Red Dragon—Symbol of a Lie

ALICE WILT STRAUSS

The great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, described in the book of Revelation in the Bible, had always been a mysterious symbol to me until I began to delve for the deep meaning of Mrs. Eddy's explanation of it in Science and Health, in the chapter entitled "The Apocalypse." There she writes: "The great red dragon symbolizes a lie,—the belief that substance, life, and intelligence can be material. This dragon stands for the sum total of human error. The ten horns of the dragon typify the belief that matter has power of its own, and that by means of an evil mind in matter the Ten Commandments can be broken." She continues with this encouraging statement: "The Revelator lifts the veil from this embodiment of all evil, and beholds its awful character; but he also sees the nothingness of evil and the allness of God."^{Science and Health, p. 563;}

At one time when error seemed to me to be especially aggressive, presenting itself first in one form and then in another, the picture of the great red dragon came to my thought. At first I ignored it. I said to myself, What has the red dragon to do with the problems confronting me? But I had been earnestly striving to discern the nothingness of the false claims presenting themselves and had been trying to keep my consciousness filled with the spiritual fact of God's allness and ever-presence, so I decided the red dragon must have some significance in answer to my prayers. I turned to the biblical account of the dragon in Revelation and earnestly studied it along with Mrs. Eddy's explanation, searching for the spiritual meaning.

As I read about this dragon, representing "the sum total of human error" and having seven heads but only one body, I saw that the phases of error so insistent on recognition were nothing more than objectifications of this lie of mortality, asserting it had power to disturb the harmony of my existence.

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