40000 BC
The dragon's closely-linked counterpart, the serpent, appears in Australian Aboriginal culture and legend. The Rainbow Serpent was beneficial and revered; in the Dreamtime, this serpent shaped the plains, hills and rivers, and also created man and beasts.
The legend of the Rainbow Serpent first came to surface at around 40 000 BC, although estimates range from 65 000 BC- 35 000 BC.
Other Australian "dragons" include the related Bunyip, who was viewed with caution but, for the most part, was a reserved creature who rarely had contact with people.

4000 BC
The dragon's form, like the Rainbow Serpent, is still serpentine in shape- no doubt, this is a blatant copy of the snakes found within Africa. The Egyptian culture was neither black or white, but rather, had varying shades of grey between- it is somewhere, in the midst of that spectrum, that the serpent-dragon Apep fits.
Apep himself, though he tried to create chaos by swallowing the sun nightly, was seen as a dualistic entity who kept the balance between good and evil. It was this balance which ensured the world retained its inherent order of life.

2962 BC
Fu Hsi of China meets a dragon on the banks of China's Yellow River (this same river is renowned for its links to dragon kind). During their encounter, the dragon tutors Fu Hsi in the art of writing and music. Along with these skills, Fu Hsi is taught the secrets of civilisation, including how to use a compass and set-square to take accurate measurements, how to fish and how to domesticate animals (Steer, 2003).

1450 BC
The Babylonian myth Enuma elish, "When on high", tells how god-hero Merodach (Marduk) slays the creator-dragon Tiamat, who raised an army consisting of dragons, demons and monsters (Macdonald, 2001). With this force Tiamat plotted the demise of the younger gods, as revenge for the slaying of her male counterpart, Apsu. From her body, Merodach created the earth, sea and sky.

700 BC
Due to their fiery temper, dragons are quickly described as the forces behind natural sea hazards in Greek mythology (Macdonald, 2001). Dangerous rocks that would cut a ship to pieces are Scylla (a dragon or serpent with huge teeth), and a whirlpool is Charybdis (a swallowing monster).

221 BC
The start of the Qin era (221 BC- 207 BC) of Ancient China saw dragons become royal symbols (Littleton, 2002). The first emperor of China, Shi Huangdi, adopts the dragon as an emblem of his power. The five-toed Imperial dragon (a purely royal symbol) is limited to the emperor alone; anyone else bearing the Imperial dragon faces swift and harsh punishment, usually death.

130 BC
The Biblical recount of Daniel in the Lion's Den is first recorded (Macdonald, 2001). The story tells how Daniel poisoned a dragon that was worshipped as a god, and later, as punishment for praying to God, he was cast down into a pit of lions. However, thanks to his strong faith he survived (Macdonald, 2001).

480 AD
The Greek Neo-Platonic treatise (a thorough or formal book on a particular subject) Difficulties and Solutions of First Principles by Damascius is written; it is a story closely resembling the Enuma elish in its theme, where a dragon battle (in some sense) ensues (Fishbane, 1998).

565 AD
The Loch Ness Monster makes her first reported appearance. A man had been bitten to death by the serpent, and St Columba, who was passing through, helped to bury the man (Eggleton & Suckling, 1998).

793 AD
During a lightning storm, dragons were seen in the air and lashes of fire were sighted devouring the land and sky. They were described as "shooting to and fro", and were signs of a prolonged famine and a time of death and disease (Whitlock, 1983).

795 AD
Another lightning storm of terrific magnitude took place, and great dragons were seen blazing above the earth. These dragons and the lightning which accompanied them again foretold of a great famine (Whitlock, 1983).

1000 AD
A runestone was found in Sweden depicting Siegfried roasting the dragon, Fafnir's, heart (ugcs.caltech.edu, 2004). Once consumed, the dragon's heart gave Siegfried the ability to understand the language of animals. Dragon body parts were often believed to hold magical and healing properties.

c. 1100 AD
A wood carving on the door posts of a Norwegian church depicts Reign forging the sword with which Sigurd uses to slay the dragon Fafnir.

1170 AD
At St Osythes a dragon of "marvelous bigness" was seen, whose sheer movements caused houses to burn to the ground (Whitlock, 1983).

c. 1200 AD
Throughout Europe (a time more commonly referred to as the Middle Ages or Medieval times), dragons were generally thought of as sinister and evil. Symbolically, dragons were emblems of the devil or Satan, and many stories regarding saints slaying dragons or fiery serpents arose during this time (however, these stories were purely a metaphorical way to describe the triumph over paganism).

1233 AD
Along the British sea coast during the month of June, two large dragons were seen battling one another in the sky, until eventually one was the victor. The defeated dragon retreated into the sea, and the other dragon followed. After this the dragons were not sighted again, however strife arose in the king's court that same year (Whitlock, 1983).

c. 1300 AD
The Aztec god Quetzalcoatl is worshipped by the people of Mexico (or the Mexica), who offer sacrifices to their winged serpent god. Quetzalcoatl (who belonged to the amphitheatre dragon race) plays an important part in Aztec culture, and among these people it is a commonly held belief that their feathered serpent god will again reveal himself and bring about the end of the world (Macdonald, 2001). The Aztec winged serpents were seen as divine, and were exalted to the ranks of deities.

1532 AD
During this year a dragon mating season or gathering took place, as pairs of dragons were seen flying together or in great groups which could number up to four hundred individuals (Whitlock, 1983).

c. 1600 AD
The Fon people (founders of the kingdom of Dahomey), saw the universe as a split calabash or round fruit: the top forms the heavens, while beneath floats the waters and, resting on top of those primordial waters, is the flat earth (Littleton, 2002). In some accounts of this theory, the Fon believed that the serpent Aido-Hwedo (who was so old he was alive before the earth) lies beneath the world to prevent it sinking.
Aido-Hwedo, along with the goddess Mawu, shaped the land, rivers and mountains before man was made (Littleton, 2002).

1855
Religious prints known as the "Catfish pictures" appeared after the last great earthquake in Edo (now Tokyo). These talismanic prints depicted a gigantic catfish or dragon being subdued by a monkey or warrior-hero, using a sword (Girardot, 1983).

1868
On a Sunday, the 15th November, Mr Calvert from south-western NSW (Australia) sighted a bunyip (Barnard, 2001). Mr Calvert tried to scare the bunyip into shallow waters with his horse, however the bunyip managed to slip away. The creature was described as large and dark brown (Barnard, 2001).

1876
The seven tablets of Enuma elish (the Babylonian story of creation which involves the creator-dragon Tiamat) were discovered on a British expedition of Nineveh. Parts of them were translated and published by George Smith (Hooke, 1963).

1930 - 1940
The first photographs claiming to have captured the Loch Ness Monster on film are published. A scientific investigation of the sea serpent is quickly undertaken, and numerous research is carried out, which continues to the present day (Macdonald, 2001).

Today
The dragon is one of the most diverse creatures; it is both god and devil, creator and destroyer, omen of darkness and symbol of royalty. Movies, books, the internet and other media has ensured the dragon has remained as prolific today as it was throughout history.

Sfinga je pozdravila Planetarni ulazak u eru lava 10970 godine p.n.e. U životu Atlantiđana, sfinga je imala ulogu zvjezdarnice. A ispod kamenog tla, ona je čuvala znanje napredne civilizacije sa Atlantide.




Na visokoj stijeni, na ulazu u egipatsku Tebu, sjedi sfinga. Svakom prolazniku postavlja istu pitalicu. Netočan odgovor vodi nesretnike u smrt. Sfinga, kćer Tajfuna i Ecidne, je demon smrti i destrukcije. Ženska glava, tijelo lava, krila ptice i zmijski rep načinili su od sfinge ženskog monstruma u grčkim mitovima.

Antička Grčka, koja u to vrijeme vlada i Egiptom, dala je i bistrog Edipa koji se zaputio u Tebu. Sfinga mu postavlja rutinsko pitanje: "Koja životinja hoda ujutro na četiri noge, u podne na dvije, a navečer na tri?" Edip odgovara: "To je čovjek. U djetinjstvu puže na rukama i koljenima, u mladosti je uspravan, u starosti se pomaze štapom". Prestravljena sfinga vrši samoubojstvo bacajući se u ponor, Edip ulazi u Tebu kao heroj, a građani ga postavljaju za svog kralja.

Grci su, kao i sve drugo, i ovu legendu preuzeli sa bliskoistočnih prostora. Još starija Asirija je na ulazu u svoje hramove držala sfinge koji su imali simboličnu ulogu čuvara ulaza. Nezvane goste bi davili (grčki "sphingo" znaci "zadaviti").

Još jedan korak unazad.

Tisuću do dvije tisuće godina prije dolaska Grka, stari Egipćani su sfingom zvali muške kipove koji su predstavljali lava sa ljudskom glavom. Što se ide dalje u prošlost to je prisutnija kreativnost: sfinge simboliziraju boga Sunca, a pored lavljeg tijela, imaju glavu ili ljudi (često kraljeva) ili drugih životinja.

I, jos jedan veeeeliki korak unatrag i... doći će mo do zapadne obale Nila: "Velika Sfinga".

Dio tvrdoglavih egiptologista i dalje ustrajava u tezi da je sfingu u Gizi napravio faraon Kefren ili Kafra (Khaf-Ra), tokom četvrte dinastije, prije 4.500 godina. I ova "istina" je, kao i sve ostale u vezi starih monumentalnih objekata, samo bajkica koja se servira školskim generacijama.

More arheoloških i geoloških dokaza lako ruši ovu tezu o starosti sfinge.

Na samoj sfingi nema nikakvih oznaka ili hijeroglifa koji govore o njenom graditelju. A Kefrenov prethodnik, njegov otac, faraon Keops, je ostavio pisani dokaz ("Inventory Stele", pronađene na Giza platou u XIX stoljeću), u kome on naređuje izgradnju jednog hrama uporedo sa sfingom. Znači, da je sfinga već postojala u njegovo vrijeme! Pa kako je onda moguće da ju je izgradio sin nakon očeve smrti?

Naravno da nije moguće. (Osim egiptolozima.)

Sfinga je najveća skulptura starog svijeta. Isklesana je iz jedne ogromne stijene. Dugačka je 73 metra i visoka 20 metara. Pojedini kameni nivoi od kojih je sfinga građena su različite čvrstoće. To je utjecalo da se erozija vidi više na donjem dijelu ("tijelu") sfinge koji je mekši. Glava je uklesana u tvrdom kamenu i prirodna oštećenja su znatno blaža. Iza jednog uha sfinge ostalo je nesto originalne boje koja govori da je u doba gradnje ova figura bila puna kolorita i ponos graditelja.

Današnja glava je, kao što znamo, ipak oštećena. Nos i brada nedostaju. Dugo se vjerovalo da su Napoleonovi vojnici odgovorni za ovaj barbarizam, dok se nije pronašao crtez sa početka XVIII stoljeća koji pokazuje da je nos nedostajao stotinu godina prije francuske okupacije Egipta.

Slijedeći u povijesnom nizu (prije Francuza) su Turci iz osmanlijskog perioda. Nagađanja su stala na njima: nova verzija kaze da je sfinga nastradala kao žrtva artiljerijskih vježbi Osmanlija.

Između sfinginih šapa nalazi se kamena ploća - "stela", sa uklesanom pričom. Riječ je o dobu vladavine 18. faraonske Dinastije i budućem kralju Tutmosu IV. U njegovo doba sfinga je do vrata bila prekrivena pijeskom. Mladi princ je usnuo u sfinginom hladu. Ona mu se obratila u snu tražeći od njega da je oslobodi od pijeska, a zauzvrat će postati vladarom Egipta. Tako i bi.

Tutmosovo "oslobađanje" sfinge iz pustinjskog pijeska nije bilo ni prvo ni posljednje. Ono zadnje se desilo 1905. i otada je ona postala turističkom atrkacijom. A znatno prije Tutmosa, za vrijeme IV dinastije, na sličan poduhvat su se odlučili Kufu (odnosno Keops) i njegov sin Khafra. Nema potrebe posebno dokazivati da oni nisu graditelji ni sfinge niti piramida kako im se pogrešno pripisuje. Za njih su ove veličanstvene građevine bile stare i misteriozne kao što su i nama.

Geologija i arheologija ipak neke stvari sa sigurnošću mogu tvrditi. Među njima je i činjenica da je Gizin plato, na kom su podignute piramide i sfinga, prekriven pustinjskim pijeskom preko 5.000 godina. Drugim riječima, od pojave prvih egipatskih faraona do danas.

Ta činjenica nas vodi do slijedećeg pitanja: ako je sfinga zadnjih pet tisuća godina bila prekrivena pijeskom, kako je moguće da je (osobito) njen donji dio tako erodirao? Kamena skulptura bi trebala biti izložena naletima lošeg vremena tisućama godina da bi kamen stradao u tolikoj mjeri. A pošto je sfinga uglavnom bila zaštićena pijeskom, zdrav razum nam nameće zaključak da se erozija desila znatno prije. U doba kada Egipat nije bio pustinja.

Slijedeća činjenica: ekstremna erozija tijela sfinge nije rezultat naleta vjetra i pijeska, već vode (kako, na primjer, tvrdi i geolog dr Robert Schoch, profesor geologije na Bostonskom Univerzitetu). Pa da je i nekim slučajem vjetar uzrokovao eroziju onda bi logično bilo očekivati sličan efekt i na ostalim egipatskim monumentima. Pošto pijesak nije ostavio skoro nikakvog traga na njima, nema smisla tvrdoglavo tvrditi da je saharska prašina zaslužna jedino za propadanje sfinge. Robert Schoch je u pravu: do jedinstvene, karakteristične erozije sfinge i piramida je došlo od naleta vode.

I tako dolazimo do doba kada je sfinga građena.

Geologija tvrdi da je Egipat bio izložen dugotrajnim vodenim nanosima kada se led otopljavao tokom zadnjeg Ledenog doba (13000 – 10000 godina p.n.e.).

Naravno, mi dodajemo da je jedan specifičan događaj bio presudan: potapanje Atlantide, promjena polova i podizanje nivoa vode za, mjestimično, i do 100 metara. Sve ovo se događalo prije 12500 godina.

Oblik sfinge, dakle tijelo lava, nije slučajno izabran.

Iskrivljene kopije i monstrumi zasnovani na originalnoj sfingi iz Gize (kao spomenute grčke ili asirijske sfinge) nemaju dodirnih točaka sa egipatskom skulpturom. Naime, oblik sfinge ima astronomski značaj.

Poznato je da svakih dvije tisuća godina (ili preciznije 2160 godina), Sunce ima različite zvjezdane konstelacije u svojoj pozadini. Ukupno ih je 12 i široj javnosti su poznati kao astrološki periodi. Proteklih dvije tisuća godina provodili smo u znaku zvjezdane konstelacije "ribe", simbola kršćanske ere. Prije nje dominirala je era "ovna", a još prije, "bika". Doba "ovna" je u Egiptu prolazilo u bogatoj ikonografiji i simbolizmu posvećenom ovom znaku i životinji. "Bik" je, opet, imao svojih "pet minuta" dvije tisuće godina ranije. Kult bika je bio razvijan na Kreti i drugdje.

Zvjezđe "Lava" nas vodi u period koji je trajao od 10970 godine p.n.e do 8810 p.n.e. A tada, prije 13000 godina, Planetom je dominirala civilizacija Atlantide. Očiju uprtih u nebo, Atlantiđani su pažljivo promatrali sve promjene koje su se dešavale. I zvjezdane i planetarne utjecaje koji su imali efekat na njihov život. Živjeti u doba "Lava" bila je dovoljno važna činjenica da podignu veličanstveni kompleks na Gizi, jednoj od tadašnjih njihovih šumovitih kolonija. Sfinga je bila čuvar znanja pohranjenog ispod kamenog tla.

Sofisticirani kompjuterski program "Skyglobe 3.6" je u stanju da generira precizne slike zvjezdanog neba u bilo kom povijenom momentu. Graham Hancock je u svojoj knjizi "Heaven's Mirror" objasnio da je "kompjuterska simulacija dokazala da je prije 12500 godina zvjezdana konstelacija "Lava" udomila Sunce prilikom prvog dana proljeća... Točno jedan sat prije Suncevog izlaska na istoku i početka nove epohe, konstelacija "Lava" je zašla na noćnom mjestu gdje će Sunce izaći... Lavlje tijelo sfinge, sa svojom pozicijom okrenutom k istoku, pozdravilo je zalazak svog nebeskog partnera."

Sve ovo se zbivalo u doba kada, prema zvaničnim tumačenjima, na Planeti nije bilo razvijene civilizacije, a ljudi su, navodno, hodali u čoporima i živjeli u pećinama.

Englez Moses Cotsworth je posjetio Egipat 1900. godine i vršio osobne proračune. Sfinga je imala ulogu zvjezdarnice. Stojeći na ravnoj platformi "svećenici su promatrali izlazeće Sunce u direktnoj liniji horizonta sa sfinginom krunom." Na vratu sfinge Cotsworth je pronašao nekoliko starih linija koje su označavale izlazak Sunca u danima solsticija i ekvinocija.

Bilo je potrebno koristiti rad stotina radnika tokom perioda od nekoliko godina da bi se očistio pijesak ispred osnove sfinge. Tu je nekada stajao šesterouglati obelisk (više ga nema). Cotsworth je vjerovao da je on korišten za promatranje dnevnog Sunca.

Međutim, svaki put kada bi se pijesak očistio ispred sfinge, vjetar bi ga nanosio i zakopavao sfingu dublje. To je natjeralo Cotsworth-a da zaključi da je sfinga originalno izgrađena u doba kada Sahara nije bila pustinja.

Sličice se logično slažu u mozaik. Sfinga je dostojanstveno pozdravila Planetarni ulazak u eru Lava godine 10970 B.C.

Sve ono što nam se servira o starom Egiptu nije ništa drugo do obična laž i manipulacija.

Kažu da su piramide grobnice faraona. Glupost. Ni u jednoj piramidi nije pronađena grobnica niti mumija. Niti u jednoj piramidi!

Kažu da su Egipćani uz pomoć robova (Nubijaca, Libijaca, Židova itd.) izgradili piramide, sa primitivnim alatima i bez kotača, podižući na visinu od nekoliko desetaka metara kamene blokove teške desetke tona. Naravno, piramide nije moguće izgraditi ni današnjom tehnologijom, a kamoli mekanim bakrenim alatima i sirovom snagom mišića.

Kažu da je sfinga monstrum, a ona je oličenje znanja, mudrosti i blagosti. Uostalom, ni faraoni se nisu nazivali faraonima u to doba. Bili su, jednostavno, kraljevi. I nisu se zvali Božjim sinovima kako se to pogrešno tvrdi, već potomcima superiornih bića.

Prije kraljeva ("zemaljskih ljudi"), Egiptom su vladali "polu-bogovi": duhovno i tehnološki superiorni Atlantiđani. A prije njih, pravi "bogovi": besmrtni posjetioci sa Plejada.

(P.S. Gledajući sfingu na svom kompu nameće mi se pitanje zašto je glava ne-proporcionalno manja u odnosu na tijelo? Originalni graditelji ne prave takve očite greške. Vratimo li sfingi razbarušenu lavlju glavu postavit će mo sve stvari na svoje mjesto. Astrološka epoha Lava je započela sa kamenom skulpturom lava ispred piramida. A neki "neodgovorni" egipatski vladar je pokušao sebe načiniti besmrtnim isklešući svoj lik u lavljem.

Na taj način nam ostaje da i grčku riječ "sfinga" jednostavno zaboravimo. Misterije više nema.)

~ Skeletal System
~ Internal Organs
~ Muscular system
~ External features
~ Senses

Skeletal System:
The skeleton of a Fairy dragon is very lightly built, the bones being very thin and graceful. They are also hollow like those of most other dragons. They have a delicate skull with a large braincase, a long thin neck, a sleek athletic body, and a tapering, slender tail. Their legs are somewhat shorter in proportion than those of other dragons, with the exception of the Eastern dragon. Fairy dragons also have a smaller ribcage compared to those of other flying dragon families, possibly because they are much smaller and therefore need less brute strength to fly. They have smaller chest muscles, and a smaller sternum to which those muscles are attached. The whole dragon can be about a foot long at the absolute maximum, including the tail, but they can be much smaller; it depends on the species.
An interesting point on the skeleton is the Fairy dragon's skull. This has very large orbits, and for nectar-eating dragons, the naris is situated further back along the muzzle than on other dragons. Because these Fairy dragons feed substantially on nectar, their nostrils may be further back so the animal doesn't get pollen up its nose while feeding. The muzzle is also very long and skinny, presumably so the dragon can reach into flowers easier. On the whole, the jaws are also much weaker than those of other Fairy dragons. Some Fairy dragon species eat only nectar, and don't possess teeth. Others eat only insects, and have small needle-like teeth similar to those of reptiles. The teeth are all the same length, ie. the canines are not prominent, and the jaws are reasonably powerful. Fruit and nut-eating dragons have enlarged canines and the strongest jaws of all the Fairy dragons, used to break through tough fruit skins or crack the shell on nuts and seeds.

Comparative anatomy drawing of Fairy dragon skulls

Three generalised Fairy dragon skulls can be seen in picture up, each depicting a different possible diet for the animal, and also a rudimentary means of classification (through morphological means only). As in the other anatomy essays, it is purely hypothetical and illustrates just a portion of the wide diversity of the dragon.

A feature unique to the Fairy dragon are the unusual wings. Fairy dragons actually have two sets of wings, rather like a butterfly. The wings themselves only have one supporting bone per individual wing. The rest of the wings structural support is made up of chitin, the same material that forms the exoskeleton in arthropods. The wings are extremely rigid, and can be folded back from the shoulder to rest along the flanks, but can't be folded in on themselves to be tucked away like the wings of the Western dragon. The wings also have a small attachment point with the body, they attach just behind the shoulder. In Western dragons, the wing webbing extends from the shoulder almost to the thigh, providing stability when flying. This is a more effective system. The Fairy dragon lacks this, possibly because it spends much time hovering over flowers, hummingbird-style. A flying position with the head and chest higher than the rest of the body would favour hovering. (Because the Fairy dragon has two sets of wings, it actually has eight limbs!)

Fairy dragon wing

A Fairy dragon that has two pairs of wings, four in total. Of course, Fairy dragons are commonly depicted with one pair, or with the fore and hindwings fused into one large flight surface. Thus, there is enormous morphological variation present.
Rather than having a leathery surface like the wings of Western dragons, those of Fairy dragons are made of tiny overlapping scales (similar to the insect order Lepidoptera: moths and butterflies). The supporting structures also differ in that many are chitinous rather than completely mineralised (eg. as in bone), and are arranged differently to those in other dragons. There are no joints within the wing; the only point of articulation is where the wing meets the scapula. The chitin struts are slightly flexible however.

Fairy dragon tailfin

The tailfin, may have a similar appearance to the wings. Supporting structural components are also made of chitin.

The claws also warrant special note. They are extremely sharp and very hooked, as the dragon often clings to tree trunks (all Fairy dragons are excellent climbers). The claws are used constantly for traction when climbing, and are non-retractable.

Internal Organs:
The Fairy dragon is very similar internally to other dragons, except it lacks a breath weapon, and thus lacks the organ system associated with this. Instead, if threatened, Fairy dragons may sometimes spit hydrochloric acid (HCl) at their attacker. This is spat up directly from the stomach, and the dragon usually aims at the invaders eyes (it has good aim!). However, the dragon doesn't like to do this often as it can damage its own tooth enamel, and also tastes terrible! It is generally used as a last defence when the dragon is cornered.
The Fairy dragon's liver is particularly large, this is because it eats a diet high in sugar, and the liver stores the excess sugars as glycogen. The Fairy dragon is usually so energetic that the sugar isn't stored there very long though! It also uses a lot of energy to keep itself warm, as it is so small and slender it is harder to keep body heat in, (even though the dragon is endothermic). The digestive tract isn't very long though as the bulk of the dragon's diet is made up of glucose and protein which don't require as much digestion as complex carbohydrates like starch or cellulose.

The Fairy dragon has a large brain, with a large amount dedicated to interpreting the outside environment, ie. the senses. Also, coordination is very important to the Fairy dragon which needs to beat both pairs of wings in perfect sync to generate maximum thrust for flight.

Muscular System:
Like all dragons, the Fairy dragon is an extremely muscular little animal. It has large chest muscles, used for flight, and large muscles around its thighs, enabling it to leap into the air from flat ground. Its jaws, although not very strong as they don't need to be, are netherless still reasonably well-muscled. On the whole, the Fairy dragon's body is very supple, as with all dragons, and as a result it is a very flexible animal. It can usually worm is way out of a predators grasp!
It is fascinating that some smaller species of Fairy dragon don't have red blood, so their muscles do not appear red in colour. In most animals, oxygen in blood is carried around in a pigment called haemoglobin. Each individual haemoglobin has four iron atoms; it is these atoms that carry the oxygen. When iron becomes oxidised, it turns red, accounting for red blood. Some Fairy dragons have an alternate pigment in their blood called haemocyanin, which contains copper instead of iron. This same pigment is found in some species of crustacean, such as the common lobster (Homarus vulgaris), and is found in the blood plasma, instead of blood cells. This pigment means the Fairy dragon's blood is blue, not red, as oxidised copper is blue. The dragons that express this trait tend to be more primitive than those which have haemoglobin. They have been very poorly studied so far as they are very rare and tiny in size, typically smaller than mice. The reason for the alternate pigment is unknown.

The Fairy dragon's tail is also well-muscled, as it is used as a rudder and stabilises the dragon when in flight.

External Features:
The Fairy dragon, as described before, is very small in size, and often brightly coloured. They live mainly in areas with high amounts of vegetation, although there is one desert-dweller known, and none live in alpine regions where it is far too cold. The genetics of dragon hide colour is explained in detail in the Western dragon Anatomy page.
In addition to colours that can be seen under the familiar spectrum of light that humans see in, Fairy dragons can also have colour patterns that are visible under ultra-violet light. Some parrots also display this, and for dragons, it is probably for the same reason; to display to the opposite sex.

The wings of Fairy dragons are not leathery skin like those of Western dragons, but are instead made up of millions of tiny overlapping scales like butterfly wings. The scales are composed of keratin, a structural protein. They are small, but still larger than the scales on butterfly wings. The wings are often splashed with bright colours, or alternately may be coloured to camouflage with the dragon's surroundings. One especially small species of Fairy dragon has wings that perfectly resemble green leaves, as it lives in leafy forested areas.

Also brilliantly hued are the Fairy dragon's eyes, that often resemble glowing precious jewels. There are often fins and other adornments around the head and spine, making Fairy dragons possibly the least aerodynamic of the flying dragons. These decorations however help attract mates, hard to do in forests where visibility is restricted, and they also help disguise the dragon's outline from potential dangers. Because visibility is hampered in forested areas, Fairy dragons often communicate with other dragons using a loud trumpeting call that subsides into trills and chirps that are said to sound like very sweet bird calls.

The large tail fin, that is used as a rudder, is usually coloured the same as the wings. In some species it is larger than in others. Species that eat insects exclusively tend to have a smaller fin. These dragons hunt for insects on tree trunks and therefore don't need a stabilising tail fin as much, because they do less flying.

Senses:
All dragons necessarily have outstanding senses, and the Fairy dragon is no exception. Its most sophisticated sense is vision. The sense of sight differs between the habitat and kinds of food each species eats. The fruit and nectar-eating species have especially good colour vision with a high proportion of cone cells in their retinas, used for picking out delectables at a distance! They are strictly diurnal and thus do not come out at night, because flowers usually close at night, and brightly coloured fruit is easier to spot during daylight. These dragons have relatively poor night vision.
Insect-eating dragons can hunt either during the day or at night, as insects are available as munchies around the clock. These dragons have a higher proportion of rod cells in their retinas, as rods are sensitive to movement, and also to low light levels. Plus, insect-eaters have a tapetum (reflective layer of cells) behind the eye to reflect light back into the retina. In addition, all dragons have slitted pupils, which can open or close more completely in response to light than circular pupils, making the dragon's vision more adaptable.

The desert-dwelling Fairy dragon hunts exclusively at night, burrowing underground during the heat of the day. At night it feeds on cicadas, spiders and other arthropods. This dragon has the least amount of cone cells of any Fairy dragon, with very poor colour vision. On the other hand, it has the finest night vision of all Fairy dragon species, with enormous hypnotic eyes. It should also be noted that most Fairy dragons are able to see into the ultra-violet spectrum.

Scent is also very important, and the Fairy dragon has a well-developed sense of smell, which is needed to sniff out hiding insects, flowers, or ripe fruit. Hearing is of importance too, especially in the rainforest where it is used almost exclusively as a means of communication. The large pinna (external ear flap) of the Fairy dragon can be twisted to any angle the animal chooses.

There is a relatively large and primitive species of Fairy dragon that uses its hearing exclusively to hunt. This dragon lives on tree trunks, and is airborne so seldom that it doesn't have any wings, instead it has evolved smaller appendages that are similar to the gliding membranes of the Australian sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps), flaps of skin that extend between its wrists and ankles, so it can only glide between trees (studies show that it has hollow bones, although the flight muscles and sternum are smaller than in other dragons. It is thought that this dragon may be a common ancestor to the other Fairy dragon families). This species puts its ears to tree bark, listening for the sound of insects scurrying underneath. (The Madagascan aye-aye, Daubentonia madagascariensis also employs this technique). If an insect is heard, the dragon scrapes the bark off with its sharp claws, exposing the insect, which is quickly relished!

Amphiptere:
These dragons are wide spread, originating in the Americas and, in later years, dispersing their lineage worldwide. While the amphiptere (also spelt "amphithetre") is known throughout the Americas, they have also been sighted guarding frankincense trees in Arabia and in the wilderness of Africa, the Middle East and even so far as Britain (Dragon Fantastic, 2001). Edward Topsell, quoted in The Elizabethian Zoo (1979) wrote of dragon kind (pertaining to dragons in general):

They doe not onely live on the land... but also swimme in the water, for many times they take the Sea in Ethyopia, foure or five of them together, folding theyr tayles like hurdles, and holding up their heads, so swim they over to seeke better foode in Arabia. (p. 154.)

Timid by nature, the amphiptere has been known to hide at the sight of villagers and travellers (Nigg, 2002), though this does not make it shy away from prey animals, which it will jump down upon from trees. This type of dragon has also been called the Jaculus or "javelin snake" in recognition of its hunting prowess (Amphiptere [eaudry.com], 2004; White, 1969).
The amphiptere is famed for knowing every secret of the world, perhaps because as a earthen-based serpent-dragon they are closely associated with nature and the primal forces that drive the natural order. The old saying, "never look into the eyes of a dragon" possibly originated from the amphiptere as its large eyes are said to hold hypnotic powers (Dragon Fantastic, 2001) (although not a lethal glance like that of the basilisk). The body parts of these dragons are rumoured to hold strange properties; an amphiptere tooth planted into the ground can morph into a soldier ready for battle, and its blood endows the drinker with the ability to speak in the tongue of the beasts. A potion of dried amphiptere eyes mixed with honey are said to cure even the most agonising migraine (Dragon Fantastic, 2001).
The amphiptere looks very similar in appearance to a large serpent; because most of these dragons lack legs, its sinuous shape is similar to that of an oversized snake. However, amphipteres are distinguished from their reptilian cousins by their crowning feathered plumage which also earns them their title as feathered serpents; with their shiny sky-blue feathers which are those of a raxom (a bird often associated with the quetzal bird [Pharomachrus mocinno] and sometimes called the Cotinga amabilis), and the green feathers from the tail of a quetzal bird, the amphiptere is truly a unique type of dragon (Hunt, 1999).

...and with most bright and cleere-seeing eyes, which caused the Poets to faine in their writings, that these dragons are the watchful-keepers of Treasures. They also have two dewlappes growing under their chinne, and hanging down like a beard... (Edward Topsell in The Elizabethian Zoo, 1979, p. 151).

These dragons throughout Mesoamerica were called or associated with "Plumed (or Feathered) Serpents", reminiscent of their multi-coloured feathered wings and the plume many have atop their dragon heads. They also have a rooster's wattle under their chin, and some possess a pair of short forelegs.
Feathered serpents have appeared frequently over American temples in association with religious rites, notably on the Temple of the Feathered Serpent in Teotihuacán (Bahn, 1997).

The Feathered Serpents were interchangeable with Fire Serpents; in this way they represented the searing desert heat, while in their original state they were a symbol of life and food-bearing vegetation (Hunt, 1999). Despite their ties to the natural world, their representative Sovereign Plumed Serpent was present in Mesoamerican creation as a "great knower and thinker" (Littleton, 2002), a quote from the Quiché Mayan text Popol Vuh which is applicable to all amphipteres who are famed for their quiet knowledge and wisdom.
However, the most famous amphiptere is undoubtedly the Aztec Quetzalcoatl, who helped in the creation and development of many worldly things to benefit the gods and mankind (Littleton, 2002), some of which are outlined in the Mythology.

Anthropomorphic dragons:
Also called a "dragoon" for its synchronous warrior-like status, the anthropomorphic (also anthro, for short) dragon is a relatively new creation, appearing briefly in modern literature and more recently, fantasy and science fiction role-playing games. These dragons gained in popularity in North America since 1960- 1970, as a high-tech, futuristic version of the traditional dragon, adapting to fit our changing and evolving society (Shuker, 2004). Unlike other American dragons, their anthropomorphic cousins are not based on the serpent originally, but rather on the European western dragon (despite being outsourced from another area of the globe) and the human. Combining the traits of dragons: including wings, tails, claws and dragon heads, they are predominantly human-based, standing on their hind legs, with opposable thumbs and gifted with the intelligence of mankind and the ability to speak in our familiar tongue. Females of the species often have a mane of hair down their necks, and breasts; features that are purely aesthetic in order to distinguish male from female.

Fairy Dragon: (or faerie, faery dragon)
Found in the rainforested areas of South America, Indonesia and Africa, fairy dragons range from the diminutive size of a mouse through to 30 cm (1 foot) in length. There are many variants within this taxa, and these are determined upon size and diet.
Fairy dragons have one or two pairs of wings, a body similar to that of a minature Western dragon save for their rather unique insect traits, such as a long snout and large, irridescent eyes. While fairy dragons are usually patterned to blend with their surroundings, their hides shine a rainbow of colours should the sun catch them at the right angle. Because of this, fairy dragons have often been mistaken for large insects or butterflies.
(For the anatomy of fairy dragons, see the Fairy Dragon Anatomy in next post.)

Horned Serpent:
Named after its most interesting feature, the horned serpent has one red, and and one green horn (Nigg, 2002). As a relative of the piasa, horned serpents dwell in the deep waters of North America, where they swim with their mouths agape, ready to snap up anything that comes their way. The American horned serpents are highly dragon-like in both appearance and behaviour, though they remain consistent with the abstracted serpentine form of the American dragon (as the Americas are famed for their feathered serpents on land, they too have horned serpents beneath the sea- both variants of the primal serpent or snake composition). While this dragon type lacks wings, it has both gills and lungs, enabling it to breathe in both the aquatic and terrestrial realms.
The heart of the horned serpent is the only thing which cannot be stilled; when caught and killed (usually through being burnt), the removed heart continues to beat and live though the dragon is dead. It is this heart which is used for medicinal practices (Nigg, 2002).
The horned serpent is an enemy of the thunder spirit, the thunderbird, and represents evil in their age-old rivalry (Bellingham, et al., 2001). When the thunderbird takes on its role as a divine helper of the highly revered Father Sky among North American Lakota mythology (Bellingham, et al., 2001), the struggle between the horned serpent and thunderbird becomes a supernatural, religious struggle between ultimate good and opposing evil.

Lindworm:
The Lindworm is a Europe-based dragon that is also (rarely) encountered in the Americas. See the European Dragons page for more information.

Piasa:
The North American piasa, "the bird that devours men", is one of the odder members of the dragon family. While the beast displays all the personality traits of a true dragon, its appearance is quite outlandish, even if we were to broaden our horizons and class it simply as a curious monster. The piasa is inherently dragon, with a scaled, reptilian body and the typical six limbs; four bird-like legs and two spiny, leathery wings. It also sports the beard of a tiger and antlers of a stag (Nigg, 2002). What sets it apart and accounts for its bizarre visage is the man-like face, reminiscent of a manticore in that it possesses a triple row of teeth (Shuker, 2004).

