Sant Jordi ‘s Day ( Saint George’s Day ) in Catalonia

On the 23 rd of April the streets of Barcelona and any Catalan city , town or village are filled with red roses and book stalls . The tradition is for the men to give their fiancé or their wife a red rose, and for her to give him a book .

The popular medieval legend tells how Saint George slays the dragon who is about to devour a princess . And how a rose bush bearing red roses grows out of the blood of the dragon. Thus the tradition of giving women a red rose.

There are similar legends and traditions in various European countries . What I find most interesting about this tradition is the archetypical value of this legend and its deep symbolism : My interpretation would be that the dragon is the archetype that represents the darkness of ignorance and negative tendencies, which is defeated by Saint George , the archetype also known as the archangel Michael in Christianity or Shri Bairava in Hinduism, representing the light of goodness and bravery, and the pure desire to protect the purity , the chastity and the goodness of the principal of the eternal feminine , represented by the princess.
I would suggest that this archetypical battle takes place within each human being in the area of our consciousness which in yoga is known as the left side channel , or ida nadi , representing of our desires and emotional energy that culminate in our subconscious plane, the area of our “ shadow “ as described in Carl Jung’s psychology.


The dragon then represents the type of energy that is primitive , brutal , dark that clouds our awareness and pure desire to evolve and become a higher being and can manifest also in the form of the ugly anger of frustration to fullfill negative tendencies or desires .

The way the blood of the dragon , the very sap of his existence , turns into beautiful flowers would symbolise the potential of the energy of the left side channel, the energy of our desire to manifest as beauty and Love, to transform the human being into a fragrant flower .

The fact that the man gives a flower to the woman would seem to acknowledge that this represents the battle within man to bring out the best in him . The offering of a flower being one of the most valid ways for man to approach a woman . A woman being the archetype of love and beauty , and evolution. It is the desire power of a woman that can move the man to defeat his negative tendencies and uncover love and beauty within himself , and thus evolve .

She gives him a book , which would be a symbol of pure knowledge, knowledge of universal values , that can help trigger the pure desire power within his left side channel , and dispel the clouds of ignorance ; kindle the desire to grow into a beautiful being .