The Year of the Wood Dragon
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo
THE year 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon, an auspicious year for most, but especially for the five luckiest Chinese zodiac signs: the Pig, Monkey, Rat, Goat, and Tiger. Depending on their own attributes, those born under these five signs should experience favorable opportunities and success, exciting career advancements, and financial windfall due to their creativity, diligence and persistence, enhanced by their sphere of influence. That is according to the Chinese astrology, which is a general prediction, and does not consider current world events, climate change, the human capacity for destruction and the eternal cycle of death and rebirth.
This eternal cycle of death and destruction is suggested in the Ouroboros symbol, depicting a snake or dragon devouring its own tail, “representing infinity, cyclicality and the eternal cycle of renewal and creation.”
A dragon appears in the myths and folklore of many cultures worldwide in varying tales.
They are depicted in Western culture as “winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire.” In eastern cultures, they are mostly depicted as “wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence.” According to various literature, dragons have “feline, reptilian, mammal, and avian features.” The closest resemblance, according to scholars, are the large extinct or migrating crocodiles.
In mythology and folklore, there are many male dragons, but there are also female dragons. In the ancient city of Babylon (present-day Iraq and Syria), there is Tiamat, the Babylonian goddess personifying primeval chaos and saltwater, in the Babylonian creation epic Enūma Eliš. Traditionally regarded as having the form of a giant serpent, scholars are are also saying that this quality “cannot be imputed to Tiamat with certainty” as she seems to have at least sometimes been regarded as anthropomorphic (having human form or human attributes). In some texts, she seems to be described “with horns, a tail, and a hide that no weapon can penetrate, all features which suggest she was conceived as some form of dragoness.”
According to the same epic, Tiamat, a personification of saltwater had a union with Apsu (the personification of freshwater) which created the first gods including the younger god, Enki. She was eventually destroyed by the god Marduk, who split her body in half. Marduk, Chief God of Babylon who presided over “justice, compassion, healing, regeneration, magic and fairness, although he is also sometimes referenced as a storm god and agricultural deity.”
I feel a certain affinity to Tiamat, because of her personification of chaos and saltwater, without which, the Marduks of this world would never have the opportunity for regeneration and exercise all the lofty ideals attributed to them. The chaos prevents stagnant waters, ushers creative energies and sparks conflict that allow humans to adapt to challenging situations. That is the challenge of the sea dragon we must all face: the turmoil and saltiness. Its Pangasinan-ness.
The appropriate level of chaos, like the appropriate use of salt can improve the experience of life. Excess chaos, like excess salt can make a person blind and produce unwanted deposits of stones in the gallbladder. Too much order brings a level of comfort that leads to stagnation resulting in saturated and trans fats in the body. A balance between chaos and order is needed to sustain human existence. In 2024, this balance is the delicate dance of the dragon.
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