Age of the Fire Dragon. Suffer the Witch Vol. 3 June 17, 2015

The final book in the Suffer the Witch Chronicles is nearly here!

June 17, 2015

Fire Dragon Gazzy Windstorm discovers that world leaders are secretly plotting to rid the world of dragons. When his friend and mentor Sir Giovalde is captured, Gazzy goes on the offensive, attacking armies and destroying all the nuclear weapons on Earth. His plans for world peace become shattered though, when a new fire dragon with a treacherous secret emerges and quickly becomes Gazzy’s most dangerous enemy.

Gazzy the Fire Dragon Comes Out of the Closet

Coming Soon

I saw a television news crew setting up shop on Times Square.  The thought hit me to go tell them my story, to try to set things straight, even though it could backfire and make my human persona an outlaw throughout the world.  But it was a sacrifice I knew I had to make, in order to allow the peoples of the world feel safe again. 

Getting the news crew to believe my wild story would be a tricky proposition.  I was sure they’d seen their fair share of weirdoes on the streets of Manhattan.  They’d probably never believe my tale anyway.  I almost talked myself into walking right past them, but for some reason I couldn’t resist the urge to talk.

     
“Excuse me, miss,” I said to the pretty young reporter.

    
“We don’t have time, sir,” she shushed me away without even looking at me.  “We’re in the middle of a story here.”

“I have some very important news,” I insisted.

     
“Call the hotline.  The number’s on the truck.”

     
“I can give you a scoop,” I promised.

     
“I can yell for a cop,” she volleyed, finally looking at me, with an old fashioned New York hairy eye.

     
“Look lady, just here me out,” I tried pleading.

     
“Look yourself,” she interrupted me.  “We don’t have time for your bullshit.  We’re very busy, if you haven’t noticed.  News is news and you’re obviously not newsworthy.  Scum.”

     
“I can explain the dragon attacks,” I pressed on, ignoring her negativity.

     
“You’re wasting my time,” she barked.  “Officer!”

     
Seeing I was getting nowhere with the stubborn reporter, I turned away.  But when I saw two policemen rushing me, I jumped into the air and turned into a fire dragon.   I had no desire to spend another night in jail.

Within seconds panic ensued.  People were screaming and running in every direction.  I hovered in midair and watched the spectacle.  The reporter and her cameraman stood their ground.  She started talking into her microphone and the cameraman started shooting me.  The cops had their guns drawn but hesitated firing them. 

     
I stayed there, hovering, until most of the people were far away.  A few brave souls stayed, to record what would happen next, with their smartphones.  I wasn’t in the mood to disappoint. 

I flew just past the highest skyscrapers and did a magnificent three-sixty.  I then dive-bombed the square, and laughed as the remaining folks covered their heads with their hands and ducked, as if that would’ve saved them.  Just before impact, I turned into knight form and landed right next to the reporter.

     
The lady stood there completely dumbfounded, stuttering and stammering to get her question out.  I made my best superhero pose for the camera and stood there as more folks started pouring back into the square to take a once in a lifetime video. 

Finally, the reporter gathered herself enough to ask her question.  “Who are you?”

    
“I am the Fire Dragon, Gazzy Windstorm.”

     
“Are you here to destroy us?” she asked nervously, before she placed the mic at my mouth with her arm extended full length to stay as far away from me as possible.

     
“No.” I answered.  “Quite the contrary, actually I have come to save you.”

     
“It doesn’t seem that way, with all the destruction you’ve caused,” she tried to play the hardened reporter role.

     
“That is why I am talking to you now; I need to set the record straight.”

     
“The floor is yours,” she said, before giving me the mic and then running to hide behind her cameraman.

     
“People of New York, people of the Earth, I have not come to hurt you.  I am the Fire Dragon.  I destroyed all the nuclear weapons on Earth to set you free from the specter of death held over you by your governments.  A new age has begun.  The age of the Fire Dragon!  I shall not allow anymore wars to take place on this planet.  Governments of the world must stand down or face my consequences.  I am indestructible.  My will shall not be denied.  I will not harm innocent people nor will I allow governments or militaries to harm innocent people.  I have not come to lord over you or rule you.  I am simply your protector.”

