The Dragon

The Dragon in Mythology Always Represents the Thing which must be Overcome or Killed in Order that Something may be Liberated; It is Always Guarding a Stolen Treasure which Really should Belong to Man. The Hero has to Overcome the Dragon in Order to Liberate the Treasure. ~ Carl G. Jung

“the dragon in itself is a monstrum — a symbol combining the chthonic principle of the serpent and the aerial principle of the bird… a variant of Mercurius,” - Carl Jung

In myths the hero is the one who conquers the dragon, not the one who is devoured by it. And yet both have to deal with the same dragon. Also, he is no hero who never met the dragon, or who, if once he saw it, declared afterwards that he saw nothing. Equally, only one who has risked the fight with the dragon and is not overcome by it wins the hoard, the “treasure hard to attain”. He alone has a genuine claim to self-confidence, for he has faced the dark ground of his self and thereby has gained himself. This experience gives some faith and trust, the pistis in the ability of the self to sustain him, for everything that menaced him from inside he has made his own. He has acquired the right to believe that he will be able to overcome all future threats by the same means. He has arrived at an inner certainty which makes him capable of self-reliance.

~ Carl G. Jung 1875 - 1961

To Change, You must Free the Dragon of your Appetites with another Dragon: the Life Energy of the Soul.

~ Rumi / Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

1207 - 1273

Slaying, Taming, and Ridging the Dragon

Entering the Cave and Encountering the Dragon

• Entering the dark cave of fears
• moving within it in the total dark to find the dragon waiting within it
• Having the courage to walk into this cave of fear and darkness - to descend deep within oneself and face one’s inner dragon - shadow ego.
• Facing the dragon, and slaying it.
• Taming it, standing upon it, to show that you have dominion over it now. so that it becomes your ally and the dragon energy serves you and assists you
• The Dragon power is your primordial energy. It is reptilian, it flies, It breathes fire, you can ride upon it. It is huge and powerful. A magical creature
• The dragon is connected to the kundalini energy(?) The coiled serpent biting its own tail, the hidden potential within you. arousing the Dragon.

The Mythical Dragon

the hero must enter the cave, confront the dragon, and emerge transformed, carrying the boon (the treasure or wisdom) back to the world.

The cave represents the subconscious and the shadow self, where the dragon of fear resides. To slay the dragon is to conquer your deepest fears and limitations, proving your worth as the Hero. Unless you slay the dragon, it will continue to haunt and terrorize the kingdom and the Hero remains enslaved by his fear and his enslavement to his own inner dragon tyrant.

Entering the dark cave of fears

Enter the dark cave and face the Dragon.

The dark cave is the primordial fear of unknown, of being lost, of being swallowed up….

The Dragon is the external monster that sits on our treasure.

Reptilian, clever, The Dragon is the symbol of the ego, the lower self

Slaying the dragon is vanquishing the monster within you

Walking deeper into the darkness

Facing the Dragon

The Symbolism of the Dragon

The archetypal medieval high fantasy dragon

often not necessarily evil. But a force of nature Amoral rather than immoral

Takes up residence somewhere, claims it as their own.

Hoards gold

Guards a sacred river, cave, sacred place

Many die trying to attain glory by slaying it

For the true Knight, it can be slayed and tamed and the kingdom is liberated from its tyranny

the Lower Nature

embodies the primal, untamed aspects of human nature—desires, instincts, and impulses that, left unchecked, can lead to chaos or destruction.

The Dragon as the Ego

Greed for gold Sexual lust Wanting to be ruler

1st chakra - security 2nd - sex 3rd - power

To tame the dragon is to balance the lower three chakras

Trial & Triumph

trial and a triumph—a symbol of the forces that challenge us to rise, and the rewards that await those who persevere.

Encountering the Dragon

To know the Dragon is to know oneself,

Prima Materia

The raw material, the unrefined and chaotic substance

The unrefined state of one’s own being and consciousness

The Primordial Fire of Nature

The dragon’s fire is the alchemical spark that transforms base matter into gold. The Fire Salamander elemental creature

the transformative fire that fuels the Great Work

In its belly lies the secret fire, a volatile force that dissolves the old to birth the new. It is said: “He who would transmute lead into gold must first face the Dragon in its lair.”

The connection with Goetia, Daemons, etc..

It seems to be a very similar idea - that one must go deep within to the depths of the underworld to encounter these ancient primordial and powerful Daemon energies within you and bring them under control

The Power to Destroy or to Create & Forge

containing both the poison and the remedy (venenum et medicina).

