragon - Merovingian Bloodline
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