Originally, a giant pair of petroglyphs carved and painted in fastidious detail onto a cliff face 36 m (80 ft) above the Mississippi river were a wordless warning to visitors of the danger that lay ahead; however in 1856 nearby quarry work crumbled the cliff face, and the art disappeared into the river below (Shuker, 1995). Prior to this loss, the petroglyphs had originally been discovered on the 1st of August, 1673, by French missionaries Louis Joliet and Jesuit priest Father Jacques Marquette (Nigg, 2002; Shuker, 2004). The body of one had already worn away with time and so only the head remained. However, the second retained its full splendor and showed a monstrous animal with a serpentine tail (that terminated in a fish-like fluke) of such length it passed behind, around and in front of the piasa, entrapping the beast in its own coils. The dragon itself was equivalent to the size of a calf, quite diminutive by dragon standards, and was of three colours; red, black and an aquatic blue-green. It is unsure if these were the true colours of the piasa, or if they were painted simply to convey alarm (Shuker, 1995). The real piasa was said to have been 13.5 m (30 ft) long, 5.4 m (12 ft) tall with a monstrous 7- 8 m (16-18 ft) wingspan (Shuker, 2004).
While the piasa was a new discovery for the two French men, the dragon's former presence was already well known by the local Native Americans, who informed Joliet and Marquette that the piasa had inhabited the cliff face for many years, and was not originally drawn by anyone from their tribe. There were in fact many tales of these creatures, however the story of one man-eating piasa in particular is the most infamous among the Mississippi locals (Legg, 1998; Shuker, 1995). In early days, the piasa was an eater of large mammals, specifically deer, and was of no harm to ancestral Illinois tribes. However, a domestic dispute between tribes erupted into a war, and there was much bloodshed. The remains were quickly cleaned up by the piasa who soon developed a fondness for human flesh which, eventually, became its downfall (Shuker, 2004). After many months of feasting, during which the piasa perfected its killing technique, a warrior called Masatonga (or Massatoga [Shuker, 2004]) from Illinois lured the piasa into the woods. Once confined between the trees, waiting warriors fired poisoned arrows at the vulnerable piasa and killed it (Legg, 1998), ensuring the safety of their tribe.
Marquette published a journal in 1681 documenting his encounter with the age-old ghost of the piasa, maintaining its fearsome reputation even today (Shuker, 1995).

Autori kompleksa Pueblo Bonito su Anasazi, “djeca svjetlosti”. Ovaj sofisticirani gradić je nastao uz pomoć sakralne geometrije i svjedoči o njihovom razvijenom spiritualnom nivou.






Gledam zadnju epizodu "X-files" na videu. Nakon dvogodišnjeg odsustva u seriji se ponovo pojavljuje FBI agent Moulder koji je pronašao odgovor na pitanje: "Da li smo sami?"

Devet godina i stotine dosijea FBI-a su prošli kroz maratonsku seriju. Pojave paranormalnog, metafizičkog, UFO, spiritualnog, neobjašnjivog i misterioznog su izazivale očekivani efekat. Oni koji su i ranije bili otvoreni za ovakve slučajeve našli su potvrdu svog razmišljanja. Za one koji su bili nezainteresirani ili skeptici ovi dosijei su (p)ostali (znanstvena) fantastika.

Uglavnom, u finalnoj epizodi, Moulder je po prvi put prestrašen. Ne samo da se uvijerio da su vanzemaljci među nama, već ima i konačni datum kada ljudska rasa pada pod njihovu potpunu kontrolu: 22. prosinac 2012. Zadnja scena epizode se snima u americkoj državi New Mexico koje je jedino sigurno sklonište od "zločestih" vanzemaljaca. Naime, planine oko ruševina Puebla su bogate magnetitom koji je smrtan za njih. Moulder i agentica Scully (Skuli) u svom oproštaju od gledaoca razmišljaju kako da promijene budućnost i nađu spas za čovječanstvo.

O "pozitivnim" i "negativnim" vanzemaljskim entitetima smo pisali. O 22. prosincu 2012. kao kraju naše civilizacije sam govorio u prilogu o Majama kojima se tog dana završava jedan svemirski ciklus na Zemlji. O bezuspješnim pokušajima američkih agenata remote viewing-a da vide dalje u budućnost od ovog datuma, je također bilo riječi. Da bi shvatili značenje ove, gore pomenute, TV serije ostalo je samo da se nešto kaže o Pueblu.

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Stereotipi o Americi uključuju i ova dva: prvo, američka povijest ide unatag do dolaska Kolumba; prije njega bili su Indijanci i John Wayne. Drugi stereotip je da Amerikanci i najmanje stvari komercijaliziraju. "E da su njima egipatske piramide... oni bi napravili milijarde zarade...".

Današnje pisanje će ih opovrgnuti. Prvo, civilizacija na američkom tlu je stara tisućama godina. Drugo, spiritualna i građevinska dostignuća na ovim prostorima su također prvorazredna, ali zvanična politika ih je gurnula u kut.

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Na granici gdje se susreću četiri američke države: New Mexico, Arizona, Utah i Colorado, nalazi se indijanska "sveta zemlja": Četverokut " (Four Corners Country). Rijeke Rio Grande i Colorado, čuveni Grand Canyon, indijanski rezervati, Hopi Indijanci i njihove legende i proročanstva... Hopi tvrde da je ljudska civilizacija nakon zadnjeg potopa počela da se razvija upravo ovdje. I da će tokom slijedeće kataklizme ovo biti jedino sigurno mjesto. Dok postoji "Četverokut" do tada će i balans Planete ostati netaknut.

Danas ću govoriti o precima Hopija. I o jugoistočnom kraju "Četverokuta" u Novom Meksiku.

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Kako to da najvrijednije ljudske uzlete redovno prekriva velo "tajne"? Graditelje egipatskih, kineskih ili meksičkih piramida, na primjer? Pisana i duhovna tradicija onih koji su znali odgovore (Maje ili Tolteci, recimo) potpuno je uništena.

Slučaj Tolteka, čije se pravo ime ne zna, a o kojima znamo uglavnom od njihovih primitivnijih predaka (Azteka), ponavlja se i ovdje.

Ime "Anasazi" dolazi od moderne riječi Navaho indijanaca i znači "neprijatelji naših starih očeva". I upravo ovi "neprijatelji starih Navaho indijanaca" predstavljaju civilizacijski vrh prohujalih vremena na tlu sjeverno od Meksika.

Anasazi su preci modernih Pueblo Indijanaca i živjeli su u kanjonu Chaco, raštrkani u okviru tisuću kvadratnih milja. Ovaj put nećemo govoriti o prvim "paleo" Indijancima od prije 35.000 godina. Ili strijelama Anasazija starim 15.000 godina. Finalna epizoda iz života Anasazija se odvijala prije samo tisuću godina. U apartmanskom kompleksu zvanom Pueblo Bonito.

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"Djeca svjetlosti", tako su sebe zvali Anasazi.

U podnožju Chaco kanjona brižljivo su dizajnirali i podigli izvanredan kameni gradić sa 700 podzemnih stanova i 37 "kiva". Kive su podzemne "ceremonijalne" prostorije u obliku perfektnog kruga i simboliziraju utrobu u tijelu Majke Zemlje.

Pueblo Bonito ("prelijepo naselje", naziv je iz XIX stoljeća) nije imao palača - svi stanovi su iste kvadrature. To nam sugerira barem dvije stvari: prvo, gradnja je išla planski i odjednom (a ne kampanjski, tokom 200 godina, kao što sugerira znana arheologija). Drugo, očito da nije bilo socijalne hijerarhije i elita.

Oblik Pueblo Bonita je polukrug (pravilno slovo "D"). Mjestimično dostiže visinu od pet katova da bi se zatim spustio do visine jednog kata i otvorenih trgova.

Sofisticirani gradić se doima nestvarno, kao da je zalutao sa neke druge razvijenije planete na današnju besplodnu, pustinjsku okolinu Chaco kanjona. "Simetrija i geometrijska preciznost sugeriraju planski pristup", kao da čujem arhitekte.

Tu moram biti malo precizniji. Ovdje nije riječ o "običnoj" već sakralnoj geometriji. Prolazeći kroz literaturu o Pueblo Bonitu našao sam nekoliko petroglifa (slikovnih znakova) ucrtanih blizu vrha kanjona (Fajada Butte). Petroglifi simboliziraju plan Grada i svi su solarno orijentirani.

- Plan Grada je prikazan kao polugrug, u obliku slova "D", sa središnjom linijom i dvije točke koje prikazuje najveće kive;

- Solarno su orijentirani, jer su crtani u pravilnom smjeru istok-zapad (od izlaska prema zalasku sunca); zid kanjona je, naravno, sjever-jug. Svaki dan, po pola sata, kada je sunce najviše na nebu, dešava se transformacija petroglifa od pune obasjanosti do pune sjene. "Djeca svjetlosti" su ostavili brojne oznake na zidu kanjona koje pokazuju da su bili svjesni ove promjene i da su ih brižljivo bilježili. Nama ostavljaju u zadaću da pokušamo da ih dešifriramo.

U sredini nekih petroglifa su izbušili rupu. Ubacimo li komadić drveta u rupu, sunce baca sjenu točno uzduž radijalne linije. Ta linija simbolično predstavlja radijalnu liniju Pueblo Bonita vidljivu i danas na ruševinama.

Vrlo karakterističan je petroglif koji prikazuje spiralu koja završava sa polukrugom. Mnogima, ovo ništa ne znači. Jednostavan simbol koji dijete može nacrtati. Ali, spirala je simbol kreacije, stvaranja života (genetski kod). A polukrug je njihov gradić, Pueblo Bonito, koji izvire sa kraja spirale.

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Od Pueblo Bonita izviru, u svim pravcima, serije pravilnih linija - puteva, prema pustinji. Ovi putevi su širine današnjih autoputeva i perfektno su ravni. Nema zavoja ili odstupanja od pravca. Dugački su kilometrima - najduži je oko 100 km. Konvencionalna arheološka objašnjenja su da je riječ o trgovačkim pravcima koji su vodili do drugih naselja.

Međutim.

Putevi vode kroz klanac, vertikalno se penju uz litice, idu po obronku kanjona, da bi se opet spustili u pravoj liniji ispred sebe i otišli u nedogled. Ima li smisla trgovcima da se penju po liticama kada mogu pratiti kanjon i kretati se logičnim stazama? Nažalost, arheolozi polaze od pogrešnih pretpostavki. Od onih o Pueblo indijancima kao primitivnijim od nas.

Objašnjenja treba tražiti u spiritualnom svijetu. Ovi putevi nisu jedini te vrste u svijetu. Stari šamani su ove puteve koristili kao putokaze na svojim astralnim putovanjima na različitim stranama svijeta. I zbilja, u slučaju Anasazi indijanaca, postoje dokazi da su ovi pravci vodili do manjih kamenih struktura, nalik na hramove. Za takve objekte je utvrđeno da je u njima odvijana šamanistička aktivnost. Što bi arheolozi rekli "ceremonijalna" ili "religiozna".

Za astralno putovanje duše ima smisla pratiti kretanje perfektno pravih puteva preko kanjona. A to što se putevi penju uz klance, to već ne predstavlja problem. Duša ionako lebdi iznad kamenih vertikalnih litica.

Do sada je otkriveno preko 800 km ovih linija. Danas su one vidljive samo iz zraka, rano ujutro ili kasno popodne kad sunce baci duboku sjenu na pustinjsku okolinu kanjona. Sa nivoa površine zemlje danas ih je teško uočiti, jer su stotine godina prirodne erozije učinile svoje. I dobrim dijelom izbrisale nekadašnji šamanistički zemljopis.

Prije tisuću godina Chaco kanjon je bio obrastao u gustu šumu. Ovo otvara novo pitanje: Koju su tehnologiju koristila "djeca svijetla" u raskrčivanju stotina kilometara puteva? Koje alate? Podsjećam da je to doba kada Indijanci nisu imali u upotrebi kotač i kola. Sa građevinskog stanovišta ovo je bio ogromni izazov.

Uza svu tehnologiju i kotače (kamione, bagere, dizalice) već stoljećima jedva uspijevamo izgraditi auto put do Splita (iz Zagreba). A "primitivni američki domoroci" krče tisuću kilometara autoputa koji ih na kraju dovodi do jedne kućice/hrama?

I kažemo da Amerikanci sve komercijaliziraju samo nemaju bog-zna-što pokazati iz svoje povijesti? Hm, ne bi se složio. Imaju itekakav razlog da Pueblo Bonito prepuste zaboravu u Navaho rezervatu do kojeg vodi samo prašnjavi, neasfaltirani put.

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Anasazi su suvremenici Tolteka koji su živjeli nešto južnije. Ali i jedni i drugi su bili svjesni da su ljudi kompleksna bića, prije svega spiritualna. A ovladavanje duhovnim svijetom omogućavalo im je da lakše vladaju fizičkom dimenzijom. I da prenose milione tona kamenih blokova (zrakom!) od kojih su pravili piramide. Ili, mijenjali zemljopis terena uklanjanjem tisuća tona šume.

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Povijesničari se slažu u jednom u svojim knjigama: Anasazi indijanci su misteriozno nestali oko 1150 godine.

Neki tvrde da su suše smanjile populaciju od tisuću prvobitnih stanovnika na nekoliko desetina i da su konačno i oni napustili svoje "prelijepo naselje". Drugi tvrde da je njihov broj narastao do 5.000 i da su se okolni resursi neplanski koristili i da se ostalo bez njih. Treći govore o masovnom egzodusu iz nepoznatih razloga.

Moulderovi FBI dosijei su me ponukali da ponudim četvrtu verziju.

Anasazi su bili ljudska bića koji su, tokom svojih duhovnih putovanja, dobro upoznali Planetu. Povijest i budućnost. Druge duhovne entitete. I, kao Kastanjedin Don Huan, bili su svjesni prisutnosti svemirskh zvijeri koje se hrane našom negativnom energijom. Uvidjevši snagu onih koji su i tada manipulirali čovječanstvom, vjerovatno nisu vidjeli mnogo smisla u vlastitom, nekontroliranom demografskom širenju. Njihov Pueblo Bonito je bio limitirani apartmanski kompleks za minimalan broj stanovnika. Bez gužve i vike desetoročlanih obitelji. Sa više vremena koje se može posvetiti sebi i vlastitoj duhovnoj evoluciji. Sa nestankom toltečkog načina mišljenja (Maje, Tolteci, Inke) nestajali su i Anasazi.

Nije bilo smisla u stimuliranju nataliteta i ekonomskog širenja.

Iz ove dimenzije su otišli tiho, u sjeni kanjona bogatim magnetitom, koji im je donosio jedinu sigurnost u ovoj dimenziji.

Eagle warrior stands on feathered serpent








~ Amphiptere
~ Anthropomorphic
~ Fairy Dragon
~ Horned Serpent
~ Lindworm
~ Piasa

From the magnificence of the horned serpent to the divine nature of the amphiptere, the dragons of the Americas are nature-based creatures which, essentially, are barely discernable from the ancestral serpent. In literal terms, there are no dragons in the Americas- at least, none that fit the typical view of this fearsome beast. It is important to remember that the word snake is explicitly as the name suggests, pertaining exclusively to the extant reptiles, while the word serpent can include any creature ranging from a dragon, to a serpentine dragon, to a snake. Because of this, closer scrutiny is needed when weeding out American "dragons" from American "serpents".
If we were to take the term dragon on at face-value, we would find little outside the Western and Eastern world. There are a great mix of characteristic variables that run behind the physical screen of the American serpent-dragon, and it is these that need to be studied to decipher what is and isn't a member of the dragon family, however distantly or closely related.

Constructed by valley-dwelling Native Americans at approximately the time of Christ's birth (Littleton, 2002), the Great Serpent Mound of Ohio is truly massive, at half a kilometre in diameter (800 ft) (Unknown, 1996). The sheer intimidating size of the serpent encircling the hill, holding a smaller mound inside its cavernous jaws, is indicative of its importance as a focal point of Native American culture, with the Great Serpent itself holding significance since primeval times (Unknown, 1996). This symbolism is echoed in the Serpent Mountain of the Aztec people, situated in close proximity to the most important of Aztec cities (both physically and spiritually), Tenochtitlan (Hunt, 1999). This Serpent Mountain, actually a pyramid, formed the central point of the Aztec astrological world (Hunt, 1999). These are some of the earliest illustrations of anything related to dragon kind, and dragons themselves were completely absent from the early creation mythology of Central America (Littleton, 2002). However, the proto-dragon in its most anarchic form as a serpent, lacking claws and fiery breath, plays a prominent part in genesis.

In Mesoamerica where the primal universe was and is chaotic yet bound to the laws of predictability, the great emptiness before creation was void until two deities, the sea god Sovereign Plumed Serpent and the Sky god "Heart of Sky" (or Hurricane), came together to converse. Their deliberations began the process of creation as, according to the Quiché Mayan text the Popol Vuh, both gods were "great knowers and thinkers" (Littleton, 2002).
Tonacatecuhtli "Lord of our Sustenance", also called Tonacacihuatl "Lady of our Sustenance" was the two-sexed god/dess who had four sons in correspondence with the four earth quarters or directions of north, south, east and west. The third of these sons was White Tezcatlipoca or Quetzalcoatl (the Plumed or Feathered Serpent), who helped in the creation of many worldly things such as fire, men, calendars, and the rain and water gods Oxomoco and Cipactonal respectively. There are numerous stories and myths surrounding this highly-revered serpent deity of Central America, which involve creations of momentous importance, such as the world itself, to smaller things like pulque or octli, an alcoholic beverage.

In South America, the first woman Bachue or "large-breasted" came from Lake Iguaque with her infant son in her arms, who was later to become her lover, and with her populate the entire Earth. Eventually, Bachue and her son returned to the lake from which they had first come, farewelling their people with some advice and kind words before swimming away as serpents (Littleton, 2002). The involvement of water, serpents and metamorphosis is not uncommon among serpent and dragon beliefs, disregarding which culture and area of the world they stem from.

The South American dragon's origins are more humble than those of its neighbours; belief in these mythical desert dragons originates from the iguanas inhabiting the area, which were valued as a good source of protein (Osborne, 1988).

The ties between serpentine dragons and water is relatively common among American dragons. As mentioned above, the Plumed Serpent Quetzalcoatl was involved with the creation of the rain and water gods, and the first man and woman forsook their own bodies for those of water serpents. This link appears to be forged during the act of creation, which reflects on the American dragon's own primal form at this stage as a serpentine creature, and perhaps also upon the seemingly magical ability of the snake to recreate itself through the shedding of its skin. However, this often deceptively simple or chimerical composition is no less advanced than the complex forms seen in dragons elsewhere in the world, and is extremely important among the dragon family which encompasses a startling range of extremes from legless snake-like dragons, to an improbable six or more limbs. One such water-based dragon is the North American horned serpent, which lairs in the sea and is famed for its unstoppable heart that will continue to live despite the death of the creature (Nigg, 2002). This may represent a lack of solidarity or rebellion against the gods, many of which demanded human sacrifices which, traditionally, were fulfilled by the removal of a person's heart through a hole cut into their ribcage (Littleton, 2002). To the Lakota people, this corrupt independence may be further reinforced by the enmity shared between the horned serpent and the thunderbird, who represents Father Sky as a fighter against evil and an upholder of goodness (Bellingham, et al., 2001).

Unlike many other native dragons, those of the Americas were a mix between good and evil, having no real persuasion to either side. Rather than represent a higher, divine power or a terrible evil against mankind, they share naturalistic ties. This is however no real reflection on the serpent dragons themselves; it does not lessen their mythological role but rather is in tune with the earthly society with which they were connected. While some predominantly seem to herald mischief (eg. horned serpent) and some goodness (eg. Plumed Serpent), they collectively encompass the wide range of good, evil and all between. On top of this, the American dragons have a number of supernatural properties that contradict their streamlined, pared-down appearance (save for the feathered serpents or amphipteres that are famed throughout Mesoamerica for having iridescent feathers, wings and forelimbs). These paranormal attributes may include an immortal heart, body parts that cure maladies and the ability to jump great heights from water into the air (Dragon Fantastic, 2001)1.
South American serpents, in particular those with two heads, were symbolic of obstacles or dangers, usually caused by a person's ill-doings. As one story details, a rich man once fell sick; the cause of his disease was revealed to be a two headed serpent who, representing his unfaithful wife, ate away at him (Osborne, 1988). The imagery of the two-headed serpent appears again as the devious creation of a defeated Peruvian fire god, who led the serpent to attack his rival Pariacaca, god of storms and flooding (Bellingham, et al., 2001).

The American serpent-dragon was highly involved with established society, including the darker aspects of death. Sacrificial killings were not seen in a bad light and were a necessary part of Mesoamerican life. Unlike many other dragons, the serpent-dragon of the Americas did not have a two-fold nature as such; there were no real personality variants within the race. Their temperament was rather mainstream, seeing death and the more sophisticated aspects of a culture, such as the structure created by observing a calendar, as something that was simply important. As a symbol for change through challenge, the serpent-dragon may represent difficulty that leads to triumph. Death was usually intermixed into life, as the Mesoamericans commonly used war and force to subjugate their neighbours (Littleton, 2002). A Mesoamerican temple which peaked in activity between 100 AD and 750 AD depicted the feathered serpent of the Americas, and was appropriately titled the Temple of the Feathered Serpent by archeologist Manuel Gamio (who excavated the citadel between 1917- 1922) (Bahn, 1997). Later discoveries revealed 120 sacrificial victims, most of whom were warriors in their prime and were dumped in mass graves around the temple (Bahn, 1997). This gory bloodshed however did not disrupt the serpent-dragon's place as a cultured, civilised being who represented virtues- of which peace was not one (Littleton, 2002)- including upholding a strong government and faithful religious adherence (Allan & Lowenstein, 1997).

~ Bunyip
~ Polynesian Dragons
~ Rainbow Serpent
~ Taniwha






Bunyip (Australian Dragons):
The strangest of the Australasian dragons is undoubtedly the bunyip; this swamp-dwelling dragon is perhaps one of the oldest alongside its serpentine kin, the Rainbow Serpent.

During the early settlement of Victoria (a state of Australia), tales of a terrible man-eating water monster were heard from natives far removed from one another (Buchler & Maddock, 1978). The consistencies in the many different tales were startling, and soon the bunyip had aroused the interest of the European settlers, who described the beast as a huge monster-dragon creature, with bull-like horns, a flat, pushed-in face with large cheeks, the body of an oversized cow tapering into a whale back half (Shuker, 2004).
This does not easily fit with the Aboriginal description of the swamp-dragon, who described the creatures as huge snakes with large eyes and long ears, while at other times they were depicted as dingo like animals (turudun) or as birds, particularly the emu (gourke) (Buchler & Maddock, 1978). Bunyips often assume forms of their own choosing, including enlarged variants of already existing Australian animals, to chimerical creatures, such as winged, flying fish (Reed, 1974). It is no surprise, then, that bunyips are renowned for their mismatched appearance; their body coverings encompass scales, fur and feathers (Buchler & Maddock, 1978).
While bunyips are known for their aggression, a few appear to have a rather placid temperament. One bunyip sighted in New South Wales (state above Victoria) during 1868 was pardoned of any viciousness by the witness who said, "it is all nonsense about it being a savage sort of brute" (Barnard, 2001, p. 16). Despite this, not all bunyips appear friendly. The creatures are known for eating humans, and often meat out severe punishments for wrongdoings.
Bunyips are endowed with many strange, esoteric powers; the boundaries of which remain unknown to humankind. These swamp-dwelling dragons use their well-developed power of metamorphosis to inflict damage on others, including the land, which they are known to flood in bouts of anger. This tells us a great deal about the bunyip’s attitude, and the inability they have of seeing that, in their own personal grief, they cause the undoing of others, including innocents.
One such tale tells of an Aboriginal boy who unwittingly captured a baby bunyip; after his feather’s entreaties to return the small creature which he obeyed, the boy and his family were turned into the first black swans, and their land was flooded (Shuker, 2004).
Bunyips also have the ability to turn people into stone, entrapping them for years in separation from their families (Reed, 1974). Their own viciousness has ensued a lasting place in Australian mythology; not only are they credited with altering the landscape, they have been involved in the creation of the three sisters (who as Aboriginal girls were known as Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedoo); having trapped them, their father was forced to turn them into stone (Ratcliff, 2004).

Preferring the cool secrecy of water, bunyips lair in waterholes and swamps, which they share an affinity with, using the water to flood or cause drought (Shuker, 2004). They can also be found in damp holes and caves where they lair harmlessly, until disturbed (Ratcliff, 2004).

Polynesian Dragons:
Across the Polynesian region, belief in dragons may be traced to the ancient home in Hawaiki; subsequently, dragons branched off to New Zealand with the Polynesian settlement of the land (Westervelt, 1910). Another family branch carried their long-established belief in dragons and their colourful folklore to the Hawaiian Islands, and soon the creatures had spread in many places across the Pacific Ocean and featured richly in Polynesian tradition (Westervelt, 1910).
Prior to the establishment of Hawaiki, the first Polynesians who occupied Samoa and Tonga from the Asian mainland may have carried memories of crocodiles with them across to Polynesia, which would have aided in the birth- or continuation- of the dragon (Alpers, 1970). In addition, Asian mythology of Eastern Dragons may have added to the establishment of their own version of these mythic creatures. To reinforce this, it also appears likely dragons stemmed from the remembrance of crocodiles in India’s River Ganges, where many of the other Polynesian native residents lived prior to emigration (Westervelt, 1910).
Mythologically speaking, the Polynesians believed the first dragons to have arrived in Hawaii came from Kaui-he-lani, a far away island. The original dragons were in possession of mana, an arcane ability that allowed them to alter their appearances from men to dragons at their whim. Later dragons also inherited mana, and some had attained a semi-divine status that demanded they were held in high esteem among their colleagues (Westervelt, 1963).

One of Hawaii’s most famous dragons was "Moo-Kuna", a trickster dragon who caused the goddess Hina much distress by littering her cave with general debris in an attempt to drive her from her home. Eventually, when Moo-Kuna attempted to flood the goddess, Hina called for the aid of her son, the demigod Maui, who chased and slew the dragon with his magic club and by calling forth lava. As previously discussed in the Introduction/ Overview, the name "moo" and "kuna" means an alien, reptilian form unknown to the natives.
After this event, this same dragon was seen reflected in nature, as the name "Moo-Kuna" today is given to any suspicious-looking black log or rock sitting in the middle of a river, near the falls or rapids. A saying developed from this story, "as if he [the dragon] were not dead enough already, every big freshest in the stream beats him and pounds him and drowns him over and over as he would have drowned Hina" (Westervelt, 1910, p. 153).

In the Hervey Islands, the dragon is interchangeable with the phallic eel (Alpers, 1970), and in Samoa, the dragon is simply a serpent and his enemy the owl (Westervelt, 1910). This may be because the Samoans did not have a word for dragon, but more likely, it is simply a linguistic difference caused by the spread of the creature across the islands. Regardless, the dragon here shows it is not immune to the ravages of time and travel, yet it has retained much of its basic properties; the simple, reptilian/ serpentine properties, and its ever-recurrent ties to water which it lairs in.
In Hawaiian later years, the dragon became interchangeable with the shark; the king of dragons, Ka-moho-alii, later became the god of sharks. This is not unusual in Polynesia, as New Zealand’s taniwha has also been described and associated with the shark (Westervelt, 1963).
Because there is so much difference between the Polynesian dragons, it is hard to pinpoint exactly the core basics of their appearance. They are mainly black, serpentine creatures with a thick hide and a fearsome presence. Many can fly, but this is not a trait shared by all Polynesian dragons. With wide, gaping mouths and small, staring eyes they take in all the details of their surroundings and situations, and thus are not easy creatures to overcome (Alpers, 1970).
While many dragons appear to have good natures, many more are deviant beasts who, while not out to cause real harm, do stir trouble amongst the divine gods and the people.

Rainbow serpent (Australian Dragons):
Of the Australasian dragons, the rainbow serpent is certainly the most prolific and divine. Not only do these serpent-dragons possess elemental ties to their world that stretch beyond the normal, they also hold the unseen characteristics of the gods.
Male rainbow serpents are coloured to match their name; down their long, snake-like form they are striped in red and yellows (Reed, 1974). Coupled with black, these colours appear on the Australian Aboriginal flag; the central yellow orb symbolises the sun, while the red lower half portrays the earth and the black upper half represents the Aboriginal people. This is somewhat reflected in the rainbow serpent; like the sun, he travels through the sky, and through his land journey across the earth he sculpts the landscape. Although lacking black along his coloured skin, we are inclined to recall the story of Bolong who spewed out new people after being assaulted with a spear.
The female rainbow serpent is completely blue, and pairings of these serpents frequently fly through the sky after the rain, arching their slender forms to resemble the ribbon streaks of the rainbow. However, rainbow serpents are ancient and wise creatures, and punish those who fish for sport, as opposed to hunting for food. It is when they fly through the sky they spy on people; should they find anyone who had been fishing for recreation they dart down like lightning. The rainbow serpent is not without its sense of irony; as punishment, these people are fed to the fish in the river (Reed, 1974).
Rainbow serpents are most noted for the part they played in the creation and shaping of the land and its people in the Dreamtime (also Altjeringa), when the world was new and a strange ancestral race occupied the land (Littleton, 2002). Unlike today, the world was rather plain and void of the nature’s beautiful features. People also were anatomically different; rather than defecate, waste was regurgitated from their mouths, and childbirth was a very different and even more painful affair (Saxby & Winch, 1997).
There was a massive rainbow serpent called Bolong, who slept in the middle of the rather shapeless land. Inside her body, Bolong carried the features of the landscape; trees, rocks, hills, birds and animals, including a large group of people. An old woman recognized the potential for a better life if Bolong were slain; after convincing the young man Jaitmee to slay the serpent, he killed Bolong with a spear through the back of her head, from which water and all manner of life spewed forth (Saxby & Winch, 1997). Through her unwilling death, Bolong essentially became a creatrix and anchored her kind into Australian tradition and mythology.
Other stories credit Bolong with shaping the land through her travels. Once she had done this and lay to rest in a lake, she was disturbed by an Aborigine and in her fury, flooded the land for many days and nights in what was known as the Great Flood (Nigg, 2002).
While it was with a serpent the world came to be how it is today, it was also with serpents Australia came to an evolutionary standstill. A great battle between the Kuniya, the rock-python people, and the Liru, the poisonous serpents, ensued until the 430 m (1 300 ft) tall monolith Uluru (previously known also as Ayers Rock) erupted from the battle scene and marked the Dreamtime’s last creation (Littleton, 2002).
The rainbow serpent’s sway over the world’s formation had not gone unnoticed; well after the Dreamtime, the serpent continued to be greatly respected. Known by different names, the serpents are differentiated slightly by their features; in Melbourne, Victoria, the serpent or mythical snake was known as myndie, with a long and thick body. Myndie had a large head and, when spitting their fiery poison a forked tongue with three prongs could be seen (Buchler & Maddock, 1978). In Perth, South Australia, the rainbow serpent is winged and known as wogal, who was said to lair in certain waterholes which were dutifully avoided by the Aborigines (Buchler & Maddock, 1978). In western Arnhem Land, the male rainbow serpent is known as Ngalyod (Littleton, 2002), and has a heavily plated reptilian tail and thick horns, while the female is Yingara (Tacon, et. al., 1996).

Rainbow serpents held a particular vendetta against women, attacking them more frequently than men (Buchler & Maddock, 2002; Littleton, 2002). Despite this, many were phallic and masculine in nature (Buchler & Maddock, 2002). By manner of representation, they symbolised for the wet season (Littleton, 2002).

During procreation, rainbow serpents scatter their eggs over the earth, leading them to be often mistaken for hailstones. However, these "hailstones" slowly tunnel themselves into the ground, where they are incubated by the earth and eventually hatch into baby rainbow serpents (Reed, 1974).

Rainbow serpents are essentially a catalyst, for throughout their thousands of years in existence (appearing in rock art some 6- 8 000 years ago, although they almost certainly featured in Aboriginal belief prior [Tacon, et. al., 1996]), they have changed very little. Their powers and ability to cause floods and droughts were famous during the years, and Aborigines were wary of where the serpents lived, lest they stir their great wrath. In Dhuwa tradition, the ancestral Wawilak (or Wagilag) sisters and their children were eaten by the serpent Yulunggur after disturbing his peace; in retribution for his crime, however, a monsoon even a rainbow serpent could not handle was thrown against them, and his thrashing, writhing movements carved out a river valley (Littleton, 2002). Another serpent was known as Thugine, who turned wandering boys to stone for having entered his watery lair (Reed, 1974).

Taniwha (New Zealand Dragons):
Closely associated with a number of extant animals, taniwhas are interchangeable; physically, the creatures encompass both lizard and serpent, while mentally, they have varying intelligence, some going so far as to speak the human tongue. As descendants of the great atua (or god) Tane, taniwhas share a distinct ancestry with the gods, and often possessed their divine characteristics (Reed, 1963).
Taniwhas populate New Zealand and the waters off the coast of Australia where they lead solitary lives, however some have shown a fondness for the company of human women, whether or not the feelings are mutual (Reed, 1967; Reed, 1974). Despite these sour relationships, some taniwhas have been known to marry humans in love rather than as a result of their own selfish desires; unfortunately, as a result of persecution from disapproving family members, these partnerships are inadvertently doomed. Such is the marriage between the taniwha Hine-korako and the chief of the Ngati-Hine-haka (Reed, 1964).

Like the ngarara (another mysterious monster of New Zealand [Reed, 1967]), the taniwha encompass a large variety of unusual creatures, both land and sea dwelling. They usually lair in large water bodies such as deep lakes and the Tasman Sea (between Australia and New Zealand), while smaller water taniwha are often found in the bends of rivers (Reed, 1963). These water-dwelling taniwha were very gentle creatures (Alpers, 1970), known for rescuing the shipwrecked, while their land-dwelling brethren have a vicious nature, spending their days capturing and holding humans at their mercy (Alpers, 1970). These taniwhas hide in the dark areas beneath caves, hills and mountains; such tunneling taniwhas who cause the earth to shake are known as tuoro and hore. Their more placid cousins are puku-tuoro and kumi (Reed, 1963).
In similar fashion to the folklorist belief that there is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, Maori superstition warned that whenever there was quicksand at the bottom of a precipice, a taniwha laired nearby (Reed, 1963).

Taniwha are renowned for their power of change, and could often assume the form of aquatic animals to blend in and disappear. Popular "disguises" included large sharks, eels, crocodiles and lizards, while fish, whales and sea serpents were often referred to as taniwha, as have serpent and dragon-like creatures, sometimes credited with flight (Reed, 1964), and very frequently with ties to water (Westervelt, 1910). The more dragon-like taniwhas are lizard-like in form, sometimes with wings (the oceanic variants often have fins), and are in patterned hues of greens, blues, purples and reds, although natural colours tend to be more dominant. One taniwha who lived on a hillside was known as the "black monster", which had a 4 m (12 ft) bat-like wingspan, a heavily toothed maw set upon a long neck, taloned feet, a ridged back and the voice of a man (Reed, 1974). Despite these impressive details, the size of this taniwha is diminutive compared to others, who were so large their stomachs could hold an armoured man, and their limbs so strong they could- and often did- crush trees in their anger (Reed, 1967).

The Maori gave both the taniwha and lizards the same name, moko, recognising their linkage to one another; this same name was attributed to the tattoos on the faces of Maori men, who saw the writhing tail of the moko reflected in the strong curls patterned over their skin3 (Alpers, 1970). Taniwhas can shed their tails in fright or at whim (as can some lizards when pursued by predators), and these are capable of slithering off to become independent, such as the tail of the frightful Kaiwhakaruaki, whose descendants, the moko papa or little tree lizard, inherited the tail-shedding ability of their father (Reed, 1967).
As they are so closely associated with lizards, there has often been a great deal of suspicion regarding the taniwha as the Maori believed lizards to be a physical representation of the powers of death and disease. On top of this, they are notorious man-eaters, though they could often be placated by gifts of food and the recital of prayers or karakia (the recital of karakia by childless women to taniwhas sped conception) (Reed, 1963). They were described as the gods who were the enemies of mankind, "because they dwell as gods on earth, and inhabit the water, inland territory, trees, stones under the earth and in the space above" (from The Lore of the Whare-wananga, quoted in Reed, 1963, p. 296).
Today, theory suggests that New Zealand’s tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) may have attributed to belief in the taniwha (Alpers, 1970), as these reptiles would have been familiar to the Maori. However, the tuatara are small when compared to the massive size of the taniwha, and there is no substantial reason to suggest this reptile inspired taniwha stories any more than the next native animal.

Tolteci su svoje impresivne kipove zvali “Atlantiđani” po uzoru na svoje daleke pretke. “Atlantiđani” se se nalazili na vrhu piramida u Tuli, gdje su služili kao stupovi nosači zvjezdarnica.





Današnje odredište je nekadašnja prijestolnica Tolteka. To je najsjeverniji grad od svih starih srednjoameričkih kultura.

