Tuesday, December 06, 2005

What are Dragons?

We are all familiar with the popular images of Dragons. They have for many millennia captivated mankind. There are many different versions of dragons. The oldest known dragon symbols are ancient Asian symbols of power and beauty. Popular European legend is filled with tales of winged dragons of raw unbridled nature. This tales offer testaments of the superiority of a humanistic god over nature. There are also many archeological evidences of legendary dragons in virtually every human culture. Presumably these creatures were created by indigenous people to gain some semblance of understanding over an unpredictable natural world world upon which they depended so heavily. No matter the origin of the stories, they capture our imaginations like nothing else. But as is the case with many legends there must be some grain of truth underneath these stories, right?

Throughout history, there are two facts about Dragons that are indisputable… there are people who believe in them and people who do not. This is as true today as it was hundreds, even thousands of years ago. As humanity ages, it grows and matures as does all living things. Nature quite simply improves things with time. There are many people who would have us go back in time, and worse yet… others who would ignore the foundations of our past. Humanity… like life itself is an ever evolving thing. No single snapshot of life is a good picture of what life is. No single definition of a thing can possibly be an adequate representation of the thing. This is true for pretty much everything in life, especially those things that are alive.

People try very hard to wrap things in neat little boxes--one sentence definitions for all purposes. It naturally makes us feel good to have an answer ready when a question appears. Humans convince themselves that there is a singular consistent truth that spans the eons and this is mantra serves as our guide through life. The most common belief is that this singular truth has to do with what is right and wrong.

There is no such single persistent mantra for Dragons or any other living thing. If so there would be little point in living life at all. This in essence is a heavily veiled version of the idea that destiny is predetermined. To define something by a single definition or as it existed in a single point in time is quite simply the way of death. This is because when something ceases to evolve and expand or when it begins to regress it is dying. Dragons are the embodiment of nature in its purest form and serve as the ambassador between our current lives and the totality of our human existence to date.

Religions tend to try to define themselves consistently because to do otherwise suggests uncertainty. People seeking truth are rarely impressed with uncertainty. Let’s face it, all religions are living entities themselves. Religions are living entities that attempt to grow by gaining more and more followers. Religions by and large are not in the best interest of the individuals, they are concerned witht he continued existence of the group itself. No religious group ever disbanded upon discovering they were on the wrong path. One can safely assume you can't trust a religion as a neutral source of information. This is particularly true when it comes to information on an individuals specific needs.

Also, we all like to be right, certain and appear to be in full control. If our beliefs have many people who share our belief it validates our beliefs. This holds no bearing on our beliefs actual accuracy of course. It just makes us feel better so we compromise our beliefs over time to suit the culture. This is natural behavior for living things. Nature devised us to strive for an ideal, whether we are designed to ever actually achieve it is the real question.

Certainty is one ideal we strive for. Certainty helps us feel in control when we travel the road of live to an unknown destination. Usually we aren’t even 100% sure where we came from, most less where we are headed. What might we use for signposts? Who will be our tour guide? Who will validate that we are on the right track when we fear we have veered off course? Humans can’t call up their ancestors and ask…. “Did you guys ever try this?” “How’d that work out for you?” If not some preordained set of directions what is our roadmap? It may be that there is a preordained truth but that truth maybe that there is no preordained truth. How does a true thing guide one? Does the universe truly expect us to navigate life from the knowledge contained in a single set of facts that were known when the first life was formed? Why would we strive to answer the already answered question?

Many religions believe that there is a truth that we can pass down to each other that is simple, easy to remember that will always keep us on track to our destination. Some believe that once we reach the destination we can sit down and enjoy great rewards gained from our travels; for ever more just living in complete contentment. Is there anyone among us who might find that destination a little troubling? If that is the destination do we all really feel pulled to that goal? Ask yourself, “What really drives you forward?” Is it really the promise of doing nothing or is it actually the promise of doing more?

I’ll soon tell you what real Dragons are and how you can find them. I will not tell you of their many traveled roads for that will change between now and when you read this. Nor will I tell you how they will act in any given situation. Your finding them is no more predetermined than life itself so I cannot tell you of that encounter. Besides, no one but your dragons can be trusted with your truths. I can but point you inward to find them.

This brings me to a minor detail we should clarify. Seeing into the future is indeed possible even when the future is not set in stone. In fact your mind does it very well several thousand times a second using a concept known as quantum mechanics. Your mind is able to tap into the current reality on a far greater scale than you consciously need to be aware of. One can see the future because we have the advantage of a guide who has most likely seen circumstances such as we have before us at any given moment. The further forward one seeks to see, the less accurate our guide becomes. This is because of the exponentially expanding possibilities resulting from things our guide has not experienced as we move forward ahead of the current moment. Our guide to life is a living thing bound by the laws of life yet beyond the constraints of its troubles.

Nature is highly efficient and redundant. It evolves to find the best solution for any given problem it encounters. Such is the nature of life. Neither nature nor a God would entrust the survival of a individual, species or set of species on another entity. Entities are corruptible and unreliable. More importantly the individual’s personal guide is often in direct contradiction to the guide for others. How would nature ensure the tribes rules were not entangled with those of the individual wielding the knowledge?

