THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON AND MYTH

WELCOME YEAR OF THE DRAGON 2012!

Your arrival is most welcome.

People and businesses around the world have had difficult times over the last few years, so the good luck you bring is timely and needed.

The Dragon is in fact the major symbol of good fortune in Chinese Astrology.

The Dragon constellation is accorded the honor of being the guardian of the Eastern sky. According to tradition the Dragon brings in the Four Blessings of the East:

wealth, virtue, harmony and longevity.

Indeed, of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac the Dragon is the most special,

as it is a mystical being rather than an earthly animal.

It is sometimes called a karmic sign. In this context that means we can expect grand things this year. Bigger than life is very much a Dragon thing.

Speaking of bigger than life and DRAGONS, here is an appropriate excerpt from THE PATH BACK TO DAWN,

http://www.amazon.com/PATH-BACK-DAWN-ebook/dp/B005EA029U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1327382361&sr=1-1

where Blake Adamson sails the cursed junk, THE BLADELESS SAMURAI, through the Sea of Fate with the mysterious Ningyo, Kirika Amaratsu :

I glanced at the strange water surging along the sides of our ship. But water wasn't quite what it was. The color of India ink, it held entire constellations of shimmering stars in its depths.

Swirling arms of slowly rotating galaxies spun lazily deep beneath the waves like cosmic jellyfish searching for prey. The waters smelled of lightning strikes and acid. And where I had expected to see a storm brewing, there wasn't a cloud in sight. Maybe the Sea of Fate just naturally had blustery winds.

Wisping mists flailed up from the waters. The color of honey, they dipped and danced, taking the forms of writhing men and women, some in togas, some in armor, some in Oriental robes.

One took the form of a wild, lean valkyrie on a black, winged stallion. It soared high, then banked right to me, telling me I was number one with the wrong finger. I smiled bitter. That happened to me a lot. If I weren't already sure most people wanted me dead, I might start to get a complex.

Kirika tugged on my shirt sleeve. "Beloved, look, the Moon of Zhang-O."

"Wow," I gasped.

Not exactly something worthy of Shakespeare, but it was all I could get out of a throat that seemed to have suddenly turned into marble. Taking up nearly a third of the neon purple sky, the skull white moon with its craters and mountains seemed to leer down on us.

Its details were blurred by the distance. Yet the dusky blue rings, three of them, were clear enough. I watched them in awe as they circled the moon slowly at different rates of speed, making for an eerie effect.

Kirika squeezed my arm hard. "Can you not hear her weep, my Blake?"

I listened and shivered. Jeez, it did seem as if I could hear the soft sobbing of a woman with her heart crushed. Kirika began to shiver, too.

I reached out and hugged her with my right arm. I flicked my eyes back to where I had landed and breathed a sigh of relief. The Spear of Destiny still lay where I had dropped it upon hitting the deck.

Kirika blinked back tears. "Zhang-O is crying for her Yi, her lost love. Lost to her forever, never to be held in her arms again."

I smiled sad. "Never is a long time. You can't always tell what the future holds."

"You can if your love is dead," she husked.

"Dead isn't what you think it is," I sighed.

Her face went hard. "As if you know."

I nodded. "I've died already, remember?"

Her eyes became slits. "And came back for your two loves."

I looked her straight in the eye. "The heart has two sides. Each one doing different things. But it still is one heart."

Her head moved back slightly at that. "S-Sometimes, you are wiser than your years."

She jumped. Alright, we both jumped as a loud, mournful bellow thundered to our left. Even Hone jerked. All of us turned.

There, high on the black, rocky cliffs above us arched a huge emerald dragon. It was breathing a long, billowing column of eye-aching red fire. It was mewing something terrible, as if its very heart were being torn out.

"What in the world?," I gasped.

Kirika touched my cheek with slightly trembling fingers. "This must be the cliffs of Love's End, where dragons come to mourn their lost mates."

The dragon more mewed than bellowed as he continued to cry out grief and flames. It hurt me to see such a majestic creature in so much pain. Kirika reached out and turned my head to look at her.

"All loves die, my Blake. Some quickly, some slowly, but they all die ugly deaths."

I shook my head firm and whispered to the neon skies, "Not this one. Father, please, give him back his love."

Kirika sighed, "You are such a chi --"

Hone squeezed my shoulder so hard I cried out. Or maybe I would have cried out anyway, for out of the column of flames a figure began to form.

The grieving dragon bleated in shock and stopped breathing fire. But the figure of flames still grew and grew, slowly taking the shape of a slender gold and scarlet dragon.

The male dragon reared on his hind legs, rasping a cry of question and disbelief. The dragon of fire flared out her long wings, spoke but one word.

And thanks to Solomon, I understood it : "Beloved."

Then, she slowly settled down beside her mate, wrapping her wings of flame around him. They entwined their long necks, sobbing great cries of greeting and weaving in a graceful dance of love .

The green dragon wrapped his huge wings around his fiery mate. I went sick. He shimmered, glowed, then erupted into jade fires, until he, too, was a creature of flames.

Though together they made an awesome inferno, still, they were distinct beings. They suddenly laughed and, together, they soared high into the strange skies, straight toward the moon of Zhang-O.

The three of us watched silently as they grew smaller and smaller and smaller until they disappeared in their flight towards the moon of lost love.

My chest gone all hollow, I whispered, "I didn't want --"

Hone sighed, "A hard lesson, little wanderer. Not all prayers are answered in the way you expect."

Kirika lightly kissed my cheek. "I was right, long ago, my Blake. You are legend."

She squeezed my right hand tight. "My legend."

"Some legend," I muttered. "I keep screwing up."

She patted my cheek. "You think you have failed. But you have done something wondrous. You do not understand now."

Her eyes grew haunted. "But ... one day you will. One cruel day, you will."
***