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Povijesničari su postavili vremenski okvir za civilizaciju Tolteka: od osmog do dvanaestog stoljeća. Tvrde da su Tolteci koristili veličanstveni grad Teotihuacan nakon što je zapaljen i napola uništen u sedmom stoljeću. Tamo su ostali 200 godina i vratili mu nešto od prijašnjeg sjaja. Prisiljeni da ga napuste u desetom stoljeću, idu na sjever gdje osnivaju Tulu. Predvođeni su legendarnim božanstvom Quetzalcoatl-om. Nakon novih 200 godina njihova kultura nestaje u nadiranju barbara sa sjevera.

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Quetzalcoatl je Tulu napustio i krenuo na Istok, prema Yukatan-u, odatle je na "zmiji" odletio u nebo.

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Stara Tula se prostirala na petnaest kvadratnih kilometara i imala je četrdesetak tisuća stanovnika. Gradom su dominirale tri piramide. Vanjski zidovi su bili obloženi zlatom, srebrom, koraljima, školjkama i raznobojnim perjem (simbol za "pernatu zmiju"). Aztečki vandali su ove piramide gotovo u potpunosti uništili i opljačkali nekoliko stotina godina kasnije. Gotovo sve skulpture i ukrasni kameni blokovi su nestali. Likovi jaguara i pernate zmije su dominirali gradom (kao i u svim prethodnim kulturama unatrag tri tisuće godina).

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Dvije piramide, ruševine hrama sa kamenim stupovima, veliki plato sa nekoliko manjih kamenih zgrada. Na vrhu jedne od piramida su impresivni kipovi "ratnika". Tolteci su ih zvali “Atlantiđani”. Nimalo slučajno. Naime, za sebe su tvrdili da su daleki potomci velike civilizacije Atlantide. Kamene statue su uglavnom uništene osim nekoliko koje su vračene na vrh piramide. Tamo su, prije tisuću godina, služile kao stupovi nosaći hrama/zvjezdarnice.

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Lider Tolteka bio je Mixcoatl (u prijevodu sa nahuatl jezika riječ je o "Zmiji-Oblaku", što je bio simbol za galaksiju Mliječni Put). Nasljeđuje ga sin Tolpitzin, nakon što Mixcoatl-a ubija ljubomorni brat. Tolpitzin vodi svoj narod i osniva grad Tulu. Vlada naprednim imperijom Tolteka; buja ekonomija, umjetnost, znanost. Ceremonije ljudskog žrtvovanja su zabranjene. Vlastiti narod ga počinje zvati božanstvom Quetzalcoatl-om. On se i izgledom razlikovao od njih: bijele puti i crne brade. U frakcijskim borbama, biva prevaren od strane svećenstva koje mu podmeće drogu u vino i prisiljavaju da spava sa svojom sestrom. Postiđen, napušta Tulu i obećava da će se ponovo vratiti. I vratiti svoj narod na staze napretka.

(Nažalost, Azteci su preuzeli ovu legendu i u barbarskom Hernanu Cortezu iz Španjolske su vidjeli "povratak" vladara bijele puti i crne brade i predali mu svoje kraljevstvo).

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Vješto izravnati plato, središte života Tule, kao da odzvanja zvukovima i slikama nekadašnjeg gradskog žamora. Čuju se razni jezici: Nahuatl, Popoloca, Mixtec, Mazatec i Maja. Bogate kuće, izvana ukrašene živim bojama, iznutra sa granitom, pločicama... Gradom hodaju visokocivilizirani umjetnici, svećenici, trgovci. Na glavnom gradskom trgu se mogu vidjeti uzorci razvijene zemljoradnje: dugački klipovi kukuruza, pamuk u svim bojama, voće i povrće, medicinski proizvodi.

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Znana povijest o civilizaciji Tolteka crpi znanja iz pisanih dokumenata Azteka koji su ovim prostorima ovladali 200 godina nakon nestanka Toltečkog imperija. I ponovo se susrećemo sa primjerom da je povijest iskrivljena, nepotpuna, neshvaćena.

U aztečkom dokumentu "Anali Cuauhtitlan" iz 1531. i 1570. stoji:"Tolteci su bili mudri. Njihov rad je bio lijep, perfektan. Njihove kuće prelijepe, popločane u mozaicima, granitu, bez premca. Tolteci su bili mislioci. Započeli su sa računanjem vremena, godina i dana. Znali su odrediti koji su dani bili povoljni..."

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Sada smo spremni progovoriti o zabludama moderne povijesti.

Osnovna im je teza da su na ovim prostorima neovisno nastajale razne kulture, kao što su Olmeci, Zapateci, Maje, Tolteci, Mixteci i drugi. Netočno. Historija nije tako ispresijecana. Ono sto povezuje sve ove narode je spirtualno znanje. Zbog toga su i simboli znanja (zmija) i "božanstva" (Quetzalcoatl) prisutni bez prestanka.

Teza o primitivnim ili malo naprednijim "indijancima" ili "urođenicima" je u startu besmislena, jer je riječ o ljudskim bićima koji su shvatili pravu prirodu i ulogu na ovoj Planeti. (Doduše, ne svi, već samo oni koji su živjeli kao spiritualna bića.)

Teza da se civilizacija na ovim prostorima vremenski poklapa sa evolutivnim razvojem ostalog dijela Planete je također netočna. Dvije tisuće godina civilizacije, kako se nekada tvrdilo, se brzo mijenja u tri tisuće godina, zatim u četiri tisuće.

Ono o čemu sam govorio u prethodnim pisanjima daje dokaze da su upravo srednjoamerički narodi spona sa civilizacijom Atlantide od prije dvanaest i po tisuća godina! A s njom idemo unatrag novih 40.000 godina. I tu se spajamo sa prvom humanom civilizacijom: Lemurijom. I dobivamo novih 50.000 godina.

Čovjek je biće sa dugim korijenima. Ne samo sa par tisuća godina, već mnogo dužim. Elite koje manipuliraju ljudima zato vrlo pažljivo skrivaju ove činjenice: jer ako otkrijemo naše spiritualno razvijene pretke (Atlantiđane, Lemuriju, Tolteke), onda će mo shvatiti da nema razloga za sve ovozemaljske strahove. I da smo mi vječna, svemirska bića. I da trebamo prestati sa stvaranjem negativne energije. Prestati služiti elitama i negativnim bićima iz više dimenzije.

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Tolteci su iznimno značajan putokaz za modernog čovjeka. Toliko značajan da ih možemo smatrati za vodeću spiritualnu snagu u "Novom Svijetu" (obje Amerike).
Aztecka riječ "Toltek" u prijevodu znači "čovjek znanja". Zabluda povijesti je misliti da je ovo bio narod koji je živio od osmog do dvanaestog stoljeća.

Tolteci su simbol najvišeg nivoa znanja kojeg ljudsko biće moze dostići.

Oni su spiritualno jezgro koje je prisutno vec tisućama godina kroz kulture Olmeka, Zapateka, Maja..., gradove Teotihuacana, Monte Albana, Palenke ili Tule, sakralne geometrije, svemirske arhitekture, astronomije i matematike...

Treba odbaciti enciklopedijska tumačenja Tolteka "kao naprednih urođenika koji su nestali prije osamsto godina". U našem svijetu, oni se ne mogu braniti, jer mi progovaramo za njih.

Ali, kada bi otkrili njihov svijet, saznali bi pravu istinu.

A što ako su oni još uvijek ovdje? I ako još uvijek prakticiraju metode starog toltecizma?

Meksiko je zemlja čuda. Njegove planine skrivaju 50.000 potomaka "Tolteka". Oni sebe nazivaju Virarika. Većina ih i govori samo virarika jezikom. Jasno, svi pripadnici zajednice nemaju isti spiritualni nivo znanja. U okviru ovog naroda, postoje posebne grupe ljudi zvane Jikareros. Oni su čuvari starih magičnih znanja. Oni iskušavaju spiritualne nivoe koje ostali članovi naroda ne mogu ni zamisliti.

Običaji ili tradicije, tako rado upotrebljavani pojmovi "modernog" čovjeka, zajedno sa religijom ili ritualima, ne znače ništa za Jikareros. Oni nemaju neki zatvoreni sistem vjerovanja. Ali zato imaju vrlo efikasne vježbe i praktična iskustva koja su usmjerena da se dostigne najviši mogući nivo svijesti i primanja svemirskog znanja.

Ovi preživjeli Tolteci nemaju svećenog lidera, vračeve ni duhovne učitelje. Oni uče direktno od "Univerzalnog Duha". Imaju šamane, "ljude od znanja", koji samo upućuju druge kako da komuniciraju sa Duhom. Nema formalnog učenja. Postoje samo tehnike kako zakucati na vrata gdje učenje počinje. A dalje ovisi o svakom individualnom biću. Svako treba čuti, osjetiti, vidjeti za sebe. I, naučiti. Bez posrednika. Bez crkvi, hramova, svećenika. To je put i način Tolteka.

Preživjeli Tolteci žive u svom svijetu i nemaju nikakvog interesa za ne-Toltečki svijet. Za "naš" svijet. Ne zele da nas uče niti da nam prodaju ništa. Njihov interes je da održe živim vlastitu tradiciju i znanje. To je jedini način da zadrže svoju ulogu kao "polja energije". Kao stvarnih sinova i kćeri Sunca. Sa istom prirodom kao Otac Sunce i sa istom ljubavlju kao Majka Zemlja.

Njihova poruka je: "Mi smo sinovi Sunca i naša priroda je da sjajimo!"

Bila je tako lijepa, uvijek se sjećam nje, Bila je tako lijepa, kao tog jutra dan, Divna je ona bila, kada sam ostao sam, Više se nismo sreli, jer nju je odnio dan. Sve ja kao tajna ostalo na molu tom, Oči, njene ruke, plačni pogled njen, Možda je tako bolje, zaborav briše sve, Ali ipak, ipak često, često se sjetim nje. Danima kiša lije, uz prozor stojim sam, Prošlo je mnogo dana, obuze tad me san, Sjetih se onog jutra našega rastanka, Sjetih se tihe rijeke kojom je otišla. Alain Barrier (1935)

Elle était si jolie Que je n'osais l'aimer Elle était si jolie Je ne peux l'oublier Elle était trop jolie Quand le vent l'emmenait Elle fuyait ravie Et le vent me disait... Elle est bien trop jolie Et toi je te connais L'aimer toute une vie Tu ne pourras jamais Oui mais elle est partie C'est bęte mais c'est vrai Elle était si jolie Je ne l'oublierai jamais Aujourd'hui c'est l'automne Et je pleure souvent Aujourd'hui c'est l'automne Qu'il est loin le printemps Dans le parc oů frissonnent Les feuilles au vent mauvais Sa robe tourbillonne Puis elle disparaît... Elle était si jolie Que je n'osais l'aimer Elle était si jolie Je ne peux l'oublier Elle était trop jolie Quand le vent l'emmenait Elle était si jolie Je n'oublierai jamais

A baobab nut from the Kimberley region shows men dancing, with the Rainbow serpent representing physical life and the spiritual connection of such ceremonies.
Picture reference: Littleton, 2002, p. 645. Picture originally from Berndt Museum of Anthropology, Australia.


~ Bunyip
~ Polynesian Dragons
~ Rainbow Serpent
~ Taniwha

Of the dragon world, the dragons of Oceania are the ancestral, ancient forefathers of contemporary folklore in their region. While their international cousins (linked by modern classifications only) have morphed and adapted into specialised hunters and Imperial masters, the Oceanic dragons have remained somewhat stagnant, retaining their initial primitive physical form for eons; a rebellious feat that defies the very concept of time. It is this which makes the dragons of Oceania remarkable in their ancient form and rather invaluable, for by looking at the dragons of Oceania we are staring directly into the heart of the dragon.

The Oceanic region covers Australia and Polynesia, which includes New Zealand. Of this area, the Australian dragons are undeniably the oldest, stemming from a culture some 40- 65 000 years old, while in contrast New Zealand (also Aotearoa [Reed, 1967]) has been populated a little under 1 000 years (Littleton, 2002). Within the Oceanic region there were significant social and cultural differences between countries; the Australian peoples lived in hunter-gatherer groups, which contrasted significantly to the warlike, sea-going tribes of New Zealand and neighbouring islands (Littleton, 2002). Including New Zealand, Polynesia (meaning "many islands") stretches across the Pacific Ocean, from New Zealand to the Easter Islands, right up to the Hawaiian Islands. The first Polynesian lands respectively were Samoa and Tonga, occupied in 1 500 BC by ancestors originally from the Asian mainland (Alpers, 1970). These differing backgrounds are evident within the stories and attitudes towards the serpent-dragons, and is a highly important reflection not only on the creatures themselves, but also their homelands.
The Oceanic dragons share curious similarities and represent the initial serpent (or worm) which refused to be eroded away by the waters of time. It is highly important to note that they are not explicitly dragons; while they can correctly be classed as such, they are still largely snake-like and thus can be classified as both (though they do not completely belong to either group). However, despite this dual-parentage, they are a cornerstone for studying dragons, as they give a very good image of the primal serpent from which dragons of other cultures were derived- something which has largely been been blurred over the years in other parts of the world.

There are some initial complications when taking a proper look at these dragons, as they represent both the spiritual and the natural; the serpent and the monster. While the Australian rainbow serpent has all the physical chemistry of a large snake, its chimerical cousin, the bunyip, is comprised of many different animal parts (Buchler & Maddock, 1978). However, there is a strong emphasis on the unseen qualities of these dragons which is reinforced here, as the simpler rainbow serpent is part of, and initiates, a highly complex magic system- the extremes of which the bunyip fails to match. Taking a step beyond this, we find that not only do appearances bely the dragons' hidden abilities, but the physical makeup of the dragon itself is manifold.
The attributes ascribed to each dragon cover a wide range of serpentine and reptilian creatures, much like the rather open-ended term dragon itself. The appearance of bunyips ranges from the serpentine and reptilian, to dingo like animals, birds (Buchler & Maddock, 1978), and amazingly, flying fish (Reed, 1974). All these appearances are important, as the bunyip itself takes on the appearance similar to the outcome of an animal bacchanal, including bull-like horns mounted upon a bulldog face, the body of a cow, and the tail of a whale or seal (Shuker, 2004). While this may cast some doubt on the credibility of the terminology, it does in fact show the bunyip's classic prowess as a shape-shifter and initiator of change, something which Australian dragons are particularly renowned for. In a similar fashion, New Zealand's taniwha takes on many forms, all of which are elaborate, undefined variants of a sea serpent, a huhu grub enlarged to the size of a whale, a shark, or a tuatete, the "frightful lizard" which has since become extinct (Reed, 1967; Reed, 1974).

While spiritual belief and heroic fables were important in Polynesia, great emphasis was also placed on literal correctness, despite the Hawaiian people having no established written language, and picture writing being very rare (Westervelt, 1910). Dragons were not seen to be native to Hawaii, as the word "Kuna" (meaning a serpent or dragon) was not Hawaiian, and thus the creature was not accepted as a part of the native (albeit, fantastical) fauna (Westervelt, 1910). One infamous Hawaiian dragon was known as Moo-Kuna; "moo" pertaining to a reptilian form, while "kuna" signifies an unknown creature (Westervelt, 1910). Moo-Kuna himself plays an interesting part in an old Hawaiian myth, which was originally unaccepted by the Hawaiians until it was shown that Kuna (or Tuna) was in fact the New Zealand name of a mighty reptile who struck Hina1 with his tail. Once proven that Kuna was in fact a resident of the Polynesian triangle2 and had interacted with their mythic Hina, the Hawaiians zealously spoke of their colourful mythology, including the previously excluded Moo-Kuna in their tales (Westervelt, 1910). As the Hawaiians have no established animal hierarchy, it is to folklore that we must look to learn of their mythic race of dragons.
Originally, Kuna was a trickster creature, tainting the waterways with dirt, debris and occasionally damming the water with logs. Over time Kuna developed a hatred for the goddess Hina, mother of hero Maui, and threw all sorts of rubbish over the rapids to drive her out of her cave. Eventually this climaxed in a magic battle between the two, with the exchange of chants and finally, a curse from Kuna: "Ah, Hina! Now is the danger, for the river rises!" Trapped, Hina called for Maui who came to the aid of his mother, and who chased the dragon with his magic club and who eventually burnt the dragon with lava. As Maui and Kuna broke up the river during this chase, it is believed earthquakes originated at this point, and this reflects the widespread belief that serpent-dragons initially shaped the land. Here the elements come into action as well, however this fable is unique as the dragon Kuna uses water to conceal himself in order to delude his enemy, and it is with fire (lava) the hero Maui eventually drives out the dragon and scalds his thick skin (Westervelt, 1910). Here the mainstream elements become reversed in nature, as the normal associations of water with good and fire with evil are essentially reversed. However, dragons have in fact a rather universal role in Hawaiian culture, as the creatures themselves are venerated through their god, K-moho-alii, the king of dragons (later known as the king of sharks) (Westervelt, 1963).

Like the Hawaiian dragon, the rainbow serpent too has catalytic properties; a highly interesting and rather powerful contradiction that shows just how prolific the serpent is in its simple, efficient form. Through influence in the weather, the shape of the land and the changing of humans to animals, the rainbow serpent has remained perpetually the same through its ancient reign.

The physical makeup of these dragons are not only naturalistic and closely associated with creatures we may ourselves encounter, but are entirely non-mythical. This itself is rather unique as the dragons are highly fantastical, endowed with a multitude of supernatural abilities (refer to top picture) such as elemental ties and the power of metamorphosis, specifically used on others around them. Here, dragons are also dualistic in nature; lairing beneath the earth or through hiding their offspring in trees (Robinson, 1952), they share ties to the earth, which throughout history have long been associated with death and the underworld (Littleton, 2002). This is shown not only on a physical level however; in Northern Australia, during the rite of circumcision, the rainbow serpent swallows the candidate who then enters a deathly state, only to emerge soon after to be born again. This is an entirely spiritual conception (Robinson, 1956), and mirrors neatly the earth's natural place as a harbinger of death and, just as the serpent sheds its skin, a rejuvenator of life.
With ties to the sky (in particular the rainbow serpents whose bodies form the coloured arc that shows after the rain, and who also strike like lightning), the dragons of Australasia are mani-fold creatures, expressing their sheer freedom from earthly issues as creatures of the air (Reed, 1974). However, their greatest ties are with water, a common trait among dragons.
The dragon's ties to water first began in the Australian Dreamtime, during which the rainbow serpent, Bolong, was killed by the first Australians with a spear in order to release the landscape kept inside her creational womb. Once Bolong was slain, she opened her mouth and from this all manner of landscape filled the previously flat, featureless plain, including the billabongs and rivers (Robinson, 1952). More mainstream rainbow serpent tales credit Bolong with shaping the waterways with her long, sinuous coils (Nigg, 2002).
Rainbow serpents are known by many different local names, as discussed further down.

In later years, the bunyip too was known not only to flood the land under its wrath, but to turn itself, and others, into aquatic creatures or birds (Reed, 1974; Shuker, 2004). New Zealand's taniwha also lair in lakes with the power to craft waterways (Reed, 1967), and the ability to alter the world around them. However, a large portion of the taniwha's power of change lies in literature, as the creature is described as reptilian, serpentine, and yet has been confused with a shark (Reed, 1967). This may be due heavily to a chimerical physique, although mistaken identity and translation may have attributed to the wide scope of taniwha variations.

Hawaiian dragons themselves were said to have mana (supernatural powers), which included the ability to change themselves to appear as men or others of their kind (Alpers, 1970), and a few individuals have attained an almost divine state through antiquity (Westervelt, 1963). Again, it is important to emphasise that the most contradictory aspects of the Oceanic dragons are their mythical and non-mythical properties. The bodies of these dragons are inherently natural, deviating only very slightly from the appearance of a snake, lizard, or even the shark. However, their attributes are intrinsically magical, with particular emphasis on change- the changing of landscape, of turning humans to animals, with high regard placed on the concept of life from death, which is not to be confused with reincarnation. Keeping the rainbow serpent in mind which has, undoubtedly, the highest mythical prowess of the Oceanic dragons, the rather normal appearance of these creatures coupled with their extraordinary divine nature is a working symbol of spiritual strength.

Astronomske zvjezdarnice Monte Alban-a svjedoče o svemirskim uzletima civilizacije Zapoteka (“naroda sa oblaka”). Tvorci “prvih” solarnih i zvjezdanih kalendara poslužili su kao uzor kulturama Maja i Tolteka.




Azteci su dali ime mnogo starijoj kulturi, oni su bili "narod sa oblaka" (Zapotek). Originalno ime im je Benezza.

Keramička figura šamana ("vrača") koji se upravo preobukao u tijelo jaguara; ratnik (ili svemirski putnik sa šljemom) u poluležećem položaju; kosooki mudrac sa kozjom bradicom (ponovo kineski utjecaji)... Sve to ne može ni približno da predstavi do kojih su visina uzletili Zapoteci (ili, možda točnije, s kojih visina su se spustili na pacifičku obalu Meksika).

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U zadnjih petnaestak godina "enciklopedijska" starost Zapoteka je "narasla" sa dvije na tri tisuće godina. Arheolozi jednostavno pronalaze sve starije i starije artefakte. Ono što posebno čudi je da što se ide dalje u prošlost, umjetnost i povijest ovog naroda biva sve savršenija.

Naravno, više ne treba ni spominjati poznatu karakteristiku srednjoameričkih civilizacija: i ovaj narod se odjedamput našao na ovim prostorima ("narod sa oblaka") i to u punom kulturnom procvatu. Nema dokaza o postepenom razvoju.

Priča počinje sa Monte Alban-om. Riječ je o najimpresivnijem ceremonijalnom gradu u Srednjoj Americi poslije Teotihuacan-a. Ruševine se smatraju starim barem tri tisuće godina. Hijeroglifi pronađeni ovdje su među najstarijim. Piramide, trgovi, podzemni prolazi... zaustavljaju dah. Kameni "hramovi" su zapravo ostaci starih astronomskih zvjezdarnica koje su odslikavale raspored zvijezda (Južni Križ, Alfa i Beta Centauri...).

Monte Alban je bio srce brojnih gradova i sela centralne meksičke visoravni i stotina kilometara pacifičke obale. Vratimo li se unatrag tri tisuće godina vidjet će mo brane, odvodne kanale, astronomske zvjezdarnice... kompleksi piramida sa desetinama tisuća ljudi tokom procesija. Kompleksni sistem pisanja (složeniji nego današnji) bio je kombinacija ideja i zvukova (kojeg, uzgred rečeno, jos nismo u potpunosti dešifrirali)...

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Priča o Mikstecima, ratničkom narodu sa sjevera, koji se prije 800 godina žilavo borio sa potomcima Zapoteka.

Tri tisuće godina civilizacije Zapoteka: od blistavog Monte Albana prije naše ere i njegovog iznenadnog i neobjašnjivog kolapsa oko godine 700 a.d., borba sa Mikstecima, zatim Aztecima, osvajanja konkvistadora, i, napokon, nastavak ataka od strane Meksikanaca ... sve je to ovaj narod ostavilo na nekoliko usamljenih enklava u Meksiku. Gledajući ih u meksiškoj prašini danas, znamo zašto ih enciklopedije nazivaju urodjenicima ili "meksičkim indijancima".

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Zatvorimo oči. I vratimo se u prošlost.

Na vrhu planinskog uzvišenja, na prostoru od četrdesetak kvadratnih kilometara, smješten je veličanstveni Monte Alban. Njegovih dvadeset pet tisuća stanovnika je predvođeno svojim duhovnim vođama. Simboli jaguara (transformacije duše) i nebeske zmije (mudrosti i astrološkog znanja) su dio svakodnevnice.

Za stranca, Monte Alban je misteriozno mjesto. Zašto je ova uzvisina izabrana za ovakav građevinski poduhvat?

Na visokom platou nema vode. Nije ni strateški značajan. Gradnja je strašno komplicirana. Kameni blokovi su neizmjerno teški. Kamenolom je daleko u dolini. Zapateci su niski rastom (metar i pol) i ne ostavljaju dojam snagatora. Čak nemaju ni alate za obradu kamena. A ni kolica za prijenos kamenih blokova. I, plus svega toga, svoje kamene "hramove" su podigli na ruševinama drugog starog grada.

Više pitanja nego odgovora.

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Kalendar na radnom stolu pored kompjutera i na zidu. Dan za danom, mjesec za mjesecom. Mijenjamo stranice. Promatramo prolazak vremena. Ničeg astrološkog niti božanskog u toj rutinskoj slici.

Ali, nije tako uvijek bilo.

Za Zapoteke je kalendar predstavljao trijumf čovjekovog uma da promatra i interpretira prirodne i astrološke obrasce. Ne samo da su dani i mjeseci prolazili i onda se dogodine ponavljali... već su se, prolaskom vremena, ponavljali i ciklusi, i slični ili isti događaji... Neki od njih bi padali u točno određene dane... A onda bi se, na osnovu dugogodišnjeg iskustva moglo i... predviđati budučnost i dolazak pojedinih ciklusa.

Zamislimo tri povezana nazubljena kotača. Prvi ima dvadeset zuba koji predstavljaju dvadeset dana (sa posebnim imenima). Drugi ima trinaest zuba koji predstavljaju novih trinaest dana (i svaki se predstavlja kao neki broj). Treći ima 365 zuba koliko i solarna godina dana.

Solarni kalendar je imao 18 mjeseci po 20 dana, sa 5 dodatnih "praznih" dana na kraju svake godine (smatrani su nesretnim danima). Kada nazubljeni kotač odradi svojih 365 dana onda bi ovih ekstra pet dana pokretalo drugi nazubljeni kotač. Svaka nova solarna godina bi mogla početi samo sa nekim od četiri zuba/dana (četiri - kao naše prijestupne godine). Kada se četiri dana kombiniraju sa 13 zuba na drugom kotaču dobiva se mogučnost 52 kombinacije. Taj vremenski interval od 52 godine se često naziva "meksičko stoljeće" ili "okrugli kalendar" (Tzolkin).

Pedeset dvije godine nisu slučajno izabrane. To je period u kome zvjezdani sustav Plejada opiše svoj krug na noćnom nebu. Taj ciklus je bio od posebnog značaja za sve srednjoameričke narode. Kao i za Atlantiđane. Jer je simbolizirao suradnju između dva svijeta, dvije svemirske rase.

Nakon Zapoteka, Maje su rafinirale mezoamerički kalendar, dodajući mu duge i ekstra duge astrološke cikluse. Računanje vremena po dugom ciklusu je počelo sa danima posljednje kreacije: 3114 godina prije nove ere. Kraj treba očekivati uskoro: godine 2012. Ne umijući pravilno protumačiti razmišljanje Maja, za ovu godinu se veže i kraj svijeta.

U pomož je pozvana astronomija. Napokon naučivši da se solarni sistem kreće oko naše galaksije - Mliječnog Puta, uspjeli smo prije dva desetljeća izračunati koliko traje taj ciklus i kada se završava. Gle "slučajnosti": u početnu točku dolazimo 2012 godine! To je godina kada naš Sunčev sistem biće kratkotrajno obasjan posebnim zrakama iz samog centra naše Galaksije. I tada će započeti novi period.

Dakle, kraj svijeta kakvog ga znamo (materijalističkog i nehumanog) i početak novog kakvog možemo stvoriti. Ovaj ciklus traje priblizno 25000 godina. Nemojmo očekivati spektakularne rezultate baš te godine; ali, naši potomci će uspjeti prepoznati zaokret nabolje.

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Odgovore za Monte Alban moramo potražiti na drugoj razini razmišljanja. Alternativnoj. Dovoljno je uzeti visak ili rašlje i brzo će se pronaći podzemne, energetske linije. Te linije se križaju na mjestima gdje su podizani hramovi, odnosno zvjezdarnice. Kompleks Monte Alban nesumnjivo ima porijeklo kao i Teotihuacan. Narodi koji su živjeli u skladu sa planetom Zemljom, poznavali su njene močne energetske tpčke i čakre. I znali su kako tu dodatnu energiju koristiti u svakodnevnim i/ili duhovnim procesima.

Tehnologija gradnje je bila drugačija. Umjesto fizičkom silom, vladalo se frekvencijama.

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Činjenica je da vrijeme briše uspomene i sjećanja. Nekad to ima smisla, ali, nerijetko, puno više gubimo nego dobijamo.

Zapoteci i Monte Alban su se pojavili na mjestu stare civilizacije kojoj su se izgubili povijesni tragovi. Originalne zvjezdarnice počeli su zamjenjivati ceremonijalni centri; onda se prešao put od arheoloskih ruševina do današnjeg turističkog centra. Prolaskom tisuća godina, jednostavne, ali skladne i osmišljene građevine, nisu duhovno evoluirale. Njeni korisnici su polako gubili memoriju o originalnoj svrsi. Prednost su polako davali arhitektonskoj, vanjskoj komponenti.

Sjećanja su izblijedila, znanje se izgubilo, zaborav je progutao sve. Ili, skoro sve.

Po ovome vrlo malo ljudi razumije što je internet te koja prava i obaveze ostvaruju ili gube. Internet je koncipiran tako da je sve što se na njemu objavi a nije posebno zaštičeno (to se inače mora debelo platiti) je JAVNO i komentare, recenzije i slične stvari se smiju javno objavljivati u novinama (bez podataka o autoru) jer to je internet.
U ovom slučaju pogriješila je autorica bloga koji se spominje jer je postupila tako kako je postupila a da se nije prije toga malo raspitala o svemu a autor članka ako je objavio sliku autorice.
Na sve ostalo po međunarodnim propisima a i propisima Republike Hrvatske je javno i nad istim postoji pravo da se vrši recenzija. Recenzija ili slične stvari se ne smiju vršiti jedino ako na blog stranici eksplicitno stoji da se sadržaj ne smije dalje objavljivati, kopirati i slične radnje osim čitanja.
Gospodo pročitajte si svi pravo vezano za internet.

Godina je 1862, selo Huaypan, u državi Veracruz, na meksičkoj istočnoj obali. Plantažni radnici su naišli na kamenu grdosiju kako viri iz zemlje. Misleći da će naići na zakopano blago, počeli su da kopaju, i kopaju i... kopaju. Napokon se ukazao monumentalni kameni portret.

Ovo je bila prva skulptura takozvane civilizacije Olmeka otkrivena u Meksiku. Kažem takozvane, jer su je nazvali po ljudima koji su tu živjeli u doba kada je Hernan Kortes osvajao Meksiko. A ti Olmeci nemaju nikakkve veze sa pravim autorima kamenih glava - davnim povijesnim narodom Shi, koji su tu živjeli barem tri i po tisuće godina prije španjolskih konkvistadora.

(Ali, u praksi se uvriježilo ovo pogrešno ime. Kao što je već čest slučaj.)

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"...Karakteristicne crte lica...". Debele usne. Široki, pljosnati nosevi. Okrugle glave. Tipicni afrički (etiopski) crnci. Arheolozi pretpostavljaju da su ove glave predstavljale njihove prve kraljeve. Na glavama im je bio šljem (ratnički? svemirski?).

"Otkud crnački kraljevi na ovim prostorima prije četiri tisuće godina? Zar nisu prvi stanovnici došli iz Sibira kako nas moderna arheologija uči? I otkud baš na obali Meksičkog zaljeva?"

"Na kontinentu Atlantidi su živjele dvije rase: bijelci na sjeveru, i crnci na jugu. Crna rasa je putovala desno i lijevo: prema Zapadnoj Africi i Srednjoj Americi. Njihovi utjecaji su se osjećali stotinama pa i tisućama godina nakon potonuća matičnog kontinenta..."

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Tokom dvadesetog stoljeća je pronadjeno preko 70 gigantskih kamenih glava po šumama i đunglama Srednje Amerike. Rezultati su bili šokantni: civilizacija Olmeka je prethodila svim drugim kulturama: i mudrim Zapatecima, i naprednim Majama, i duhovnim Toltecima...

I ne samo to. Olmeci su uspostavili obrasce ponašanja koje su svi slijedili.

Olmeci su se pojavili naprasno,u vrlo naprednom stadiju, bez sporog, postepenog razvoja. (Arheolozi se jedino razlikuju u godini kada su se pojavili. Raspon je od 2.000 g.p.n.e do 1.200 g.p.n.e.)

Olmeci su i nestali iznenadno sa povijesne scene. Jednodušno ze zaključuje: oko 400 do 300 godina prije nove ere.

(Ista se stvar dešavala i Majama i Toltecima. Došli "niotkuda" i nestali preko noći.)

Olmeci su bili prvi narod koji je razvio pismo: i hijeroglifsko i alfabetsko. Olmeci su bili prvi koji su izvodili spiritualne, šamanisticke rituale. Bili su prvi koji su razvili matematiku, astronomiju i precizan kalendar. Prvi koji su dizali visoke stepenaste piramide. Prvi koji su imali formu demokracije na ovim prostorima. Prvi koji su krenuli sa formom nogometa i izgradnjom posebnih terena za tu popularnu igru. Prvi koji su "klesali" monumentalne spomenike (20-40 tona iz jednog komada) i prenosili (?) ih na velike udaljenosti (po 80 km kroz džunglu, a bez kotača). Prvi koji su slavili božanstvo Pernatu Zmiju, kao simbol borbe dana i noći, dobra i zla. Prvi koji su se kretali kroz druge, duhovne dimenzije, u tijelu jaguara. Prvi koji su govorili da su došli sa Istoka. Prvi koji su imali navodnjavanje i vodovodni sistem.

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"... Pisanje je jos jedan dokaz o prisutnosti Atlantiđana sa obje strane Atlantika. Olmeci su govorili i pisali jezikom koji pripada tzv. libijsko-berberskoj grupi jezika. Tipičan primjer ove zapadnoafričke (!) grupe jezika je stari jezik naroda Vai. Pronađeni su njihovi pisani dokumenti stari šest tisuća godina u zapadnoj Africi. Jezik Olmeka je identičan jeziku Vai. I ne samo to. Svi narodi poslije Olmeka (Maje, Zapateci itd.) govorili su jezikom koji pripada istoj lingvističkoj grupi. A na drugoj strani svijeta, libijsko-berberska grupa jezika ima svoje korijene u jeziku Sumerana, Akađana, Babilonaca, Asiraca i Egipčana..."

(Kako je svijet mali!)

"... I, dalje. U doba uspona Olmeka u Meksiku, Kinezi su često prelazili preko Pacifika i meksičke visoravni... posječujući crnačke kraljeve. Od Šangaja, između Japana i Aleuta, kineski brodovi su plovili oceanom (na jedra ili...). Dinastija Sang je ostavljala lako prepoznatljive umjetničke radove na meksičkom kopnu. A medju sedamdesetak kamenih glava se nalazi i nekoliko kosookih kineskih. Arheolozi i povijesničari su totalno zbunjeni. Pokušavaju nijekati sve ovo... ali, dokazi su dokazi...

Promet je bujao na sve strane u to "plemensko" doba.

Olmeci, odnosno narod Shi, upozoravaju da se povijest treba ponovno pisati..."

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Olmečka kultura je "majka" svih kasnijih civilizacija u Srednjoj Americi. Fratar Diego de Landa, u doba španjolskih osvajanja (prije petsto godina) je pisao: "Neki stariji ljudi na Jukatanu govore da su čuli od svojih predaka da je ova zemlja naseljena sa rasama koje su došle sa istoka, koje je Bog poslao otvorivši im dvanaest morskih puteva..."

Olmeci u svojim te dokumentima Maja (kao čuvenoj knjizi Popul Vuh) tvrde da su "...imali dvanaest migracija u Novi svijet..." i da su došli u Meksiko u "... drvenim brodovima".

Novi dokazi upozoravaju da je olmečka umjetnost najmočnija na ovim prostorima. Korišten materijal je onaj koji je vezan za zemlju: glina ili keramika. Autor bi posvetio dodatno vrijeme izradi djela i time mu usadio dodatne moći. Čest motiv je transformacija šamana u jaguara. Na primjer, skok unazad prilikom kojeg čovjek skače u drugu dimenziju uskačući u oblik jaguara. (Legenda kaže da su šamani uistinu imali ovu moć da se preobraze jednim pokretom, prije nego se dohvate tla). A u drugoj dimenziji dobile bi se moći željenih životinja: neustrašivost, hitrost, izrazena čula...

Duša bi se, kroz tijela jaguara, kretala podzemnim svijetom, površinom zemlje i nebesima.

Nije li vrijeme da napravimo salto unatrag, dočekamo se na noge i vidimo puno uzbudljiviji svijet koji je bujao prije tri, četiri ili trinaest tisuća godina? Umjesto one plemenske stvarnosti koja nam se nudi u školskim knjigama ili još bolje u famoznim Darwin-ovim teorijama?