     
Some of the people began catcalling me and throwing things, but a small group began applauding.  Their applause grew louder as more people joined in until they drowned out the haters, who then quieted.  I was humbled to say the least.  But that was not why I was there.  I handed the microphone back to the reporter and nodded that it was alright for her to ask me follow up questions.

     
“Are you an alien?  Do you have a UFO?”

     
“No and no,” I responded.  “I am a flesh and blood human being that was transformed into a dragon by a dying witch.  I can switch back and forth between human, undead knight and dragon forms, at will.  What I did with my powers was my own business.  I’ve chosen to protect humans.  I’ve been busy for years, stopping wars and ridding the world of aggressive warmongers.  Most people thought my actions were from the hand of god, but I am done hiding.  It is time the world knew the truth.  It is time for governments to be responsible and to stop fighting over stupid things like oil and energy and money and borders and religions and race.  Now is the time for peace or the time for wrath.  I pray the governments of the world choose wisely.”

     
Applause erupted once again and I nodded my approval.  The reporter looked at me and asked me if there was anything else I wanted to add and I said, “You should know that the presidents of Russia and the United States were planning on starting World War Three.  That is why I am making my presence known.  I’ve already taken care of the Russian president, but the American president is in hiding.  He planned on conquering Canada and Mexico while Russia attacked the countries of the former Soviet Union.  I have audio recordings to back that up that I will make available to you soon.  Everyone should know that the president is an evil traitor, willing to put innocent lives at risk to pursue his own political gains.”

     
“That is hard to believe, Mr. Fire Dragon,” the reporter asked incredulously.  “Can you elaborate?”

     
“That is all I have to say for now.  I will get the audio to you as soon as tomorrow and then everyone can make their own decisions as to whether or not I have done the right thing.  Thank you for your time.”

     
“Sir, sir,” the reporter called, but I ignored her. 

I was done with the interview and disappeared right in front of them.  The crowd buzzed with excitement, so I ran until I found a spot that was clear of people.  I didn’t want to burn anyone when I jumped into the air and transformed into fire dragon form. 

I’d just blown the collective minds of the people of the world.  If I was going to be a marked man, then so be it.  I was ready for whatever they threw my way.

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Apache helicopter vs. Dragon!

This Army video says their Apache helicopter would win against a dragon. Suffer the Witch Chronicles say otherwise! ;)

Suffer the Witch 3, Age of the Fire Dragon

I flew back to the rooftop.  One final helicopter had taken flight.  I could see that it was packed with military brass and top government officials; including the one I sought the most.  It was time for President Kutchkya to meet his maker.        

I hovered directly in front of the helicopter.  Several soldiers rushed the cockpit and started firing at me, bursting out the cockpit window with their spray of bullets.  I refused to budge.

   

The pilot fired his payload of heat seeking missiles.  They exploded into me, which only made me stronger.  The chopper veered to the left.  I followed it, staying in front of it the entire time.  It dive bombed.  I stayed with it.  It shot upwards.  I stayed with it.  It couldn’t shake me. 

I was a killing spree ready to happen, a disaster ready to strike, and I did strike.  I blew a long stream of fire into the cockpit and laughed as the men aboard roasted alive.  I then turned away from the burning chopper, which was now spinning around uncontrollably.  I spun and swatted the chopper with my tail.  It flew through the sky like a fiery homerun belted by a demonic slugger, before it exploded into a confetti of fiery bits.  The Russian president and his entourage were dead.

Coming Soon

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STW 3 excerpt: The End of Sir Giovalde

Coming Soon!

“Here,” the colonel reached on his desk, grabbed the shiny black rock and tossed it to me.  “This is all that remains of him.  He was crushed like a tin can in an experiment with a machine that compresses coal into diamonds.”

I caught the stone and stood there dumbfounded for a second before totally losing my mind.  I screamed in emotional agony as I stared at the rock.  It was my fault that he had died.  If I’d only listened to him about not trusting the boy that betrayed us, none of this would have ever happened.

     

The colonel looked at me strangely, unable to comprehend my outburst.  I, in turn, gazed at him with murder on my mind.  He’d killed my best friend, my mentor, my advisor, my greatest champion.  I could no longer control my actions. 

I hauled my arm back, transformed to into knight form and hurled the stone at the man.  It hit him with such force that it went clean through his chest, leaving a gaping hole that quickly filled with blood.  Brezhnev was dead and he didn’t even have time to scream, beg for mercy or pray.

