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An Introduction To Dragons He rises out of the Dragon's Breath.
His regal head faces the West.
HIs generous heart beats fierce as fire
His outspread wings raise the funeral pyre.
He is the Dragon, a bronze is He.
He is the Dragon, and He's come for me.
And by my side, forever He'll be.

© Elswet O'The Dragonfyre, 1998, 1999, 2000.



"Most cultures in the entire world
have histories of dragons in one shape
or another. Some are depicted as huge
wingless serpents, others more like the
traditional picture we of the Western
world have of dragons: heavy bodied with
wings. Dragons are shown with four legs,
two legs, or no legs at all. Some dragons
were said to have arrowhead-pointed tails,
while others had a spiked knob on the end
of the tail. Some had twisted horns, others
long antennae rather like those of moths.
But the dragon, in whatever form, is there,
regardless of the description attached to it.
We have a subconscious knowledge of the
dragon and its powers that even the assumed
the veneer of civilization cannot remove."



[paraphrased from D.J. Conway's
Dancing With Dragons
Llewellyn Publications, 1997.]

General Information

For centuries, man has been fascinated with the
mysterious winged lizard known throughout many
cultures as the "dragon." This mythical beast has been
portrayed by many different types of people in different,
and yet amazingly similar, forms. For one, I've noticed that
the dragon is usually scaled and winged, or looks
something like a lizard. Several dragons are also
composed of many different parts of different types of
animals, which may portray the dragon's mastery over
all species because it is of all species. There
have been arguments over whether a dragon is real
at all, whether it existed here on Earth at one time, or
whether some people can speak to or are even
reincarnations of dragon deities. People have asked
me what my views on this are, and my personal belief
is that though dragons certainly are not on Earth now,
they may have existed here at one time or
another, or similar beasts are somewhere in the
universe. It would be silly to think that everything man
has dreamed up could not be possible in the
imagination of creation. However, what you believe is
up to you; and so I have composed a short paper
illustrating the similarities and differences between
dragons around the world and am letting you
decide for yourself.

Symbolic Dragons

The dragon is a very complex and nearly universal symbol.
It is a combinations of the bird, the "breath of life," and
the serpent, "life-giving waters." Obviously, in the
dragons' earliest days, they were known to be 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 represents 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, like all other Pagan traditions,
Deities and Beliefs, by the Catholic Church. For them,
the dragon symbolizes hate, evil, violence, and even
death. Even the "breath of life" has been changed, as
most dragons in the Western Christian world are
represented as having foul breath which smells of sulfur
and rotting corpses, the water aspect turned to fire.
For the Christians, 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, however, seem to need to depict the
dragon as evil; symbolic of the unmanifest, the
undifferentiated, chaos, the latent, and untamed nature.

Actually, most dragons 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 of Christian influence 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" of the Christians symbolizes a man's overcoming of his own ignorance and obtaining mastery of himself. The rescuing of a maiden from the dragon's clutches symbolizes delivering innocence from evil.

Thankfully, however, for the rest of the world, Dragons are
know far and wide as benevolent, loving and beneficial
beings with the wisdom and knowledge of the Ages. They
are truly the Old Ones, and their friendship and companionship
is to be highly treasured; their knowledge and wisdom is indeed,
a precious gift. So proceed with care, caution and wisdom.

