In Chinese tradition, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon.
This awesome creature is a symbol of power, great strength, good luck and intelligence. Accordingly, babies born in this auspicious year will be destined for success and greatness, according to the BBC News Asia (Jan. 19, 2012).
It is predicted there will be a significant increase in the number of Chinese babies born in this year. It is further predicted next year (2013) will see a decrease in the birth rate as it will be the Year of the Snake, which does not appear to be a great cycle in which to be born. FYI: There are 12 animals in the Chinese cycle, including the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, horse, ram, rooster, dog, pig and monkey.
According to dragon lore, there are two major types of dragons: the Chinese and the European. The Asian dragon is positive while the Western variety is greedy, likes to hoard treasure, spits fire and likes to devour humans, especially pretty young women.
Dragons are ingrained in our culture, and we find these scaly, fire-breathing critters in movies, on wallpaper and cereal boxes, on sheets and even imprinted on underwear.
Tales of dragons predate written history and have been passed down from generation to generation through storytelling. Scientific evidence has been discovered that people had brains like our own for at least 100,000 years, as well as the power of speech, but writing only came into existence 5,200 years ago.
It is now believed that many myths developed out of actual events prior to the onset of written language and became encased in symbolism - like dragons, giants and other mythical beings.
A puzzling question is how the whole concept of dragons come into existence at all. Again, scientists attribute the dragon creation to our ancestors finding the bones of dinosaurs and, trying to make sense of what these skeletal remains were, they formulated a composite picture which became dragons (from Professor Susann Pinter, course of "Geology and Mythology," University of Southern Illinois).
Elizabeth and Paul Bauber ("When They Severed the Earth from the Sky," Princeton University Press, 2004) wrote about the origins of the fire-breathing dragons.
The harsh reality is there has always existed those individuals who steal from tombs and graves since many societies buried treasures with their departed ones in their journey to the other world.
Historical accounts tell us that grave robbers did their thieving under the cover of darkness while carrying fire torches. The burial mounds (barrows) were tightly sealed, and the contents, humans often accompanied by horses, decayed, creating methane gas.
As soon as these robbers would break the seal of the tomb, the pent-up gas would be released and become ignited by the torch, resulting in a huge fireball and a very bad smell (dragon's breath).
There are many subcategories of dragon,s including flying and terrifying multi-headed ones, majestic sky dragons, rainbow dragons, and, a favorite of many Puff the Magic Dragon.
(Dr. Donna Pinter is founder and director of Psychological Services Clinic, Bloomsburg, Danville and Sunbury. "Slice of Life" appears on this page each Sunday.)