     

“Get out of here, Katerina!” I screamed as I went to pick up the stone that was once the armored body my best friend.  “Get as far away from the Kremlin as possible.  Leave everything.  Don’t look back.  When I am through destroying this place, I will find you.  If you wish to leave here, I will take you with me.  If not, that is fine, as well.”

     

Katerina left without saying a word as I stalked about the office, trying to hold off turning into a fire dragon until she reached safety.  I was angrier than I’d ever been in my life and I was tired of playing it safe.  It was time to allow my natural dragon instincts take over and become the killer everyone thought I was. 

Never again would I allow my compassion for humanity to stand in the way of what I needed to do.  Everyone considered me to be an evil murderer anyways.  I’d decided that from this moment on, whenever people accused of such, it would no longer be a lie.

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Gazzy & Katerina, excerpt Suffer the Witch 3

Coming Soon

She was most impressed by my tales of military conquests:  How I’d defeated legions of soldiers without killing them, how I’d toppled dictators, kings, and presidents with so called ‘acts of god’, and how I’d defeated the Queen of Hell, Lilith.  Who wouldn't be impressed by such grandiose tales?  To me, though, they were simply tasks to accomplish and not that big of a deal.  I just wanted to help the helpless. 

     We soon found ourselves swapping stories of our personal lives.  We talked about our families, our hometowns, our interests, everything really.  It became apparent that she and I were more similar than different. 

And the same could be said between all Russians and Americans.  We all wanted the same things:  Prosperity, health, family life, social life, and leisure time.  People are people, no matter where on Earth they hailed from.  It’s unfair to blame a nation’s people because their leaders are corrupt and evil, as was the case with both countries.

     One thing became clear as the night progressed; Katerina and I were keenly attracted to one another.  In my mind, I hoped that attraction would turn into animal magnetism.  I longed to be close to a woman, but not just any woman, that is why I had waited so long, so many lonely years.  I’d been burnt enough, betrayed too often. 

I needed someone I could relate to, someone that understood me, someone that wouldn't betray me at the first sign of adversity.  It seemed to me as if Katerina was that woman.

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DRAGONS OF LORE SERIES: Were Dragons mistaken by our ancestors for Dinosaurs, UFO’s or comets?

Humankind has been terribly afflicted with a collective amnesia of its history. We simply cannot remember or accept where we came from, even though clues to our past lay strewn all around us in bits and pieces of antiquated ruins. From prophecies I’ve read, it seems the ancients knew more about us than we do them. I also believe they expected this. This is why they left cave drawings, Nazca Lines, Pyramids, gods and goddesses from the sky and of course, myths.

Today we will conclude our dragon lore series by examining whether they could have really been mistaken for something else. The possibilities include dinosaurs, UFO’s and comets.

It speaks volumes that myths of dragons have survived from olden times until now. It simply cannot just be because of the romanticism of the myth, too many ancient cultures had dragon stories for that to be the case. In fact, all of them did.  

The fact that dragon stories are so widespread begs the next obvious question: Why have no dragon bones ever been discovered?

There are multitudes of dinosaur bones dug up, cataloged, analyzed and displayed across the globe. And there are multitudes more yet to have been dug up. Where on Earth could dragon bones be? Did they all die so deep in cracks and crevices deep inside Mother Earth that they will never be discovered? Were the bones destroyed by angry and fearful early humans? Or are scientists dead wrong about the timeline between the existence of dinosaurs and the evolution of humans?

‘Recent’ evidence has come to light that may prove scientist are wrong. There are many examples of dinosaur tracks and human footprints in rock formations in Texas. There are also ancient pottery from Central and South America that depict humans and dinosaurs co-existing. Now, I find that rather odd because they should not have known the details of what dinosaurs looked like, yet these unlearned ancient craftsman nailed it!

Further, why would they choose to use animals that were supposedly extinct for millions of years rather than creatures that really did walk among them? Did these people remember these events from their ancient ancestors’ past? This would seemingly make humans much older than scientist believe or dinosaurs much younger because humans and dinosaurs supposedly did not exist at the same time.

Don’t get me wrong, or mistake me for a creationist. I am not. I am a firm believer in Ancient Alien Theory.

