Dragons of Lore Series: Apep, Enemy of the Egyptian Sun God Ra

I love Egypt. The mysterious pyramids, the pharaohs, Cleopatra, the gods, the goddesses, hieroglyphs, the biblical Moses story, the mummies, the Nile…the list goes on and on. Oh, and they also have an incredible dragon myth. For those of you that didn’t know that, let me introduce you to Apep, the greatest enemy of the sun god, Ra.

In Egyptian mythology, Apep is a serpent dragon and the chief demon god of the underworld. Every night when the sun sets, Ra would have to travel through the underworld in order to bring back the sun the next morning. Apep would be waiting to destroy him. Of course, Ra, with the help of his lesser god and goddess buddies would always emerge victorious, slaying the dragon Apep, who would inevitably come back to life to battle Ra again the next day.

Apep became part of Egytpian mythology in the middle part of the pharaoh dynasties, replacing the demon-god Set as lord of the underworld, the leader of demonic armies and the bad ass icon of all things evil. At that point, Set joined forces with Ra and Apep became supreme god. But the trio of Ra, Set and Isis wanted to share that power with him. He refused, so they attacked. When they cast him into the underworld, he made it his mission to destroy Ra. Luckily for us; he hasn’t been able to…yet.

Apep used many weapons to battle Ra. The cold darkness of the underworld was his first choice, but there were more tricks up his sleeve than that. He also used sandstorms, thunderstorms and earthquakes to steal the light from the sky. Probably the most stunning of his weapons was his use of solar eclipse to bring darkness to the world of humans. In this case Ra would call upon his own minions to save him, such as Bast, Isis and Horus. They would use swords to cut the serpent to pieces and free the life giving sun from eternal hell.

The people of Egypt also helped Ra. They would hold a ritual called Banishing Apep and other spells from the Book of Apophis to protect themselves from his wrath and bless their main god. Ra’s priests and worshippers would make an effigy of Apep and destroy it to symbolically show their love for their god and to protect both the living and the dead.

Apep was depicted in hieroglyphs as a giant serpent and sometimes as a circular ball that represented his evil eye. Usually he is shown being cut to pieces by a cat with a knife. An all-powerful god, Apep could be temporarily defeated, but never be totally destroyed. He always came back to life to bring the battle back to Ra.

This great dragon-demon was not just known to Egyptians. The ancient Greeks called him Apophis, In today’s world, a near Earth asteroid bears his name.  Apophis has a small chance of impacting our planet in 2029 and again in 2036 and 2068. If it somehow does hit us, the resulting explosion of dust it would fling into our atmosphere would surely entrap Ra in darkness…for a time.

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Dragons of Lore Series: Chinese Dragons

Chinese Dragons are perhaps the most fascinating mythical creature ever dreamed up by mankind. In most ancient cultures, monstrous beasts where created to warn future generations about a certain danger. Whether the danger came from volcanoes, thunderstorms, asteroids or comets, dragons were usually a creature whose very presence spelled certain impending doom upon those unlucky to cross paths with them. Not true for Chinese dragons. These dragons are considered lucky, perhaps even givers of life. That is not to say that they don’t have a little bite!

China is often referred to as the Dragon. In ancient times they were associated by Emperor’s, or at least so the emperor hoped to be associated with them. The Chinese saw divine personality characteristics that they themselves wished to attain, or see in themselves. Chinese dragons epitomized strength, power, independence, courage, wisdom and above all else, luck!

Chinese dragons are quite different in appearance than western dragons. Chinese dragons lack wings and their bodies are more snake-like or crocodile-like than the lizard looking western fire-breathers. The ancient Chinese believed that certain animals possessed the power to overcome nature, especially when nature was being furiously angry. The dragons they worshipped were created from the parts of these different animals, such as serpents, reptiles and fish, to create a super-supernatural being to protect them.

The emperors who stylized their reigns after these creatures used dragons with five claws as their symbols. The next highest ranking military or political figure would have four and the next lowest three. The dragons were considered to be divine. Thus the dragon dance was born, to appease the gods to dispel droughts and bring life giving rains on which the harvest depended.

 The color of particular dragons is also very symbolic. Green is representative of the gods giving great future harvests, yellow embodied the emperor or his kingdom, gold and silver represent prosperity, red stands for excitement.

 

There are many beautiful dragon temples in China, many of them supported by outlandishly creative dragon pillars. With stunning craftsmanship, the ancients set out to make the dragons’ temples suitable for any god, anywhere in the world. The belief among these people was that the spirits of the dragons who dwelt within the temple would make wishes come true. In return, the wish makers would be compelled to do something to return the favor for the gods. It could be a simple fruit or bread sacrifice for the poor to a magnificent new dragon pillar in the temple for the rich lords.

Chinese dragons come in four types: Celestial, Spiritual, Earth and Underworld. The Celestial Dragon is ruler of all other dragons and protects the heavens. It has five claws. Spiritual Dragons control the wind and rain. Floating in the clouds, it reigned in nature, providing life giving rain when appeased and droughts and natural disasters when angered. Earth dragons controlled the flow of rivers and the path and maintenance of their banks. Every river in China had its own dragon. The Underworld Dragons guard hordes of treasures and precious metals buried deep underground. The guardian of wisdom, each Underworld Dragons possessed a black pearl, representing wisdom, which could multiply whatever it touched. I could use one of those magick black pearls! How about you?

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