Egyptian Winged Serpents:
Winged serpents were encountered on the walls of Egyptian tombs, with the feathered wings of the sun falcon and the scaled, undulating body of a snake (Rose, 2000). They were associated with spitting fire through the snake goddess Wadjet of Lower Egypt, who was often depicted as a winged serpent. Worn on the brows of pharaohs, the uraeus or cobra was linked to fire and war, and sometimes depicted as a lioness. Despite, or perhaps due to being somewhat ferocious, Wadjet was generally respected (Fletcher, 1999). The cobra goddess Renenutet, "the nourishing of the snake", similarly enjoyed adoration as she ensured a good harvest, wealth and easy childbirth. Though revered, snakes were common throughout the Delta and amulets were worn by Egyptians to ward off a potentially poisonous bite (Littleton, 2002).

Serpents also symbolised the primal elemental forces, and were similar in form to mythical rain-serpents in other areas of Africa. Of the eight chaotic elements existing before the world came into order, the four female deities of the Ogdoad or "group of eight" were serpents, or sometimes described as serpent-headed (Watterson, 1999).

Middle Eastern Dragons:
The dragons of the Middle East were fearsome serpents. Known to the Persians as the azhi, or "snake" in the Avestan tongue (Rose, 2000), they were likened with demons and the div, false gods that caused strife among the mortal world. The Armenian nhang or Persian crocodile was a close relative of the dragon, usually depicted as an evil water serpent with a crippling fear of crabs (Ananikian & Werner, 1925). Primarily composite creatures, many Middle Eastern dragons were multi-headed with the legs of lions and eagles, and massive wings that covered the sun and moon (Curtis, 1993). Their might was so great that Armenian mythology credits solar and lunar eclipses to dragons, who supposedly swallowed the celestial bodies (Ananikian & Werner, 1925). These dragons were universally hated; the Koran (Qu'ran) details how the Al-zakkum, the tree of knowledge, grows from the depths of hell and its fruit resembles the faces of devils and serpents (Mythaeum, 2004b), while human sacrifices were offered to the dragon in underground devil worshipping services in Christian Armenian society (Ananikian & Werner, 1925). Dragons were said to be full of khrafstra, the unclean animals such as snakes, toads, scorpions, frogs and lizards, and often assumed the form of these creatures in order to deceive (Allan, et al., 1999). Almost universally, a dragon's heart endowed the eater with the ability to speak the animal language (Mythaeum, 2004b), and the Middle Eastern serpent was believed immortal for its ability to shed its skin. When Gilgamesh2 tried to take the plant of eternal youth, a serpent-dragon rose from the dark pit in which the tree was growing and snatched it away, securing eternity for itself (Storm, 2002).

The 10th century Shahnameh and the holy Zoroastrian Avesta describe battles between prominent dragons and heroes, including the Persian Azhi Dahaka, who in the Shahnameh is anthropomorphisised into Zahak, alongside other dragons such as the yellow-green horned Azhi Sruvara, or the unusually-coloured white dragon Asdeev, who was slain by Rustam (Curtis, 1993; Rose, 2000). The struggles between dragons and heroes are numerous throughout religious texts, but there was always safety in the gods and their heroes, who promised the defeat of humankind's dark enemy (Allan, et al., 1999). Such dragons justified the existence of gods, and were physical embodiments of the world's natural temper, characterised and brought to life in the form of beasts that personified destruction. It is no surprise that many dragons are slain in poor weather; the sea dragon Labbu was killed in a storm raised by the gods (Fontenrose, 1959), and the creatrix Tiamat was destroyed with the aid of seven tempest winds (Mackenzie, year unknown). The slaying of such beasts was so widespread that an old song of a dragon-slaying deity, Vahagn, gave the hero the title "dragon-reaper" (VishapaXaY), while dragon-killers were believed to have been born from enchanted flowers. Strangely, dragons of this area were often deterred by fire and thunder. Though the representation of evil spirits, they held a great fear of the red flame (Ananikian & Werner, 1925).

Many dragons were associated with mountains, such as Mount Damavand, which served as the prison for the defeated dragon Azhi Dahaka (Allan, et al., 1999), while the mountain Azat or "venerable", was said to be the seat of dragons and fairies (Ananikian & Werner, 1925). Dragons were often used as emblems for stars on the maps of Arabic astronomers.

Dragons were also renowned for lairing in the darkness beneath the world. The divine hero Hibil-Ziwa was brought to life in order to conquer the dragon of darkness in the underworld, and to take the good spirits into the world above. Arevhat the "solar maiden" met a dragon prince in a deep pit, where he transformed into a handsome man to seduce her (Mythaeum, 2004).

Mythical Rain-Serpents (African Dragons):
The giant snakes of Africa were highly important in outlining comparisons in surviving African oral tradition. The mythical serpents were differentiated from their natural counterparts by size and colour; a publication by Dorothea Bleek states, "the Rainbow is yellow in that part which lies above; the piece which seems red lies below." (Le Quellec, 2004.) The rainbow was often thought of as a living entity, usually as a snake that stretched across the land. According to the Ewe people, it was seen as a heavenly image of the great serpent Anyiewo, who took Hzo from the skies and laired in anthills (Ananikian & Werner, 1925). Such serpents were covered with strange markings, and often had the heads of other animals, such as the recurring antelope-headed, horned snake. To demonstrate their size, a recorded description in 1905 by a San or Bushman woman in Southern Africa speaks of a horned snake 10 m (32 ft) in length, which took its repose in the water (Bahn, 1997; Le Quellec, 2004). Similar recounts have arisen across Africa, such as in the Matopo (or Matobo) Hills belief in a snake so large its head could be seen at the top of Bella Balla, while its tail stretched for 30 km (19 miles). During the first half of the 20th century, people of this region spoke of the 12 ft long serpent Muhlambela, who emitted a call like an antelope from its feathered head, thus tricking anyone who heard the sound to approach. This same tactic was applied by other antelope- (or bird) headed snakes in Matopo, who used the sound to lure people to them. In the tradition of the massive serpents, Zimbabwe tales mention a snake which carried mountains and men on its back, while a rock painting from the Matopo Hills, now in the Bulawayo museum, depicts a python from which animals come forth. Such belief is similar to Venda tradition; "originally, men and the whole of creation sat inside the belly of the Python, which vomited them out." These comparisons suggest an interaction between the two areas (Le Quellec, 2004).

African serpents were often referred to as "Elephant's face", Master of the Forest, or Mombo-wa-Ndlopfu. These serpents were credited with speech and though they had bad breath, weren't necessarily evil. Often associated with the flesh-eating maggots of corpses, ancestral spirits and ghosts favoured their form as a disguise (Ananikian & Werner, 1925). The African dragon-serpent has a long-standing enmity with the elephant; the 30 ft long dragon-serpents, known only as "Elephant killers" often hunt elephants, sometimes lying in wait in pairs and tripping their prey with knotted tails (Byrne [ed], 1979). During creation, when the God of the Masai came to the world, he met a Dorobo tribal member, an elephant and a serpent. Therefore, the serpent and elephant share a special level of creation, which perhaps partially explains the serpent's animosity for its fellow beast (Ananikian & Werner, 1925).

Much like the ouroboros, the rain snakes were given cosmological significance, as they had a long-standing connection with shooting stars. Horse-headed water snakes wore stars on their foreheads, which they used to guide themselves through the night while they combed the land for food (Le Quellec, 2004). As these stars attracted lightning, the serpents shed them and left them on the ground as a glimmering stone, such as a diamond. Should someone bold enough claim it, they would inherit its power. Some serpents have been depicted with "double-stars" on their foreheads with long tails flowing from the center. The Katkop mountain people speak of the serpent and the double-stars: "it sounds like a quiver. [Our mothers] said: we hear it as it sounds like rain pouring down, when it pours into the water pit, when it divides into the water pit." (Le Quellec, 2004.)
This symbolism was believed to have been inspired by a comet that passed over Africa in 1846 and broke into two pieces. However, while such an occurrence certainly had an impact on the water-snakes' standing in African tradition, the linkage between serpents and shooting stars or comets is common and certainly existed prior to 1846 (Le Quellec, 2004).
African rain-serpents were renowned shape-shifters, adopting the appearance of the horned rainbow snake likongoro while in water. Once on land, they show a startling likeness to the kudu. These serpents were interchangeable with other mythical animals; giant snakes were shown alongside winged, mythical alites, while a hairy hippo-snake (hippos were known as "water horses") described in the early 1870s involves the creature being dragged from the water in order to induce rainfall (Le Quellec, 2004).
In Drakensburg or "Dragon Mountains" (Morris, et al., 2001), we are again met with tales of a giant antelope-headed snake, Inkanyamba, who haunts the summit of Mount Mpendle and brings rain, traveling from mountain to mountain in order to copulate in water bodies (Le Quellec, 2004). Near Genaadeberg in South Africa, the multi-formed trickster Kaggen is known to have danced with a rain snake in order to induce wet weather. This is perhaps where the Transkei San ritual hunts originated, as they dove into water to drive out reptiles, whose body parts were used for medicinal purposes. To the San people of Lake Chrissie, one could only become a healer after they'd caught a snake, skinned it, and paraded it around in public (Le Quellec, 2004).

d@goberhr

And we too - will it not be soft and kind That rest from life, from patience and from pain That rest from bliss, we know not when we find How can I have enough of life and love In your eyes are my secrets that I've never shown you In my heart I feel I've always known you In your arms there's a comfort that I never knew You're what I've been waiting for, there's no one like you Sure as the sunrice, pure as a prayer You fashioned hope right out of thin air Ev'ry dream I abandoned, seems it could come true I believe in miracles, there's no one like you Innocent as a newborn in world so fright'ning It's as if my world's been struck by lightning Ev'ry dream I abandoned, seems it could come true I believe in miracles, there's no one like you

Kružna piramida Cuicuilco, smještena južno od Mexico City-ja, spada među najstarije kamene strukture u Srednjoj Americi – prema geološkim nalazima starija je od 10.000 godina.





Španjolski kralj Filip II, habsburške krvi, proširio je svoje kraljevstvo do Italije i Nizozemske te Srednje i Južne Amerike. Sredinom XVI stoljeća ženi englesku kraljicu Mariju da bi tridesetak godina kasnije od tih istih Engleza pretrpio poraz na moru koji je Španjolsku koštao dominacije na svijetskim morima.

Filip šalje svog pouzdanog lječnika Hernandeza u Meksiko da ispita priče o čudnoj piramidi Cuicuilco (Kvikvilko). Nakon proučavanja piramide, Hernandez piše kralju: "... Pronašli smo kosture velikih zvijeri... te kosture ljudi koji su dosezali visinu od skoro šest metara... Urođenici vjeruju da su ovu piramidu izgradili giganti..."

Tristopedeset godina kasnije je utvrđeno da zvijeri pripadaju izumrlim vrstama Toksodona i Titanotere. Ljudski kosturi nisu, pak, ni nakon 450 godina dostupni javnosti.

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Informacija uz piramidu govori o nekoj nepoznatoj civilizaciji koja je izgradila prvu kružnu piramidu na ovim prostorima 1000 godina prije nove ere. Govori se o Gradu sa 25.000 stanovnika i erupciji vulkana koja ih je natjerao da ga napuste.

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Među morem malih figurina, keramike, nakita i statua, u Nacionalnom Muzeju Antropologije nalazi se i jedna figura pronađena u području Cuicuilco. Uz dvanaest centimetara dugačku figuru prignute osobe sa šljemom na glavi (?), nalazi se tekst koji tvrdi da je riječ o "Bogu vatre". Prema zvaničnim muzejskim tumačenjima, Cuicuilco civilizacija pripada pretklasičnom periodu (400 do 100 godina p.n.e).

Arheolozi tvrde da je ova piramida najstarija kamena struktura u Srednjoj Americi i prvi monument u obje Amerike. Ali doba izgradnje, po njima, nije starije od 600 godina p.n.e.

Cuicuilco je manje brdo, tu se nalaze ostaci vulkanskog kamenja i kružni oblik piramide. Promjer je respektabilan: 115 metara, a površina jednaka dva nogometna terena. Manje kamene strukture se nalaze uz glavni objekat.

Potomci Atlantiđana su, nakon katastrofe na matičnom kontinentu prije 12.500 godina, ipak uspijevali da ponegdje osnuju napredne gradove. Tako je bilo i sa Cuicuilco-m gdje su podigli kamenu piramidu sa prilaznim rampama i hramom - opservatorijem na vrhu.

Međutim, ova impozantna građevina je, zajedno sa čitavim Gradom, stradala u erupciji vulkana Mt. Azusco. Erupcija je bila toliko snažna da je otvorila rupu u zemlji odakle je formiran novi krater - Xitli. Rijeke lave i pepela su prekrile preko 130 kvadratnih kilometara prostora, dubine i do dvadeset metara. Zauvjek je ostalo prekriveno i groblje Atlantiđana danas poznato kao Pedrigal. Ispod vulkanskog kamena su kosti naših predaka sahranjenih prema starim običajima: skupljena bočna pozicija i crveno drago kamenje (podsjećanja na "crveni kontinent", Atlantidu). A na površini Pedrigala je University of Mexico sa lijepo uređenim stambenim kućama.

Ovaj katastrofalni događaj se dogodio prije više od deset tisuća godina.

Geolozi se slažu da se erupcija zbila u davnoj prošlosti između sedam i dvanaest i po tisuća godina. Arheolozi i povjesničari, naravno, ne mogu prihvatiti takve rezultate, jer bi morali da mijenjaju povijest.

Ali i jedni i drugi se slažu sa nalazima arheologa Dr. Byron Cummings-a (University of Arizona) koji je bio prvi koji je u moderno vrijeme (1922.) započeo ozbiljno arheološko proučavanje piramide. On je za Cuicuilco tvrdio da je "najstarija piramida na Zemlji".

Profesionalna geoločka zapažanja su da lava iz Pedrigala pripada kasnom Pleistocenskom periodu. A to erupciju smješta u doba prije, najmanje, 10.000 godina. Interesantno je, da je jedan kraj piramide zakopan u lavi iz pedrigalske erupcije. Zaključak: izgradnja piramide je starija od erupcije.

Dakle, ovo je tipičan primjer za moju teoriju o civilizacijama starijim od sedam tisuća godina.

Centralno mjesto u malom muzeju uz piramidu je umjetnička rekonstruckija - vjerojatni izgled piramide. Pet kamenih kružnih nivoa perfektno "uglačanih", sa dvije prilazne rampe koje vode do vrha i hramom na najvišem nivou. Osjećaj izmaglice, zrak nekako težak, atmosfera gusta je dozivljaj umjetnika. U doba Atlantide je doba drugačija klima i načina života.

Cuicuilco nekadašnjem vulkanu, Xitli. Danas prekriven šumom, u prošlosti je bio izvorom tragedije. Hernandez je ovdje naišao na džunglu prije 450 godina. A sada je samo zaboravljeno nalazište iz davno prohujale povijesti za koje malo ko mari.

Gledao sam je da joj se mutilo u glavi a oči joj kao od stakla pogled se gubi i plavi osjećam da bi me dotakla, ali ja sam birao druge... Pričao sam mogla je da me čuje da se ubije, da se otruje da mi baca poglede duge, ali ja sam birao druge... A onda - stade muzika i pamet mi stade, samo čuh na kraju: Sad dame biraju. Mogao sam da se bacim s mosta u Savu da se kajem da gubim glavu da umrem od tuge Ona je birala druge.

Žena je dobro najveće u ljudi, (ludost je reći da to nije tako) ona nam daje život, dobro svako, ona nam često smrt i otrov nudi. Mirno se nebo u oku joj budi, a mnogo puta paklu je jednako; svijet vrijednost njenu uočava lako, a čovjek pati od podle joj ćudi. Ona krv daje, život nam podari, i Bog ne stvori od nje luđe stvari: sad anđeo je, sad gora od zmije. Voli pa mrzi, miluje pa mrvi, i žena, to je ko puštanje krvi što katkad spasi, a katkad ubije. Lope De Vega (1562 - 1635)

~ Egyptian Winged Serpents
~ Middle Eastern Dragons
~ Mythical Rain-Serpent
~ Ouroboros
~ Sirrush





...A dragon... tooke first ground from the Affricans, who beleeve that the originall of dragons tooke beginning from the unnaturall conjunction of an Eagle & a She-Wolfe. And so they say that the Wolfe growing great by this conception, doth not bring forth as at other times, but her belly breaketh, and the dragon commeth out, who in his beake and wings resembleth the dragon his father, and in his feete and tayle, the wolfe his mother, but in the skin neither of them both: but this kind of fabulus generation, is already sufficiently confuted. Edward Topsell quoted in Byrne, 1979, p. 152.

The dragon of the African and Middle Eastern world is a chimerical figure, composed of natural animals yet binding together ancient qualities that allude to mythical origins. Perhaps unlike the dragons of various other cultures, the African dragon is a highly cosmological figure. Representative of eternity and the continual cycle of life reflected in the heavens, the African dragons embody numerous mythological values, both human and godly. As a snake, the serpent is recurrent in the physical world, however once it binds it's head and tail together to become ouroboros, it transcends into a symbol of the heavens.
In the Middle Eastern world, dragons were physically more developed creatures. With their basis in the serpent, these dragons are ultimately chimerical, depicted in artwork with lion, eagle, lizard and serpent components. They often sprout wings and are further personalised with horns, multiple heads or various body coverings and markings, many of which suggest an involvement with spiritual mysticism. Such is the dragon Mother Chuber or Tiamat, slain by Merodach (also Marduk [Hooke, 1963]), whose body yields the earth and heavens (Mackenzie, year unknown). This story holds significant importance as a cosmological tale, rather than a lesson on the morals of humans and gods (Huxley, 1979).

Snakes were extremely important in African culture. Such creatures were held in fear; not only did they slither on their undersides, lacking feet, they did not live with the other animals and therefore were seen as a threat. To avoid conflict with a snake, certain measures were taken. During hoeing season, double-headed snake rings were worn with the belief that snakes will not bite their own kind (Parrinder, 1996), while double-headed snake charms and bronze amulets bestowed luck (Fig. 1). The heads of dead monitor lizards were carried as a ward against the poisonous viper (Morris, et al., 2001). Despite this superstition, the snake was revered and considered immortal for its ability to shed its skin. Galla mythology elaborates upon this, when the bird told the snake; "people will grow old and die, but when you grow old, all you have to do is crawl out of your skin, and you will be young again (Ananikian & Werner, 1925)." This ability was a gift originally intended for humans, but mistakenly delivered to serpents (Mythaeum, 2004a). Such mythology is reminiscent of early belief in the upper Congo, in which a man's lover possessed such an ability. When his wife saw her husband's consort with newly-shed skin, glowing with youth and beauty, both women died and death was introduced to the human race. Perhaps it was through human jealousy and greed that the magic gift was lost, and the snake was able to inherit this wondrous ability.

Of the snakes, the python was favoured as it lacked venom, and it was this serpent that originally brought man and woman together. According to the Ashanti people, humans initially had no desire for intercourse, so the python took them to his river and sprayed water on their bellies, calling "kus, kus", before ordering them to go home where they reproduced. To honour the wise python, the words kus, kus are used today in clan rituals. The sacred pythons must never be killed and if a dead one is found, they are covered with white clay and given a burial befitting a human (Parrinder, 1996). However, in Northern Territory mythology of the Gold Coast, humankind's first child was eaten by a python. As punishment, the parents and two helpers skinned the devious snake, and restored the child to life. The iridescent skin was thrown into the sky where its head became the sun and its tail the moon. These two heavenly bodies were joined by the spotted hide which formed the stars.

The African serpent represents lively, flowing motion and as it travels, its melodious voice can be heard from afar. When dwelling in the waters beneath the earth, the serpent represents unmatched power, reflected in it's never-ending movement which influences the motion of the sun, moon and stars (Parrinder, 1996). In African Gai -//Khaun mythology, the snake was believed to adopt bovine shape when out of the water and live in the sky during the day, returning at night to its serpentine form where it retreated to the water, considered a door to Other Worlds (Le Quellec, 2004). In numerous other myths, the serpent was nocturnal, venturing out at night to hunt (Le Quellec, 2004).
Similarly the mythical serpents, much like extant snakes steeped in superstition, were credited with esoteric abilities. In numerous rock paintings these serpents are identified by their massive size, often with a human or regular snake beside them to emphasise the difference (Le Quellec, 2004). In the Eastern Cape, serpents were represented with flying mythical beings, the alites, or were distinguished by their strange markings, such as one serpent painted in Mutoko, north-east Zimbabwe. Others were shown with the heads of antelope, or mammalian features such as ears or horns. In the case of the "anguiped" human in the Matopo Hills in Zimbabwe, snakes merged with people to become therianthropic men with serpentine legs. These composite snakes were often indirectly linked to sexuality through their ties with antelope and rain. While antelope were favourite sacrifices to the rain snakes, the eland had specific sexual dimorphism. Fat was commonly attributed to sexuality and desire, and thus females were thought to induce rainfall. Both symbols are closely related to the serpent, and strengthened by the fact that the serpent is commonly associated with phallic imagery (Le Quellec, 2004).
Rock paintings of serpents, humans and animals were seen almost as magical. Offerings were regularly placed in front of the rocks to induce the midzimu or "ancestral spirit" within the rock to come out so new images would appear; when the midzimu sank back into the rock, the art would fade. Should the midzimu be shown a lack of respect, the spirits would punish offenders by sending a supernatural snake after them (Le Quellec, 2004).

In contrast to the African serpents, dragons of the Middle East were extremely varied in appearance, often reflective of their role within society. The Babylonian sirrush was a consort to the sun god Marduk, who had lain waste to the dragon Tiamat (Hooke, 1963). Like the typical Middle Eastern dragon, the sirrush was a composite creature with the body parts of extant animals (Storm, 2002).

In Persia, the dragon Azhi Dahaka was a devil by nature. The dragon or div, a false god waging war on humanity, was created by the wise Angra Mainyu to oppose goodness and truth (Allan, et al., 1999). This dragon embodied corruption; with three heads on long necks and terrible fangs, Azhi Dahaka was literally made of the unclean khrafstra, animals such as snakes, toads, scorpions, frogs and lizards. The dragon roamed through the universe until Angra Mainyu, perhaps regretting his decision to create such a monster, decided to end him. Sending his champion Thraetaona to slay the dragon, Azhi Dahaka was chained to Mount Damavand. During the reign of Mahmud of Ghazni (AD 994-1030) the Shahnameh or "book of kings" was written by Firdowsi, who retold the tale with notable differences, including the anthropomorphisation of Azhi Dahaka into Zahak, a human king with snakes on his shoulders who feasted on human brains. As foretold in a vision years earlier, the tyrant king Zahak was eventually overthrown by the hero Faridun (Thraetaona), who imprisoned him on Mount Demavand's desolate slopes (Allan, et al., 1999).
In Firdowsi's Shahnameh, Alexander the Great is juxtaposed alongside young heroes such as Faridun, as an explorer who defeats and claims Iran (Allan, et al., 1999). Climbing to the top of a mountain guarded by a terrible dragon, perhaps Azhi Dahaka or Zahak, the explorer discovers the well-preserved body of a holy man. A voice informs him his time of death is upon him. At first, it would appear that such an unclimactic end for Alexander is reflected in the uselessness of the hero's plight, as Azhi Dahaka is destined to break free of his imprisonment for a final attempt at chaos, which will catalyse the apocalypse. However, the discovery of a holy man may be representative of the preservation of the hero spirit, as the great dragon is destined for defeat at the hands of Ahura Mazda's greatest warrior, Keresaspa (Allan, et al., 1999).

The dragons of the Middle East are dramatic figures, involved in epic sagas as embodiments of the evil beast who threatens the foundations of peace, or as a symbol of the gods. As in Africa, the serpent of Middle Eastern Islamic faith was known to encircle life as the "Mysterious Serpent", on whose head the seat of creation, the world, rested (Mythaeum, 2004b). At the sacred Ka'ba or "Square House" which housed the Black Stone1, a glittering, black and white serpent wrapped itself around the house so that its tail reached its head (Storm, 2002). This image became connected with the ocean and violent weather, where the snake-dragon was described as a stormy, two-headed (sometimes translated as two-winged) serpent that followed Mekka, where it wound around the foundations of the sacred house.

And when it [the serpent; MAS] opens its mouth it encompasses the heavens like a flash of lightning. And if this serpent hat [sic! MAS] not been inspired to moderate its glorification, all creatures would be thunder stricken at its voice (Kisa’i).

The Azraqi Sakina, which is interchangeable with the Hebrew Shekinah, was described as a divine presence who wrapped around the original foundations of the house that held the sacred Black Stone, like the serpent mentioned above (Storm, 2002).

Teotihuacan – grad 600 piramida

Teotihuacan. Prijestolnica starog Meksika. Kamene Piramide Sunca i Mjeseca po površini odgovaraju onima u Egiptu. Dosada je otkopano oko 600 manjih piramida u ovom Gradu u kojemu je nekada živjelo nekoliko stotina tisuća ljudi.

Tko ga je izgradio? Kada? Kojim alatima? Tko su bili njegovi stanovnici?

Zvanična literatura o Teotihuakanu je oskudna. Španjolski konkvistadori su prije petsto godina zatekli Azteke kako vrše svoje obrede u ovom Gradu. Prije tisuću tristo godina Grad su koristili Tolteci. Špekulira se, pak, da je podignut prije oko dvije tisuće godina od strane nepoznatog naroda. Pretpostavlja se da je Piramida Sunca građena trideset godina, a Grad barem dvije stotine godina. Danas su u upotrebi imena iz doba Azteka: "Grad Bogova" (Teotihuakan), "Avenija mrtvih" (glavna gradska ulica), Hram Kvecalkoatla (božansko biće Quetzalcoatl čiji se lik nalazi na trećoj, manjoj piramidi)...

Istina je negdje drugdje.

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Atlantiđani su imali tri ciklusa koji su bili prekidani katastrofalnim događajima: prije 50.000 godina, prije 28.000 godina i prije 12.500 godina.

Kada se danas susretnemo sa ostacima sa periferije njihove civilizacije nađemo se u čudu: egipatske piramide i sfinga sa vidljivim tragovima tisućugodišnje vodene erozije; bolivijski lučki grad Tihuanaco na dvije i po tisuće metara nadmorske visine; kineske piramide odavno prekrivene zemljom i zarasle u biljni svijet; sjeme domaćeg kukuruza pronađenog pokraj Mexico City-a staro 25.000 godina (prema radiokarbonskoj metodi); britanski megaliti u Stonehenge-u koji ispod površine kriju jos devet slojeva...

Atlantiđani su dobro poznavali energetske čakre (čvorišta) naše Planete: Gizu (Egipat), Peru, Tibet, Sjeverni i Južni Pol, Stonehenge (Velika Britanija) i... Meksiko.

Točno ispod temelja današnje Piramide Sunca u Meksiku, Atlantiđani su otkrili podzemne pećine. Četiri postojeće komore su proširili, a svodove učvrstili teškim kamenim blokovima. Iznad njih, na površini zemlje, su podigli prvu, manju piramidu. Znatno pojačano energetsko strujanje su koristili prilikom duhovne inicijacije, prosvijetljenja, omogućavanja duši da se slobodno kreće kroz različite dimenzije.

Brižljivo su isplanirali, a onda i sagradili veličanstveni kameni grad sa stotinama objekata piramidalnog oblika. Astronomske opservatorije, raspored gradskih trgova, glavne piramide... oslikavale su pojave na nebu, kretanje brižljivo odabranih zvijezdanih sistema, uključivo našeg Sunca, Mjeseca i Zemlje. Sakralna geometrija, matematika, astronomija... su rukovodile arhitekte.

Usred srednjoameričke džungle nikao je Grad bez premca na oba američka kontinenta. Kameni blokovi teški po nekoliko desetina tona vađeni su i obrađivani laserskom preciznošću iz kamenoloma udaljenog osamdesetak kilometara od Teotihuakana. Tehnologija i nauka su bile drugačije u to vrijeme. Umjesto mehaničkih alata i kotača, Atlantiđani su superiorno vladali tehnologijom zvuka, primjenom različitih frekvencija za obradu, prijenos i ugradnju kamena.

Umjesto današnjih tipova transporta, ljudi i materijal su se prebacivali korištenjem energije Zemlje i Sunca. Naime, atmosfera i energetski naboj naše matične Planete je bio u to vrijeme znatno drugačiji. Danasnji tanani ozonski omotač bio je sedam puta (!) deblji. Atmosferski pritisak je bio dva puta veći nego danas. Atmosfera gušća. Majka Zemlja je bila zdravija, nezagađena, energetski snažna. Veći dio dnevnog transporta se odvijao po posebnim energetskim linijama na površini Zemlje.

I onda... prije 12.500 godina...ulazak zvjezdanog tijela u nas Sunčev sistem, sudar sa "desetom" planetom između Marsa i Jupitera, velike odlomljene gromade sjurile su se prema Zemlji, potapaju Atlantidu, dovode do promjene položaja polova, zatim zemljotresa, vulkanskih erupcija i potopa. Atmosfera se mijenja. Na suhim podrucjima kolonija Atlantide u sjevernoj Africi, zapadnoj Evropi i Mediteranu, srednjoj Americi... preživjeli Atlantiđani počinju mukotrpnu borbu za preživljavanje.

Duhovna nauka i materijalna tehnologija visokorazvijenih Atlantiđana se gubi; sjećanja na "crveni kontinent" ostaju u oralnoj tradiciji. Pisani dokumenti su sačuvani u Kartagini i Aleksandriji da bi tokom tisuća godina mraka nestajali u masonskim i inim knjižnicama "Iluminata".

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Citadela, administrativni centar Teotihuakana. Gradskim trgom dominira hram Kvecakoatla izgrađen u obliku stepenaste piramide. Zidove krase likovi Vatrene Zmije (simbol dnevnog prolaza Sunca) i Pernate Zmije - Kvecakoatla, koji je simbol jedinstva zraka i kopna, neba i zemlje. Kapacitet trga je 150.000 ljudi.

Ni vodiči, ni turisticke karte, a niti zvanična pisana literatura ne pišu o funkciji ove prve, male piramide.

Prema Tolteckim šamanima, ovdje bi započinjao proces inicijacije. Studentu bi se objasnio koncept energetske prirode ljudskog bića. Tu bi se učio procesu izlaska duše iz fizičkog organizma i kretanju kroz različite dimenzije. Postoje tri postupka u razvoju čovjeka prema punoj slobodi. U prvom pred čovjeka se postavlja pitanje ko smo mi u stvari. Odgovor je da smo mi samo oblik svijetla (energije) koji je spojen sa svemirskom cjelinom. U momentu kada se nađemo zatvoreni u našem tijelu i umu, naša životna energija počinje da slabi zahvaljujući iluziji materijalnog svijeta.

Pernata zmija je simbol dualizma ljudske prirode. Polovina našeg bića pripada zemlji, dodiru, fizičkim željama (zmija). Druga polovina (duh) ima krila, živi na nebu, komunicira sa suncem i zvijezdama. Vječna borba između ove dvije polovine je vrlo zgodno prikazana na meksičkoj nacionalnoj zastavi gdje se orao i zmija bore na život i smrt.

U pravilnom smjeru sjever-jug proteže se glavna ulica "Avenija Mrtvih". Ovaj nemaštoviti Aztečki naziv ne odgovara prirodi ove gradske arterije. Hodajući kilometrima dugom i do 150 metara širokom avenijom lako se može zamisliti život kako buja u ovom Gradu. Ono što impresionira je simetričan izgled lijeve i desne strane. To neminovno upućuje na brižljiv planski pristup u izgradnji. U vodu padaju nagađanja povjesničara da se Grad dizao u etapama tokom dvijestogodišnjeg peiroda. Oni možda nastoje opravdati mogućnost da su primitivna plemena trebala mnogo godina da ovako nešto podignu. Ipak, očigledno je da primitivizmu ovdje nije bilo mjesta. Grad je isplaniran, a onda podignut u jednom dahu.

Na putu od Citadele do piramida je mostić koji nadsvođuje rječicu San Juan. Danas se taj detalj uopće ne spominje. Nekada je ova rijeka simbolično dijelila raj od pakla. Ali ne kršćanski raj i pakao. Naime, pakao je naše zajedničko iskustvo koje se naziva "planetarni san". Ili, još bliže, ono što mi nazivamo svakodnevni "život". Raj je, opet, naša kreacija koja nastaje kada prekinemo "planetarni san" i stvorimo "novi san".

Avenija Mrtvih je, duhovnim očima gledano, glavni dio tijela dvoglave zmije kroz koju inicirani mora proći.

(I u tradiciji tantrističke joge, student na putu prosvjetljenja također prolazi kroz tijelo zmije. Usput nailazi na pojedine čakre, močna energetska čvorišta. U našem fizičkom tijelu srčana čakra je mjesto ljubavi. U energetskom sistemu planete Zemlje Teotihuacan je također, srčana čakra. Piramida Sunca je njezin simbol i nesumnjivo da je imala, vjerujem da će opet imati, vrlo važnu ulogu za sudbinu naše Planete. Ponovno oživljavanje moći ljubavi je od vitalnog značaja za razvoj civilizacije.)

Avenijom Mrtvih prema piramidama nailazimo na tablu koja prikazuje raspored Grada. Na vrhu je piramida Mjeseca, niže, sa malim pomakom udesno, je piramida Sunca, a na dnu je, u istoj liniji sa piramidom Mjeseca, piramida Kvecakoatla. Na drugoj strani Atlantika, u Egiptu, ka nebu se dižu tri piramide: dvije velike (Keopsova i Kefrenova) i jedna mala. Raspored? Identičan onima u Meksiku! A oba piramidalna kompleksa odgovaraju zvijezdanom sistemu Oriona na nočnom nebu. Orionov pojas se, naime, sastoji od dvije zvijezde blizanca i jedne male zvijezde tzv. "bijelog patuljka".

Ovaj raspored nam očito otkriva potpis arhitekte. I njegovu domovinu.

Prostorije, krovovi, murali, freske, hramovi, opservatorije, sve ono što je ovaj Gradi činilo živim, je uništeno i zapaljeno. Planski, pedalj po pedalj. Od onog veličanstvenog izgleda je ostalo malo. Od stotina kipova ostao je u životu samo jedan; nalazi se u meksičkom Antropoloskom Muzeju (doduše nikakva oznaka niti znak sa informacijama je uz njega). Svi su im kipovi bili isklesani iz jednog komada kamena, a težina se kretala po 20-30 tona.

Piramida Mjeseca, sa impresivnim stranicama od 145 metara, se nalazi na sjevernom kraju Avenije, okružena sa 15 manjih piramida. Stojeći na sredini glavne ceste i posmatrajući vrh piramide uočava se da on poklapa sa vrhom obližnje planine Cerro Gordo. Očigledno je da se prilikom gradnje vodilo računa o ideji arhitkete da piramida predstavlja "svetu planinu" i kao takva je integralni elemenat gradskog plana.

Istraživanja unutrašnjosti piramide dovela su do nekoliko zaključaka; prvo, piramida ima unutrašnje strukture. Drugo, nađeni su ostaci života (kosturi, predmeti, i sl.) iz različitih povijesnih perioda. I, treće, informacije o rezultatima istraživanja su škrta i tajnovita. Malo se što daje u javnost.

Piramida Mjeseca je važna za drugu etapu inicijacije studenta.

Duž Avenije, kroz mnoštvo hramova (manjih piramida) studenti inicijacije bi se učili vještini transformacije. Kulminacija bi bila ispred piramide Mjeseca. Ovdje bi student prelazio u druga stanja realnosti. Bio bi vođen u Hram Jaguara koji je simbolizirao Duh Zemlje. Kraj ovog hrama je bio na vrhu piramide Mjeseca. Student bi prilikom ovog procesa žrtvovao svog eteričnog dvojnika i time bi ovladao vještinom transformacije.

Završni proces oslobodjenja (ili treća etapa "prosvjetljenja") bi se dešavala na piramidi Sunca. Ovo je mjesto gdje ljudski limiti nestaju. Pojedinac gubi svoja zemaljska ograničenja. Njegova želja da postane božanstvom, svemirskim bićem ili Suncem, se ovdje konačno realizirala. Ova, prosvjetljena bića gube svoja fizička tijela u vatrenom bljesku i nestaju u vječnosti.

To je razlog što su Azteci nazvali ovu piramidu prema izvoru svega života ("Suncu"), a ovaj grad Teotihuakan (puni prijevod sa Nahuatl jezika bio bi "mjesto gdje su ljudi postali bogovi").

I kada se nađemo jednom ispred ove kamene ljepotice koja dodiruje nebo, onda se tek realizira grandioznost ovog objekta.

Stranice piramide su dugačke po 225 metara. To odgovara površini osam nogometnih terena. I, što je još indikativnije, to odgovara površini velike Keopsove piramide u Gizi. Ova meksička je, doduše, upola niža, ali preko 2500 tona kamenih blokova traže iznimno poštovanje.

Godine 1971. arheolozi su slučajno otkrili da se, 6 metara ispod površine piramide, nalazi ulaz u podzemnu pećinu. Prema njima, pećina je dugačka preko 100 metara i koristila se kao duhovni centar i prije nego što su piramide napravljene. Prema legendi, iz ovakvih podzemnih pećina su izašli preci današnje ljudske rase.