The question of whether ancient civilizations could have mistaken dragons for UFO’s or comets is also compelling. There are so many crucial questions that need re-examining. If an asteroid or comet wiped out the dinosaurs completely, how did other species survive? Crocodiles, alligators, turtles and many other reptilian creatures have survived more than one mass extinction event. Puzzling right?

Consider the possibility that aliens did in fact come to Earth thousands, if not millions of years ago, genetically mixed their own ‘divine’ dna with that of the ancestors of humans, and then wiped out dinosaurs to give us room to grow? It’s a feasible an answer as any I’ve heard. Imagine, UFO’s zipping around the skies, shooting lasers at dinosaurs while fledging humans looked on, bewildered at the spectacle of it. Maybe other UFO’s even attacked some of the upstart human civilizations in an intergalactic battle against those that created us. Alas: Fire breathing DRAGONS!

Every ancient culture has stories about gods and goddesses that came from the sky in mechanical type flying vehicles. As we read in a past post about Chinese Dragons, these vehicles could in fact be UFO’s. The Chinese claimed that the dragons brought them wisdom and technology. Only an advanced civilization could do such a thing. When the aliens accomplished their goals of enlightening us, they simply boarded their dragon UFO’s and flew away into the sky.

Comets could also have been mistaken by the ancients. They had no knowledge of astronomy. How else could they describe a burning ball of fire, with long tails that spread out like wings that came flying through the sky? Comets have certainly hit the Earth before. Bam! Total destruction. Who gets the blame? Dragons, of course!

The simple fact of the matter is comets are visible quite often. If our ancients saw them and had no idea what they really were, who is to say that this didn’t serve as the genesis of dragon lore?

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Dragons of Lore Series: Biblical Dragons of the Apocalypse

Isaiah 34:13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.

RISE OF THE RAVEN KNIGHTS! http://sufferthewitch.com

Biblical dragons are perhaps the fiercest of all dragons. These are not village destroyers, they are civilization destroyers! However, there are many possibilities about what exactly biblical dragons are. They could be evil human leaders, warmongering countries led by a devious cult of personalities, or they could even be comets, nuclear bombs or aliens. One thing is for sure, they are often not scales, blood and bone flying reptiles.

Before we go any further, let me add that I am not a biblical scholar or expert by any stretch. I have, though, personally read the Bible, as I have many ancient holy books from many different religions. That said, my views on dragons in the biblical sense are not to be construed in any way that I am challenging anyone else religious views. My opinion: believe in whatever you choose and have fun with it.

Revelation 20:1-15 

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection...

If I’m reading this correctly, the prophet is saying that Satan is to be thrown into a bottomless pit (wormhole?) for one thousand years. The souls of martyrs and those that didn’t take the number of the beast resurrected into heaven. The souls of the dead that followed Satan and the Antichrist are not resurrected and judged for 1000 years. After that Satan is freed. It doesn’t say what happens after that. This is not the way most people talk about the end-times! For my fictional take on it check out my apocalyptic horror novel series The Devil’s Prophet @ http://thedevilsprophet.com

Ezekiel 29:3 

Speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.

This passage seems to define the dragon as the Pharaoh of Egypt. Their dynasties lasted for thousands of years until they were taken down by first the Jewish God and then by my personal favorite conqueror, Alexander the Great. That dragon was slain!

Isaiah 27:1 In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

What kind of dragon could be in the sea? Was this prophet perhaps divining something that was too technologically advanced from him to accurately describe? Perhaps it could be a nuclear powered submarine firing nuclear weapons during World War Last. Another explanation could be invading aliens, who are known to make their bases in the sea.

Jeremiah 51:37

And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.

I cannot possibly say about this prophet’s use of the term dragon. He does accurately predict the fall of Babylon, which happened twice, once in early biblical times by the Medes and the Assyrians (Persians) and the other, just recently, by a war the United States started. The actual ancient city-state of Babylon does in fact lie in ruins in the badlands of Iraq, just as the prophet predicted. A ghost town, which for a brief time, was the greatest and most beautiful city in the world, may in fact be housing some type of terrible spiritual dragons ready to awaken and take thousands of simmering years’ worth of vengeance out on humanity.

