The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #444: Ringing in the Year of the Dragon

This week's episode is all about dragons as 2024 marks the year of the wood dragon.

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #444: Ringing in the Year of the Dragon

https://archive.org/download/podcast-444/Podcast%20444.mp3

This week’s episode is all about dragons.  2024 is here per the lunar calendar, and it’s the year of the dragon.  Interestingly enough, dragons have different mythologies depending on where you live on Earth – in the West, they are often depicted as fierce, aggressive, fire breathing creatures, the evidence of which you can see in many stories that are derived from western European tales.  But in the East, dragons are often viewed as wise, gentle, and cultured creatures.  So you will often see dragons in those traditions paired with tigers in a kind of yin/yang duality with the tiger being the aggressive one.

You can find examples of that symbolism in Eastern martial arts as well as in Asian media – e.g. the 80s manga/anime Crying Freeman uses the tiger/dragon motif continually in its two main characters (Yo and Emu, later in the series renamed with the Chinese surnames Long (龍) and Hu (虎) – “Dragon” and “Tiger,” respectively.  You can see them below (as for what happened to their clothes, well, suffice to say, the characters in this show are capable of superhuman feats due to an unlikely combination of hypnosis + acupuncture + kung fu + nudity (not always in a good way … it’s kind of hard to explain, nor can I say I entirely understand it, but there you go, a prime cut of teenage hormones on steroids).

A little more child friendly – if you’ve ever seen the animated Rankin/Bass movie from 1982, The Flight of Dragons, it actually has both types of dragons (plus a bunch of others) in a fantasy yarn that seems like the sort of thing folks who enjoyed reading Tolkien in college in the 60s got nostalgic for and wanted to create for their kids.  And, I thank thee.  We taped it off the TV when I was a kid, so I wanted it continuously.

A lot of these ideas ended up congealing together when I added dragons into my own books.  I’m reading from a section of The Thirteenth Hour as well during this episode.  In the world of the books, dragons aren’t inherently good or bad, they just are, like another animal, though they do brush up against humans and defend their territory as other animals would.  While not a central part of the books, they do come up quite a few times, affecting the lives of Logan and Aurora, the protagonists.  Dragons are responsible for the deaths of Logan’s parents, a memory that haunts his childhood nightmares.  Aurora later takes on a dragon herself, an act of bravado she later comes to regret, as it leaves her with a wound whose scar she carries for the rest of her life. 

And at the point of the story that I read, both characters, who grew up together and went their separate ways, have reunited and sing a ballad they knew as children called, ironically, enough, “Dragons’ Eyes.”

Before we wrap up, I wanted to leave you with a preview of an episode coming out in a few months.  I recently had a chance to talk with Alexka Chan, archeologist, painter, and author or an upcoming memoir called In the Garden Behind the Moon. 

It’s a tale about her coming to grips with the loss of her parents, especially her father, a larger than life figure, and how myth and story helped not only smooth the grieving process but also created a renewed sense of wonder in life itself.  Sprinkled through the book are traditional Chinese paintings, something she started doing later in life and continued to help rekindle her sense of equanimity as her father was nearing the end of his days.  The paintings are really wonderful, and I asked if she wanted to share any dragons for the new year.  She sent over a few to share:

We’ll hear more from Alexka in May, when her book releases, but until then, you can find about her paintings and books on Alexka’s website, Rising Phoenix Arts as well as on social media:

Instagram

Facebook

Tiktok

Thanks for listening!

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Check out the growing line of Thirteenth Hour toys and other products on the Thirteenth Hour Studio Etsy store (https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThirteenthHourStudio).  There are a number of custom figures from retro films being sold for charity that available there as well.  For example, the hunter action figure from A Shadow in the Moonlight is now done and available on Etsy!

There is also a growing collection of Thirteenth Hour stickers on The Thirteenth Hour Studio store on Redbubble!

Check out this collaboration with past show guest Jeff Finley on handpan: 

Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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