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.