Did the dragon once live?
There are three ways that dragons can exist. The first is symbolically, as an idea or a philosophy.While these can have every bit as much of an impact on the world as a truely monstrouse beast, perhaps even more, it is a less overt, direct exisence.
The second is by definition. On earth there can be found a creature known as teh Komodo Dragon. A large dangerouse predator lizard, it has the name dragon, and yet is not considered one in a traditional sense. On other planets, there are many creatures which ahve evolved with characteristics similar to that of a traditional dragon from human lore. Unfailingly these are categorized by human scientists along various biological features, completely overlooking the obvious similarities these independently occurring species have to one another, and to the traditional dragon. The large, fire breathing, flying lizard, with a penchant for shiney objects known as the sciliopath of Vegii 9 (a newly discovered species which some realities may not yet have knowledge of them yet) is one of the best examples of an undefined dragon. While the need to define things along evolutionary direct biological lines is understandable from a scientific standpoint, it shouldnt stand in the way of a deeper understanding of the reality of the universe, and of the dragon.
Special Note: Recent discovereies have shown that there is a mystical connection which may exist between all of the independently evolved dragons which have appeared on seperate planets throughout the universe. This common trait may be a result of these creatures existing on a more subtle spiritual level as transdimensional biengs, that only resurface as biological creatures in our reality. Some indications show that this may even be a trait shared by creatures other then dragons.
The third way dragons can exist is based on a complex understanding of reality. Existence is made up of moments, and each moment has an infinite number of possibilities, each of which can lead to a different universe. Every single one of those universes exists realtive to our own, and can even impact on our own in certain subtle ways. This means that the reality we understand is only one momentary possibility, constantly changing, in an infinitely infinite sea of possibilities. In a truely infinite universe, everything is reality.
In some realities dragons do physically exist. In others, they once did. Along some lines of possibility, a universe where dragons exist, evolved into our current unioverse. In others, our own universe will one day evolve into one in which they exist. This understanding of the universe leaves all possibilities open, and provides us with a wider perspective of the nature of possibility, and teh reality of the dragon.
All of the Oriental dragons were intimately associated with water. Dragons lived in lakes and rivers and seas, even in raindrops. They controlled the tides, floods and rainfall. If they really existed, then a source that immediately comes to mind is the Chinese alligator, Alligator sinensis. They are not as large as their American cousin, ranging from an average two metres in length to sometimes three metres. But they are dangerous, reptilian and water-based - all good reasons for linking them to the Oriental dragon. But only if you haven't heard of the predecessors of the real-life Komodo dragon .
Australian monitor lizards all belong to the genus Varanus. They are easily identifiable by their streamlined shape, elongated neck, semi-erect posture, and a forked tongue - which can give the effect of fire-breathing. They all look very similar except for their size differences, which are extreme to say the least. The smallest is the pygmy monitor Varanus brevicauda (20 centimetres long, weighs 8-10 grams). The largest in Australia is the perentie or Varanus giganteus, which can attain a length of two metres.Larger still are the Komodo Dragons (Varanus komodoensis) of Indonesia, a country that the ancient Chinese would certainly have visited. They can reach lengths of three metres and weigh 150 kgs, making them the world's largest lizards. They are formidable predators, like crocodiles that are able to run quickly across land. They were probably the reason that the stegodonts (pygmy elephants) became extinct in this area. They might even have wiped out the 1-metre tall, miniature humans, Homo floresiensis, who lived there up until 12,000 years ago.
These dragons were previously more widespread, with evidence of them once occurring in Mongolia coming to light. And in Queensland, Australia, only becoming extinct 19,000 years ago (take that date with a pinch of salt), was a bigger lizard still, a cousin of the Komodo dubbed Megalania prisca.
Megalania prisca, as we have learned from fossil evidence, grew to be a staggering seven metres in length and weighed 600 kgs. Although it was technically a lizard, it must have had the presence of a dinosaur, and almost certainly ate a few of the humans of that era. But it's usual meal was more likely to have been rhinoceros-sized wombats. [Strange days indeed with gigantism seeming to be rampant.] These meals are believable when you consider that Komodo dragons have been known to kill water buffalo weighing three times more than themselves.
Which brings us back to ancient Rome! Pliny, the Roman naturalist, said that the dragon of India was
"so enormous a size as easily to envelop the elephant with its folds and encircle with its coils. The contest is equally fatal to both; the elephant, vanquished, falls to the earth and by its weight crushes the dragon which is entwined about it."
He also mentioned the dragons of Ethiopia, which, with a length of only thirty feet, were too small to kill elephants. Other European myths state that dragons always jumped onto elephants from out of trees. Is this all just fantasy, amazing stories concocted to scare children with? Or is it just as reasonable to suggest that dragons once lived?
So where are we heading? On the one hand there are myths connecting dragons to global destruction and rebirth. On the other are links to DNA, ancient languages, ancient calendars and the I Ching. And now I am taking a big breath and suggesting that the mythical dragons were rooted in reality, that knights in shining armour actually killed real dragons, and somehow it all makes sense.