Naravno, ovo "slučajno otkriće" bila je poznata činjenica svim narodima prije Europljana. A to da su naši preci izašli iz pećina, i to nije nekakva novost (nakon potapanja Atlantide, preživjeli su oni koji su bili sklonjeni u podzemne pećine).

Ruševine vode kilometrima prema planinama na jugu. Nažalost, veći dio Grada jos nije otkopan. Pretpostavka da je u Gradu živjelo 150.000-200.000 ljudi je preskromna. Barem pola miliona ljudi je ovdje imalo svoj dom kada je Grad bujao.

Deset sa deset metara je špic piramide. Dignuti ruke prema nebu, zatvorenih očiju, osjetiti kako kroz noge struji energija i diže se prema prsima i rukama. Nekoliko bljeskova i slike daleke prošlosti...

Najveći praznik Azteca se dešavao svake pedeset dvije godine kada bi žrtvovali nekod od vođa uhvaćenih plemena. Upravo na ovom mjestu bi mu vadili srce iz grudi, bacali ga u kotao, palili novu vatru i započinjali novi ciklus. Pedeset dvije godine. Vrijeme potrebno da zvjezdani sistem Plejada opiše svoj krug na nebu.

Međutim, Azteci su ovdje bili nedavno. Prije petsto godina. Ono što nas stvarno interesira je kako je Grad funkcionirao u doba svojih originalnih graditelja.

Autor Peter Tompkins koji piše u svojoj knjizi "Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids": "... Proporcije piramide Sunca demonstriraju preciznu distancu prema Suncu... Ova kamena struktura je locirana tako da njena sjenka služi kao sunčevi sat... Dizajneri Piramide su razumjeli relacije izmedju kruga i trokutaste piramide. Oni su ostavili poruku preko dimenzija piramide da fizički svemir ima piramidalnu strukturu, počev od mikroskopskog atomskog nivoa pa sve do makrosvemira... A čovjek, na odgovarajućoj skali vibracije, stoji točno na sredini tog puta od atoma do galaksije..."

Shirley Andrews, autor knjige o Atlantidi, piše o piramidi Sunca:"... Kao i za piramide u Gizi, niko ne može da shvati kako su kameni blokovi za ovu ogromnu građevinu prebacivani, a zatim ugrađivani na tu visinu. Meksikanci kažu da su giganti, koji su nestali u katastrofi poplava i potresa, bili njeni graditelji. Giganti su vjerojatno bića iz svemira, koji su se vratili vlastitim zvjezdanim kućama prije nepogoda na Zemlji..."

Mark Reynolds, istrazivač sakralne geometrije, postavlja slijedeću tezu: "Autori Velike Piramide u Egiptu koristili su matematički broj "Pi" (3,1415...) u njenoj izgradnji. Na taj način su ostavili poruku generacijama koje dolaze iza njih. Autori Piramide Sunca u Meksiku su, pak, koristili kvadratni korijen broja "Pi". Očito da ovi objekti komuniciraju jedan sa drugim preko istog arhitekte..."

Značaj broja "Pi" kao "božanske proporcije" je univerzalan. Geometrijski, broj "Pi" može prikazati sve, bukvalno sve, procese u prirodi: od spirale sjemenke biljke i kućice morske školjke do spirale zvjezdanog Mliječnog puta. Geometrijski, školjka ili zvjezdani sistem se razlikuju samo u veličini. Ali logaritamska spirala, bazirana na istoj proporciji broja "Pi" se ne mijenja.

Razmišljam o njenim autorima piramide Sunca i njihovom nivou znanja.

Tisuće godina su prohujale Planetom. Znanja i civilizacije zaboravljene. A mi na putu da ponovo učimo davno zaboravljeno.

Mythologically speaking, the dragon's primeval, bestial nature has sculpted a large piece of the dragon's personality. It is the dragon's linking to carnal forces; it's ties with fire and water, or it's ability to bring out human greed, which have given the dragon an animalistic reputation. However, these are not the dragon's only associates: the dragon has ties to many deeper, unknown levels which make it not completely bestial, but cast it as a spiritual creation.
As is common in mythology and folklore, the dragon's linkages to such forces are marked by a physical or materialistic symbol. Usually, these materialistic-orientated symbols portray a nature far more unconvential than the traditional dragon forces, such as fire and water, hoards of gold and a valiant enemy. These hidden aspects are open to interpretation, and in this essay we will discuss those dragon points, located primarily on the dragon's forehead, which may be more commonly overlooked. To help explain these vague properties (the ch'ih muh, po-shan, the dragon's pearl and the Draconce), we will take a look at the chakras, for these hold similar meanings, and the "third eye".

In mythology, the dragon's head has been a focal point: this is where, in Chinese mythology, the ch'ih muh (the lump on the dragon's head that enables it to fly) can be found (Legg, 1998). In Western culture, it is again the Western dragon's forehead, where the Draconce (or Dragon-stone) shines (Nigg, 2002). It is from these focal areas that much of the dragon's dualistic, spiritual nature can be unlocked. Other properties, such as the po-shan (a staff that enables dragons to levitate should they not posess a ch'ih muh) and the dragon's pearl, which are linked to the dragon's forehead, are also of importance.

Chinese dragons have a ch'ih muh on their foreheads, and this lump enables them to fly. Should a dragon not have this lump, they clutch a staff (or po-shan), which they use to levitate with (Legg, 1998).
The ch'ih muh, being at the very center of the dragon's forehead, marks a sacred area of the body: the thought realm. It is here that the Brow or "anja" chakra (composed of ninety-six petals) is also located (Karagulla & van Gelder Kunz, 1989). These chakras are set apart from the others because they are divided into two segements (one coloured rose and yellow, the other blue and purple).
It is this same, double-sided chakra which represents visualization and perception, as well as directing upward towards higher purposes (or things), or downward to the physical world (Karagulla & van Gelder Kunz, 1989). In this, the Brow Chakra can well explain the nature of the ch'ih muh on the dragon's head: while this lump enables the dragon to ascend to higher realms (or the heavens, where the dragon may carry out their duty to bring rain upon the land), the lack of such a lump may "doom" the dragon to lair thereafter in the physical world, or the realm of men. This double-meaning can also be taken in a more non-practical sense. The dragon's lump may allow the dragon to have a divine aspect to their character. The dragon god Gu is one such heavenly creature, yet he also has a darker side to his personality: he wreaks havoc and plots against the other gods, thus showing a shallower, un-godly side that would link him to mortal beings. The other side of the lump could simply reflect the dragons who do not hold a god-like status, or the "mundane" or "common" dragons who live on the earth. The ch'ih muh itself would become almost a life-essence for the dragon, as flight is something of great importance for them.
The only respite, for not having the ch'ih muh, may come from the staff or po-shan which enables dragons to levitate.
As an object, the staff itself has a double purpose; it can be both a support (walking stick), or a weapon of attack or defence. In the dragon's case, it is used as a last resort. The staff is also simple in purpose and design, perhaps representing a straight-forward nature, as dragons who need such a levitating aid can not fly through the skies, and thus their travels are limited to the earth.
The Brow Chakra is also linked to the Throat (visuddha) Chakra, which is silvery-blue (or white in the Indian system) in colour (Karagulla & van Gelder Kunz, 1989). The creative aspects of the Brow Chakra (in linking this to the ch'ih muh, it enables the dragon to transcend the sky [or heavens] which, above the world, may also be a dream or thought realm) are linked heavily with the throat area. For the Chinese dragon, this is also a body part of great importance for the dragon as it is where the dragon keeps it's pearl: a symbol for which many interpretations are offered- the most common of which is said to be representitive of the moon. The Indian Nagas too carry pearls, but these are found amidst their coils (Nigg, 2002).

As we move onto the dragon in Western culture, we again see the focus on the forehead of the Western dragon. The Draconce itself is a precious stone or gem seated mid-way above the eyes. In the past, this same stone has been a focal point for people who wished to remove the stone to please their own selfish ends. The forehead may also be a point of vitality and power, as it holds the life energy of the dragon.
This head area corresponds with the "third eye". The 17th century French philosopher, Rene Descartes, theorised that the third eye was a seat or central area of the soul, and that it could forewarn people of the Devil's presence (Eakin, 1973). In this sense, the Draconce is a tempter of people: those with greed are drawn to the power and wealth of such a stone (which, if it is removed before the dragon's death, is said to endow the owner with great wealth and luck). Mirroring this, the third eye, in Rene Descartes theory, warns of the Devil's presence: greed being just one of the Devil's aspects. In this, the Western dragon brings about the worst in human nature. This theory can be backed up in mythological tales such as Beowulf, in which a peasant could not resist the dragon's treasure, or the story of the dragon Fafnir, whose hoarding of ill-acquired treasure drew Reign to seek help in slaying the dragon. Perhaps the Draconce does in fact contain the dragon's heart or soul, and this is, by nature, evil and greedy. This would explain why the dragon cannot live without their Dragon-stone.
However it is not only the Draconce which can be taken from the dragon's body. Their body parts are typically used for medicinal purposes, and this can offer respite after the dragon's death: a reward for the slaying of evil. While their body parts offer physical healing and relief, their Draconce grants luxury, wealth and good luck. It is no suprise that, the Draconce is located at the same place as the pituitary gland, which stimulates many of the body's functions (Mader, 2000).

Using the chakras as examples, and the theory of Rene Descartes, we see here how the dragon's forehead is a primary area for the dragon. Not only is it a focal point and contains the dragon's very life-essence and soul, it is also linked to other dragon properties, such as the levitating staff or po-shan, the dragon's highly-important pearl, and even their medicinal properties.
The dragon's forehead is a highly important area of their body; a fact that is quite often overlooked or forgotten amidst their exciting and elusive past. It is this area of their body that contains many spiritual, deeper meanings that show the dragon has some strong and undeniable properties, no matter what their nature or personality may be.

Chinese Dragons:
These dragons were descendants of nagas, the infamous Indian dragons. However, this relationship is not entirely direct, and the linkage between the two races reflects more upon the nature of the beasts than their physical make-up; the naga's corruptive influence impacted on the Chinese dragon's cultural role, sculpting them into slightly less divine creatures. Hence, their early influence, and the Chinese dragon's subsequent alteration, may have afforded the naga a paternal role (Whittaker, 1997).
According to mythology the Chinese dragon was gifted with the strengths of nine animals: the antlers of a stag, ears of a cow, eyes of a demon, head of a camel, belly of a clam, talons of an eagle, feet of a tiger, the body of a snake and the scales of a fish (Legg, 1998). The number nine was very important to Chinese beliefs as it represents Yang; in the world of beasts, Yang was masculine and was immortalised by the dragon. Of the Eastern dragon's scales, 81 contained goodness and 36 contained evil. A lump on the head of a Chinese dragon, called a ch'ih muh, enabled it to fly. However, if a dragon did not possess this lump, they clutched a small staff called po-shan which enabled them to levitate (Legg, 1998). The dragon was also a symbol of sexual potency; a Zhou dynasty king tells how his wives were impregnated by the saliva of a dragon which had appeared to his ancestors years earlier (Littleton, 2002). Despite their strengths, dragons were not renowned for their intelligence; two independent Chinese myths detail dragons being outwitted by monkeys (Littleton, 2002).
Within the wide dragon spectrum there were various types, which could be recognised:

     - Ying-lung were the winged dragons, which took 4 000 years to develop wings.
     - K'iu-lung, a name also attributed to blue dragons, were horned; hornless dragons called li depicted scholars and controlled the depths of the sea (Cooper, 1992).
     - The chi'i-lung dragons were red, white or green.
     - The Azure or Celestial Dragon, T'ien Lung, upholds the heavenly mansions of the gods and with Fu-tsang, the guardian of secret treasure, heralds divine strength as an important semi-deity.
     - Lung dragons, most commonly known as Imperial dragons (5 claws), face South with their tail in the North as a representative of life-giving vapours and the sun.
     - Three-clawed dragons who were later adopted as Japanese were mang, standing for transient power and strength.
     - The Chiao were earth-bound, lairing in the mountains or earth as a symbol for the statesman (Cooper, 1992).

Specific dragons were also depicted on separate objects:

     - The p'u lao were carved as reliefs onto gongs.
     - Ch'iu and pi hsi often appeared on violins and writing tablets.
     - The pa hsia were commonly seen guarding the bases of stone monuments.
     - The chao feng frequented the eaves of temples.
     - Ch'ih were carved onto bridge beams to prevent the bridge from collapsing.
     - Suan ni protected the throne of Buddha.
     - The yai tzu were carved on sword hilts.
     - The pi han were depicted on prison gates.

Chinese dragons were completely black, white, red, yellow, blue or green in colour. Yellow dragons were considered the highest-ranking, as they represented the golden sun, which was linked to the Chinese Emperor (Storm, 2002). The age of a Chinese dragon could be deduced from their body colour. Yellow dragons were born from yellow gold a thousand years old; blue dragons derived from blue gold eight hundred years old; red, white, and black dragons were from blue gold a thousand years old.
There were ancient Chinese Dragon-Kings, also called Long (or Lung) Wang dragons, recognisable by the valuable pearls carried in the throat. These dragons lived in sumptuous oceanic palaces, dining on pearls and opals (Littleton, 2002). These four Dragon-Kings were brothers, and are most widely known by the names bestowed upon them in Travels in the West (Ao Kuang, Ao Jun, Ao Shun and Ao Ch'in), however to the Taoists they have different titles (Aldington & Ames, 1959). Though they were rarely worshipped, the local Dragon-Kings were revered and as a result, many temples were established in their honour (Aldington & Ames, 1959).

According to Chinese mythology, there was a dragon for every aspect of life, and it was said a dragon inhabited each drop of water, inflicting upon those who wasted the precious resource dire punishments (Storm, 2002). Dragons watched over water-carriers and boatmen (Storm, 2002), and these people were advised not to eat roast swallows, which dragons considered a delicacy. Roasted swallows were offered to dragons before crossing water bodies (or when rain was needed), in order to appease the beasts and ensure a safe voyage. Chinese dragons were rumoured to live among the clouds, exhaling "vital vapours" (Binder, 1972). In order to bring rain to the land, dragons would depend on the August Personage of Jade (or Jade Emperor), from whom they would receive instruction on how much water to deliver from the sky (Bellingham, et al., 2001); they would then fight one another viciously in the air. From this, the rain would come from their spiraling, writhing movements. The annual dragon-boat race, continued today all over the world, was a reminder to the dragons to fight one another so that rain would continue to fall and the spring planting would be successful (Binder, 1972). In northern China, three joss-sticks were sacrificed to the Dragon-King in their temple beside every well in order to bring rain.
Ceremonies to induce rain often included a large and colourful musical procession that was taken through the main city streets. However, smaller villages did not host such a parade, and opted instead for an appropriate sacrifice performed at their most important temple. This was followed by fervent prayer; if, after a few days, the land was still parched, a sculpture of a dragon god was placed by the roadside. The porous clay statue would desiccate in the sun and was believed to cause the dragon intense pain. This supposedly induced it to rush from its underwater home to the throne of the August Personage of Jade, seeking permission to bring down rain upon the land. Should enough rain then fall after the dragon's exposure, an ample sacrifice was offered along with an elaborate theatrical performance lasting three days (Aldington & Ames, 1959).
In time of severe drought, the dragon's image would instead be taken directly to the crops, so the dragon could itself see the damage.
While dragons could issue rain, they could also subdue and to an extent, control water. In times as recent as 1869, the Chinese government reflected public opinion by giving direct thanks to one particular dragon, as an imperial proclamation decreed, "When the dykes of the Yellow River were in imminent danger of collapse, the repeated apparition of the Golden Dragon saved the situation." (Littleton, 2002, p. 446.)

Spit from the dragon's curling tongue formed the magic sphere, which is called the "pearl of potentiality", the moon, and the "egg of fertility" (Binder, 1972). When the blood from a Chinese dragon soaked into the earth, it changed into amber, and when Chinese dragons shed their skin, its phosphorescence caused it to glow eerily in the dark.
The Chinese dragon was strongest when it was forward facing with five claws, and emperors wore this embroidered on all their robes.

Japanese Dragons:
At first glance, the Japanese dragon would appear very similar to their close geographical relatives, the dragons of China. However, their bodies do not have the same structural animal composition, and their forms are predominantly more serpentine (Shuker, 2004). Japanese dragons are generally beneficent, however their alignment leans moreso to a neutral temperament, as opposed to a divine, heavenly character.
The concept of the (Chinese) four Dragon-Kings was mirrored in Japan (Davis, 1989):

     - The Celestial Dragon acted as a guardian and overseer of the gates of the gods' extravagant homes;
     - The Spiritual Dragon was charged with balancing the correct fall and distribution of rain;
     - The Earth Dragon guided the waterways snaking along the earth, particularly large, arterial rivers;
     - The Dragon of Hidden Treasure was the patron of metals, gems and other such minerals that were of value to humans (Davis, 1989).

Japanese dragons have only three toes and as such, this marks the end of their travels over the Oriental world for, should they travel beyond Japan, they would lose toes until locomotion was no longer possible. The most familiar type of Japanese dragon is called a tatsu, and while Japanese dragons- like all Oriental serpentine beasts- share a close connection with water, their linkage is focused primarily on the sea; a reflection of Japan's geography, as Japan is less prone to drought than China and India (Shuker, 2004).
Sea serpents of the same area, called the Kiao, are so closely tied to dragons they are often regarded as such. Like the Japanese dragons, the Kiao undergo metamorphosis during their life, sprouting wings to take to the air when they reach an undetermined age (Suckling, 1998). This is not too dissimilar from the hai riyo (also known as the tobi tatsu and schachi hoko), or the "dragon bird", a stage of being that awaits all dragons. These dragon birds are the highest form of physical state for the dragon (Shuker, 2004), and as such represent a myriad of acquirements gained through a dragon's life.
The hai riyo is in its most literal sense as the name suggests; the avian components of this creature consist of the feathered wings, body and tail of a bird, while the face and feet remain those of a dragon and as such the creature essentially remains little beyond an advanced form of its previous self. Of the hai riyo, the annual apparition of O-gon-cho every 50 years, who resided in the middle of the Ukisima lake near Kyoto, was a dark omen and a messenger of sadness for the people in the area. The white dragon living in the center of the lake was stolidly avoided on a daily basis, and when it assumed its place as the golden songbird O-gon-cho, its song was greatly feared for it foretold of disaster (Shuker, 2004). Several sightings of this dragon bird were reported in April 1834, and soon afterwards there was widespread famine in the area (Shuker, 2004).

The dragon is a significant figure in history, mythology and has had a great impact on daily life. Its very prominence not only makes it highly respected but, conversely, attracts enemies and makes it a challenged creature due to its divine fortune and venerated rank.
One such enmity existed between a Dragon King of Lake Biwa and a tyrant centipede, whose 100 feet glowed like lanterns and hideous, demonic features were highlighted by fiery eyes. The dragon's underwater palace was being rudely ravaged by this invading centipede, who was dispatched by Hidesato, Lord of the Rice Bale, given his title as the Dragon King rewarded him with an unending bale of rice for his bravery (Littleton, 2002).
Trickster fox spirits often played mischief on dragons, and would keep unclean possessions with them to avoid revenge from the angry dragons, who abhorred coming into contact with such distasteful objects. These same spirits, however, did not reserve their antagonistic ways purely for dragons, and often created havoc among mankind (Shuker, 2004).

Unlike any other dragon, female Japanese dragons lay beautiful gem-like eggs, coloured in iridescent rainbow hues, which are often mistaken for precious stones (Dragon Fantastic, 2001). This can lead to some strife between dragon and man, however in most circumstances the case of mistaken identity is easily forgiven and excused if the egg is returned unharmed.

Korean Dragons:
Like its divine cousins, the Korean dragon was a heavenly creature associated with royalty and goodness. Essentially, the dragon is a symbol for spiritual strength rather than physical, perhaps reminiscent of its total absence from the human world (Chu-hwan, 1994). In Korea, the dragon first manifested on the murals of tombs from the Koguryo Kingdom, and thus was nothing more than an elaborated emblem. It wasn't until the start of the Han period of China (206 BC), not Korea, that the dragon began to spread outwards and became more notable in Korean life. These early dragons were essentially known as yongdo, the blue dragon, who repelled evil spirits and protected the deceased from harm, and frequently appeared alongside the tiger (the counter-symbol for physical strength), having been initially derived from a belief in the four deities. The cloud dragon uny-yong was the typical bringer of rain and was also depicted in tombs (Chu-hwan, 1994).
The divine nature of the dragon was further upheld in the widespread belief that the very fortunate may visit the underwater Dragon-King palace (Han, 1991).
Of the Oriental dragons, Korean dragons share a closer connection to fire, the elemental opposite of water, than their venerated neighbours. The dragons of Korea were commonly depicted in palaces, usually alongside the mythical haet'ae (a fearsome unicorn-lion), which was a devourer of fire and could distinguish good from evil (Chu-hwan, 1994).
Just as in China, the Korean dragon was sometimes depicted clutching a pearl which represented universal constancy, while the dragon itself was a candidate for change. Should flames be added to this image, emanating from either the dragon or pearl, the symbol of the dragon morphs into a far more powerful form, representing not only the corporeal world but also the supernatural (Chu-hwan, 1994). This two-fold symbol is common among the Eastern dragon, and is typified here by the dragon's fiery link, while amazingly retaining its inherent association with water. This is also exemplified by the dragon's mythical presence since antiquity as one of the four creatures of the cosmological (time and space) quadrants.
The aforementioned Green Dragon of the East (as discussed in the Introduction/ Overview), was a symbol depicted prominently in Korean art (moreso than in China), which, with the element of wood and the easterly direction, stood for its assigned "space and time" quarter (Chu-hwan, 1994). It wasn't until later years the four quarters were subdivided into twelve, and the creatures of the zodiac, including the dragon, came into play, later to appear in tombs such as the Koguryo tombs, and continuing to appear throughout history (Chu-hwan, 1994).

Despite the Korean dragon's ties with fire, the elemental, prophylactic image of the dragon was linked closely with their association with water. They were important in architecture (such as on the water gate near Suwon), and were favoured on the ridge-caps of roofs as a waterspout, carved into the shape of a dragon's head or yong-du (Chu-hwan, 1994). With the tiger, phoenix and tortoise or "black warrior", the dragon was favoured alongside other creatures as a symbolic decoration on walls, eaves and ceilings.
They also featured in folklore stories and subsequently were a well-used motif in paintings, such as the tale of the Dragon-King who was captured as a three-tailed turtle and rescued by a warrior who was, in turn, helped by the same Dragon-King (In-Sob, 1982). The importance of the dragon was recognised through mentions in Korean literature, which had its origins in song as in many other cultures. One such song is Saenaennorae, a song with two stanzas of four lines each (sometimes followed by an extra two lines). Saenaennorae talks about the son of a Dragon-King Ch'oyong, who held power and wealth among the Sillian people as a prominent member of society (Joe, 1982). Returning home inebriated one night, he discovered his wife was having an affair, and so sang:

Having caroused far into the night,
In the moonlit capital,
I return home and in my bed,
Behold, four legs.

Two have been mine;
Whose are the other two?
Two had been mine;
No, no, they are taken.

Being the son of a Dragon-King, Ch'oyong could have dispatched the adulterous man quickly. However this would not have had any lasting conclusions, and so Ch'oyong's song allowed him to transcend thoughts of petty revenge and brought him to a place where evil could not thrive. In this manner he drove the intruder away without violence- a perfect example of the nature of a dragon (Joe, 1982).

Just as in China, the Korean dragon was worn on robes by Choson kings when performing royal duties. Their red robes were decorated with clouds and golden dragons across the chest, shoulders and back (Kim, 1997), which in men are generally considered areas of power and strength. With five claws (not to be mistaken with the five-clawed Chinese dragons), the Korean dragon represented the monarch's undeniable strength and glory. As a symbol for the king himself, the Korean dragon had a record seven toes, a marker of its pure and divine status (Chu-Whan, 1994). At one stage, the dragon was reserved for exclusive use on political publications (Chu-Whan, 1994).
In 1897 the red robes were substituted for yellow by King Kojong, self-appointed emperor of the Taeham Empire (instead of the king of Choson), and the red instead was passed down to be worn by the crown prince. In this same year the phoenix was replaced by the dragon as the emblem for the Queen despite the breaking of tradition (Kim, 1997).
Considerable emphasis was placed on military organisation in Korean society; the Dragon-Tiger Guards (alongside the Soaring Falcon Guards) were charged with protecting the King (Lee, 1984); a mix that combined the spiritual strength of the dragon and physical prowess of the tiger.

Nagas:
The dragons of India, the nagas, made their first appearance during the churning of the Ocean of Milk when the naga Vasuki was used as a rope by the gods and demons (Ions, 1967). The word naga is Indian for snake or serpent, and this reflects their physical appearance, as they are wholly serpentine creatures, distinguished by their five or seven-hooded multiple heads (Ions, 1967). However, they may also resemble a demi-snake, with the upper-half of a person and the lower of a serpent (Nigg, 2002). As such, they are more demon than dragon.
The nagas lair in the nether regions of the world called Patala, which is thought to be deep in the Earth's seas. Here, they are powerful rulers and guardians. They are enemies with the Garuda bird (an animosity that first began when the nagas held Garuda's mother, Vinata, prisoner [Ions, 1967]), who represents the Sun and is a devourer of all evil things (Bellingham, et al., 2001).

Alexander the Great and his army was said to have encountered a dragon in India that was of such size Alexander's entire army was silenced at the sight of its monstrous head, the only visible body part. In the book The Elizabethan Zoo, Edward Topsell is quoted describing the Indian dragon as the greatest of dragons:

It is also reported, that Alexander among many other beasts which hee saw in India, did there finde in a certaine denne a dragon... When it uttered the voyce with full breath, it terrified his whole Armie... for one of his eyes in their appearance seemed as great as a Macedonian buckler. Whereas dragons are bredde in India and Affrica, the greatest of all are in India... (pp. 147-8).

While nagas are generally thought of as demon-like and the personification of primal evil, a few have gained immortality by licking up a few drops of amrita (a nectar of immortality or divine consciousness), which fell to the ground when Garuda rescued Vinata (Ions, 1967). Because of this, some nagas have been able to establish connections with the gods, thus acquiring desirable attributes such as virtue. The aforementioned naga Vasuki (whose serpentine coils were used to churn the Ocean of Milk) became pure by vomiting forth the poison within him. The god Shiva adopted Vasuki as a corset-like garment, and in this fashion Vasuki helps Shiva destroy any demons that threaten his world (Ions, 1967).
The king of nagas, Ananta (or Shesha) forms the raft on which Vishnu lies when he floats on the cosmic waters at the dawn of creation. As an eternal symbol, Ananta supports the heavens by holding his own tail in his mouth (Ions, 1967). Another naga with close ties to the heavenly beings is Makara, who, as the steed of the water god Varuna, represents the mystical forces of water.

Nagas are richly endowed creatures, who wear gems in their multiple hoods that light up the darkness of the nether regions. Their coils are famed to hide a pearl of divine knowledge, and they generously lavish gems and rubies to humans whom they favour (Nigg, 2002). Though nagas are generally thought to lair in Patala, some make their home at the top of Mount Meru, where they have luxurious palaces with gems that grant wishes, sweet-scented flowers, wonderful music, and beautiful companions (Hogarth & Clery, 1979). However, underneath all their elaborate trappings, the life of a naga is far from easy. They have to endure many kinds of suffering: the naga's delicious food turns into toads when brought into the mouth, a naga's beautiful concubines become serpents when embraced, and the scales on a naga's back lie in reverse direction, so that if sand, pebbles or dust lodge between them the naga endures agonising pain (Hogarth & Clery, 1979).
Divine or heavenly nagas bring down rain to fertilise the land, however these were once captured and held captive, which subsequently led to a long period of drought. When angered, nagas unleash their anger upon on the people and animals by flooding the earth (Nigg, 2002). Like the Ancient Chinese Dragon-Kings, there were also Naga-Kings, eight of these in total. These eight Naga-Kings lived in jeweled underwater palaces, and the capital of these exotic worlds was Bhogavati, ruled by the snake-king Takshaka (Nigg, 2002).

Dio slika koje su uspjele i nisu ispale mutne.

Da li će više biti ovakvih druženja?

Atlantida je nestali kontinent koji je trpio tri kataklizme. Prije 50 000 godina, u vulkanskim erupcijama, tone polovina kopnene površine izmedju Europe i Afrike, s jedne, te obiju Amerika s druge strane. Oko 28 000 godina p.n.e. dolazi do promjene zemaljskih polova. Atlantida gubi ponovo dio kopna, zavladalo je ledeno doba. I, napokon, sudarom sa meteorom, oko 10 000 g.p.n.e. Atlantida konačno tone. Tek nekoliko visokih planinskih vrhova, među kojima i Kanarski otoci, ostaju iznad površine mora.

Dvije knjige o Atlantidi će mi biti vodiči u nastavku pisanja. Shirley Andrews i njena "Atlantis, Insights from a Lost Civilization" (2001.) je prva. Lewis Spence je u svojoj trećoj knjizi o Atlantidi "The Occult Sciences in Atlantis" (1977.) detaljno opisao svećenstvo ove civilizacije.

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Švedska ekspedicija je istraživala uzorke podvodnog tla oko 800 km zapadno od obala Afrike. Godina je 1948. Među uzorcima na koje su naišli, bili su primjerci 60 razlicitih vrsti slatkovodnih algi. Daljim testiranjem je ustanovljeno da su se alge iz jezerske vode našle na morskom dnu prije 12 000 godina. Ili, konkretnije, nakon života u slatkim vodama Atlantide, nakon njenog potonuća, završile su na dnu Atlantskog oceana. U narednim godinama, slijedila su slična otkrića u okolini Azorskih i Kanarskih otoka.

Samo nekoliko planinskih vrhova je preživjelo katastrofu Atlantide. Otočja Azora, Madeire, Kanara i Kejp Verde su podsjetnik na izgubljenu civilizaciju. Planina Atlas je bila najviša u to doba - oko 6 000 metara. Ime je dobila prema prvom Posejdonovom sinu. Atlas je uvijek bio prekriven snijegom. Iz vulkanskih dubina para je stvarala oblake koji su neprestano zaklanjali sami vrh. Pogled na Atlas je bio nezaboravan; nije čudno što se doimalo da je ta planina spojena sa nebom. Danas je od Atlasa ostao vrh Pico Alto u Azorima; preko 3 000 metara je svojevremeno završilo pod morem, ali još uvijek se oko 2 500 metara nalazi iznad njegove površine.

Erozija duž obala Atlantide je kreirala beskrajne pješćane plaže. Potonućem Atlantide te su se plaže našle na dnu oceana. Američki oceanograf Dr. Maurice Ewing je 1949. prijavio njihovo postojanje 1 600 km daleko od španjolskih obala . Vozeći se podmornicom, uzeli su uzorke pijeska. Rezultat: pijesak je bio oko 12.000 godina star. Uzorci pijeska ispod dubljeg nivoa dali su starost od 20 000 godina. Geološki dokazi za postojanje Atlantskog kontinenta su brojni. Koraljni ostaci prikazuju biljke i životinje koje ne mogu preživjeti na dubini većoj od dvadesetak metara. A ovi koralji su pronađeni duboko na Atlantskom dnu potvrđujući tezu da je nekadašnji kontinent bio između američkog i europsko/afričkog kopna.

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"... U nadi da će naći zadovoljavajuće rješenje problema opasnih divljih zvijeri... nekoliko konferencija je održano na Atlantidi. Prvi sastanak je bio 52 000 g. p.n.e. Mudri predstavnici pet naroda su se odazvali. Došli su iz onog što je danas znano kao Rusija i Bliski istok, zatim predstavnici Sudana i gornje Zapadne Afrike, iz oblasti koja je danas Gobi pustinja, te predstavnici nekadašnje Lemurije i Atlantide... Delegati iz Indije i zemlje Og (Peru) su se pridružili originalnoj grupi tokom narednih konferencija... Složili su se da Atlantiđani izvedu eksperimente sa kemijskim silama kako bi proširili arsenal oružja..." (Shirley Andrews citira čuvenog Edgara Cayce-a i njegove "Readings").

..."Ubrzo nakon posljednje konferencije iz 50.722 godine p.n.e. došlo je do promjene položaja Zemaljskih polova ... uzrokovane nepažljivom upotrebom razarajućih eksploziva. To je izazvalo potrese i vulkanske erupcije na cijelom Planetu...
... Destrukcija Atlantide je bila samo jedna u nizu koje su čekale na red... Ljudi koji su preživjeli su prolazili kroz teške periode, ali bi se civlizacija uvijek oporavljala... doduše bili su unekoliko drugačiji od nas, ali su se razvijali na sličan način. U početku, ljudi su bili bliski sa priodom, ali kako bi se vremenom nauka i tehnologija razvijala, oni su postajali agresivniji i više materijalistički orijentirani. U godinama pred 28.000 g.p.n.e. i 10.000 g. p.n.e. moralni standardi su padali, kvaliteta spiritualnog života je zaostajala i raspad je neminovno slijedio...

Negativne vibracije sa Atlantide uzburkavale bi svoju zemljasku i svemirsku okolinu... a tamo je sve povezano i isprepleteno. Neobazrivo korištenje moćnih energetskih izvora dovodilo je do nestabilnosti zemaljske kore i njenog pokretanja duž tektonskih ploča..."

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Da li je ljudska vrsta išta naučila? Ili iste greške neminovno slijede jedna za drugom? Civlizacija za civilizacijom, jedno doba za drugim. Naivno mislimo da smo izumili načine da ukrotimo prirodne sile... a sve je, zapravo, davno bilo izmišljeno. Stvari se samo ponavljaju, prirodne katastrofe zbrišu ostatke prethodne civilizacije, a nova počinje ispočetka. U momentu kada homo sapiens misli da naučno i tehnološki gospodari svojom okolinom, u svojoj oholosti zaboravlja svoju duhovnu supstancu... I ne vidi neminovan kraj. Nuklearne tehnologija i biološko naoružanje ne idu zajedno sa plemenskim nivoom razmišljanja prosječne vojničke glave u bilo kojoj zemlji današnjeg "razvijenog" svijeta.

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"... Dvije fizički različite grupe ljudi su živjeli na Atlantidi. Prvi, kromanjonci, su imali dugu i usku glavu sa moždanim kapacitetom večim od današnjeg prosječnog čovjeka. Zubi su im bili mali i jednaki, relativno dugog nosa, visokih jagodica. Muškarci su bili visoki, obično preko 180 cm. Kromanjonac u našem odijelu bio bi skoro nezamjetljiv na našim ulicama, osim jednog detalja: ljepote, koja bi ih izdvajala.

Druga rasa je bila drugaćija od kromanjonaca. Živjeli su u istočnim planinama, tamne kože, vrlo jaki, mišićavi. Rudarstvo im je bilo osnovno zanimanje. Bili su vrlo duhoviti. Dobri ratnici, činili su većinu armije Atlantide.
Atlantiđani su vjerovali u reinkarnaciju. Jedna duša, besmrtna, stvorena od strane Kreatora, koja ne umire u momentu kada srce prestaje da kuca...
Brak je zvan "unijom". Partneri bi išli kod lokalnog svećenika, koji bi izvršio uvid u njihove duše, prijašnje živote i na osnovu toga bi odredio koliko jedan drugom pašu. Naravno, sličan nivo duhovne razvijenosti je obećavao dugotrajniju i stabilniju vezu.
Festivali duhovno/religijskog karaktera su bili česti. Jedan od običaja je bilo prinošenje posuda/tanjura sa voćem na planinske vrhove i njihovo ostavljanje u kamenim pukotinama vulkana. Vjerovalo se da će se na taj način zaštititi od vulkanskih erupcija i zemljotresa. Stotine tih posuda je preživjelo.

Američko Geološko Društvo je 1949. vršilo testove podmornicama u okolini Azora i iznijelo je na površinu posuda težine tisuću kilograma... kalcificiranih diskova sa dubine od nekoliko stotina metara. Posude su bile slične težine i oblika... starosti oko 12.000 godina. Dokazano je da su te posude, prema testovima, napravljene na površini. Slični uzorci su nađeni i na drugoj strani Atlantika, u okolini Bahama...
"Duž jugozapadnih obala, pješćane plaže su bile zaštićene od velikih oceanskih valova. Neprestani povjetarac je bio spas za toplih, sunčanih dana. Atlantiđani su voljeli da se odmaraju ispod palminog drveća i da plivaju u mirnim morskim vodama."

