The Chinese Lion

The Chinese Lion is a powerful symbol of strength and community power. Because the lion dance uses the same basic footwork as the Kung Fu systems, it can be considered to be part of those arts. Interestingly it seems to transport the martial prowess of the community over into the spiritual realms by invoking the spirit of the lion. In the time I spent living in a Chinese Village in Hong Kong, I saw on two (non festival) occasions, the Lion dance being used to help exorcise or clear the community of negative energy. In one case a vacationer drowned in the local bay, and the next day there were Lion Dances in all the nearby villages, as well as out on boats in the bay itself, and in the other case, a man took his life in our village and there were as many as 10 lion dances the next day to help clear the unhappy energy from the community space. The lion dance can be considered as "backed up" by the power of the Kung Fu systems that supply its grounding, as well as by the drums and the music, and the overall ritual momentum of the community. It is both a very common and "ordinary" cultural expression, as well as a distinctly magical and invocatory ritual. The dancers become the lion, at the same time as they tame it in the dance. When I think of the Strength card, the lion is the first figure to pop to mind, and even though the Chinese handling of the symbol is different, I think there is a strong resonance, and we can see this figure and the rituals connected to it in a similar light to how we view this card, and this path.