Daniel Chapter 14

23There was a great dragon* which the Babylonians revered.24The king said to Daniel, “You cannot deny that this is a living god, so worship it.”25But Daniel answered, “I worship the Lord, my God, for he is the living God.26Give me permission, O king, and I will kill this dragon without sword or club.” “I give you permission,” the king said.27Then Daniel took some pitch, fat, and hair; these he boiled together and made into cakes. He put them into the mouth of the dragon, and when the dragon ate them, he burst. “This,” he said, “is what you revered.”

This makes the apocalyptic prophet Daniel a world-class dragon slayer. There is not one clue in this text to point at a misconstrued technological device. It simply describes a biological beast that was obviously quite fearsome. How it came to be captured or what type of beast it really was is anyone’s guess. For slaying this beast, King Nebuchadnezzar listened to the pleas of the high priests of the dragon religion and sentenced Daniel to be thrown into a den of hungry lions. After several days, the King had his men open the den and Daniel walked out unharmed. Nebuchadnezzar promptly threw the wizards that worshipped the dragon into the pit and they were immediately eaten. Real or imagined, this is a great, great story.

Speaking of great stories, please give my own dragon story, Rise of the Raven Knights a read. It is a fantastic dark fiction tale, about dragons, owls, ravens, knights, ghosts and gargoyles that battle evil witches who plan to control demons and take over the world. http://sufferthewitch.com

Be sure to check back into DeThroe’s Blog in two weeks as I explore in depth, the possibility that the ancients mistook comets and UFO’s as dragons!

Dragon of Lore Series: Ancient Greek Dragons!

Dragon myths run deep and long in ancient Greek culture. There were all sorts of different types of dragons and from that sprang dozens of brilliant stories of Greek gods or heroes battling these terrible beasts, and of course saving their fellow countrymen and Greek civilization in the process. In fact, there are so many fantastic dragon stories that there is no way I could get to them all in this blog article. Instead, I researched the ones that greatly appealed to me and from that will offer you a taste of ancient Greek dragon lore, while strongly encouraging you to dig deeper on your own.

Greek mythology cannot be discussed in a broader sense without first mentioning Zeus, the chief god and centerpiece of a once thriving religion. Zeus seemed to have the talent, or power, if you will, to control dragons. He used them in various ways, but mainly to protect something he valued or to give grief to his enemies. To attain this power he had to battle the father of all dragons, Typhon. Typhon attacked Zeus in anger after Zeus defeated the Titans. But Zeus defeated and entrapped Typhon beneath Mt. Etna in Sicily, one of the most active volcanoes in the world. 

After that, Zeus used the Nemean Dragon to guard his sacred groves. This beast was killed by an angry mob of soldiers after the beast devoured the baby crown-prince. The sacred grove of Zeus, along with his temple was most likely destroyed in the fifth century by Roman emperor Theodosius II, who had great disdain for its’ pagan leanings.

In Greek mythology there are four main types of dragons. All their ancient dragon lore came from one of these four species. Dracones were serpents with viciously sharp teeth, fatally poisonous bite, sometimes had multiple heads and usually guarded a great treasure, magickal grove or spring. Some of the more prominent Dracones were the before mentioned Typhon, Python, who guarded the Oracle of Delphi before Apollo took over, the Trojan Dracone who tried unsuccessfully to warn the people of Troy about the Trojan Horse.

The next dragon species are the Cetea. These are great sea serpents. The Kraken loosed by Hades in the Perseus story was a Cetea. The creature’s real name was Cetus, not the Kraken as described in modern contemporary movies. Kraken is actually the name of a Norse sea monster that resembled a giant octopus. But, who would let facts stand in the way of a great Hollywood movie?!

The third Greek dragon species are the fire-breathing Chimaera. Often depicted as part lion, part goat and part serpent, this is the type of dragon which was later adopted into medieval dragon tales, such as St. George and the dragon, which we explored in a very popular piece that appeared earlier in the Dragons of Lore series.

The fourth and final species of dragon were the Dracaena, which means She-Dragon. These creatures where thought to be beautiful human-like nymphs from the waist up, but scaly serpent in their lower half. Think evil mermaids! These beasts where the spawns of the most evil dragons of lore and were so powerful in their own right that they could usually be slain by gods such as Zeus and Apollo or demigods such as Heracles and giants such as Argus Panoptes.