No other human holds the secrets to your life. Nature certainly would not entrust its learned lessons to an alien creature who might would use the knowledge against the creature that needs it. What this means is that a lion does not rely on a seahorse for the combined knowledge of the lions ancestors. So if the “Surviving Lionhood 101” guide book cannot be entrusted to a single lion or a seahorse, where does a lion turn to when it faces a life problem? And how exactly would one be free to expand beyond that influence as you grow… growing that guide with you in essence for your future?

Enter the Dragons.

Many of us intuitively know that the secret to life is as close as nature. The truth is that our guide is actually a step beyond even natures grasp becuase our nature is bound by rules that can change over time. Dragons are our guides. All of us carry this knowledge at birth in one form or another. This is the root of our fascination with dragons. They are our species neutral link to the web of life. They are our contact point with the universe. They exist as a communication system to our ancestors, each other and our immediate future. They grow and expand with us. They are alive and they have physical impact on the world we live in. They watch us constantly. They do not evaluate us nor do they need us in any way. They are beyond our reach and yet just within it. Dragons are our own Super Nature.

Dragons exist just out of our reach but they definitely impact our world. They have personalities because life has personalities. They can be seen because life can be seen. They are the perfect life form and we are building them with each new experience. They can be wonderfully social or terribly destructive as needed. They are us but a step apart. Some people turn to worldly animals for guidance and this can be beneficial. However animals of our world fall far too heavily under the influence of inhabitants of our realm to be trusted as a neutral party. One should bear in mind that how a dragon exposes itself is dependent on what the dragon wished to share with the viewer and what the viewer will accept. Dragons fly in between this realm and the web of life were we all share the same spirit and same goals. They are at once concerned with our individual success and our ultimate communal success. They carry the knowledge of our ancestors and gather our newly obtained knowledge to carry forth to the next generations. In order to share our world they live by the rules of life so they usually take the form of a wonderful living creature, the many varied dragon images come to mind.

Dragons are all around us and beyond us and to find them you have just to look inside and without. When you need them just ask. Dragons exceed our individual powers but no single dragon exceeds our combined energies so they are vulnerable as is all life. “Slaying the Dragon” is in essence the term for putting the needs of a small group over that of the whole. The Christians sought political power and wealth and “slew the dragon” when they rode the backs of a large number of peasants to great wealth. To ride with the dragon balances your personal needs with that of the whole. (The whole is a far larger dragon than that of humanity.) Anyone can call on dragons to plead their cases in the sky of the whole. The dragon is our commonality. Dragons are living beings that link us to insects, trees, animals, planets and galaxies. To ride the dragon is to see the big picture. One can tap into the river of life as a whole from the back of a dragon. All existing life makes up the realm of dragons. Our effective reach is buffered by to our current existence. Our individual affect on the whole can be profound but our damage can be mitigated should we go awry. One foot in that universe and one in this, dragons are the singular link that spans both individual needs and that of the whole. They don’t need us but we ultimately need them to effectively participate in the collective and to guide us in our personal endeavors. We have but to have a need and just look for them. They will answer your questions. They are not a product of our imagination. Dragons are the realized magic that produces our imagination.

Many people have a fear of imagination. This fear has been instilled in people to control them. Take away a persons access to dragons and you take away imagination which provides alternatives. This is the way to enslave a creature. Freedom is the way of the dragon. Freedom is the way of life. Take away freedom and in this life or the next the dragons will eventually return and free them. Dragons are patient creatures. People may abandon each other but the dragons never do. They are there if you look for them. Dragons do not judge you with human eyes. There is no value in trying to conceal your purposes. Dragons have no interest in your acting skills so odds are slim they will be intrigued into a visit should you expose yourself on false grounds.

It can be very liberating to drop pretenses and visit the dragons. It can also be quite difficult to for some people but most anyone can contact them. As is with any other living thing they do pick favorites among us and even avoid others… watching from afar or from some secret vantage point. Dragons are living things so they respond accordingly. They can grow annoyed (for generations in fact, so tread lightly.) Treat them as a living thing and observe them in your mind then step out of your mind and see them in your life. What would they do in your situation? What message do they bring from your ancestors? You will be amazed at the clarity of your knowledge of them once you find them. Step beyond the confines of popular legend and explore your mind for the real dragon there. They are a crystal clear message to your soul and you already know them. Base your life on what a dragon would do and you will never go wrong. Dragons get angry sometimes. They get hungry. They get playful. People are born with this knowledge of dragons. This knowledge is nature’s gift to you as an inborn map to the guidebook of life. Watch the dragons and know the answers to life’s problems. The dragons are us without the constraints of logistics of life yet they retain the essence of the success over the struggles of life. Talk to the dragons. Feel the power as they circle you curiously when you are in wonder. Watch them frolic in the waves when you feel playful. See them in whatever form they would choose to appear to you as. As you evolve and grow so do they. Dragons are life.

AD