The scream erupted during subterranean battle at the center of the island between the native dragon and a foreign intruder. Inevitably, cyclical renewal was characterized as a final battle between dark and light, with the old ways portrayed as ways of darkness. The medieval Dragon of the Apocalypse is sometimes accompanied by a rider identified as the Whore of Babylon . Most were portrayed as half-human, their animal halves composed of creatures once sacred to the Goddess. This symbolism extended to the New World, for the Nahuatl word Deguatlashupee that Spanish ears heard as De Guadalupe means something like trampled stone serpent .
Daoist dragons symbolize the search for wisdom, happiness, and immortality.
The only evil dragons in Asian lore were added later by Buddhists , who were reflecting monks' run-ins with fierce mountain tribes. These Chinese ko , all Buddhist interventions, were once believed to harbor evil spirits chained in their basements or fixed under their foundations. This refers to their particular constellation, which is not visible in the winter sky. Long also relates to Yellow River sturgeons, which by tradition swim upstream on the third moon of the year and transform into dragons while Canglong is visible in the sky. By tradition, Chinese are hostile to the idea of a mountain as a site of human triumph and possession because mountains manifest the cosmic spirit.