Dragonkind
 
 Races/BreedsDescription
Amphisbaena An African dragon with two heads, one at the end of its long tail and at the head end. It has a curiously bird like body with the feet of a rooster, and by grasping the tail head with the other is able to travel by rolling around in this hoop. Usually portrayed as having a scaly body and a pair of feathered wings. The modern day lizard was named for this known dragon.
Amphitere This type of dragon can be found in Britain, the Middle East, Egypt, and several Latin American countries such as Peru. Their appearance is similar to that of a gigantic jade-colored snake with multi-colored feathered wings, and some also possess a single pair of front legs. In European and Middle Eastern countries, the Amphitere is known to possess all the secrets of the world save one, and are born with such fantastic powers as hypnotic eyes, which are usually invested in guarding the treasures of the land, like myrrh trees, gold, and other assorted riches. Even the body parts of an Amphitere are special. If its teeth are planted, an army of battle ready undead warriors will spring up, eager to help; its blood, when drunk, will give one the power to understand animals; and a potion of dried Amphitere eyes mixed with honey will cure the consumer's headache, even the vilest of migraines. The most famous of the Latin American Amphitere is "Quetzalcoatl," whose name means "most precious serpent." Thequetzal bird, which has a beautiful multicolored tail of almost two feet long, was named for this well known dragon. The Latin American Amphitere has only a pair of wings and a jade, feathered serpentine body.
Basilisk The king of snakes and all other reptiles, and even the word Basilisk is contrived from the Greek word for king, basileus. They are represented as a lizard a little less than three feet long with a large tuft on its narrow head representative of a crown, and thick bird-like legs. This beast is incredibly venomous, savage and destructive, and even its eyes carry the incredible power of being able to kill a full grown man instantly at a glance. The only three creatures that can kill a basilisk are a cock, whose crowing sends it into an unnatural and fatal fit, the weasel, who can bite it to death, and itself if it happens to glance into a mirror or confront another basilisk.
Bunyip An Australian dragon, the Bunyip is considered one of the largest types of dragons and may be one of the strangest looking as well. It has the body of a cow, the tail of a whale, the head of a bulldog ~ with horns!
CockatriceThis creature is very similar to a basilisk as to its powers and how it acts. It also represented sin and death to the medieval Christians, because only the pure of heart could communicate and learn from the Cockatrice. This race of Dragons has a lizard like body, bat wings and the head of a cock. They first surfaced in the first century AD in the deserts of North Africa, when merchants began to take cocks with them as protection against basilisks. Perhaps the strangest thing about this beast is how it is born; it must be hatched from a shell-less egg that was lain by a seven year old cock while Sirius the dog star is within view. If the proper spherical shape, it must be then incubated on the dung heap by either a toad or a snake.
DragonetA very small dragon that ranges in size from about the length of one's finger to just under a foot. They bear a remarkable resemblance to the newly hatched drakelings of the western variety, but possess wings and are incredibly beautiful. They also can spit flame or breath fire should they choose, and some decide to take an easy life by disguising themselves as one of the children of an unwitting dragon parent.
DrakeA dragon resembling the traditional western type that possesses no wings. It looks a great deal like the wyrm except for the fact that it retains its fore and back legs. They cannot fly, and range from 4 to 40 feet in length, depending on their environment.
Eastern DragonThe Eastern dragon is representative of wealth and good luck, unlike its western cousins. As to appearance, the dragon deities of China are believed to have a camel head, cow ears, piercing and powerful eyes, a snake neck, clam belly, tiger feet, eagle claws, and is covered with one hundred seventeen carp scales in which eighty one are of yang essence and thirty one of ying. Males are often represented as having extra scales on the neck, a pearl under the skin and several small wings. The eastern dragon is also believed to go through seven forms in their lifetimes of three thousand years, and the most commonly seen of these forms is the sixth. Many of these dragons will freely bless the righteous person with happiness and wealth, and are represented as guardians of the water. There is a dragon in every bit of water, from the tiniest rain drop to the largest ocean. They are often invisible to mortal eyes, although one can sense their presence or hear their voices through gongs and the jingling of coins. They also sometimes take the shape of a newt or snake so as to visit our world without causing panic. Most fly by using the earth's magnetic current to soar, and are representative of these currents much like the French Wouive. Only the Royal Celestial Chinese dragons have five claws on each paw, and live in and guard the palaces of dead nobility and the gods.
Elemental DragonsThere are several divisions of different types of elements, namely water, fire, stone, earth, wind/air, energy, star/infinity, shadow and trinity (combination of any three elements).
Faerie Dragon
A very small dragon of only a couple inches long with a pair of multi- colored butterfly-like wings. They also have large eyes for their face, and some have a long, aardvark shaped nose with a long, straw like tongue. The faerie dragon is very rare, but the diligent true believer may find them deep within the forests, usually within glens and glades. Faerie Dragons, as the name suggests, will be found near faerie mounds, faerie rings and only the most beautiful places of the forests.
Hydra The Hydra is usually represented as an immense dragon with thick legs and a even thicker tail with multiple heads. This dragon is a living symbol of the fertilizing powers of water due to its ability to regenerate itself when hurt or even killed. The earliest accounts of the Hydra can be seen on a Syrian seal which dates back to the fourteenth century BC. According to Ancient Greeks, the Hydra possesses nine heads atop nine snaking necks, one of which is immortal. When any of the other eight are cut off, another two will grow in its place. The second labor of Hercules consisted of having to kill the Hydra of the Lerna swamp, and finally succeeded only in having his nephew Iolus searing each neck at the base with a burning stick as its head was cut off, and burying the immortal head under a rock. He then cut up the remainder of the Hydra's body to prevent regeneration, and dipped his weapons in its gall so the least wound from one of them would be fatal.