I, u nastavku:

"... Delfini su bili posebni ljubimci. Atlantiđani su gradili bazene pored svojih kuća za ova, za igru uvijek raspoložena, bića. Imali su identičan intelektualni tretman i poštovanje. Naučili su da razumiju brzu konverzaciju delfina i shvate njihove mentalne sposobnosti i inteligenciju. Delfini su im pružali važan izvor informacija i znanja o moru i povijesti..."
"...Rehabilitacija kriminalaca bi se zasnivala na smanjenom dotoku krvi u važne zone mozga te na poticanju osjećaja krivnje u duši pojedinca... Nakon sudske presude kriminalac bi se odvodio na medicinski stol... magnetni instrument bi ga uspavao, kosa bi se obrijala, ekspert označio djelove glave koje treba tretirati. Drugi, veći instrument bi slao svoje energetske zrake preko sat vremena ... i to bi dovelo do atrofiranja pojedinih krvnih dotoka u mozak. Čelije lopova koje su kontrolirale gramzljivost, sebičnost i destrukciju bi nestale. Istovremeno, svećenik bi telepatski radio na duši, učeći je o višim duhovnim dimenzijama na kojima kriminalno ponašanje nije dozvoljeno..."

Gle vraga. I naša medicinska nauka je dovela do razvijanja tehnike TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) koja omogućava doktorima da privremeno paraliziraju male zone moždanog tkiva. Prvi rezultati su bili uspješni u privremenom liječenju depresije. Ostaje nam da čekamo dan kada će metoda Atlantiđana postati standard i za naše društvo.

Platon u svojim povijesnim spisima piše da su "Atlantiđani na vrhuncu svoje moći vladali svim otocima u Atlantiku, dijelovima američkog kontinenta, kao i Mediteranom: Egiptom i sjevernom Italijom." Jedna grupa, Mulani, koja je živjela na obali Maroka prije 12.000 godina ostavila je grobove sa neobičnim kamenim oruđima. Njihove fizičke karakteristike su slične drugim potomcima Atlantiđana: Berberima u sjevernoj Africi i Gauncima sa Azora.

Atlantiđani su izgradili sjajan Sveučilišni kompleks u Gradu Zlatne Kapije sa dva fakulteta: Fakultet Nauka i Okultni Inkal Fakultet. U prvom su se studirali medicina, matematika, mineralogija i drugi fakultativni predmeti. Inkal Fakultet su vodili svećenici iz Posejdonovog Hrama. Specijalizacije su bile u okultnim fenomenima i naglasak je bio na spiritualnom razvoju studenata: astrologija, proročanstva, čitanje misli, interpretacija snova, prijenos misli, upotreba misaonih projekcija da bi se kreirali materijalni objekti. Studenti su učili da komuniciraju sa spirtualnim svijetom od koga su tražili savjete i pomoć u svim životnim pitanjima.

Tokom čitave povijesti Atlantide, ljudi su gradili i zatim se skupljali oko (najčešće) kružnih kamenih monolita. Moćni krugovi su simbolizirali sve-prisutni duh jednog Kreatora. To je bio izvor snage.
Izgradnja ovih posebnih duhovnih središta je bila kompliciran proces. Upotrebljavalo bi se samo kamenje sa posebnim sastavom. Kameni blokovi, stotinama tona teški, bi se prevozili sa velikih udaljenosti. Središta na kome bi se gradili su se određivala putem vizija i snova... i bili su energetska čvorišta. Obično bi centar objekta bio iznad podzemnih voda... Lokacije Sunca, Mjeseca i pojedinih zvijezda bi određivali raspored monolita. Kameni monoliti su imali dokazana medicinska svojstva; pozitivna energija Zemlje bi blagotvorna utjecala na duhovni i fizički omotač čovjekov.

Tajni rituali posvećeni duhovnim božanstvima su bili uobičajena praksa. Počast početku proljeća ("Nova Godina" ili "ponovno rađanje života") bila je centralni događaj. Tokom noći sa punim mjesecom, prisutni bi se okupili oko kamenih krugova, uzeli za ruke i pjevušili satima ... da bi podigli energetski nivo... dok je svećenik komunicirao sa duhovnim bićima iz druge dimenzije.
Atlantiđani su Sunce smatrali izvorom svijetlosti, topline i života. Na ljetni solsticij bi se organizirao posebni festival. Zajednica bi se skupila oko monolita prije zore i u pjesmi bi razdragani ljudi dočekivali Sunce pjevajući mu posebne himne i ode. Ova okupljanja su nekada bila posvećivana pojedincima, njihovoj želji da se oslobode sebičnosti i gramzljivosti. Uz recitacije svećenika, ostali okupljeni bi svoje misli i energiju usmjeravali na izabranog, stimulirajući ga da se duhovno "pročisti".

Moderna oprema otkriva prisustvo misteriozne energije na drevnim religijskim područjima u Velikoj Britaniji. Intenzitet varira zavisno od vrste kamena, godišnjeg doba i doba dana. Ultrazvučni valovi su posebno jaki prilikom izlaska Sunca. Gausmetar, koji mjeri statično magnetno polje, pokazuje neobično visoku količinu elektromagnetne energije koja cirkulira oko kamenih blokova. Dodatni testovi demonstriraju da kameni blokovi djeluju kao "pojačivaći" (amplificiraju) energetske spirale.
Znanje koje je bilo neophodno za gradnju ovih kamenih središta se prenosilo sa generacije na generaciju Atlantiđana. Prijenos duhovnog i materijalnog znanja bio je direktan, mentalni. (Pismo, kao oblik primitivnijeg prijenosa znanja, se pojavilo kasnije u vrlo oskudnom obimu.)
Putovanja i migracije Atlantiđana na druge kontinente, dovela su do gradnje monumentalnih kamenih objekata na izabranim energetskim čvorištima. Vjerovanje da kamen absorbira energiju iz svoje okoline, a zatim je predaje onima koji izvode ritual, živjelo je i nakon potapanja Atlantide.
Ostaci monolita konstruiranih u dalekoj povijesti, nalaze se i danas od Francuske, Britanije, Irske preko Mediterana, Bliskog i Srednjeg Istoka, do Meksika i Perua. Kameni krugovi su održavani, zatim zamjenjivani novim generacijama. Primjera radi, arheolog Geoffrey Bibby procjenjuje da je čak devet različitih slojeva pohranjeno ispod monumenta Stonehenge u Engleskoj.

Naši davni preci su spoznali i vladali fenomenima koje mi, danas, tek počinjemo da maglovito raspoznajemo. Svećenci Atlantide su znali da energija kamenih blokova, iz vibracija nastalih korskim pjevanjem i ritmovima udaraljki (bubnjeva), pomaže u otvaranju svijesti. Naučili su da uspore svoje moždane vibracije sa 30 valova u sekundi na pola vala u sekundi. Na taj način bi ulazili u transno stanje u kome su mogli da primaju poruke iz spiritualnog svijeta. Komunikacija sa duhovnim svijetom bila je svakodnevna, a ne limitirana na povremene "religijske rituale".

Lewis Spence u svojoj obilno dokumentiranoj knjizi "The Occult Sciences in Atlantis" opisuje proces inicijacije budućih svećenika.

Nedaleko od Grada Zlatne Kapije, nalazio se "Labirint" - ogromna pečina, prvobitno nastala tisućgodišnjim djelovanjem lave i podzemnih voda. To je bila idealna sredina za izazove mladim Atlantiđanima. Svake godine su se pečini dodavali novi prolazi i prostorije.
(Slična pečina nalazi se na Azorima: Algor do Carvao in Terciera, dugacka 200 metara sa vrlo visokim svodovima.)

Tipična incijacija u Atlantskom Labirintu bila je fokusirana na koncept smrti i ponovng rađanja. Potencijalni kandidat ulazi u Labirint. U mraku dobija instrukcije da se popne u mali omeđeni prostor u kome se postavlja u fetalni položaj. Dane i dane tu provodi gladujući i meditirajući. Tokom devet tjedana, potecijalni kandidat doživljava realistične noćne more dolaska smrti. Nakon uspješno prebrođenog perioda, slijedi spiritualno ponovno rađanje i osjećanje elemenata zemlje, zraka, vatre i vode. Na koncu ovog perioda svećenici masiraju tijelo kandidata i primjenjuju magične instrumente da povrate život unutrašnjim organima. Sredinom sedmog dana devetog tjedna, subjekt je spreman za ponovno rođenje. Tijelo se okružuje sjajnom svjetlošću i simbolično se najavljuje ceremonijalno rođenje. Dostignut je visok nivo duhovne čistoće. Iz Labirinta, inicirani se odvodi na drugu stranu planine u kojoj buja život: egzotične ptice, cvijetni grmovi, drveće sa voćem, pitome životinje, bazeni sa mineralnom vodom... Iz tamne pečine u iluziju raja... "Fontana mladosti" i posebno izabrana hrana pomažu oslabljenom fizičkom organizmu da povrati fizičku snagu.

U slijedećoj etapi, u "Rajskom vrtu", kandidat se suočava sa borbom svoje logične misli s jedne strane, i intuicije. Uz niz primjera, kandidat se stimulira na oslanjanje na vlastitu intuiciju i nalaženje pravilnih odgovora. Ukoliko bi prošao i ove testove, onda bi Posejdonov Hram dobio novog iniciranog člana. Slijedi period studiranja: okultne nauke, ritualni simbolizam, spiritualno liječenje, levitacija, spiritualna komunikacija i druge vještine koje su se čuvale u tradiciji tisućama godina. Objekti Posejdonog Hrama bili su izvanredni. Zvjezdarnica je bila opremljena močnim teleskopima sa precizno izabranim lećama. U školskoj knjižnici su se čuvali stari zapisi. Meditacija i korsko pjevanje bili su dio obuke. Predavanje muzici i laganim instrumentalnim zvucima, izazivalo bi neopisivo uživanje i radost prisutnih i osjećaj povezanosti sa čitavim svemirom.

Dvadeset godina školovanja je bilo potrebno da se nauči držati intuicija i intelekt u harmoniji. Cilj je bio da tijelo, um i duh nauče raditi zajedno i uspješno, dajući individui maksimalnu unutrašnju snagu i moć. Među popularnim disciplinama bila je i kemija. Prije samog materijalnog procesa, bilo je neophodno da budući svećenici shvate njegovo spiritualno značenje i smisao. Kemičari su za cilj imali da nauče bit svih stvari... da postanu jedno sa Svemirom...da dostignu više nivoe saznanja... i onda da prodru u tajne priorode, života, smrti, beskraja...

Koristeći anorgansku materiju i prateći stroge procedure, vršili su eksperimente. Metali su im bili simboli pojedinih planeta i zvijezda. Zlato je označavalo Sunce: izvor života i ultimativnu perfekciju za kojom su težili. Imali su podrobno znanje o atomskoj strukturi materije: daleko superiornije od onoga sto se zbiva u današnjim laboratorijama.

Memorija o dostignućima Atlantiđana je ostala razbacana u bibliotekama i starim predanjima Egipta, sjeverne Afrike (Kartagine) i Grčke. Arapi su bili najvještiji kemičari jer su imali pristup starim tekstovima, kasnije uništenih knjižnica Aleksandrije i Kartagine. "Magnum Opus" je bila zbirka pisanih informacija nastala na bazi starih tekstova i uputa. U njemu se, pored kemije, mogu naći i slike čudnovatih ljudi, životinja, dizajna i simbola koji su pripadali nekom drugom, davno prošlom, svijetu.
Fragmenti okultnog i kemičarskog znanja Atlantisa dolazili su u ruke masonima i drugim tajnim društvima. Njihove tajne knjige pozivaju na obožavanje Sunca i vatre, kao i njihov interest za eksperimentiranje (kemija), brojeve i matematicke kodove.

Konačno, posljednji svećenićki nivo bio je "Magus", najviši stupanj svećenstva na Atlantidi. Završne zakletve su davane u "Holu Prosvjećenih", koji se nalazio na kraju Labirinta. Bio je okružen sa dvanaest malih kapela, svaka posvećena jednom od prošlih kraljeva. Visoki svodovi i bogato ukrašen oltar su dominirali prostorom. Veliki metalni gong je čekao na trenutak svečanog proglašenja. U trenutku udara u gong, zaglušujuća buka bi ispunila Labirint nalik na zvuk gromova.
Oni koji su dostigli stupanj Magusa, nakon više od dvadeset godina studiranja, iskustava i meditacije, postajali su svijesni vlastite besmrtnosti. Znali su da fizička smrt predstavlja samo trenutak transformacije u drugi, duhovni nivo. Imali su sposobnost da napuštaju svoje tijelo kada zažele tako da ga nisu shvaćali kao zatvor za dušu. Krečući se nastanjenim i nenastanjenim prostorima i vremenima svemira, širili su vlastita saznanja... da bi bolje služili svojoj, ljudskoj zajednici.

Da li su kemičarski mitovi o pretvaranju "bezvrijednih" metala u zlato istiniti? Potvrdan odgovor bi značio jos jednu potvrdu postojanja izgubljene civilizacije Atlantide. Razmislimo kakav bi mi odgovor dali? Pogledajmo olovo, na primjer, i postavimo pitanje da li se od njega može napraviti zlato? Naša logična, "racionalna", lijeva, muška strana mozga, će odgovoriti negativno. Međutim, olovo je samo skup atoma. Kao i zlato. Otkrijmo tajnu formiranja različitih elemenata... i ostalo je samo stvar pretumbacije atoma i dobijanja metala po izboru. Otvorimo se desnoj, ženskoj, intuitivnoj strani.

I, odgovor će biti pozitivan.

Srećo moja, najljepša si žena Poljupci ti potresi u nizu, Idem s tobom, željo prikrivena Na kraj svijeta, samo da si blizu. Osmjeh ti je, žarkog sunca sjaj Opijaš me k'o jutarnja rosa, Neću drugu, jedina si znaj Anđele moj, ženo plavokosa. Ja samoći rekao sam zbogom Duša blista, jer je čuda trista, Noć je kratka a igra nam slatka Mnogo tanga a još više tvista. Rajski predjeli ispod mene leže Omamit će me čarobni zvuci, Iskonska ljubav, noćas nas veže željni drugog kao gorski vuci.

Žao mi je ali možda ovih par dana neću moći pisati postove jer sam danas pod visokom temperaturom i bolestan. No čim ozdravim eto mene opet ovdje sa tekstovima. :-))

Pozdrav svima.

Platon je bio Sokratov učenik sve dok se Atenjani nisu surovo obračunali sa Sokratom 399 godine p.n.e. Nakon toga, Platon puno putuje, uključujući i put u Egipat. Kada se ponovo skrasio u Ateni, osnovao je Akademiju, školu nauke i filozofije, preteću današnjih sveučilišta. Njegov najpoznatiji učenik je bio Aristotel.

Zahvaljujući brižljivom čuvanju dokumenata, mnogo Platonovih radova je sačuvano. Bilo u formi pisama ili dijaloga. Danas ću spomenuti dva: "Timeaus" i "Critias". Njihov značaj je izuzetan; to su jedini znani originalni radovi koji spominju otok iz naslova današnjeg pisanja: Atlantidu.

"Timijus" i "Kritijas" predstavljaju dijaloge vođene između Sokrata, Hermokrata, Timijusa i Kritijasa. Kao prilog ranijem razgovoru o idealnom društvu, Timijus i Kritijas su ispričali Sokratu priču koja "nije mašta nego istinita priča". Priča je o konfliktu izmedju drevnih Atenjana i Atlantiđana preko 9,000 godina prije Platonovog vremena (12,000 godina od danas). Priča o Atlantidi je prenesena Solonu od strane egipatskih svećenika. Solon je ispričao Dropidu koji je bio prapradjeda Kritijasu. On je, pak, priču ćuo od svog djeda, čije je ime također bilo Kritijas.

"Sokrat: ...Vrlo dobro. A koja bi to bila čuvena drevna prića koja nije samo legenda, nego stvarna činjenica?

Kritijas: ... U egipatskoj delti, u grad Sais, stigao je Solon kojeg su dočekali sa velikim počastima... Razgovarao je sa svećenicima koji su bili čuvari drevnog znanja...Tamo je otkrio stvari koje ni jedan Helen prije njega nije znao o starim vremenima..."

(Iz Platonovog doba pođimo još unazad, u drevni Egipat.)

"Solon: ... Želio bih vam govoriti o najstarijim vremenima kako ih mi znamo; o Foronijusu, "prvom čovjeku", o potopu, o genealogiji mojih praroditelja...

Egipatski svećenik: O Solonu, Solonu, vi Heleni niste ništa drugo do djeca, i nema starca među vama.

Solon: Kako misliš?

Egipatski svećenik: Mislim da ste u mislima još uvijek zeleni, mladi. Nema drevnih iskustava koja ste sačuvali ili naslijedili. I reći ću ti zašto. Dosada je bilo, i biće ih još, mnogo katastrofa koje bi zbrisale čitave civilizacije. Vi se sjećate samo jednog potopa. A bilo ih je mnogo. Nadalje, vi ne znate da je na vašim zemljama živjela najnaprednija civilizacija koja se ikada pojavila na Planeti. Vi ste, i vaš čitav Grad, daleki potomci nekoliko preživjelih..."

Arhaična priča kreće na petnaest stranica teksta i vodi nas na otok Atlantidu. Ukratko, ovo je Solon saznao prije skoro tri tisuće godina.

Do prije 12,000 godina postojao je veliki otok u Atlantskom oceanu naseljen sa naprednom i moćnom civilizacijom. Bili su bogati zahvaljujući prirodnim izvorima. Otok je bio svjetsko središte trgovine i proizvodnje. Grad Atlantis bio je smješten na obodu otoka. Grad je bio opasan sa nekoliko koncentričnih krugova ispunjenih vodom. Time je bila omogućena plovidba do njegovog centra (9 km). Izvan samog centra, u drugom krugu, je bila gusto naseljeno područje gdje je živjela većina stanovništva. Izvan grada ležala je plodna zemlja (530 km dugačka i 190 km široka). Navodnjavanje je vršeno putem mreže kanala koji su skupljali vodu iz planinskih izvora i rijeka. Dvije žetve godišnje su bile moguće. Otok je obilovao florom i faunom, uključujući slonove koji su slobodno lutali.

U središtu otoka bio je izgrađen hram u čast Posejdona, boga mora. Ispred hrama je bila ogromna zlatna statua Posejdona kako jaše u kočiji koju vuku konji sa krilima. U ovom hramu su vladari Atlantide diskutirali zakone i donosili presude.

Generacijama su Atlantiđani živjeli jednostavnim životom. Ali, polako su počeli da se mijenjaju. Moć i oholost su počeli da ih korumpiraju... Uskoro, u jednom nasilnom naletu, bili su kažnjeni. Otok Atlantida, njegovi ljudi i memorije, progutalo je more...

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Slijedi priča zasnovana na tekstovima autora koji se često javljaju napisima o duhovnom životu Atlantiđana: Mark Hammons i Geoffrey Keyte, čiji se, opet, tekstovi nerijetko pozivaju na najčuvenijeg američkog proroka Edgara Cayce-a, koji je iza sebe ostavio more knjiga sa svjedočanstvima reinkarniranih duša sa Atlantide.

Atlantida je fizički locirana izmedju Sargaškog mora, platoa Bimini na jugu i Azorskog otočja na krajnjem istočnom kraju.

Mnogo ostataka drevne civilizacije zagađuje more unutar ovog trokuta. Cilj da se pronađu ostaci Atlantide nije samo u pronalaženju starih objekata. Njih je zapravo dosta, večina još uvijek neotkopana. Stvarna želja je da se dođe do legendarne tehnologije Atlantiđana.

Američka vojska se ozbiljno zainteresirala za Atlantidu tokom 1940-ih kada su našli interesantan uređaj u pustinji u Novom Meksiku. Povezivanjem sa Teslinim tumačenjima zaključili su da je riječ o nekoj vrsti motora. Koji može stvari i ljude učiniti "nevidljivima"! Točnije, koji ih može odvesti u drugi prostor i drugo vrijeme.

Eksperimenti koji su slijedili tokom narednih desetljeća doveli su do niza svjedočanstava (Eksperiment Philadephija).

U početku, "povratnici" su bili etiketirani kao "lažovi" ili "luđaci". Odvedeni na izolirane farme bez mogućnosti kontakta sa okolinom. Vremenom, iskustva su počela pokazivati trend, sličice koje su objašnjavale mozaik. Atlantida ne samo da nije bila mit, nego je bilo više nego jedna Atlantida! Ono o čemu je govorio Platon je imalo povijesnu podlogu, ali u stvarnosti je bilo i više od toga.

U stvari, mnoštvo grčkih priča jesu istinite u suštini, ali su samo blijedi odsjaj ranijih događanja.

Rimljani su prije 2.500 godina kopirali jos stariji grčki kip Posejdona sa trozupcem. Prema legendi, Posejdon je bio prvi vladar Atlantide po kome je najveći otok arhipelaga u centru Atlantika dobio ime (Posejdonija). Trozubac je simbol tri najveća otoka Atlantide.

~ Chinese Dragons
~ Japanese Dragons
~ Korean Dragons
~ Nagas

Eastern dragons have a rich ancestry that extends years into the past. The earliest archaeological evidence of Chinese culture is of the 12th century BC Shang people, who nursed and gave rise to Chinese civilisation (Bellingham et al., 2002), and thus the dragon who has long since been an intrinsic part of Oriental life.
By the 4th century BC, Chinese culture was highly developed and, through years of being passed down through written and artistic tradition, the dragon has gained in popularity immensely. The start of the Han dynasty in 206 BC saw the Chinese and Korean dragons become more prominent in literature, folklore (art and storytelling) and as architectural flourishes. However, the dragon had not always been so revered a creature. Buddha was born in the 6th century BC in North India and his new religion/ philosophy, Buddhism, largely questioned the Imperial nature of the Chinese dragon (Whittaker, 1997), casting it as more of a debase beast. The dragon managed to survive this and, ironically, this expanded the physical limitations of the Indian dragon, the naga.
China's highly-regarded image of the dragon continues to be recognised in the 21st century (Whittaker, 1997), and it appears the Korean and Japanese dragons have followed suit.

Historically, the exact date of the dragon's cultural and racial conception is a little vague, however their mythological "pre-birth" dates to a time before humans populated the earth. The primal, serpentine elements of the dragon have been present since mankind first began exploring their creation, and so appears at the very beginning of structured, core belief. As a featured member of the creation process, the dragon played an integral part in the divine beginnings of the human race. In China, the demi-dragon goddess Nu Gua (or Nü Kua) was a creator deity who first shaped mankind from the wet mud along a riverbank, and then realising she could not possibly create enough people to populate the entire earth, called upon her own magic powers to create more people by dipping a vine in mud and then twirling it around (Storm, 2002). The splattering of mud among the dewy grass produced immediate results, with men and women sprouting from the wet river mud at a remarkable rate. This same legend or belief is available in Eastern Asia, with the same half-human, half-dragon goddess, with only the altered spelling of Nu Wa. We say "pre-birth" because neither of these goddesses were dragons in the most precise sense, however they perhaps heralded the Oriental serpent movement.
From here, the dragon (alongside the human aspect of the creator goddess) seems to have sprung from being merely a symbol or (ultimately empty) visual aid, into a whole being. Of course, historically this is not to denounce the fact that the dragon may already have been prolific, and was later integrated into the creation process well after it was in existence. With the development of culture, old symbols and beliefs are often updated to fit into a more contemporary public viewpoint.
These creation stories give us not only an idea of how mankind came to be, but concurrently, tells us from where the dragons initial form evolved, and how it managed to break into the mainstream of the Oriental world. Both versions of the one goddess Nu Gua and Nu Wa have serpentine tails rather than legs, and this was more likely a reflection of the snake (from which most dragons chronologically evolve), however the dragon may have later been accepted as a more divine alternative to the base, slithering and earth-bound snake.
In the Chinese mythical hierarchy which consists of 360 "scaley" [sic] creatures, the dragon is first, representing a cardinal point as the Green Dragon of the East, tied to the element of wood (Storm, 2002). The corresponding Korean dragon is far more prominent, with a similar symbolism to its Chinese cousin, which, with five claws, denotes Imperial power. From this it appears the dragons divine aspect, originating from its conception through the goddesses Nu Gua or Nu Wa, was continued throughout its heavenly lifespan (Storm, 2002).

Unlike the Chinese and Asian dragon, the Indian naga did not play a central role in creation of mankind, and this has always set the naga at a substandard level, when compared to their close cousins. The naga first seems to have appeared during the churning of the Ocean of Milk, to produce amrita- the nectar of eternal life (Bellingham, et al., 2001). The naga played a relatively small part in the story, as the squabbling demons and their subsequent loss of amrita eclipsed the event. The naga itself was nothing more than a rope which the gods and demons used to churn the milk, and did not play a significant role. However, the naga still has taken up an almost stoical position as an impassive, dark figure of Indian myth, with little exception. However, despite this unspectacular beginning, the naga has remained as a creature of considerable import in Indian folklore.

Early portrayals of the naga in art show a dragon-like demon which is dangerous and destructive. Naga Padoha, the serpent ruler of the underworld according to South-east Asian myth, was confined to Hell after the creator god Batara Guru cursed him there, as a punishment for trying to destroy the earth (Storm, 2002). Early nagas appeared as multi-headed snakes and physically were little more than a freak of the natural world, however they did later develop to encompass serpent-tailed humans, which is reminiscent of early serpentine creator goddesses, Nu Gua and Nu Wa. During the first century BC, Buddhism was introduced to China via the Silk Road trading route, and the image of the Chinese dragon was darkened somewhat by the evil reputation of the Indian naga as Buddhism became more popular (Bellingham, et al., 2002). It seems that, while the dragon's virtuous nature was questioned under this religion, Chinese culture also rubbed off on the Indian naga to include the demi-human version of the beast (Storm, 2002).

Dragons of the east all appear to have a similar conformation which, when collectively classing the whole dragon family, must be kept in mind. While in Western culture there is a far more definite line between serpent and dragon, the physical body of the Eastern dragon is not too far removed from the snake. The bodies of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indian dragons have always remained inherently snake-like, and the variants include the presence of wings, horns, multi-heads and toes. Toes for Oriental dragons are a particular defining point for certain classes of dragon, namely the Imperial dragons of China whose five toes set them apart from their cousins. The majority of the dragons of Korea have four toes because, as folklore details, the further they travel from China, the more toes they lose until eventually they can no longer walk; by the time they reach Japan, they have only three toes and cannot travel any further. Reversing this process, dragons cannot travel any further than China because they grow too many toes.

Not only do these dragons share this common "curse", but their elemental ties are similar- most of the Eastern dragons have some linkage to water, which is in turn reflected in their flowing physical composition. Chinese dragons are credited with bringing down the rain; the subordinate Dragon-Kings who undertake this task (of which there are four dragons, called Ao Kuang, Ao Jun, Ao Shun and Ao Ch'in [Aldington & Ames, 1959]) are reliant on the Jade Emperor (Yu Huang) or the "August Personage of Jade", who rules over a large system of divine officers (Bellingham, et al., 2001) and who instructs the dragons on rain dispersal. However, contrary to popular belief today, the Eastern dragons also have ties to fire as the Takahara tomb in Japan depicts a sweating, red-clawed Japanese dragon breathing fire (Bahn, 1997). Other Eastern tombs, noticeably the Tang tomb in China, depict the dragon as the Green Dragon of the East, alongside the White Tiger of the West (which, with the dragon, is the bestial representation of the Yin Yang), Red Phoenix of the South, and Black Warrior (snake and turtle) of the North (Bahn, 1997).

While Eastern dragons are associated with water and even fire, they are also noted for their famed pearl, which is a symbol of fertility and good luck and is formed from the spit of their curling tongue which holds sexual potency. As the male epitome of Yang, the Chinese dragon is a masculine, bright and fertile symbol (Littleton, 2002).

Contrary to popular belief, the "good" dragons of China and Japan had a short temper (Whittaker, 1997), and the Chinese people were consciously aware of this, going so far as to employ geomancers when building their homes to avoid building a house or choosing a burial site that would obstruct the flow of the "dragon-lines", or veins of the earth. Geomancers were employed even in advanced cities such as the 20th century Hong Kong (and are still employed in China today), for fear of arousing the dragon's supreme anger (Whittaker, 1997). The dark side of the Eastern dragon unveiled itself in other ways too. The story of the human-faced dragon god Gu plotting the demise of the god Bao Jiang (Littleton, 2002) is one such example. Tales such as that of the Japanese dragon who was slain by the young woman Tokoyo (after she took the place of a young girl who was to be sacrificed to the dragon) are not unheard of (Storm, 2002). The Buddhist patriarch, Hui-Neng, tricked a fierce dragon to shrink to a small size, and then captured the dragon in a rice bowl and subdued it (Storm, 2002).
Having said this, the Chinese dragon and their eastern cousins were also seen as beneficent spirits, and the alignment of good and evil was finely balanced. It is well known that Japanese, Korean and in particular Chinese dragons are generally good figures, but it is also important to remember that the cursed, evil nagas still had a practical role to play. This does not necessarily mean certain individuals were benevolent or good, but that in the scheme of events they were necessary, often fulfilling the role of a dutiful servant. Vishnu's great serpent upon whom the god rested between delicate bursts of creation was served by nagas, and Tibetan mythology places the naga as the faithful guardian of Buddhist scriptures.
The Chinese dragon was perhaps the most helpful creature, or at least the most recognised. Imperial dragons who represented the "Sun of Heaven" were held in high esteem, and Dragon Processions held over China in spring welcomed their return from a winter spent underground (their ascension back into the world is heralded by thunder, and occurs on the second day of the second lunar month), and marks the return of fertility (Storm, 2002).

Eastern dragons are well renowned for their powers of metamorphosis; Japanese dragons were famed for their transition from dragon to bird and back again. The infamous O-gon-cho who turned from a white dragon into a golden songbird foretold sadness (Dragon Fantastic, 2001). Chinese dragons are known for size-shifting to fit the space between the heavens and earth, or into the size of a silkworm. Chinese dragons also step through solitary evolution throughout their lives, taking 4 000 years to change into ying-lung, their winged form. Nagas too have undergone a physical adaption or inclusion, beginning as the multi-headed serpent before finally including the human-snake as part of their clan; a transformation which is reflective of the Indian/ Chinese cultural and religious melting pot (Storm, 2002). As a whole, Eastern dragons undergo change and adaption together, as the Korean, Japanese and Chinese dragons lose or gain toes, depending on their travels. Individual dragons have been known to transform into people (such as in the Chinese tale of the girl who was impregnated by an old man to eventually give birth to a dragon [Littleton, 2002]) and animals, such as turtles (In-Sob, 1982).

The divine transformations of the Eastern dragon are sometimes portrayed in art, such as the royal depiction of the dragon in its most powerful form; forward-facing with five claws (Binder, 1972). These dragons along were embroidered on the robes of Emperors and were usually backed with the Imperial sun-colour, yellow. Dragons are usually portrayed in Oriental art symbolically or for royal purposes, usually as an emblem of divine or higher power. However, they do feature in myths in a literal sense and appear in art and literature as a living creature that is to be taken on at face value. As a member of the Chinese animal hierarchy they take first precedence and are consequently greatly revered.

Aitvaras:
Rooster-like in appearance, the aitvaras is easily confused with the cockatrice for the two chimerical dragons have similar physical features. With four armour-plated legs, thick scales and spines protecting its body, the aitvaras is a strong, robust creature (Nigg, 2002). However, the aitvaras is famed mostly for its fiery tail that, when rubbed against ash, bursts into flames; a lethal weapon often employed against enemies. The aitvaras have been known to work in partnership with farmers; in exchange for eggs, these creatures bear gifts of coins and grain (Nigg, 2002).

Amphisbaena:
Brought to life when the blood from the gorgon Medusa was spilt on the desert sand, the amphisbaena (also amphisbena, amphivena, Greek for "goes both ways") or tail-biter, has a second head at its tail-end, both of which are the same size as the rest of its body (Nigg, 2002). This is said to be due to the amphisbaenas body being of the same thickness at both ends (White, 1969), however it is also possible that their tail is shaped like their head to confuse enemies (such as the shingleback lizards [Trachydosaurus rugosus] of Australia). Because very few amphisbaenas have wings, these dragons have accommodated for their earth-bound predicament by learning to grasp their second head in their mouth and travelling by rolling around in a ring- a much more efficient mode of transport. This enables them to move faster and confuses those seeking to capture them, as these serpent dragons can travel either forward or backward (Nigg, 2002). The second head also gives the dragon an advantage over other creatures, as one head will constantly remain alert while the other sleeps (Nigg, 2002). When hatching an egg, amphisbaenas have been noted to take turns by waking each other up to guard while the other rests. Ironically, the amphisbaena has small eyes and poor vision (White, 1969), despite being birthed from the gorgon whose gaze turned others to stone.
This dragon symbolises the eternal circle of life as it holds its secondary head in its mouth, and was often referred to by medieval alchemists who felt the amphisbaena to immortalise the continuity of birth, life and death. Lucan wrote of the amphisbaena:

Rising on twin-born heads comes dangerous Amphisbaena
And her eyes shine like lamps (White, 1969, p. 177).

The amphisbaena has often been included in bestiaries and art; a Viking torc or silver bracelet dating from the 11th century AD depicts the double-headed serpent (Shuker, 2004). Though found throughout Europe, they have also been discovered in Libya, North Africa.
The amphisbaena has the feet of a rooster, a large crest of spikes atop its lizard-like head, a scaly body, and in the case of some, a pair of feathered wings (Dragon Fantastic, 2001). The size of an amphisbaena can range from an earthworm to 75 cm (2.5 ft) long, and these dragons burrow underground tunnels (White, 1969). When threatened, the amphisbaena can exude an agonising poison from its quick bite which kills swiftly. The scales of an amphisbaena are thought to have medicinal properties, particularly good for curing cold shivers and chilblains, as this dragon is able to withstand cold temperatures and was always the first creature to emerge from hibernation. Should a pregnant woman step over an amphisbaena, she will miscarry her child (White, 1969).

Basilisk/ Cockatrice:
The word basilisk is derived from the Greek basileus, meaning "king"; translated into Latin however, the word becomes regulus, "a prince" (White, 1969). Both meanings are accurate, as the basilisk is both the king of all small serpents, yet still subordinate (in title only) to the larger Western dragon, the king of all large serpents.
There are several types of basilisk, yet all are famed for their unnatural viciousness and wicked prowess. Basilisks are credited with a deadly gaze; while one type burns up anything they approach, another strikes dead anything that meets their yellow gaze. Usually, the creature or person goes into an extreme stage of shock as a result of meeting the basilisks stare, which shrivels and destroys them- this same, piercing glare is known for splitting apart large boulders. Its toxic breath can turn the lushest areas to barren wastelands, and animals around can expire simply from the odour it emanates. Similarly, any bird flying above a basilisk, though it may be far from the creature, burns and dies (White, 1969). The hiss of a basilisk sends people and animals running, though it is almost impossible to escape harm from this creature as the sound produces hydrophobia and causes the listener to turn mad or burst into flames (Bullfinch, year unknown; White, 1969). Like the Western dragon, the strength of the basilisk lies in its tail which can kill simply by contact (Cooper, 1992). Pliny, the Roman naturalist, wrote of the basilisk, "he kills the shrubs, not only by contact, but by breathing on them, and splits the rocks, such power of evil there is in him."
This is in fact no elaboration, for the basilisk's venom is so powerful that it can travel along objects; after stabbing a basilisk with his spear, a knight and his mount were once reported to have died after the basilisk's venom diffused through the weapon. Should a basilisk bite any object in a persons hand, the bearer would die (Nigg, 2002).

What though the Moor the basilisk hath slain,
And pinned him lifeless to the sandy plain,
Up through the spear the subtle venom flies,
The hand imbibes it, and the victor dies (Lucan, quoted in Bullfinch, year unknown, p. 330).

The basilisk is said to live in desert areas like the scorpion, however this is not because it is native to the hotter, arid climate, but because its noxious breath and lethal, burning presence leaves nothing save the barren waste- which also accounts for the basilisks solitary confinement. Maintaining their kingly reputation, the basilisk carries its long body upright in coils, rather than slither along the ground like other serpents. In this sense, the basilisk is held above its subjects. A white mark or tuft of hair on the head of a basilisk further venerates its symbolic royal status, as this closely resembles a crown (Nigg, 2002). This white mark bands out into 15 cm or six inch stripes along the basilisks length (White, 1969).
The basilisk has the body of a serpent and can have between one to four pairs of bird-like legs. Sometimes depicted with wings and antlers, these dragons are usually just under 30 cm (1 ft) long, though a few individual basilisks are reported to be approx. 1 m (3 ft) long.
Despite the basilisks supreme power, no creature is without its enemy. The only object not to combust under the basilisk is the rue plant. Knowing this, weasels- which are already immune to the basilisks deadly gaze, eat the plant for protection after chasing the basilisk and biting it to death. Basilisk hide deterred spiders; one basilisk skin stretched out in the temple of Apollo successfully repelled the arachnids, and in the temple of Diana another hide stopped swallows from entering (Bullfinch, year unknown). When burnt and scattered around an area, basilisk ashes prevented venomous spiders from weaving their webs (Nigg, 2002). This made their skins very valuable, and so after feeding their weasels a rue plant, hunters would send them down basilisk tunnels, as weasels pursued basilisks relentlessly, perhaps recognising their evil as representatives of the Antichrist (Cooper, 1992; Nigg, 2002).
The crow of a rooster or cock sends the dragon into convulsions that result in death, and travellers would often take these birds with them to ensure their safety (Nigg, 2002). By looking into a mirror, the basilisk can also die.

