While some say 2012 will bring about the end of the world, others believe 2012 to be a year of great fortune and prosperity. I, tend to enjoy the cup half full theory, and thus am of the mentality that 2012 should be embraced, and the power of the water dragon called upon.
According to Chinese mythology, 2012 is the year of the dragon. Not an ordinary fire breathing dragon, as you might imagine from a scientific fiction movie, but the powerful and graceful water dragon. I would assume most people know that water covers roughly around 2/3 of our planet and over 95% of our bodies. However, I don’t think people truly understand the power of water, and consequently the power of the world and the power of one’s own body. As after all, you are water, and so is the world around you. Now that you have brought that thought to consciousness, it is now time to evoke your own inner water dragon. The water you already have, nowto create the dragon.
In Chinese element theory, it is said that water produces wood, which signifies growth – or the dragon’s natural element. If that truly is the case, embracing your own dragon would be synonymous to embracing your own growth. It is said that history repeats itself, and so does the water Dragon. The last year the water dragon reigned was 1952. This is the same year of the start of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, the year of the development of the first British atomic bomb, the year where the first contraceptive pill was created, the development of the polio vaccine, and lastly the first year microwaves were invented. In other words, the water dragon brought innovation and growth. Imagine a world without, birth control, polio vaccines, Queen Elizabeth, and microwaves. To say the least, we would all be living in a highly overpopulated, chauvinistic (queen Elizabeth was the first female royal to rule alone) sick, and unconventional world (imagine a world without microwavable food?. Let’s all hope that 60 years later the water dragon returns more powerful than ever.
However, to all good there must be evil, and with every powerful creature comes danger. The dragon, according to the Chinese, is a legendary animal and is symbolized as the emperor of China. The dragon is also coated with mysterious color, and it is nearly impossible to see its head and tail?at the same time. People have taken this to signify that the dragon might be in fact untouchable and unpredictable and that while it brings?spectacular success it also brings crash and burn failures (such as the invention of the atomic/hydrogen bombs) due to the nature of its intensity.
But enough of the negative, I would much rather take the dragon to be a symbol of fortune. Some believe that the dragon brings with it wealth, virtue, harmony, and longetivity. The dragon is indeed a mystical being rather than an earthly animal, and because of that many hope to conceive children during this year, so that they too can be blessed by the water dragon.
In 2012, I wish for things to move, ideas to flow, creativity to?abound, economies to bloom, and love to blossom. All with the help of the?water dragon – who breathes not fire, but hope and opportunity for growth.
