Is it true that the dragon is the only sign in the Chinese zodiac that isn’t a real animal? It may be but maybe not. The sign that we often translate as rooster is also a phoenix. Also not a “real animal”.

Anyway, let’s look at dragons. It’s important to keep in mind that the word dragon is a translation. Chinese dragons don’t have wings or fly around breathing fire. This is a completely different mythological system and has nothing to do with medieval western type dragons. Chinese dragons are long and they flow. In fact, I’d say that Chinese dragons are not mythological beings but environmental forms.

Chinese dragons sleep in the mountains. Their mouths hold pearls. Their bodies are long. They can be as small as an earthworm and grow to the size of everything that we know. Sound like anything familiar?

That’s right. Chinese dragons are rivers. Rivers flow from glaciers. This is frozen or sleeping water in the mountains. They can become atmospheric like the rain or fog. They can also shrink to a trickle. They take the form of wells and hide beneath the soil. Their mouths are the river deltas where pearls are found. Rivers are also basins of fertility. They create new life and mutations.

This is why the dragon as a zodiac sign is about yang transformation. Yang refers to things that are apparent. What does apparent transformation look like? Apparent transformation is a river where things proliferate. It’s fertile soil. It’s also the weather. Water is the most transformative substance. It becomes air, becomes stone, becomes liquid, and feeds every single living being in the world.

Dragons care about one thing only. Dragons care about change. This is why the dragon as a zodiac sign is known for bringing new worlds into existence.

The Chinese character for the dragon earthly branch is 辰. The Chinese character for morning is 晨. They are pronounced the same. 晨 is 辰, just with a sun on top. Dragon earth branch refers to the time between 7 AM to 9 AM. The zodiac sign is literally the morning.

A new day starts. A new world starts. Every single day is a new opportunity. This is the dragon’s motto.

It’s important to note that, while the dragon is associated with the morning, that it’s not the crack of dawn. Rabbit is the sign of the sunrise. The sun, during its initial rise, is still naive and shy. Dragon is the arousal of the sun. Dragon hour is still relatively cool but the sun is at its full visibility. You can get started with your day. Dragon hour is when you start doing things.

Dragons like to get started. It wants you to start doing things. That’s why it has transformation potential.

The moment of getting started is also a risk. Dragon is literally a cliffhanger. The beginning is a cliffhanger. Rivers flow from cliffs and become waterfalls.

This is why casinos are decorated with dragons in Asia. The fantasy of gambling is that, by making one move, you open up a whole new world for yourself. When people go to casinos, they are looking for new beginnings.

I’ve heard that dragons have a reputation for being delusional. I’ve also heard that dragons have a reputation for being intelligent. I think that dragons have imagination. This is why we take risks—because your willingness to endure the stakes of a decision makes your imagination braver.

There’s another story about the dragon in the Chinese zodiac. This has to do with the story of the great race through the Jade river.

Even though Chinese dragons don’t have wings, they still fly. They do this by floating through the air using a chimu on their forehead. This has to do with how dragons are water and water becomes atmospheric. Since dragons can fly, you would expect them to come in very far ahead when it comes to a race, right?

Wrong. The dragon placed fifth place. Dragons move fast but dragons aren’t competitive. Why did the dragon place fifth place? Because it went to save a village that was on fire. Only after saving the village with some water did the dragon float over to the finish line. Moreover, once it got to the finish line, it saw the rabbit trapped on a rock and too afraid to make the final leap. When the dragon saw its competitor there it breathed on the rabbit and gave it a little push over. Only then did it finish the race. That’s why the rabbit comes before the dragon.

I think that this story tells us about the situations in which imagination is needed. Imagination isn’t necessarily the most important thing in moments of abundance. You actually run the risk of wastefulness if your first priority is imagination when you are well fed. Dragons can be extravagant but extravagance isn’t the quality that the world needs the most from dragons. The dragon was needed in two scenarios: during a crisis and in a moment of fear.

We need imagination when we suffer and when we are scared. These are the moments when imagination has the potential to become inspiration.

This is also why dragons are known for compassion. Dragon is an earth sign. Earth is sweet. Dragons don’t challenge the world around them because they are power seeking or sadistic. Dragons challenge the world around them because they know that fear is not resolved through comfort but through inspiration.

There’s a couple of hexagrams from the I Ching associated with dragons. Wood dragon is hexagram 38 which is about perception. This is about the stranger’s perception and about seeing things from an unique angle. Fire dragon is hexagram 58 which is the marsh. The marsh is where life mutates.

Earth dragon, associated with hexagram 10, is a wanderer. Metal dragon, associated with hexagram 11, is about unstoppable flow. Both hexagrams signify inevitable change. Lastly, water dragon is about hexagram 26. Hexagram 26 is about wildlife and unexplored places.

Each type of dragon evokes some level of change. Dragons ask us to see things from the outside. That’s why dragons often look really weird. Childish Gambino is a dragon day pillar. So is Togashi who created Hunter X Hunter. These are artists who have an aesthetic expression that look alien somehow. They strive to be unexpected. This isn’t nihilism. This is inspiration. Inspiration is the medicine for fear and suffering.