After some years (perhaps around the first century AD), the basilisk began a transformation into the cockatrice- though there is a physical difference between the two, the cockatrice still retained the personality and temperament of its relative. With a lizard-like body (as opposed to the often more serpentine form of the basilisk), a tail like the spiked scorpion telson sting (White, 1969), the head of a rooster, small bat wings and up to three pairs of legs, the cockatrice and basilisk are interchangeable in history (Legg, 1998). There is some question over whether or not the basilisk and cockatrice are two separate dragons or just different names for the same creature (White, 1969). In 1382, the Wycliffe Bible renamed the basilisk the cockatrice, and words that blurred the line between the two dragons, such as "basili-coc" were already in use. Around this time historical linguistic changes began to interfere with and affect natural history, and the crocodile (Cocodrillus) was similar to cock and cockatrice, while the Trochilus bird which picked clean the food between the teeth of crocodiles may have been a cock bird also. The aesthetical similarities between the two conflicts; the weasel and basilisk, and the hydrus and crocodile, not to mention the wattles and combs of cocks and crests of serpents, further added to the etymological confusion (White, 1969). At the end, it appears the muddle of grammar and bad translation birthed the cockatrice.
Interestingly, the cockatrice has a highly unconventional method of birth, as though the natural world is set up against adding such a dangerous, evil creature to its stock. The cockatrice is lain from an egg by a cock in its seventh year, which causes the rooster intense discomfort, when the star Sirius is in the sky. The egg is then hatched by either a toad or snake, usually on a dung heap (Shuker, 2004).
Albertus Magnus says of the cockatrice, "I do not think it is true; yet it is reported as a fact by Hermes and accepted by many persons." Shelley expresses his joy at a decision of the Naples Constitutional Government, referring to the basilisk:

... Be thou like the imperial basilisk,
Killing thy foe with unapparent wounds!
Gaze on oppression, till at that dread risk,
Aghast she pass from the earth's disk.
Fear not, but gaze, -for freemen mightier grow,
And slaves more feeble, gazing on their foe.

The basilisk and cockatrice are found not only in Europe but in North Africa, and a similar dragon lairs in Iceland; called the skoffin, it can only be killed by seeing another of its kind or (like the werewolf), by being shot with a silver button engraved with the sign of the Cross (Shuker, 2004).
Today, however, the basilisk is usually depicted as a serpent or worm with a comb, while the cockatrice is shown in its full winged and crested splendour.

Hydra:
The hydra (Greek for "water serpent") or Excedra (from the Latin Excedere "to outbid" [White, 1969]) is a multi-headed dragon who has appeared on heraldic crests and whose relatives include the multi-headed Scylla and the dragon Ladon, who guarded the golden apples.
It is not hard to envision why the hydra is a recurring image in different cultures and their stories, for this dragon is justifiably one of the most feared. Similar in appearance to a Western dragon with two to four legs, the hydra is very large and usually earth-bound, lacking wings. Though only a rare few can breathe fire, hydras make up for this by their many heads which, should one be cut off, will instantly be replaced with another two. The only way to stop this process is to cauterise the wound immediately after cutting a hydra's head off; a tactic the Greek Heracles (also Roman Hercules) employed when fighting one such beast. All hydras are believed to have a central, immortal head made of gold (Byrne [ed], 1979). Like the basilisk, the hydra also has a noxious breath and acidic blood (Graves, 1985) that can lay waste to the surrounding area, which is most likely why they are found in swampy regions (Couch, 1997). Usually these dragons go unchallenged for the few relics and pieces of gold they guard, for their temperament is cruel and unforgiving. Though originally from Greece, these dragons are said to be bred in Turkey, and the crests along the back of their heads are believed to resemble the "cap" worn by men of this region (Byrne [ed], 1979).
To take advantage of gullible travellers in past years, many fake dragons were put together from different animal parts to be sold as souvenirs. In January of 550 AD one such hydra "carcass" worth 6 000 duckats was brought from Turkey to Venice, later to be given to the French king as a gift (Byrne [ed], 1979). Many years later another counterfeit, nine-headed hydra with the heads and feet of a weasel, a snake's body and tail stood on a church altar in Prague until it was stolen in 1648. The fake hydra was later sold between different owners for high prices; it was only until the Swedish naturalist Linnaeus got hold of the hydra that he proclaimed it to be a hoax (Legg, 1998).

Lindworm:
Similar in appearance to the European wyrm dragon, the lindworm or "Lindworm Snake" (Cooper, 1992) is distinguished from its cousins by the single pair of forelegs they possess on the upper half of their bodies. These dragons are not to be confused with the tazelworm, which also have a single pair of forelegs but are distinguished by their feline head. The lindworm was written about in great detail by the explorer Marco Polo, who was obviously quite taken with the creature (Allen & Griffiths, 1979).
With extremely good vision, the lindworm spies on prey from beneath the streams it lives in, and will use its whip-like tail for defence should any harm come its way. As they live in the water, it is highly possible they have, in the past, been confused with sea snakes which have bright and beautiful colours, something many dragons are attributed with. However, this would only account for the smaller or young lindworms, as adults grow to many metres in length and height- to demonstrate their size, a large wooly rhinoceros skull discovered in Austria in 1335 was originally believed to be that of a lindworm (Shuker, 2004).

Lindworms live along the coastline or near the shore of European water bodies, and their insatiable hunger for horse drives them to risk their own life just to catch one. This illogical weakness is their only downfall, as it makes them vulnerable and open for attack. They are primarily Germanic dragons, though they are also said to live in the mountain regions of Sweden, near rivers (Shuker, 2004) and have been sighted as far as the Americas. With a predatory nature, lindworms will venture inland to eat cattle and dig up corpses in churchyards, upholding their self-sustained image as a creature of death, war and disease (Cooper, 1992). Lindworms are heraldic in nature (Cooper, 1992), featuring in many old texts such as the 15th century scrolls of George Ripley (Shuker, 2004).

In Malaysia, stories that were investigated by explorer Stewart Wavell in 1951 revealed that huge, golden serpents known locally as the ular tedong or "giant serpents" occupied water bodies in the Pahang state (Shuker, 1995). With small, overlapping scales and rounded horns, speculated to have nostrils at the end to allow them to breathe while remaining submerged, these serpents bear similarities to dragons and specifically, the lindworm, for both have striking, shining scales and, more importantly, lair in water bodies. They are also believed to be born a dull colour that eventually develops into the fully-fledged golden luminescence of adulthood (Shuker, 1995). Though the linkage is at best tentative, it is interesting to keep in mind the similarities, as both creatures are phenotypically the same. When observed, no further than their necks or long, sinuous tails have been seen, although their bodies are believed to broaden out to allow for limbs. Though the ular tedong are theorised to be related to dinosaurs, it is not so hard to conceive the dragon family would fit in that same spectrum.

Peluda:
As the only survivor of the Great Flood (aside from the animals gathered on Noah's Ark), the peluda spends most of its time beside the rivers of France, as a reminder to itself of its victory. Coincidentally, a major river in the same region has been named Peluda, perhaps after its local residents (Nimoy, 1997).
Capable of breathing fire and spitting a sticky, venomous acid at its foes, the peluda is a fearless creature whose size was so great one particular peluda in the river Huisne flooded the banks on either side of the river every time it submerged (Shuker, 2004). Lacking wings, the peluda is earth-bound. However, the backs of these dragons are covered in poisonous spines and shaggy green fur (Nigg, 2002)- these spines can literally shoot out at anything that strays a little too close (Shuker, 2004). The peluda has four legs, a reptilian face and feet resembling those of a terrapin. Ironically, the European dragons strength is the peluda's downfall; the only weak spot of the peluda is its tail, which if cut off, kills the dragon instantly (Shuker, 2004).

Puk:
Similar in physical makeup to the small dragonet, the puk lives around residential areas and is considered lucky for it brings wealth to wherever it lairs (Cooper, 1992).

Salamander:
The small, four footed salamander (or salamandra [White, 1969]) possesses the most bizarre nature of all the dragons. Though usually diminutive in size, some (extant, amphibious) salamanders have been reported to grow to an incredible 2.4 m (8 ft) in length, though this is exceedingly rare (theshadowlands.net, 2004). Salamanders are very strong and untouchable by fire, and can usually be found lairing at the foot of volcanoes or seeking out the forges of blacksmiths. Because they extinguish fires, blacksmiths hunt these creatures when sighted around their forge to ensure the protection of their work (Nigg, 2002). The salamander itself is spotted and frequently portrayed in art with a line of stars down its back, and very cold- it is believed they seek out the heat to ease this perpetual freeze.
The 16th century Italian artist Benvenuto Cellini wrote in the "Life of Benvenuto Cellini" how, as a child, his father had spotted a salamander in the fireplace one evening and excitedly pointed the little dragon out to Cellini and his sister. After Cellini had had a good look, his father boxed him over the ear but, while soothing his child, explained; "My dear child, I do not give you that blow for any fault you have committed, but that you may recollect that the little creature you see in the fire is a salamander... (Bullfinch, year unknown, p. 333)."
The salamander is supposed to secrete a milky substance from its body, which resists the fire; according to Aristotle and Pliny, the salamander not only is immune to the flames but actively extinguishes them (Bullfinch, year unknown). The substance secreted from the salamanders body is known as "salamander's wool" (Nigg, 2002), a fire-resistant fabric that can be spun into clothes or envelopes to protect valuable objects (Bullfinch, year unknown). Because of this, Marco Polo once argued the salamander was not an animal but merely a substance, however it is suspected this fabric was actually the mineral asbestos, which was able to be sewn into cloth. The Emperor of India, Prester John and Pope Alexander III were among a few to have obtained a garment made from this precious substance. "This Salemandre berith wulle, of which is made cloth and gyrdles that may not brenne in the fyre." (Caxton, 1481, as quoted in White, 1969, p. 184.)
When a salamander climbs a tree, poison leaks from its skin and as the liquid seeps into the tree, the poison will infect the fruit and kill those who eat it; similarly, a pig infected by the same substance will live a normal life, but anyone who later eats the pig will grow sick (prior to inevitable death, the skin of an infected person develops a rash, shrivels, and their hair becomes thin and falls out [Shuker, 2004]) and die (Nigg, 2002). Salamanders can also infect water; 4 000 soldiers and 2 000 horses in India led by Alexander the Great were believed to have died after drinking from water that a salamander had fallen into (Shuker, 2004).
The salamander was believed to take some time to coat itself with this milky liquid; while hibernating during winter, salamanders are vulnerable and have been captured while sleeping. One particular salamander, having woken up only moments prior to being cast into a fire, had only a limited time to properly protect itself. As a result, the little dragon came out with a badly burnt tail and feet (Bullfinch, year unknown).

The salamander has been associated with witches, and the crackling of fire was once feared to be the sound of a salamander casting a curse over people and their land. The salamander was believed to be a physical representation of the playful nature of fire to alchemists, and this dragon was a recurring image in heraldry as a symbol of true courage (Nigg, 2002).
In "Night Thoughts", Dr Young compared a man not inspired by the beauty of the night sky to a salamander unaffected by the flames:

O, what a genuis must inform the skies!
And is Lorenzo's salamander-heart
Cold and untouched amid these sacred fires?

The pyrallis (also pyragones or pyrausta) closely resembles the salamander- insect-sized and with a chromatic, bronze sheen, the small creatures resemble an insectoid dragon with four legs and filmy, transparent wings (Shuker, 2004). The pyrallis is native to Cyprus and like the salamander, it dances in the heart of the burning fire, usually with others of its kind. Unlike the salamander however, the pyrallis depends directly on the fire for, should these tiny dragons stray too far from the flames, they expire (Shuker, 2004).

Scytale:
Preferring to spend its days lounging beneath the sun, the scytale (or scitalis) is a sluggish dragon famed for its hide (Nigg, 2002; White, 1969). Its scales are covered with beautiful, hypnotic markings that cause any onlooker to stop and stare in wonder at the intricate designs patterned over its back (Nigg, 2002), to which it owes its name scytale, from scitulus, meaning elegant (White, 1969). The scytales glowing skin is shed in winter to maintain the burning light of its scales, to be replaced by vibrant new skin colours and patterns that change annually, so that no two hides are alike.
As it is very slow, the scytale relies on its beautiful colours to attract prey; once it has ensnared a victim with its seductive appearance it attacks with its hot bite that is so fiery anyone bitten literally bursts into flames (Nigg, 2002; White, 1969). On the scytale shedding its skin, Lucan wrote on the Aphrodite of the dragon world:

And the Scytale herself, even now in the lands of the hoarfrost,
Is about to slough off her spot-speckled skin (White, 1969, p. 176).

Like the amphisbaena, the scytale has also been sighted in the heat of North Africa (Nigg, 2002), where it prefers the warmer climate and can soak up ample sun.

Tazelworm:
With the body of a long worm and the head and forelegs (few have been reported to have hindlegs also [Shuker, 2004]) of a cat, tazelworms (also spelt tatzelworm) have a fierce personality, attacking anything that crosses their path (Dragon Fantastic, 2001). Their scales are rumored to be so thick blades cannot pierce their hide, and the acidic breath of a tazelworm is noxious and lethal to other animals. Also known as the "clawed worm" or Stollenwurm, they are serpentine in form with long coils that aid in their supreme ability to jump metres in a single leap. Roughly 1.2- 1.5 m (4- 5 ft) long (Shuker, 2004), these dragons feast on smaller prey, jumping down at them from trees.
Tazelworms generally prefer to live in dark holes in higher altitudes, such as mountain tops, and some have been rumoured to be lairing in the Swiss Alps. Due to their alpine habitat, tazelworms are also called the "Tunnel Worm" and "Mountain Stump".
Tazelworm sightings were reported in Austria, Germany and Switzerland in the 1920s, and the most recent tazelworm sighting occurred in 1954 in Italy. A few Sicilian farmers claim to have killed the tazelworm as it had been eating their stock and was seen as a danger to their livelihood (Shuker, 2004).
In their most primal form, the tazelworm is held in great fear for the speed at which they can strike from an unseen place (Cooper, 1992), and there is a strong sense of mystique surrounding the beast, for the dragon borders on zoological possibility and superstitious myth.

Western Dragon:
Of the European world, the serpentine, six-limbed, fire-breathing Western dragon is the most prolific. Despite being completely outside the natural biological scheme of events, belief in the dragon was highly common in the past, especially during overly superstitious times.
The dragon was conceived from mythological tales of the revered and loathed snake, to which they have always been indirectly likened. The very word dragon (female version: dragoness [White, 1969]) was originally derived from a large serpent or snake in mythology, from the Greek drakon (female version: drakaina), and also derkomai (Fontenrose, 1959) or derkein, a serpent whose seeing gaze is like lightning (Byrne [ed], 1979).
During the Middle Ages (1100- c. 1340 AD [Encarta, 2003]) the dragon (or Draco) had reached its zenith. Featuring in bestiaries alongside other creatures both fantastical and real, they were known as "the biggest of all serpents, in fact of all living things on earth" (White, 1969, p. 165). The Western dragons strength lies in its tail; at the end of which they have a heavy club or spike, believed to be derived from the scorpion's poisonous telson sting which was greatly feared. Though the dragon is reptilian in appearance they have sinuous, long coils heavily plated with thick scales. These scales (which, when raised, shine like silver) are highly sought-after (Byrne [ed], 1979) and are notorious for their impenetrable strength. As a result, hunters or slayers would dispatch Western dragons with a lance down the throat (a tactic that originated with the Greek god Apollo) or with poison (Fontenrose, 1959). Their teeth are also removed for their value by hunters who track and kill dragons as they struggle with elephants, one of their greatest enemies (Byrne [ed], 1979).
Dragons have sinister, slitted eyes that appear to be constantly scheming some unknown, wicked plan. Their small mouths (White, 1969) are lined with triple rows of sharp teeth (Byrne [ed], 1979), their taloned hands with devastating claws, and their heads and back with horns and spines. The wings of a dragon, as portrayed in art, are usually rather small and appear useless, though records credit dragons with massive bat-like wings that go so far as to darken the sky, perhaps both physically and also by manner of oppression. Their wings are hypnotic and often have "eye spots" which, as the name suggests, are eye-like markings that when spread, trick and confuse the enemy into thinking they are surrounded (Shuker, 2004). Interestingly, dragons do not bite but rather, eat their prey by licking them with their rough tongue (Mermier, 1992).
The back of a dragon is laced with sharp spines and plates, and males of the species have golden, full-bristled beards. Dragons have the forked tongue of their snake ancestors, and are a yellowish, bronze-red colour in reflection of their heated nature, though red, grey and black dragons with green underbellies are also common (Byrne [ed], 1979). While the more lithe, serpentine dragons will often attack elephants and kill them by suffocating them (Allen & Griffiths, 1979), the fiercer dragons lairing in the mountains have heavier armour and will often venture into the waters to fish (Byrne [ed], 1979). These creatures are both flightless or able to fly; native earth-bound dragons represent the master of the ground, and an obstacle that must be overcome to win the guarded treasure they most certainly have stashed away (Cooper, 1992). Because their very nature drives them to feast on farm animals, maidens and demand human sacrifices on a regular basis, dragons generally played a large part in the sagas of heroes and conquerors, in the legends of Gods saints, and in knight-errantry and heraldry (Cooper, 1992).
The English term, drake, or fire-drake (from the Anglo-Saxon draca or Latin draco, which is similar to the flying dragon [Allen & Griffiths, 1979]), applies to those dragons which have the freedom of flight over their land-dwelling cousins. These dragons are generally the most feared, for their aerial attacks often leave villages and countrysides in ruins, and in the skies they are untouchable. Notorious for their hunger for human flesh, these dragons can be up to 18 m (60 ft) in length, and make their homes in secluded places where they will only venture out to hunt (Dragon Fantastic, 2001).
The dragon is heavily associated with fire, a greedy and consuming force (Davidson, 1964), and frequently appear as fire-breathing creatures of the land and sky. Euripides describes the dragon as breathing forth fire and slaughter; in the Old Testament Moses has fiery serpents and Isaiah a fiery flying serpent (Cooper, 1992). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes a terrible event of 793 AD (Dickinson, 1979, p. 19), where:

Here dire forewarnings were come over the land of the Northumbrians and sadly terrified the people. There were tremendous lightnings, and fiery dragons were seen fighting in the air.

Their nature and elemental alignment also reflects this greed, for the Western dragon is infamous for jealously protecting hoards of gold relentlessly, as detailed in many contemporary and ancient folktales, such as the story of Beowulf and the dragon. This fiery splendour is exemplified with the Norse Firedrake, a term that explicitly applies to fire-breathing dragons, which Beowulf described as, "the ravager of the darksome night" (Cooper, 1992, p.99). Synonymous with their bestial nature, the blood of a dragon is an acidic substance that is so deadly a mere drop can kill instantly, however if this blood is mixed with honey and oil, it can restore eyesight and hearing (Nigg, 2002).
Western dragons are said to wear a bright red stone called a Draconce, or Dragon-stone, on their foreheads; this gem (which also contained curative powers) was often sought after for the luck it endowed on the owner if it was removed before the dragon's death (Nigg, 2002). If it was removed after, however, the stone would become useless and turn black. (See the Dragon Properties essay for more on the Draconce.)
Both of these highly unstable properties are essentially a dangerous gamble on the borderline of good and evil, and represent both the untamable forces of nature and mankind's lustful attraction to such exotic things, perhaps also the unknown and unchartered darkness that lurks within the human mind.

In The Elizabethan Zoo, Edward Topsell writes of the dragon:

...dragons doe abide in deepe Caves and hollow places of the earth, and that some-times when they perceive moistnes in the ayre, they come out of theyr holes, and beating the ayre with their winges, as it were with the strokes of oares, they forsake the earth and flie aloft... dragons are the watchfull-keepers of Treasures.

Dragons come in many sizes and types within the Western frame, including:

     - The dragonet is a scaled-down variant of the Western dragon, ranging in size from finger length to 30 cm (one foot). Originating in Switzerland during the Middle Ages (Korenblat, 2004), dragonets mirror the appearance of the Western dragon exactly; from legs and wings, to claws, horns and spines and the ability to breathe fire. The size of a dragonet belies their power as they are extraordinarily deadly (Dragon Fantastic, 2001). These dragons gather and hunt in groups of four to five and live in mountain peaks, preferring the cooler air. Dragonets have been known to kill and eat the offspring of Western dragons, taking their place in the nest for some time in order to gain a free meal from an unsuspecting parent.
Like their larger kin, the blood of a dragonet is a highly toxic substance; a solitary dragonet reported to be roaming around Mount Pilatus, near Wilser in Switzerland, was slain by a man who'd been promised his freedom (after being banished for manslaughter) should he destroy the serpentine threat. He succeeded, but died soon after as he raised his sword in triumph and splattered himself with the dragonet's blood (Dragon Fantastic, 2001). This story was believed to be inspired by pterodactyl skeletons found near Mount Pilatus (Shuker, 2004), however this seems unlikely as there is nothing to suggest the bones were discovered prior to this story, or that the discoverers would have been able to visualise mere skeletal remains as belonging to a mighty flying reptile.
There was a man of that Town whose name was Winckelriedt, who was banished for man-slaughter: this man promised, if he might have his pardon, and be restored again to his former Inheritance, that he would combate with that dragon and by God's help destroy him: which thing was granted to him with great joyfulness. Wherefore he was recalled home, and in the presence of many people went forth to fight with the Dragon, whom he slew and overcame, whereat for joy he lifted up his sword imbrued in the Dragon's bloud, in token of victory, but the bloud distilled down from his sword upon his body, and caused him instantly to fall down dead.
(Edward Topsell quoted in Dickinson, 1979, p. 38.)

     - There is very little difference between the wyvern and its six-limbed relative; the two are so closely interlinked that history and mythology hardly separates them. Essentially, the wyvern has the same personality and properties of the six-limbed Western dragon, their only difference being the two front legs that wyverns lack. The wyvern's two legs resemble an eagle's talons (Cooper, 1992), and their wings usually end in two or three fingers which they use in place of forearms, while their impenetrable back and tail are barbed. Of the Western dragons, these are the real lords of the sky, as their expert flying is unmatched by the six-limbed variants of their race. They can also breathe fire, and often ravage the land with their flame.
Associated with the serpent, the wyvern is also known as the Saxon Wivere, a serpent (Cooper, 1992). As a symbol of alchemy, the wyvern represents matter in its original (untransmutated) form. Wyverns appear frequently in heraldry, and are perhaps the most symbolic form of the European dragon (Shuker, 2004). Found throughout Europe, they are famed in Mordiford, in Herefordshire, England, where a baby wyvern befriended a young girl. A painting of this wyvern adorned the Mordiford church until the wyvern's man-eating reputation preceded it and forced it to be removed in c. 1811. In previous years wyverns had been associated with Satan in folklore and general belief, an opinion that was voiced in the Flemish manuscript dating from 1448, the Liber Floridus (Shuker, 2004).
As demonstrated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle quote above, wyverns fight one another as do many of their draconic siblings, going so far as to take pleasure in slaying others of their own kind. Because of their bloodlust, they are often depicted as a symbol of envy, famine, war and hatred (Dragon Fantastic, 2001).

Generally speaking, the dragon is a heterogeneous creature; dragons come in a range of sizes and the different types contrast markedly from one another, creating a rich diversity that is unmatched in the fantastical and real animal kingdom.

Worm:
Of the European dragons, the worm (also wyrm, wurm, or serpent "that great worm" [Cooper, 1992]) is the ancient ancestor of the famous Western dragon. With ties to the life-bearing element water, and by lairing deep in the earth guarding precious gems and gold (some worms wrap themselves around hills, such as the famous Lambton Worm whose coils formed Worm Hill [Nigg, 2002]), the worms natural ties reflect its paternal role. As an ambivalent figure, the worm has since been associated with the underworld and the renewal of life (Cooper, 1992; Davidson, 1964); some worms shed their skin, and if a worm is cut in half, the two ends rejoin (White, 1969).
Due to their name, there may be some initial confusion when distinguishing these serpentine dragons from the smaller, common garden worm. However the serpent dragon is layered with steel-hard scales synonymous with dragon kind, and worms are also capable of breathing fire and, most notably, grow to a massive size. On top of this, they have long fangs and, for the few with limbs, also have deadly claws. As they spend most of their time beneath the earth their eyesight is quite poor, though they often successfully rejuvenate their own vision by eating fennel or (for those that can) by shedding their skin (White, 1969). Except in the case of elephants the worm is fearless; after restricting the elephant with its coils and inflicting grievous damage, the elephant falls over and crushes the worm to death (Allen & Griffiths, 1979). This strange animosity was a trait that continued with later dragons.
The worm's scales are so hard and thick they cannot be pierced; instead only the soft throat and underbelly can be attacked. To slay a worm, spiked armour must be worn; the young John Lambton, while out fishing one day, caught the famous Lambton worm which terrorized the village of Washington in County Durham, England. The worm was killed while Lambton was under the protection of such armour.

~ Aitvaras
~ Amphisbaena
~ Basilisk/ Cockatrice
~ Hydra
~ Lindworm
~ Peluda
~ Puk
~ Salamander
~ Scytale
~ Tazelworm
~ Western Dragon
   - Drake
   - Dragonet
   - Wyvern
~ Worm

Of the animal kingdom, the European or Western dragon is the king of evil, the opposition to light and the chaotic counterpart to order. Though the dragon has plagued mankind since early times as a physical manifestation of sickness, war and death, the dragon has somehow, despite standing for nothing short of our greatest foe, instilled a modified form of respected awe in the minds of many. Of course, with a fiery breath, massive teeth, sharp claws and an armoured, whip-like tail, it is not hard to see how such a dangerous creature would demand nothing short of our respect and fear.
Early dragons appear in ancient Greek myths, such as the serpent Python who was created by the goddess Hera to chase Leto (Graves, 1985), who had lain with Hera's husband Zeus, or the dragon Illuyankas who fought against the Weather God (Fontenrose, 1959). These, along with many more, were frequently portrayed with malicious intent and satiated their battlelust with fervent vigour- a personality trait that has, on a more bestial level, been mirrored exactly with later dragons.

Dragonkind essentially evolved as a fantastical elaboration of the ancient snake or serpent (dragons are absent from countries without snakes, such as Ireland and New Zealand1); their serpentine bodies are a continual reflection of their ancestors, and since early times the two have been closely related. This relationship may have began with "anguis", the star Draco ("Dragon"), named so because the word is ascribed to serpents who are continually bent and crooked (White, 1969). Snakes were also known to "glide" with their serpentine coils (colubrosus), which symbolically and quite literally was likely to have been the starting point of the dragon's ascention into the sky as a flying beast (White, 1969).
Elements of humanity were often present in early dragons, as seen in Typhon (Fontenrose, 1959), which would explain a great deal of mankind's attraction to the dragon, for it possibly originated from the carnal, darker part of our minds. As the dragon continued to adapt and remove itself from any conceivable animal group, it further threaded itself into its own unique sphere of existence. Still, there remained something familiar within the dragon which mankind perhaps recognised; some subconscious, forbidden aspect of ourselves that, as the dragon further evolved into its own creature, became more exotic and alien.
This is opitimised with the dragon's Draconce or Dragon-stone, the precious, luck-giving gem dragons wear on their foreheads (Nigg, 2002), and the large treasure hoards they so famously guard.
The earliest definition of 'dragon' in modern culture described "a huge serpent or snake; a python", and indeed this is true, as the dragon has long been considered the largest not only of serpents, but of all living creatures on Earth (White, 1969). The word dragon itself, originally from the Greek draconta or drakon, (later to be turned into the Latin draco), consistently pertained to any large mythological snake or serpent, though in recent years the term has been refined to refer explicitly to the six-limbed, fire-breathing dragon.

Because the dragon first began as a snake or serpent, its evolving form has broadened the dragon whole to include a wide range of family members, from the early worm dragons; including the original worm, the lindworm, tazelworm and amphisbaena, to the chimerical cockatrice and its preceding basilisk. The wyvern, six-limbed dragon and dragonet were also a product of change. Of the European dragons, the Greek multi-headed hydra2 alone was born independently from the rest of its family- though it came directly from the primal serpent like the worm dragons, its seems to have originated from a single myth (Hercules and the Lernean Swamp Hydra) and its multiple, self-producing snake heads have always set it apart from these earliest worm dragons. It wasn't until later years that the hydra was really classed as a member of the infamous dragon family.
Dragons eventually went on to dominate the serpent world; typical Western dragons (fire-breathers with six limbs) are known as the kings of all large serpents, and the smaller, extremely deadly basilisk was given the title as the king of all small serpents (Bullfinch, year unknown). In Norway, a grand meeting or gathering of snakes known as the ormetinget, taking place annually on Midsummer's Eve (or near Michaelmass) in May, decides the ruler of the snakes as they battle one another for the title of drage (dragon [Grambo, 1964-5]). Forming a circle, the snakes face one another and hiss and spit loudly until one is forced into the middle, after which the other snakes will bite and poison the hapless creature until it is reduced to nothing but a mound of flesh, which gradually hardens to become a precious stone called the adderstone (Grambo, 1964-5). The snakes then flee and drink from the nearest water source; the first to return and bite the adderstone is proclaimed the drage (Grambo, 1964-5).

The immense variety of forms in the European dragon is best appreciated when comparing the creatures directly. From more "primitive" reptilian forms such as the worm (A), salamander (B) and peluda (C), develop more derived, "advanced" forms such as the wyvern (D), western dragon (E) and dragonet (F). Finally there are chimerical dragons, a mix of several beasts, and in this category we find the basilisk (G) and tazelworm (H).[Picture Top]

It is general knowledge dragons were well known before the Middle Ages (which began in ~1100 AD [Encarta, 2003]), but the extent to which they played a part in classical society and culture before this time is perhaps a little more vague. Famed for their appearances on the prows of Viking ships, dragons were also a symbol for esoteric aspects of worldly and otherworldly life, appearing in one of the largest collection of runic graffiti yet found at Maes Howe, a prehistoric (and re-established in the ninth century AD by the Norse) burial mound at Orkney, off Scotland's north coast. The runes speak of a walrus, serpent and naturally, a dragon (Bahn, 1997). Dragons were held not in reverence (unless we count fearful awe as a form of reverence), but in terror and loathing for the sinful darkness they had long been associated with, and for the greed and lust they inspired in mankind. This attitude is reinforced in tales such as Beowulf and the dragon, and was justified time and again by numerous dragon sightings which foretold of disaster on a large-scale, such as the sighting of 795 AD:

Fearful lightings and dragons blazing in a dreadful manner were seen to fly through the air, signs which foreshadowed a mighty famine (Whitlock, 1983, p. 17).

Though in previous years the dragon had always been associated with evil and darkness, it wasn't until the Middle Ages that this began to evolve. Now, dragons were seen not always seen as a great, untamable beast that would leave a fiery path where and when it chose. Though they had often been fought and destroyed in the past by numerous slayers, warriors and heroes, with the rise of the Christian church mankind was given hope against this great evil and began to challenge the master of fire, land and sky which had plagued the European world for so long. Rather than be the great, dominating oppressor of earlier years, new hope had been lit and they became, instead, an obstacle to redemption. Submission to evil was no longer a necessity.
Because of their dark nature, it is no suprise that the dragon's linkages were with burial sites, where they were frequently shown as the guardian of the dead and the burial mound (Davidson, 1964), for their obsessive drive to hoard and guard makes this beast an effective keeper and watcher. They were depicted repeatedly as fire-breathers, going so far as to not only breathe fire from their mouth, but on occasion to make houses and villages combust simply by being in close proximity (Whitlock, 1983).
In contrast, dragons- particularly the worm type- were linked to water, such as the lindworm who lives in water bodies (Shuker, 2004). This is symbolic of the worm's paternal role as the first form of the European dragon, as water is traditionally a life-bringing force. The hydra too is linked to the aquatic element, often lairing near wet areas such as springs, swamps or lakes (White, 1969).

As previously discussed, there are many dragon types and forms within the Western sphere. There is often little physical difference between the serpent dragon and the snake, however dragons are distinguished by the crown or fins they have atop their heads, or the beards fringing their chins (Byrne [ed], 1979). Other dragons are easily separated from the natural snake by the presence of legs or wings, often both; regardless of their morphology, all dragons can be quickly identified for their special abilities and properties.
Dragon body parts hold curative potential and through consumption, often endow mankind with supernatural abilities. This was exemplified with the blood of the Norse dragon Fafnir, whose slayer Sigurd roasted the dead dragon's heart and, after testing the blood to see if the meat was tender, instantly understood the language of animals (Guerber, 1909). As mentioned earlier, dragons wear a valuable luck-filled stone on their foreheads (Nigg, 2002), and dragon's teeth planted into the ground will reap a crop of battle-ready soldiers (Couch, 1997). However, their body parts are not always advantageous, for their blood (despite being of benefit to Sigurd) is an acidic, flesh-eating substance that can kill when it touches the skin (Dragon Fantastic, 2001), and the dragon-stone on their forehead is readily cursed if removed post-mortem rather than before the slaying (Nigg, 2002).

Despite the dragons kingship over all other serpents, the dragon does not come without its enemies in the animal kingdom. The panther, as a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ (Mermier, 1992), breaks the dragons stranglehold over the wild animals which it keeps in fear by eating a large meal. The panther or pantera then goes for a long sleep and, when it wakes, roars and emits a sweet odour from its mouth which the animals follow (Baxter, 1998; Mermier, 1992). Only the dragon is left motionless in its underground den, numb with shock, while outside the animals rejoice in their freedom and follow the panther wherever it goes (Baxter, 1998; Mermier, 1992). The burnt bones of an elephant, another of the dragons enemies, also give off a sweet scent that causes serpents and dragons to flee; nam et ossa et pellis de elephante in quocumque loco vel domo fuerint incensa, statim odor eorum expellit inde et fugat serpentes, or "the bones and hide of the elephant, when burnt in any place or house, at once give off an odour so that serpents flee" (Baxter, 1998, p. 56).
The dragon and the stag also share an animosity- when the stag sees a serpent, it fills the serpents lair with water from its mouth and thus forces the serpent to reveal itself, after which the stag crushes it with its hooves. This is also symbolic of the Lord Jesus and the Devil, as when Christ recognises a possessed man he drives out the demon with his words of holy truth; cuius non potest antiquus draco suffere sermones, which translates "the old dragon which cannot stand his words" (Baxter, 1998; Mermier, 1992).
The basilisk dragon is enemies with the cock or rooster whose crow sends it into convulsions, and the weasel who, not only is immune to the dragon's deadly gaze, but by protecting itself through consumption of a rue plant, bites the basilisk to death (Bullfinch, year unknown).

Despite romanticisation of the poor, misjudged dragon who never harmed anyone until the tyrannical church came to power, this rather novel idea couldn't be farther from the truth. The dragon's strong mythological imagery existed prior to the gathering of books that collectively make up the Old Testament, and the dragon's role in the Bible, despite commonly held belief, was the result of adaptation of pre-existing dragon mythology.
The dragon within the Bible is a symbol of political opposition to God and His people, represented with the fierce Leviathan and his inevitable downfall. When the Devil or Satan began to take form during the New Testament, the dragon's theological position followed suit.
In no other religious tomes does the dragon feature so prominently as it does in Christian and Jewish texts. Though not outstanding in Christian and Jewish belief as a creature itself, the dragon represents the issue of evil, the essence of the devil and mankind's greatest enemy. The dragon is not something that exists in the natural world, but remains one of the Bible's foremost metaphors for evil in its many forms.

Prior to organised religion, the capacity for religion has existed almost as long as humanity was capable of abstract thought. One early explanation, forwarded by E.B. Tylor in 1871, was the theory of animism (Demerath & Hammond, 1969). This dictated an early belief in spirits living inside the body and appearing during dreams, only to escape at the moment of death, prompting a need for remaining family members to appease the dead. Dreams, reflections in a still pool of water, and the feeling of being watched or déjŕ vu all seemed to reinforce the existence of hidden spirits. Tylor's theory is no longer accepted today, as it deals with theological social issues, rather than its origins (Demerath & Hammond, 1969).
Religion appears to date back some 5 000 to 10 000 years, with archeological evidence pointing to special sacred sites, burial rites and the calling of spiritual hunting aids from Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon people (Demerath & Hammond, 1969). Australian Aboriginal people also had spiritual and religious beliefs, with 6 000- 8 000 year old rock art depicting the Rainbow Serpent, a highly religious figure (Tacon, et al., 1996). However, how beliefs like these came into existence remains somewhat of a mystery, even if remnants of said beliefs linger today.

