The Chinese Year of the Dragon (2012) has sunk its talons into the collective psyche of the western world. So I grabbed my trusty SKEAT’s Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (revised edition, 1885) to cast light upon the origin of the word.
Dragon is derived from the Latin (draco) and the earlier Greek (drakon), meaning “sea serpent”. Yet the real secret lies in the symbolism unlocked by the related Greek verb: “drakein” i.e. “to see clearly”. From an eastern point of view, dragons are beautifully benevolent (as opposed to the demonised dragon of Christianity), representing rythmic life and embodying uncluttered vision.
South African billionaire and tourist cosmonaut, Mark Shuttleworth, has a pet project – an emerging market investment group called “Here Be Dragons”. The phrase denotes unexplored, and by association, dangerous territory, since it was medieval practice for cartographers to embellish unchartered areas of maps with mythological creatures or sea (see?) serpents. What a superb tag for the spirit of rugged and indomitable entrepreneurial exploration.
The Johnny Nash song “I can see clearly now / I can see all obstacles in my way / It’s going to be a bright (bright), bright (bright), sun-shiny day!” became the sixties tune associated with the Coca Cola brand.
May your Year of the Dragon bring you clear vision and light up your way. For – excuse me mixing metaphors – in the words of Leonardo da Vinci: “When you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will always return.”