Speaking of Heracles, he was perhaps the greatest dragon slayer of all-time. He is credited with slaying the multi-headed Hydra as one of his twelve labors of King Eurystheus. He tricked Atlas into stealing golden apples from the dragon Ladon, by offering to hold the world on his shoulders, which was Atlas curse. After Atlas stole the apples, Heracles asked him to hold the world momentarily while he found some sheep fur to protect his shoulders. He took the apples and ran! 

Heracles also slew a Cetea dragon to save the Trojan princess Hesione, in a story eerily similar to the Perseus story. Heracles then mated with a Scythian Drakaina, named Enchinda, who had stolen his cattle. She was a type of mermaid/dragoness. The result of this union was three sons, one of which began a long line of Scythian kings. His name was Skythe and his empire prospered for several hundred years, before finally being destroyed by the Goths. Pretty decent legacy for Heracles the Dragon Slayer.

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Dragons of Lore Series: Apep, Enemy of the Egyptian Sun God Ra

I love Egypt. The mysterious pyramids, the pharaohs, Cleopatra, the gods, the goddesses, hieroglyphs, the biblical Moses story, the mummies, the Nile…the list goes on and on. Oh, and they also have an incredible dragon myth. For those of you that didn’t know that, let me introduce you to Apep, the greatest enemy of the sun god, Ra.

In Egyptian mythology, Apep is a serpent dragon and the chief demon god of the underworld. Every night when the sun sets, Ra would have to travel through the underworld in order to bring back the sun the next morning. Apep would be waiting to destroy him. Of course, Ra, with the help of his lesser god and goddess buddies would always emerge victorious, slaying the dragon Apep, who would inevitably come back to life to battle Ra again the next day.

Apep became part of Egytpian mythology in the middle part of the pharaoh dynasties, replacing the demon-god Set as lord of the underworld, the leader of demonic armies and the bad ass icon of all things evil. At that point, Set joined forces with Ra and Apep became supreme god. But the trio of Ra, Set and Isis wanted to share that power with him. He refused, so they attacked. When they cast him into the underworld, he made it his mission to destroy Ra. Luckily for us; he hasn’t been able to…yet.

Apep used many weapons to battle Ra. The cold darkness of the underworld was his first choice, but there were more tricks up his sleeve than that. He also used sandstorms, thunderstorms and earthquakes to steal the light from the sky. Probably the most stunning of his weapons was his use of solar eclipse to bring darkness to the world of humans. In this case Ra would call upon his own minions to save him, such as Bast, Isis and Horus. They would use swords to cut the serpent to pieces and free the life giving sun from eternal hell.

The people of Egypt also helped Ra. They would hold a ritual called Banishing Apep and other spells from the Book of Apophis to protect themselves from his wrath and bless their main god. Ra’s priests and worshippers would make an effigy of Apep and destroy it to symbolically show their love for their god and to protect both the living and the dead.

Apep was depicted in hieroglyphs as a giant serpent and sometimes as a circular ball that represented his evil eye. Usually he is shown being cut to pieces by a cat with a knife. An all-powerful god, Apep could be temporarily defeated, but never be totally destroyed. He always came back to life to bring the battle back to Ra.

This great dragon-demon was not just known to Egyptians. The ancient Greeks called him Apophis, In today’s world, a near Earth asteroid bears his name.  Apophis has a small chance of impacting our planet in 2029 and again in 2036 and 2068. If it somehow does hit us, the resulting explosion of dust it would fling into our atmosphere would surely entrap Ra in darkness…for a time.

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Dragons of Lore Series: Chinese Dragons

Chinese Dragons are perhaps the most fascinating mythical creature ever dreamed up by mankind. In most ancient cultures, monstrous beasts where created to warn future generations about a certain danger. Whether the danger came from volcanoes, thunderstorms, asteroids or comets, dragons were usually a creature whose very presence spelled certain impending doom upon those unlucky to cross paths with them. Not true for Chinese dragons. These dragons are considered lucky, perhaps even givers of life. That is not to say that they don’t have a little bite!

China is often referred to as the Dragon. In ancient times they were associated by Emperor’s, or at least so the emperor hoped to be associated with them. The Chinese saw divine personality characteristics that they themselves wished to attain, or see in themselves. Chinese dragons epitomized strength, power, independence, courage, wisdom and above all else, luck!

