Fear of Dragons/Love of Dragons

I used to fear Dragons, especially the Dragon inside. I kept my own internal Dragon submerged deep inside my subconsious. After all, Dragons are greedy, hoarding, hugely destructive, and symbolic of the devil, right? And the best way to deal with  them is to heroically kill them, like St, George, right?

Yes! ...and...um...NO! No, not at all! I mean, look what happens when we jump to killing everything we see as a threat. Pretty soon, everything looks like a THREAT! That's how we get tragedies like Faluja, and the firebombing of over 100 men, women, and children who sought shelter in a fortress like cave in Bagdad during the 1990's, and latest war with Iraq for it's "weapons of mass destruction" that turned out to be nothing of the sort.

There Must be some other way of dealing with our fears, our "enemies", our Dragons.

Our stories are models for behavior. The way we see Dragons and the way we deal with them in our myths and legends teach us how to deal with threats and fears in life.  What if our stories of Dragons told of a different way of dealing with our fears?

Dragon Lady faces her greatest fear and her Inner Power

 

Well, I did some research. I learned that Dragons in China were considered wise, and even beneficial, though even more powerful than Smaug or Fafnir. I found stories of heroes and heroines who had a very different way of dealing with dragons, like St Margaret, whose weapon was the Cross, and Medea, who used song and herbs to put the dragon to sleep. I especially love Ann MaCaffry's Dragon Riders of Pern, where the dragons are powerful allies in defeating a greater enemy, and a Chinese story where the Dragon guards the kingdom.

 Gradually, my understanding of dragons changed. This has changed--and continues to change-- the way I deal with my own fears. Some of this change is reflected in my paintings of Dragons.

During April, beginning April 6th, many of my Dragon paintings, along with their stories, will be on display at Vashon Intuitive Arts. I will be sharing many of my favorite Dragon Stories on this blog, and will have cards and prints available both on my etsy store, and at Vashon Intuitive Arts.

Dragon Lore: Practice dragons with First Graders

Dragon Models

We made some fantastic Dragons today!

I was surprised how much first graders know about dragons--and what they didn't know. Very few had heard about St George and the dragon, or were familiar with dragons as maiden eating pests, but many knew about wise Chinese dragons, as well as many modern dragon stories that I don't know.

Children could describe many kinds of dragons; dragons that live in water, those that have wings, the many that are serpent like. They knew that not all dragons have legs, not all spit fire (some spit ice!), many spit poison.

I gave the children plastic modeling clay and three ways to make the dragon body: starting with a ball, a cylnder (snake), or a pancake shape. I showed them ways to individualize their dragons by pulling out long necks or legs, making fins for the water dragons, adding horns, drawing on scales, etc. We found the pancake shape was best for making sea dragons with fins.

Here are some of the results:

Making the eyes on a Sea Dragon

Check out the nest, complete with eggs!

This Dragon has 4 wings!

Dragon Lore: Nagas and Serpents

These Nagas guard the entrance
 to a Buddhist temple in Thailand.

I spent the day reviewing my Dragon books, remembering the different types of dragons and the many many different stories about them. There are the usual stories of heroes killing dragons who are eating beautiful maidens and devastating the country side. There are stories of Dragons fighting each other, stories of Dragons becoming people and people becoming Dragons. There are the saints (and not so saintly heroines like Medea) who defeat the dragon with Divine Love or it's symbols.

I'm teaching Dragon Lore to first graders; we will make clay dragons and dioramas for them to live in. Which of the hundreds of Dragons shall I tell them about?

I promised their teacher three types of Dragon body types for them to create. The most common body type in stories seems to be serpentine.

Serpent Dragons

The Lambton Wyrm
The Lambton Wyrm, caught by young lord Lambton when he played hooky from church one Easter Sunday in 1420, unnerved him so, he changed his ways and became one of the faithful. He threw the Wyrm--about 3' or 4' long--into a nearby well and went on a pilgrimage. When he got back, he found that the Wyrm had grown so long it circled the hill nine times, and was eating sheep, cattle, and even occasional people.  On the advice of the local witch, he had special armor made, all covered with spikes, and lured the Wyrm into the fast flowing river. Here he chopped it up into tiny bits, which the river carried away before they could reunite and make that dragon whole again.

Jason and the Golden Fleece
You've heard how Jason and the Argonauts captured the golden fleece from the serpentine dragon guarding it? You may not have heard that Medea, a woman he picked up in his travels, sang to the Dragon and splashed juniper and other herbs into his eyes until he fell asleep. When Jason grabbed the fleece and fled to the ship, Medea stayed behind long enough to rub a healing salve in the dragon's eyes. Later, when she needed to flee her enemies, the dragon carried her away on his back. Medea was the first Dragon Rider I know of.

Naga
When I traveled to Thailand and Laos, I learned of the Naga. These great serpents live in sumptuous palaces in lakes and rivers. They are guardians of Knowledge, and they guard the stairs to the Heavenly Palace. They frequently give gifts to humans. When the Buddha was meditating under a tree and about to be drenched by a heavy rainstorm, a seven headed Naga spread his seven hooded heads over the Buddha to protect him.

As I learned more about the Naga, I realized that they were not just snakes; they are considered the same or relatives to Dragons.

Paper mache Dragon

As a dragon lover myself, I was drawn to a flock of dragons in a
 window across the street from the Davidson Gallery in Pioneer
Square, Seattle, on First Thursday in October.

Blue Dragon, from Atom's Monster
by Suzanna Leigh

Don Reeder's Dragons (Gourmet Papermache) are beyond wonderful!! Their expressions, their body language, the detail, the color, everything about them just wowed me! If you are anywhere near Seattle, take time to stop and see them.

While they are not as well displayed on his blog, there are some wonderful videos there on how he makes them. Here is just a sample for your enjoyment.

grandmother Dragon

Dragons have always intrigued me, ever since the Dragons I met in Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy and in Ann McCaffry's Dragons of Pern series gave me as sense of Dragons as far more complex than the greedy destructive dragons of European tradition. As I studied dragon mythology around the world, I began to appreciate Dragons as deeply symbolic of ancient wisdom, creativity, and power.

As I became more powerful in my own life, my relationship to Dragons changed. As a single mom, I worked to overcome poverty and to finish my college education (is education ever finished?); I adopted Dragon riding as a symbol of my own conquest of fear and adversity. I formed DragonRider Press to publish my first children's book, Atom's Monster.

Now, once again, I am redefining myself and my life. Once again, my relationship to Dragons is changing. I am claiming my own power, wisdom, and creativity. Now I AM the dragon.