The Christian Bible speaks of probably the most infamous hydra in history, which is portrayed in The Apocrypha as a huge red dragon with seven heads with a crown topping each head, and ten horns. This dragon fought a war with Michael and his angels, and was then cast, with his followers, out of Heaven and back onto Earth. The open mouth of this dragon is portrayed in Christian myth as the gateway to hell.
LindwormThe Lindworm is believed to be an offspring of the classic wyrm. This is one of the few dragons native to the Americas, discovered by Marco Polo, who wrote of them in great detail in his journals. They have powerful forelegs which they use to push themselves across the soil, and a long, muscular tail that can be used like a whip as a weapon. One of the dangers of the Lindworm is they immensely enjoy eating horses, and will often kill a rider in the simple attempt to make the horse buckle to its knees. These reside in streams and under the earth, and have very sharp eyes which enable them to see in the dark as well as any cat. The Lindworm is a semi-dragon whose ancestors consist of both lizards and wyrms.
Naga These are thought to be huge snake-like dragons with human faces which live in Patala, an under water region beneath the earth. This type of dragon originates from Pakistan, from the legend of the Naga Apala, a god who was able to keep evil dragons away in exchange for offerings from the locals. However, when they gradually forgot to do this, he changed himself into a poisonous dragon and became the plague of the countryside himself in punishment to the humans of the area for abandoning their god.
PeludaA wingless neo-dragon with a back like a porcupine.
SalamanderIn medieval times, the Salamander was known to be part dragon and therefore immune to fire. Some believed that the hissing and popping of the fire was a Salamander singing to them, or perhaps even casting a spell over their house. Through this, the Salamander soon became associated with witches, and a true witch was believed to be able to escape the fire by turning into a Salamander and escaping to his/her gods where she/he was given a new form.
Serpent WhaleA water dwelling dragon that is similar to the legendary Loch Ness monster, but does not possess a neck. They range from dolphin to whale size and are found only in the open oceans.
TatzelwormThis dragon has the appearance of a snake with the forearms of a cat. Many Sicilian farmers say they have seen the Tatzelworm, and a few even claim to have killed one. They consider it a threat to both themselves and the over-all well being of their farms.
Western DragonWhen most people think of dragons, this is what comes to mind. The traditional western dragon is a four-legged, winged, gigantic fire-breathing reptilian dragon with a nasty temper and an affinity for chaos and gold. Like humans, some have been the scourges of the country side, demanding tribute for their protection, but others are fair and just. Some kings, such as Uther Pendragon of legend, King Louis XIV, and many many others, have chosen to make these dragons their symbols. The western dragon is thought to symbolize sovereignty, ancient wisdom and knowledge.
WyrmThe most ancient of dragons, the wyrm looks basically like a huge snake with no legs or wings, with a bushy head resembling the mane of a lion. They originate in England, and perhaps the most famous of these is the Lambton Wyrm.
WyvernThe Wyvern is a dragon with a single pair of wings (which sometimes act as arms), a tail, and a pair of forelegs. The word "Wyvern" originated from the French word wyvere which means both serpent and life. The French Wyvern is known as Vouivre or Wouive, is portrayed as a serpent with the head and body of a beautiful woman with a ruby or garnet set between her eyes. This jewel is used to guide her through the mortal underworld. She is the protector of the earth and all living things, and as one author poetically put it, she is ‘the spirit that breathes or inspires." The Wouive is a personification of the magnetic currents that, which even then the ancients knew, span the earth. (These currents are known to the experienced magick user as ley lines.)