Chinese dragons are quite different in appearance than western dragons. Chinese dragons lack wings and their bodies are more snake-like or crocodile-like than the lizard looking western fire-breathers. The ancient Chinese believed that certain animals possessed the power to overcome nature, especially when nature was being furiously angry. The dragons they worshipped were created from the parts of these different animals, such as serpents, reptiles and fish, to create a super-supernatural being to protect them.

The emperors who stylized their reigns after these creatures used dragons with five claws as their symbols. The next highest ranking military or political figure would have four and the next lowest three. The dragons were considered to be divine. Thus the dragon dance was born, to appease the gods to dispel droughts and bring life giving rains on which the harvest depended.

 The color of particular dragons is also very symbolic. Green is representative of the gods giving great future harvests, yellow embodied the emperor or his kingdom, gold and silver represent prosperity, red stands for excitement.

 

There are many beautiful dragon temples in China, many of them supported by outlandishly creative dragon pillars. With stunning craftsmanship, the ancients set out to make the dragons’ temples suitable for any god, anywhere in the world. The belief among these people was that the spirits of the dragons who dwelt within the temple would make wishes come true. In return, the wish makers would be compelled to do something to return the favor for the gods. It could be a simple fruit or bread sacrifice for the poor to a magnificent new dragon pillar in the temple for the rich lords.

Chinese dragons come in four types: Celestial, Spiritual, Earth and Underworld. The Celestial Dragon is ruler of all other dragons and protects the heavens. It has five claws. Spiritual Dragons control the wind and rain. Floating in the clouds, it reigned in nature, providing life giving rain when appeased and droughts and natural disasters when angered. Earth dragons controlled the flow of rivers and the path and maintenance of their banks. Every river in China had its own dragon. The Underworld Dragons guard hordes of treasures and precious metals buried deep underground. The guardian of wisdom, each Underworld Dragons possessed a black pearl, representing wisdom, which could multiply whatever it touched. I could use one of those magick black pearls! How about you?

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Dragon of Lore series: Beowulf and the Dragon

“O flower of warriors, beware of that trap. Choose, dear Beowulf, the better part, eternal rewards. Do not give way to pride. For a brief while your strength is in bloom but it fades quickly; and soon there will follow illness or the sword to lay you low, or a sudden fire or surge of water or jabbing blade or javelin from the air or repellent age. Your piercing eye will dim and darken; and death will arrive, dear warrior, to sweep you away.” Beowulf 

The myth of Beowulf fascinates me more than any other. Here is a man who defeated, and when I say defeated I mean killed, a leviathan, a troll, a witch-snake and a dragon! No other hero I can think off has as many skins on the wall as the great Geat. And he wasn’t even a demigod, like say, Hercules!

The story begins with Beowulf sailing away from his homeland, Geatland, to travel to the land of the Danes, to help a friendly neighboring peoples, and to make a name for himself. The King of the Danes, Hroogar, has developed a small problem. To celebrate his countries prowess against its enemies, the king built a great hall for his warriors to drink mead, tell tall tales, sing songs, ravage beautiful dames and all the other things victorious drunken warriors tend to do. The one mistake he made, however, was building his party hall within earshot of a terrible troll named Grendle, who was born deformed: his eardrum grew outside of his ear, not inside. Grendle couldn’t tolerate noise!

So, every time the Danes had a celebration, Grendle would come and play the role of party pooper, by destroying everything in his path, killing a warrior or two and taking their corpses back to his cave to dine on. A terrible pall fell across the land and no one dared stand up to the terrible Grendle. Then Beowulf showed up, full of confidence after slaying a leviathan along the way, bragging to be the greatest warrior in the world and vowing to rid the Danish lands of the cursed troll. To get matters started, Beowulf insisted on throwing a great celebration at the king’s hall, and when Grendle showed up, Beowulf battled him, ripped his arm off at the shoulder, causing the troll to flee back to his cave, fatally wounded.