There are three ways that dragons can exist. The first is symbolically, as an idea or a philosophy.While these can have every bit as much of an impact on the world as a truely monstrouse beast, perhaps even more, it is a less overt, direct exisence.
The second is by definition. On earth there can be found a creature known as teh Komodo Dragon. A large dangerouse predator lizard, it has the name dragon, and yet is not considered one in a traditional sense. On other planets, there are many creatures which ahve evolved with characteristics similar to that of a traditional dragon from human lore. Unfailingly these are categorized by human scientists along various biological features, completely overlooking the obvious similarities these independently occurring species have to one another, and to the traditional dragon. The large, fire breathing, flying lizard, with a penchant for shiney objects known as the sciliopath of Vegii 9 (a newly discovered species which some realities may not yet have knowledge of them yet) is one of the best examples of an undefined dragon. While the need to define things along evolutionary direct biological lines is understandable from a scientific standpoint, it shouldnt stand in the way of a deeper understanding of the reality of the universe, and of the dragon.
Special Note: Recent discovereies have shown that there is a mystical connection which may exist between all of the independently evolved dragons which have appeared on seperate planets throughout the universe. This common trait may be a result of these creatures existing on a more subtle spiritual level as transdimensional biengs, that only resurface as biological creatures in our reality. Some indications show that this may even be a trait shared by creatures other then dragons.
The third way dragons can exist is based on a complex understanding of reality. Existence is made up of moments, and each moment has an infinite number of possibilities, each of which can lead to a different universe. Every single one of those universes exists realtive to our own, and can even impact on our own in certain subtle ways. This means that the reality we understand is only one momentary possibility, constantly changing, in an infinitely infinite sea of possibilities. In a truely infinite universe, everything is reality.
In some realities dragons do physically exist. In others, they once did. Along some lines of possibility, a universe where dragons exist, evolved into our current unioverse. In others, our own universe will one day evolve into one in which they exist. This understanding of the universe leaves all possibilities open, and provides us with a wider perspective of the nature of possibility, and teh reality of the dragon.
All of the Oriental dragons were intimately associated with water. Dragons lived in lakes and rivers and seas, even in raindrops. They controlled the tides, floods and rainfall. If they really existed, then a source that immediately comes to mind is the Chinese alligator, Alligator sinensis. They are not as large as their American cousin, ranging from an average two metres in length to sometimes three metres. But they are dangerous, reptilian and water-based - all good reasons for linking them to the Oriental dragon. But only if you haven't heard of the predecessors of the real-life Komodo dragon .
Australian monitor lizards all belong to the genus Varanus. They are easily identifiable by their streamlined shape, elongated neck, semi-erect posture, and a forked tongue - which can give the effect of fire-breathing. They all look very similar except for their size differences, which are extreme to say the least. The smallest is the pygmy monitor Varanus brevicauda (20 centimetres long, weighs 8-10 grams). The largest in Australia is the perentie or Varanus giganteus, which can attain a length of two metres.Larger still are the Komodo Dragons (Varanus komodoensis) of Indonesia, a country that the ancient Chinese would certainly have visited. They can reach lengths of three metres and weigh 150 kgs, making them the world's largest lizards. They are formidable predators, like crocodiles that are able to run quickly across land. They were probably the reason that the stegodonts (pygmy elephants) became extinct in this area. They might even have wiped out the 1-metre tall, miniature humans, Homo floresiensis, who lived there up until 12,000 years ago.
These dragons were previously more widespread, with evidence of them once occurring in Mongolia coming to light. And in Queensland, Australia, only becoming extinct 19,000 years ago (take that date with a pinch of salt), was a bigger lizard still, a cousin of the Komodo dubbed Megalania prisca.
Megalania prisca, as we have learned from fossil evidence, grew to be a staggering seven metres in length and weighed 600 kgs. Although it was technically a lizard, it must have had the presence of a dinosaur, and almost certainly ate a few of the humans of that era. But it's usual meal was more likely to have been rhinoceros-sized wombats. [Strange days indeed with gigantism seeming to be rampant.] These meals are believable when you consider that Komodo dragons have been known to kill water buffalo weighing three times more than themselves.
Which brings us back to ancient Rome! Pliny, the Roman naturalist, said that the dragon of India was
"so enormous a size as easily to envelop the elephant with its folds and encircle with its coils. The contest is equally fatal to both; the elephant, vanquished, falls to the earth and by its weight crushes the dragon which is entwined about it."
He also mentioned the dragons of Ethiopia, which, with a length of only thirty feet, were too small to kill elephants. Other European myths state that dragons always jumped onto elephants from out of trees. Is this all just fantasy, amazing stories concocted to scare children with? Or is it just as reasonable to suggest that dragons once lived?
So where are we heading? On the one hand there are myths connecting dragons to global destruction and rebirth. On the other are links to DNA, ancient languages, ancient calendars and the I Ching. And now I am taking a big breath and suggesting that the mythical dragons were rooted in reality, that knights in shining armour actually killed real dragons, and somehow it all makes sense.
