Riding On Dragons
In ancient times, in the “time of inspiration”, the poet flew from one world to another, “riding on dragons”, as the Chinese said.
Robert Bly
Not only poets, but leaders, politicians, generals, and soldiers; husbands and wives, lovers and friends; artists and artisans, merchants, hunters and farmers. They all rode on dragons.
Not in China alone, but in Greece and Africa, in India and Europe, in the Holy Land and in the Americas, in the Pacific Islands, in all places across the earth, people rode on dragons. They rode on dragons before the places were called what we call them today; before the people were called what we call them today.
Riding on dragons means leaping from the known to the unknown, from daily life to the sacred, from the mind that is aware of itself to the unconscious. To ride on dragons is to move effortlessly between seemingly disparate worlds. Those who were best at this leaping are known today by names such as avatar, sage, mystic, or shaman. But no person needs such lofty titles to ride on dragons.
Have we slain the dragons so that we can roam malls, sit on clogged freeways, go to war, countenance famine, and hate one another without ever taking wing; without ever moving beyond what we have created in order to discover what meaning it holds and how it could be different? Or have the dragons withdrawn, rejected, to some place where they wait, patiently, for us to ride them again?
I think they are waiting. Go now…ride on dragons.
(The quote at the top is from
Leaping Poetry by Robert Bly,
Beacon Press, 1975)
Thursday, December 14th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
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December 15th, 2006 at 7:06 pm
Flying high here! Thanks for the visual today. I just love it that this stuff is coming out of the closet. People all around me are seeking. Most of them don’t know what it is. They talk to me and express how uneasy they are, but they can’t put their finger on it. Sometimes I tell someone that they are looking for themselves and they get it. Most times, I can just tell that they are not ready. They want to complain. They are comfortable there.
Our dragons are waiting, and they’re fierce! Mine are taking me for quite a ride.
December 16th, 2006 at 8:09 pm
Dick, for a native Hawaiian girl with a Chinese surname, this thought of riding on dragons is absolutely yummy. As someone who delights in the global connections we can make so easily now, I can also imagine these wonderful creatures flitting around my fingers as they fly above my keyboard. They need not be the giants we normally think of to have their very large influence. It is a special thing to live in the sacred, and to have the belief that sense of place within our spirit is as real as any we plant our earth-bound feet in. Thank you for the liberation of your words on this, the very first day of my long-awaited hiatus.
December 17th, 2006 at 7:30 am
As Rosa uses the thought of liberation, it also comes to my mind. (Rosa wouldn’t find this unusual
…as in liberating one’s mind.
The visual of riding a dragon between worlds of thought is exciting - beyond!
December 18th, 2006 at 7:17 am
Like the others who have already commented, I also resonate with dragons. Always have since I was a little kid.
We al have dragons. They are our potential, lying deep within, in a hidden cavern, slumbering on a treasure hoard, waiting for some trigger (like Bilbo the thief) to rouse them. Years ago, I wrote a poem about dragons that I ought to find in my attic…and publish again somewhere.
Thanks for the inspiration, Dick!
Regards,
Terry
December 18th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
This is all wonderful…thanks for the thoughtful responses NNeka, Rosa, Dave, and Terrence. I’m pleased that the metaphor has struck a chord. I’m planning to follow up on this, so please stay tuned. Keep the dragons warmed up, ready for a ride.
December 20th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Rilke said that our fears are dragons who guard our dearest treasures and will turn into princesses when we face down our fears. I love eh concept of riding them.