When the troll dies, its angry mother, an evil witch who can shape shift into a snake, came calling for Beowulf. When she encounters the Geatmen, she attack and kills Beowulf’s best warrior before slinking back home. Outraged, Beowulf follows her to her lair and confronts her. Unable to hurt the sorceress with his weapons, Beowulf grabs an ancient magickal sword forged by a giant, lying amongst her horde and slays her with it. He then decapitates Grendle, gives the head to the king, is handsomely rewarded and then returns home to Geatland, where his new found reputation eventually makes him a great king of his own people.

Fifty years later, a young man in Beowulf’s kingdom comes upon a cave filled with treasure. He takes a golden cup with him for proof, and in the process, wakes a sleeping dragon. The dragon is furious to find one piece of its horde missing and flies from its lair, burning everything in its sight. With his kingdom under threat, old Beowulf summons his youthful courage and gathers his warriors to confront the dragon.

Sensing his own inevitable demise, Beowulf bravely orders his men to stand down and attacks the dragon alone. A great battle ensues and Beowulf finally slays the airborne beast by ripping its heart out with his bare hands. Unfortunately, Beowulf is mortally wounded by the dragon and dies soon after, surrounded by his closest friends and warriors. His people build a massive funeral pyre for their fallen hero and then bury his ashes and the dragon’s great lair together in a huge burial mound.

Two burial mounds that might fit the description have been found in Geatland, in what we today call Scandinavia. One was excavated in the late 19^th century and grand burial setting fit for a great king was found. It is debatable whether or not it was Beowulf. The other one has not been excavated.

I highly recommend reading a translated version of the epic poem Beowulf. There are a couple of really good movies made in the 2000’s that do a great job of telling this great myth as well. Of the two, I prefer the animated version. Odin and Thor would be proud.

“Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning. For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark.” Beowulf

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Dragons of Lore Series: St. George's Dragon

The first time I became aware of St. George’s dragon myth, I didn’t even realize it for what it was. It was disguised in a fantasy movie that was more famous for being the first Disney film with partial nudity than anything else: Dragonslayer. Great movie, I’ve watched it dozens of times. The premise of the story, taken almost entirely from the St. George dragon myth, was of a kingdom terrorized by a terrible fire-breathing dragon. To appease the dragon, and to win an uneasy peace with it, the king’s spiritualist holds a lottery with every virgin in the kingdom included, with the unlucky winner to be chained outside the dragon’s lair as a blood sacrifice. When the king’s own daughter is chosen and condemned to die, she is deftly rescued by a daring foreign hero who happens by just at the moment of truth.

There are subtle differences: St. George, who lived in the late third, early fourth centuries, was a warrior priest, perhaps an early version of a Templar Knight. The Hollywood version simply changed the hero from a missionary warrior to an inexperienced young wizard; to appeal to the teenagers the producers pitched it to. Even though the flick was not a cinematic masterpiece, it was still a key building block in my growing love of dragons, and inspired me to learn more and that is how I discovered the myth of St. George.

In the movie the dragon is slain by means of sorcery. In the myth, St. George makes the sign of the cross, pins the dragon with his lance, asks the princess for her girdle, and proceeds to strap it around the dragon’s neck. The princess is then able to lead the wounded beast through the streets of the kingdom like a harmless lamb. When the townsfolk flee in fear, St. George agrees to behead the creature in return for the mass baptism of all the people in the kingdom.

In the movie, the young dragon slayer wins the love of his dream girl, a female warrior, not the princess, mind you. In the myth, St. George converted the entire kingdom to Christianity after slaying the dragon. The king offers him a reward of half the money in the kingdom. St. George refused. Instead, he demanded that the king take care of the churches, honor the priests and have pity on poor people.

After that, St. George left and continued on his personal crusade to convert pagans to Christianity.  Eventually he was martyred for his efforts. Death may have claimed George’s soul but he has been immortalized as patron Saint of England, as well as Portugal and Malta. The red cross he wore on his arms has been adopted as the Union Jack of England and also on the flags of Australia and New Zealand. There are many cities around the world named after him and even the Eurasian country of Georgia is indirectly named after him. The power of the cult of St. George is so prevailing that 365 Orthodox churches in that country bear his name.

Perhaps St. George’s greatest legacy is that he is venerated by Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, as the man slew the dragon in Palestine and continued to work miracles, even after his death. I think that is about as rare as it gets in that regard.

Please check back with DeThroe Blog next week to read my next Dragons of Lore article about the Norse myth of Beowulf and his battle with a dragon.

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