We Are The Dragon
I glide across your racial memory
Leaving a scent of ether and jasmine
And if you look quickly past your soul
You'll catch me laughing as I wing
Up past the Windships of your mind
Hard, prismatic colours glisten
And a taste of my fierce hearts
Beat in rhythm to your swaying
Take one last taste, mortal
Try to follow within my wake
And you may just catch the gleam
Of my fierce smile as I look back
Wingtip encouraging you to embark
Upon the Way of the Dragon
For if I am all that you have made me
So too are you all that I have made you
And we are the Dragon
© 1997 Quelonzia
Stormdancer/Terry Dean
The dragon is a very
complex and nearly universal symbol. It is a combination of the bird, the
"breath of life," and the serpent, "life-giving waters."
Obviously, in the dragons' earliest days, they were recognized as good and
beneficial spirits which bring help and life to the mortal race in their care.
Today, the Eastern cultures still believe this manifestation of life and love.
Generally in the Orient, the dragon represented the sky gods and the emperors of
that time, but later also encompassed the power and destruction of the storm as
well. However, in the Western culture, this idea has been inverted, and the
dragon symbolizes hate, evil, violence, and even death. Even the "breath of
life" has been changed, as most dragons in the Western world are
represented as having foul breath which smells of sulfur and rotting corpses,
the water aspect turned to fire. The killing of such a dragon is oftentimes
representative of winning the fight against evil. In this part of the world, a
dragon can be male or female, solar or lunar, good or evil.
Usually, an oriental dragon is a beneficiary celestial spirit, which is symbolic
of wisdom, supernatural power, strength, hidden knowledge, and the power of
renewal through life-giving waters. It is the emblem of the emperor, and the
wise and noble man. Monotheistic religions usually depict the dragon as evil,
symbolic of the unmanifest, the undifferentiated, chaos, the latent, and untamed
nature.
Some dragons also embody the life giving element of water. From these dragons'
mouths spring lightning, the fire of the storm, and this fiery breath is
symbolic of change and the formation of matter. Even these dragons can be two
sided however, either the enemy of the rain god or a friend of this most
celebrated deity. They are also associated with the sea, the great deeps, the
mountain tops, clouds, and Eastern solar regions.
As Western monsters, dragons are masters of the ground and wealth (which is
symbolic of wisdom and power) which heroes must fight desperately against to
gain self respect and honor. These struggles are representative of the
difficulties in obtaining this hidden knowledge. Killing the monster dragon
symbolizes a man's overcoming of his own "dark side" and obtaining
mastery of himself. The rescuing of a maiden from the dragon's clutches
symbolizes delivering innocence from evil.
Dragon Fantastic!
Copyright 1998 Proteus.
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A Dragon!
Aeryn!
