Dragons and People

[Animal Teachers (Va. Carper)]

People and dragons have a long history together. The world over, people have told of friendly dragons bringing rain or ancient ones creating the cosmos. Until recently, people believed that they could actually go out and see the dragons. When the scientists started measuring Nature’s secrets, the dragons disappeared. However, they simply chose to remain out of sight. Today the dragons choose to reveal themselves to those who seek them with an open heart.

History

· Mythology: At first, people personified demonic and divine forces. To the ancient peoples, dragons were the forces of nature in all her aspects.

· Hearsay Animals: Then, travelers from faraway places told about the exotic creatures they saw to their neighbors. For example, Romans reported on the dragons living in Joppa in the Middle East.

· Medieval Dragons: During the Middle Ages, various bestiaries listed dragons, detailing their habits. In addition, many noble people had them on their family crests.

· From Actual to Mythical: In the 1700s, scientists started collecting natural histories. Then, dragons seemingly disappeared. Afterwards, modern people sought rational explanations for every phenomenon.

· Return of Mythical Beasts: However, dragons never really went away. The mythic imaginations of modern people led scholars to collect tales of dragons. Today, we discover dragons in movies and find them in books.

Today

Where can the dragons be found today? How do we begin the search? How do we deepen relations with the dragons, we meet? What can the dragon stories, from around the world, tell us? What is the true dragon treasure that we search for? Only each of us can answer those questions in our own way.
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(From “Dragons!”: Dragons and People by Virginia Carper, 2008)