Like Tylor, F. Max Müller was chasing the origins of religion. With the idea of naturism, Müller pushed forth the idea that religious beliefs have their basis in the natural world, especially in nature's great events such as storms, earthquakes and so on (Demerath & Hammond, 1969). Without any understanding of the rational explanation for these phenomena, primitive society turned to divine beings to seek their protection against potential disaster. Müller suggested that people saw the spiritual reflected in the natural; there was a heavenly system closely mirrored on earth. A person can be thrown or beaten by another, therefore when a man in a boat is being jostled by the waves, unseen hands are stirring the tempest waters. It takes only a short mental step from linking the natural agents or beings to gods, and Müller assumed this is what man did (Demerath & Hammond, 1969).

Neither Müller nor Tylor discounted the influences of one another's theories; for example, the animists brought into consideration the influence of nature over early man, and naturists kept in mind humanity's expression of themselves through dreams (Demerath & Hammond, 1969). However, being the first of their kind, animism and naturism suffered theoretical problems, such as the assumption of a linear religious development, and neither party claimed to explain the basis for all religion (Demerath & Hammond, 1969).

Christian and Jewish theology follow a monotheistic God, which is strikingly different to the multiple spirits suggested in Müller or Tylor's explanations regarding religious origins, though spirits- as angels or demons- do hold a place in Biblical passages. Dragons were present throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments, and appeared in then-present culture and society, most notably as the serpent.

Throughout the Bible, the dragon (or tannin [Fishbane, 1998]) becomes interchangeable with the snake or adder, appearing in Psalm 91:13: "The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample underfoot." However, the same passage also reads "thou shall tread upon the young lion and the adder" in other versions of the Bible. Psalm 91:13 in the Douay version states: "Thou shalt tread upon the adder and the basilisk" (Smith, 1989). While those taking the passages at face value may count this as a discrepancy or erroneous, this is in fact not so, as an entirely different point is reinforced here. It is not explicitly the dragon itself that is the enemy here, but the strings that have been attached to it through pagan religions. The dragon is endowed with heavy metaphysical imagery throughout the Bible, many of which stem from pre-existing mythology. This is not to discount the validity of the texts, but was well-placed adaptation of symbols existing at that time- many of which live on today.
Throughout the Hellenistic world, snakes were common as pagan symbols, as representative of the immortals and sexual union with the gods (Bauckham, 1993). Greece, Western Asia, Egypt and India were rife with mention of dragon combat (Fontenrose, 1959), and serpents were frequently associated with water, such as the she-dragon or drakaina slain by Apollo, or Vritra, who encircled the waters of chaos (Fontenrose, 1959). We are inclined to remember the snakes of Medusa's hair, or the serpent who was a symbol of the cults of Asklepios and Isis (Bauckham, 1993).

Though dates and sources regarding the origin of the Old Testament are still not known with great accuracy, it was compiled from around 900 BC to 100 BC (Bauckham, 1993). In their present form, these early books can be traced back to a time of Babylonian Captivity, around 586-538 BC, showing pieces of Canaanite, Babylonian, Iranian, and importantly, Hellenistic influences, with Canaanite being dominate. It was during the Hellenistic period between 800 BC- 338 BC (stark.kent.edu, 2004), the dragon became the dragon, shedding the skin of the serpent or snake, to become independent in its own right.

The dragon Leviathan (Islamic nun [Cooper, 1992]) is possibly derived from the Ugaritic Lotan who was conquered by Baal or Anat in a supernatural dual. Lotan (also Litan) was "the twisting serpent... the crooked serpent" and "the dragon... the crooked serpent", which is strikingly similar to Isaiah 27:1: "Leviathan that wriggling, twisting dragon... the monster that lives in the sea" (see Fig. 1). However, we can not place Leviathan's origins as entirely Canaanite, as we must remember it is difficult to determine how influential the Canaanite myths were during this time, or to what extent they were known (Bauckham, 1993).

Dragons existing during this time included the Persian azhi, which were the dragons and demons (Curtis, 1993). Such beasts had no regard for humanity, were the opposition to good, and despised by the gods. It is in doubt whether these had any influence on the Biblical dragons, as there is nothing to suggest they were known so far abroad. However, the lack of influence from Zoroastrian mythology, including dragons such as Azhi Dahaka (also Zahak) or Angra Mainyu (Ahriman) (Curtis, 1993) hardly seems to matter, when we consider the numerous tales of heroes and gods battling dragons which existed during this time, including Heracles and the Hydra, and Apollo and Python (Bauckham, 1993). This point would only reinforce a universal evil outlook on dragons.

The Bible has a strong use of metaphysical and mythological imagery to portray a genuinely held religious belief. Passages involving dragons have a strong imagery, usually of evil arriving as the crooked serpent (Bauckham, 1993). However, we must also keep in mind the historical emphasis of such verses, for not everything has a singular meaning, and low mythology is often used to explain a historical occurrence, in a way that is no less credible to readers. In Isaiah 51:9-10, God's triumph over Egypt at the Exodus is depicted in association with "the sea-monster", while remaining no less historically and spiritually valid: "Use your power to save us; use it as you did in ancient times. It was you that cut up the sea monster Rahab to pieces."
Rahab or "Raham" is another name for Leviathan, with Rahab holding the same meaning as the "twisting serpent" (Bauckham, 1993). He is referred to as Leviathan, "that wriggling, twisting dragon", and "the monster that lives in the sea", Isaiah 27:1. The name Rahab meant "pride", and pertained to the "God of gods", the defiant Syrian king in Daniel 11:36, who boasted he was "greater than any god, superior even to the Supreme God."

The dragon or Leviathan is further referred to in political contexts, and is seen as the manifestation of evil in the politicians or governmental parties that oppose God. In speaking of Babylonian Captivity, during which many of the Old Testament books were gathered, the Babylonian king is likened to the sea monster (also tanninim [Fishbane, 1998]) or Rahab, the Leviathan, in Jeremiah 51:34: "The king of Babylonia cut
   Jerusalem up
   and ate it.
   He emptied the city like a jar;
   like a monster he swallowed
   it."
In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, God speaks of the King of Egypt as a crocodile that will be punished and have a hook put through him. In Ezekiel 29:3-5 God details the Egyptian King's punishment, firstly calling him a "monster crocodile", and then goes into further detail: "You say that the Nile is yours and that you made it. I am going to put a hook through your jaw... then I will pull you up out of the Nile, with all the fish sticking to you. Your body will fall on the ground and be left unburied. I will give it to the birds and animals for food." Then in Ezekiel 32:2-8: "You act like a lion among the nations, but you are more like a crocodile splashing through a river. You muddy the water with your feet and pollute the rivers...." The same crocodiles were interchangeable with river dragons written about by Ezekiel, "the great dragons that lie in the midst of the rivers" (Smith, 1989).

The crocodile was not the only creature to become substituted with the dragon. Forgetting the four beasts of Daniel, or those accompanying the dragon in Revelation (as discussed further down), many un-classed, dragon-like animals appear in the Bible. In the story of disobedient Jonah and the whale (Jonah 1:17): "At the Lord's command a large fish swallowed Jonah, and he was inside the fish for three days and three nights." There was no specific term which referred to a whale exactly; the Hebrew word "whale" translated also meant "monster" and "dragon" (Smith, 1989). The word for a large fish was simply dag, which gives no detail as to the animal's specifics. The fish that swallowed Jonah was nothing like the whale we know- rather, it had a dog-like snout with long ears, a crest, and a long neck (Boardman, 1987). The slim body had a pair of clawed legs similar to those of a lion with a long, scaled tail. Jonah's fish also had wings, rather than fins, and in art was sometimes depicted with a deep chest. Often, the fish was shown with a spiny ridge running the length of its back, a beard on its chin, and sharp teeth protruding from its maw. Despite looking nothing like a fish, the dag was still aquatic, in its possession of gills beneath its chin and on its elbows (Boardman, 1987).

In texts following the tradition of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the dragon continues its representation of political opposition to God. The prideful dragon who seeks to become like God in Psalms of Solomon 2:25-29 is markedly like the Roman Pompey, who defeated Jerusalem. In Apocalypse of Elijah 3:33, the same imagery translates to the Antichrist, the last political enemy of God and His people, who "will perish like a serpent" (Baukham, 1993). The basilisk, which also appeared in the Bible like its literary descendant the cockatrice (Smith, 1989), was associated with the Antichrist, though not in Biblical texts (Cooper, 1992; Nigg, 2002). As mentioned above, the adder later took the place of the basilisk and cockatrice (Smith, 1989).
In Ladder of Jacob 6:13, we hear of God's judgment of the same last political opponent to God, similar to the aforementioned Isaiah 27:1: "And the Lord will pour out His wrath against Leviathan the sea-dragon; he will kill the lawless Falkon with the sword, because he will raise the wrath of the God of gods by his pride".

Like Rahab, Falkon was another name for Leviathan, which is a deviation of "crooked", a scarce Hebrew word (Baukham, 1993). In Isaiah 27:1, this name was translated into the Greek original of the Ladder of Jacob and then to the Slavonic Falkon (Baukham, 1993). However alongside the headstrong, politically-inclined demeanor of the dragon Leviathan, post-Biblical Jewish literature also conveys him simply as the sea dragon. Alongside the land-dweller Behemoth (and Ziz, the air power [Cooper, 1992]) who was made on the fifth day like Leviathan, he is the mightiest of God's creations, endowed with immense physical prowess. The dragon's fierce strength is spoken of extensively in Job 41:
"... Anyone who sees Leviathan loses courage and falls to the ground. When he is aroused, he is fierce; no one would dare to stand before him. No one can tear off his outer coat or pierce the armour he wears. His back is made of rows of shields, fastened together as hard as stone. Light flashes when he sneezes, and his eyes glow like the rising sun. Flames blaze from his mouth, and streams of sparks fly out. Smoke comes pouring out of his nose, like smoke from weeds burning under a pot. There is not a weak spot in his skin; it is as hard and unyielding as a millstone. There is no sword that can wound him; no spear or arrow or lance that can harm him. For him iron is as flimsy as straw, and bronze as soft as rotten wood. The scales on his belly are like jagged pieces of pottery; they tear up the muddy ground like a threshing sledge. He churns up the sea like boiling water and makes it bubble like a pot of oil. He looks down on even the proudest animals; he is the king of all wild beasts."
Limits were placed on the dragon, however, to stop him causing too much strife. The archangel Jaoel was sent to restrain him, "because [says Jaoel] through me is subjugated the attack and menace of every reptile" (Baukham, 1993, p. 191). [Top]

Behemoth, who is generally thought of as a hippopotamus but whose true identity is still open to debate, appears in the same Old Testament book of Job 40:15-19: "Look at the monster Behemoth; I created him and I created you. He eats grass like a cow, but what strength there is in his body, and what power there is in his muscles! His tail stands up like a cedar, and the muscles in his legs are strong. His bones are as strong as bronze, and his legs are like iron bars. The most amazing of all my creatures!"
It is interesting to note the idea that Behemoth may be some sort of dragon, which is argued because the description of a long tail is not compatible with the hippopotamus. The close associations with Leviathan have yielded this viewpoint, and the idea has not yet been dismissed. However, this appears unlikely as Behemoth sounds undeniably mammalian, and Leviathan and Behemoth are portrayed very differently from one another.

Originally there was a male and female Leviathan (and Behemoth), but had they produced offspring there would have been disaster, such was their strength. Not only would a population of Leviathans be unsustainable, they would only procreate once they had driven all other sea creatures from the ocean (Smith, 1989). So God castrated the male and slew the female, preserving her until the end time when she would be food for the holy people, as was written in Isaiah 27:1 (Fishbane, 1998). The walls of Jerusalem will then be decorated with the beauty of Leviathan's skin, as the glory of God's work in Isaiah 60:1-3 (Fishbane, 1998): "... The glory of the Lord is shining on you! ... On you the light of the Lord will shine... Nations will be drawn to your light." Leviathan was first given a double attribution by Rabbi Yohanan, who identified the Aramaic "sea gazelles" from tanninim, in Genesis 1:21: "So God created the great sea monsters (tanninim)". The word tanninim drew comments, after which Yohanan likened the monsters to the "wriggling, twisting dragon" tannin, of which two dragons called Leviathan were originally depicted.
Leviathan is known to have several heads, though the exact number is not specified. It would be safe to assume the number of heads is seven, as this number is symbolically important in Jewish tradition and is the same number as the dragon of Revelation (Bauckham, 1993). In Psalms 74:14: "You crushed the heads of the monster Leviathan." This again brings us back to Lotan, who also had several heads (Bauckham, 1993), albeit multiple-headed dragons were not unique to Ugaritic mythology, for example the Greek Hydra (Rose, 1965).

Leviathan was also to have disobeyed God when creation was still young, and the world was not yet finished. God told Leviathan, the Prince of the Sea (Yam [Fishbane, 1998]) or Rahab in Job 26:12, to swallow the sea waters (Fishbane, 1998). The sea monster refused: "Master of the world, it is enough that I stay with my own [kind]" (Fishbane, 1998, p. 44). Leviathan was punished for his arrogance, as God would not have anything, "harmful or evil" (Isaiah 11:9) on Zion, God's sacred hill. "As the seas are full of water", Isaiah 11:9, God covered the Prince of the Sea once he was beaten. Today, the Jordan river passes down into the Great Sea until it reaches the mouth of Leviathan, who in Job 40:23: "He is not afraid of a rushing river; he is calm when the Jordan dashes his face" (Fishbane, 1998).

Taking Leviathan on at face value, his literal existence still eludes to political and even sociological imagery. Leviathan is kept alive despite his wicked strength and danger, until the end time when he will be slain by God and given as food to God's followers. Leviathan is destined to be divided and sold among the kena'aneha in Jerusalem, who are the honourable people of Earth, or God's people (Fishbane, 1998). Much like the defeat of God's last political opponent, Christ promises to have His enemies placed beneath His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25).


The unprecedented Jewish linkage between the dragon and the devil was made possible by the anticipated defeat of Leviathan in the end time, like the dragon of the New Testament in Revelation (Baukham, 1993). Further similarities lie with Leviathan's several heads, as in Psalms 74:14, like the many (seven) heads of the dragon in Revelation. Apocalyptic authors who wrote of the terror before the peace had a strong founding in present happenings of the time, therefore they were understood and validated in the hearts and minds of readers (Russell, 1977). However, the devil was far more important in Christian belief and opinion than in Jewish, as rabbis placed little emphasis on demonology (Russell, 1997).
Though evil and sin is spoken of in both the Old and New Testament, the devil did not flesh out completely until the New Testament, which began detailing events from 1 AD. This does not make the devil any less credible, as the devil is undeniable in contemporary Jewish and Christian theology (Russell, 1997). Time often gives shape to historical- and spiritual- truth, especially when we consider the devil pre-empted the New Testament, but in an undefined form that later became definitive (Russell, 1997).

The word "devil" is originally derived from the Greek diabolos, originating from the Hebrew satan. Satan was seen as a singular aspect of the devil, not as the literal, sentient Devil1, and was one manifestation of the greater evil, when we define it as the personification of evil in any culture (Russell, 1997).

To some, the dragon’s strong imagery in apocalyptic texts may mask the extent of the devil's involvement in Revelation. The devil can often lose his sinister, godless personality and become steeped in the dragons metaphorically evil nature. This in turn disguises the true depth of the devil's intent, as a dragon giving power to another beast in Revelation 13:2: "... The dragon gave the beast his own power, his throne, and his vast authority". The subsequent demand for worship seems almost innocent, when we forget the torturous hell the dragon and his beast are knowingly bringing upon the people. Fig. 2 depicts the devil in the guise of the seven-headed dragon handing power to the beast, symbolised with the exchange of a staff.


The most prolific description of the seven-headed dragon appears in Revelation 12:3, after we are first introduced to his enemy in 12:1: "Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was soon to give birth...." In Revelation 12:3: "Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on each of his heads. With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth."
The verse continues to detail how the dragon tried to eat her baby as it came out. Revelation 12:4: "... He (the dragon) stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born."
The child was saved by God, who took the woman to the desert where he would take care of her for 1 260 days. From his mouth, the dragon sent a flood after the woman but the earth helped the woman by opening up and swallowing the water.
Revelation 13 also mentions the dragon; "Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads; on each of its horns there was a crown, and on each of its heads there was a name that was insulting to God. The beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear's feet and a mouth like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave this beast his own power, his throne, and his vast authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have been fatally wounded, but the wound had healed.
"Then I saw another beast, which came up out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb's horns, and it spoke like a dragon. It used its vast authority of the first beast in its presence. This second beast performed great miracles; it made fire come down out of heaven to earth in the sight of everyone. And it deceived all the people living on earth by means of the miracles which it was allowed to perform in the presence of the first beast."
Both the second and third beasts have chimerical traits which dragons also share. Whether or not any sort of classification was intended beyond beast, their disposition brings to mind the cockatrice and basilisk. This hails the introduction of the Antichrist, as the beasts force humanity to worship the dragon, and to have marks placed on their foreheads or right hands, Revelation 13:18: "... The number of the beast... stands for the name of someone. Its number is 666."

The first beast appears earlier in Daniel 7:2-7: "With its huge iron teeth it crushed its victims, and then it trampled on them. Unlike the other beasts, it had ten horns... I saw a little horn coming up among the others. This horn had human eyes and a mouth that was boasting proudly." Representing world empires, the four beasts came up from the sea, and in Revelation 12:18: "And the dragon stood on the seashore." We might also keep in mind the dragon sending a flood of water after the woman in Revelation 12:15. There was a definite affinity to Leviathan which John, author of the book of Revelation, recognised in regards to the Roman power and imperial cult (Bauckham, 1993).
However, in Revelation the dragon goes beyond human politics or government. He is the ultimate evil, a plague against goodness (Revelation 12:9): "The huge dragon was thrown out- that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world." While the devil's representation as a dragon was unprecedented to the Jewish, the ties between the dragon and devil were very possible through earlier associations between Leviathan and his downfall at the hands of God (Bauckham, 1993). Likewise, the enmity between the dragon swallowing the woman's child is not too dissimilar to the cursed relationship between the woman and snake (Bauckham, 1993) of Genesis 3:15: "I will make you and the woman hate each other; your offspring and hers will always be enemies."

The dragon had since been mythologically crippled as history began to alter and abstract it, almost beyond recognition. The New Testament appears to be a time of rescuing the dragon from this fate and returning it to mythological and historical life. During early Jewish apocalyptic texts the dragon was revived, not as an accessory but as a theologically significant, historical figure, which is considered an act of re-introducing mythology back into Old Testament Israel, where it had long since been absent (Bauckham, 1993). The dragon was also important in the world's end, a concept not only significant to Christianity and Judaism.

The Biblical story of Bel and the Dragon is an alternate version of Daniel's deliverance from the lion's den (Sayce, 1903). Like the dragon of Revelation, the account of Daniel's defeat over Bel and the Dragon is not only significant in displaying God's protection for His people, and Daniel's faith in unmasking false gods, but also of colouring credible history. A large focus of the passages lie with God's divine guard over Daniel as he was put to death. The story appearing in the Bible details how Daniel was cast in with the lions after praying to the Lord in Daniel 6:11-12; "when Daniel's enemies observed him praying to God, all of them went together to the king to accuse Daniel." King Darius tried to make excuses to keep Daniel safe, however he eventually had no choice and had him lowered into a pit of lions. In the morning, King Darius was relieved to find Daniel alive and well, and had him retrieved from the prison.
The story of Bel and the Dragon appeared in the Septuagint, at the end of Daniel, but was later omitted (Sayce, 1903). That the dragon was in fact a mythological character depicted on the walls of the temple and not physically existing is of little importance, for the point of the story lies with Daniel's ultimate deliverance from the lion's den, and the fallible nature of the false gods (Sayce, 1903).
The King told Daniel, whom he respected greatly for his gift of vision and his God-given ability to interpret dreams, to worship the god Bel. Daniel refused, informing the King that Bel was fake and it was the priests and their families who ate the sacrifices offered to the god. So the under the King's watch the temple entrance was sealed, but the priests cared little for this, "for under the table they had made a privy entrance, whereby they entered it continually, and consumed those things" (Sayce, 1903, p. 71). When their footprints were discovered, the priests and their families were punished without remorse. Upon realising he'd been deceived, the angry King had Daniel destroy the temple of Bel.
Then instructed to worship the dragon in the temple, Daniel refused and, with the king's permission, "took pitch, and fat, and hair, and did seethe them together, and made lumps thereof: this he put in the dragon's mouth, and so the dragon burst in sunder: and Daniel said, Lo, these are the gods ye worship" (Sayce, 1903, p. 72-3).
After this the Babylonians began to conspire against the King, saying he had become a Jew. Distraught, the King was forced to deliver Daniel to them, who was cast into the lion's den.
An angel brought a prophet from Jewry to the den when this happened, and gave Daniel food, who survived seven days among the lions without harm (Sayce, 1903). When he was brought from the den, the King cried in a loud voice, "Great art thou, O Lord God of Daniel, and there is none other beside thee." Those who had conspired against Daniel and the King were themselves thrown into the den, and devoured by the lions before they had reached the bottom of the pit (Sayce, 1903).

In no other religious text does the dragon feature as uniquely as it does in the Bible, nor in any as widespread and influential. Steeped in imagery, Leviathan is a symbol of political opposition to God, who is to be overthrown in the end time.
The defeat of Leviathan, his defiant nature, right down to the aesthetic similarities between the multi-headed sea monster and the seven headed dragon of Revelation have enabled the dragon to persist from the Old Testament into the New. The dragon is not simply evil as the Devil or crafty as the serpent in Genesis, but powerful and chaotic wherever it appears. A persistent theme is found throughout the Bible, shown in the enmity between the snake and woman of Genesis, and then between the pregnant woman and dragon in Revelation. It would be easy to take the dragon on at face value and declare he was evil; such is true, however we must also keep in mind the dragon is necessary, and in disregarding him we would be closing the door to a fascinating theological world, in which the dragon has a part.
Though dragons do not feature largely in Christian, Jewish or even Islamic thought, the sea monster does make its contribution in passing along an important religious and spiritual message.

Mythology, in any culture or nation, plays an intergal part in shaping the lives of the people within the society, and subsequently, the pattern by which they live their lives. Mythology provides a key to the past, explains how the world was created and how it works, and also gives us tantalising clues as to the future.

Perhaps one of the most prolific images in the wider mythological world is the dragon; a symbol, wild animal, creator, destroyer and divine entity in one, the dragon has possibly spanned the widest boundaries of all the mythological characters and beasts. The dragon has been an inspiration to writers such as the Roman Pliny, famous artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, and to voyagers such as Marco Polo. It is the dragon who has captured the nature of mythology in all its forms, and this is perhaps partly why in later years the dragon has become such a popular creature.

Before we look directly at the dragon's mythology, we should firstly take a brief look at its mythological forebears, in this case, the snake. Though snakes are not dragons, they do share some similarities and because of this, we can use the snake to give us a better understanding of where, from a mythological point of view, the dragon is coming from.It is also important to note that in the Bible, the words "serpent" and "dragon" are interchangable, though the different terms conjure different meanings. Also, much of the dragon's origins lie in the natural snake.

The early, rudimentary serpent or snake appears as an ancient object of worship. In Crete, we see the snake as an important aspect of religion among the Minoan people. Votive statues, such as a figurine found at the Minoan palace of Knossos, show a woman covered in snakes, perhaps a goddess or priestess. One particular custom which survived into the Iron Age was that of the snake tube: terracotta pipes in an S shape, which were found in shrines (Callender, 1987).In Greek religion, snakes too were special as they shed their skins and were thus able to rejuventate themselves, they were seen as close to the earth and were venerated because of their powerful poison.

Ancient Egypt also respected the snake, as one of the "Two Ladies". Wadjet, the cobra goddess of Lower Egypt, wears her respective crown and in one of the jeweled pectorals of Tutankhamun, she is shown as a winged snake.

The image of Wadjet, along with her twin counterpart, was worn on the pharaoh's brow during battle, with the belief she spat a fiery venom into the eyes of the enemy (Fletcher, 1999). It is interesting, again, to see how the cobra goddess Wadjet shares some similarities with the modern dragon, as posessing wings and spitting not just the normal venom of a snake, but a "fiery" venom, much like the dragon who spits or breathes fire.Snakes were also venerated in Athens. During the second invasion of the Persian wars (480-479 BC), the Delphic Oracle advised the Athenians evacuate their city because Persian attack was imminent: the reason the Oracle knew of this oncoming seige was because the sacred snake had fled.

Now that we've had a very brief look at snakes in religious and contemporary mythology, we can focus on the dragon.The word "dragon" itself is firstly derived from the Greek drakon (this term was originally used to portray any large serpent or snake in mythology), which is also connected with derkomai, which means a seeing or looking serpent with a gaze like lightning. The female term for drakon is drakaina, as used in the tale of Apollo and the she-dragon Delphyne (Fontenrose, 1959). The English term, drake or fire drake comes from the Anglo-Saxon draca, or the Latin draco, which is similar to the flying dragon. Because the modern term "dragon" is derived from the Greek drakon, we run into some difficulty when trying to use textual references to identify the six or four limbed dragon of mythology. The word did not exist in pre-Hellenic times, which consequently means that their appearance and attributes will tell us whether or not they are dragons, but discerning this can be subjective. However, in brief the dragon's basic attributes are their serpentine or reptillian bodies (Allen & Griffiths, 1979); they are associated with water or fire and they are immensly powerful. To meat out this description we would include legs, wings, a fiery breath or water control, a hoard of treasure and perhaps, in later times, the sacrifice of virgins (it is interesting to note that Japanese dragons, as well as their Western counterparts, received virgin sacrifices).

Now that we have established the basic principles of a dragon, we can begin to investigate their mythology, the role they play within this genre, and their characters. Firstly, we will look at the dragons strong ties to their elments. In China, each of the four Dragon-Kings or Lung-Wang dragons were believed to live in a Crystal Palace in one of the universal seas. The Indian Naga dragons, from which the Chinese dragons are said to be descended from, are believed to reside in a place beneath the Earth's seas called Patala1.

The Dragon-Kings were responsible for bringing rain upon the land, and this same link is present in Norse mythology where the hero Svipdag was transformed into a sea dragon, guarding treasure, and in the tale of the British Knucker who resided in a water hole. Other examples come from the Yellow River dragon, a Chinese dragon who terrorised the countryside by causing disasterous flooding. In Greek myth the dragon protects the spring of Ares (god of war), while the dragon which St George battled had taken control of the well at Lydda, and in India Nagas are frequently found by water, usually beneath trees (Allen & Griffiths, 1979). The dragon has such close ties to water, which seems to be emphasised dramatically in Chinese mythology as they were charged with controlling the rains. Perhaps this is because water was seen as creative and life-bearing; similar attributes given to the beneficial dragons (however, not all Chinese dragons were good; some were evil, for example the Chinese dragon god Gu, who plotted against the other gods). Dragons have also been linked to fire, and mythology of the Western dragon portray a fire-breathing or spitting beast guarding treasure. Here it is important to look at the two types of dragons and their linked element: water, typically seen as nurturing and fruitful, seems to have produced a like-minded dragon species. Even the typical, anatomical body structure of the Oriental dragon shows a flowing, graceful dragon that appears to glide and swoop through the air with ease. On the other hand, their Western counterparts share close associations with fire, which is a greedy force (Davidson, 1964) and thus the dragon, in the end, follows this example and transforms into an evil, greedy animal, which is perhaps opitimised by the hoarding of treasure and the demanding of sacrifices.

Dragons also have curative and sexual potency, particularly in Chinese tradition as they represent the epitome of the male principle, yang2. Dragons were also believed to be the ancestors of the ancient emperors (Littleton, 2002). Their saliva, in particular, is said to hold powerful properties: when two dragons were seen fighting above the waters, the next day people would go to where they'd fought and with nets, they would collect all the saliva they could. One recount, of a king from the Xia dynasty tells of how how he'd collected foam from the mouths of two of his forebears who had appeared to him in dragon form. This saliva was locked away in a box, where it was opened years later by the tenth ruler of the Zhou dynasty. The saliva spread out through the palace like a great mist, and recognising its procreative potential the emporer ordered his wives to strip naked in its presence: as a result, several of his wives became pregnant. Dragons also have great potential for protecting people, and in the Forbidden City in China, the dragon (associated with imperial power) dominated the other animals. The emperor himself occupied the Dragon Throne, wore Dragon Robes, and slept in the Dragon Bed, while the ordinary people of China referred to themselves as the Children of the Dragon (Littleton, 2002). In Scandinavia, dragons adorned prow heads on boats, however this was primarily a tactic used to strike fear in enemies. Dragons were also depicted on weapons of war; a fitting link, considering the dragon's vicious nature. The poem Beowulf describes in detail the dragon on the king's shield, with its long teeth, folded wings and pointed tail (Davidson, 1964).Dragons have also been associated with the dead and in Scandinavia and England were regarded as the guardian of the grave mound, while some late legendary sagas said the deceased turned into dragons in order to protect the treasure that had been buried with them. Serpent-dragons carved into the lids of preserved tree coffins at the cemetary of Oberflacht show an extended dragon covering the dead, triumphant (Davidson, 1964). The dragon is described in the Old English poem Beowulf:

"Ancient in years, he mounts guard over the heathen gold; yet he is not one whit the better for it."

The dragon, however, is mostly portrayed as a bringer of death, as we see with the black dragon Nidhog (corpse-tearer) who, lairing in the world of ice, gnaws away at the universal tree to bring about the downfall of the gods. This same dragon is known for eating corpses. It is also important to remember that the typical fire breathing dragon is rarely mentioned in Scandinavian mythology, however we do hear about the dragon, depicted as the serpent, in Old Norse poetry. The mentioning of wings and fire breathing capabilities are most often left out. Again, we must mention the snake here, for the snake too, like the dragon, shared a connection with the dead. Because the snake shed its skin and was seen as emerging bigger and brighter than before, it was a commonly-held belief the snake could cheat death and so subsequently was used in funeral rites; it was also associated with death because it was found underneath stones, in the roots of trees and beneath the ground (Allen & Griffiths, 1979).

Now that we have looked into the dragon's ties with its corresponding elemental forces, and its inevitable linkage with the dead, we can look at the dragon's larger place in mythology, and perhaps its most important role: as a creator. When we look at the dragon's place as shaping the world we see today, we are looking directly into a primitive, yet no less unevolved or unsophisticated form of the dragon or serpent. Within the oldest recount of creation, an Australian Aboriginal dreamtime myth which is 40 000 years (or more) old, we find embodied the traditional tale of the Rainbow Serpent, who shaped the formless Earth void into the diverse regions we see today. A strikingly familiar tale is that of Aido-Hwedo, the African creator snake who created the running rivers and streams with his serpentine coils, and who also created the mountain peaks with his excretement. Both serpents were credited with shaping or crafting the featureless and flat world. But the dragon's sustaining nature doesn't stop at merely shaping the world, but holding it together as well. The African Aido-Hwedo, after helping shape the world we know today, lies on the waters with the Earth resting atop its coils, lest the heavy world collapse; a task similar to the Norse Jormungand or World Serpent. However, throughout mythology dragons do not always play a completely pure role in creation. The dragon goddess Tiamat has a double persona: as representing goodness, she is the creatrix of the gods with her masculine counterpart Apsu. As the origin of evil, Tiamat was the goddess of the deep and tempests, and was the enemy of goodness and order, seeking only the downfall of the world (Mackenzie, year unknown). As we look deeper into the mythology of this most interesting of creatures, we will find this character is not unfamiliar among the dragons. Through its very nature, the dragon is a king of tempests, who seeks to bring out the worst nature, in particular greed, among mankind, and to bring war and pestilence to the land. This is even further reinforced by the dragon's draconis, or draconias; a gem that all Western dragons are supposedly said to wear on their head. Should this gem be removed before the dragon's death, it will bring good luck to the new owner3. This key element to the dragon's psychology, persistent in myth, can be opitimised in stories such as the Teutonic Beowulf, where a slave could not resist the dragon's great hoard despite the consequences or the danger he placed his own life in; subsequently, the people and their land suffered under the dragon's rage after he had been robbed.

"Then did the visitant spit forth embers, and burn up the bright dwellings; the flaming ray wrought mischief to men, for the enemy flying through the air would leave nothing alive... He encompassed the people of the land with burning, with fire and flame."

The dragon's other associations which bring out the worst in its character lie with its enemies, which are ever-recurring. In western culture we see time and again the dragon being slain by a knight or hero, after provoking the people into action by its destructive behaviour. The dragon is commonly stabbed with a spear down the throat or in the soft flesh of the underbelly, though sometimes its poisonous nature has been turned against itself and it has been tricked into eating poisoned food.The method of stabbing a dragon was believed to have originated in the Greek mythological tale of Apollo, who laid waste to the dragon Python by firing an arrow down his throat (Allen & Griffiths, 1979). The dragon also has enemies in the animal world. The Basilisk can be put to death by a rooster's crow and the bite of a weasel, while the Western dragon is said to battle the elephant because, as a representitive of Adam and Eve (according to medieval bestiaries, which also illustrate the two fighting), the elephant blames the evil serpent, or dragon, for their subversion (Allen & Griffiths, 1979). The Roman writer Pliny tells how the two foes kill each other: while the dragon winds itself around the elephant and stings it so that it is crushed, the elephant, defeated, falls over and crushes the dragon with its weight.

A nineteenth-century painting of a Thai elephant composed of 24 minor divinities shows a Naga making up the elephant's trunk; this is an example of Buddhist Naga worship (Buddha himself was originally born a Naga).

According to bestiaries, only the panther considers the dragon its enemy, and an early sixteenth-century English bestiary illustrates the pair. The panther, symbolising Christ, slumbers for three days after eating. Upon waking, it belches and all the animals follow its sweet breath except for the dragon (who stands for the devil) who hides in fear. Unable to tolerate the smell it becomes catatonic (Allen & Griffiths, 1979).

Medieval bestiaries tell how the dragon is also an enemy of the dove, and will lie in wait and watch the dove which lives in the Perindeus tree. However, the dragon will only eat the dove if it leaves the tree, because it is afraid of the tree and the shadow it casts. This concept was later interpreted by Allen & Griffiths in The Book of the Dragon, who believe that while the dove (representing a Christian person who has received the salvation of the Holy Ghost [or Spirit]), lives with the Father and Son, they will be safe. However, as soon as they turn away from the Father, Son and the Ghost, the dragon (in this case, devil), will quickly devour them with worldly greed and desires.

Now that we have looked at all the basic concepts of the dragon's mythological roles, we will take a look at the dragon's place in the wider cosmological world and how it fits into the universe as a whole. Because the dragon holds such great strength and power, it is no wonder dragons are seen in the heavens and were linked to cosmology. The constellation "Water Monster" (Latin name Hydra), in the Southern Hemisphere is a long band of stars in a serpentine shape (Kerrod, 1990).Another, more commonly known serpentine pattern in the sky is the constellation Draco in the Northern hemisphere. The myth surrounding Draco tells of Cadmus, who laid waste to the dragon and then planted his teeth under the instruction of the goddess Athena; these teeth then turned into soldiers who killed one another but for five, who helped Cadmus to build the city of Thebes. The constellation Draco now appears to be encircling the Little Bear Ursa Minor, and around 3500 BC, Thuban (arabian for "the dragon"), or alpha Dra was the Pole Star (seds.org, 2003). According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 793, lights in the sky were thought to be fiery dragons, and were believed to be a portent of calamity (Davidson, 1964).

A water dragon, decorating a wall of the Palace of Peaceful Longevity in the Forbidden City (China) shows a dragon who is believed to live beneath the water for half the year, then rises into the sky during spring, when the dragon constellation is at its zenith. In China the Green Dragon represented the East along with spring and the element of wood.

The dragon has played an important part in mythology from around the world, and its double personality and dual character have ensured this powerful creature is not viewed with contempt, but is seen as a universal figure. As an evil character within mythology, the dragon has tempted mankind and tried to bring about the fall of the gods, while playing a good, divine role the dragon has ensured the order of the universe. Its links to procreation, cosmology, death and the elements are important and signify a creature that has trangressed the normal, mythological boundaries and has ensnared for itself a long-lasting place in mythological history and tradition.

~ koga zanima neka si ako može uzme vremena i pročita a tko to nemože jako mi je žao ~

@dagoberhr

I'm singin' in the rain
Just singin' in the rain,
What a glorious feeling,
I'm happy again.
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark, up above,
The sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love.

Let the stormy clouds chase.
Everyone from the place,
Come on with the rain
Have a smile on your face.
I'll walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
And singin'
Just singin' in the rain