Left uncontrolled, its venomous breath represents the destructive forces of unchecked passion and ignorance. Yet, harnessed and transmuted, it becomes the very elixir of life—the fixed volatile, the Stone.

untamed primal forces—the unrefined, chaotic energies of the cosmos and the self.

The Dragon is the Shadow

Found in the cave The grotesque monstrous aspect of you That which we repress, ignore, deny - we project it out as an “other”

For some people, Donald Trump is their dragon …

And most people don’t actually want to slay the dragon, because it gives them something to fear and hate and project all the evil of the world onto. They will make small petty attacks at it, but never actually go to its lair, never actually face it, never actually intend to slay it.

In the cave - in the earth, the underworld, the unconscious deeps

When the dragon leaves his cave he devours virgins. Our inner dragon murders our innocence, our virgin consciousness

“The mythological dragon has the power to enchant, to hypnotize with his voice the brave knight who dared to challenge him. The dragon can also impose riddles in which the knight gets lost.”

The Green Dragon

the acidic Mercury or the volatile aspect of the prima materia, dissolving impurities to reveal its essence.

When the alchemists talk about the Green Dragon then they are talking about the universal spirit that is present in everything, it is not the same as the dragon of the underworld.

• Dirk Gillabel, c. 1988

Guardianship and Trial

Like the dragons of myth guarding treasures or sacred places, the alchemical dragon guards the Philosopher’s Stone. It challenges the alchemist to overcome their fears, ignorance, and base instincts.

The Dweller on the Threshold The Monster that guards the treasure

. The Inner Battle

the alchemist’s internal struggles, the confrontation with the shadow or unrefined aspects of the psyche.

The Dragon The stilling of the heart is the true alchemy which turns mercury into silver.

• Inayat Khan

Mastery of Fire

Esoteric teachings say the dragon must be slain and tamed through fire,

the adversary is also the teacher.

The Power of Destruction & Creation

both destroyer and redeemer, the dragon embodies the principle of Solve et Coagula (Dissolve and Coagulate):

• Devourer: The dragon dissolves the old, breaking down matter (or the self) into its fundamental components.
• Creator: The dragon also brings about rebirth, transmuting the dissolved elements into a higher, purified form.

Protector & Destroyer/Devourer

the force that breaks down the fixed into the volatile, dissolving matter into its essential components. The Green Dragon, for instance, symbolizes the acidic Mercury that consumes the body of Sol, reducing it to its pure essence.

As the Protector – The Dragon guards the treasures of Nature, the hidden light of the Philosophers’ Stone, much like the dragons of legend guarding hoards of gold. Only through patience, courage, and wisdom can the adept pass this guardian.

Slaying The Dragon

Taming The Dragon

You slay it, but what you really do is slay the false version of it so that the whole and healthy version can arise.

The Alchemist Standing On The Dragon

In alchemical imagery, the alchemist standing on the dragon signifies mastery over these base instincts. This is not about suppressing the lower nature but transforming and integrating it, turning its raw, chaotic energy into a refined and purposeful force. dominion over the lower self

In Nigredo, one must descend within and face the dragon. Perhaps in Albedo is the work of slaying the dragon done Citrinitas - taming and harnessing Rubbed - fully joining

The Dragon Power

Arousing The Dragon: The Serpentine Kundalini Energy

The Story of Merlin and the Dragons

Taoist, Chinese Dragons

Draconian ET/ED Beings

Ryokah , channeled by Tyler Ellison, about Dragons

“Most Taoist lineages were originally started by two major groups: Atlantean Travelers, who brought the teachings first to Egypt and then from there it spread. The other group is a nonhuman group, Draconians—some of them dragons, some of them more humanoid, some of them a type of hybrid similar to what you call the Nagas. Draconians, in that way, you could see as a triangle: you have reptilian humanoid forms, you have dragon forms, and you have the form that you would call the Nagas—higher, middle, lower, you see. They can physicalize and have—yes, this is the case—yes, they have physically been on your Earth. They had to flee your Earth because, at a certain point, they were deemed undesirable by your human society, which at this stage had expanded to quite a high level. You must keep in mind that military technology during those days was not just physical—it was not just bows and arrows, not just catapults, not just poisons, not just swords. Magical objects were used that could harm beings, you understand. So, dragons fled. Many of them exist under your Earth physically; some of them exist extradimensionally within your Earth; some of them exist extradimensionally within your atmospheres; some of them exist extradimensionally within your solar system. So, they left but remain here and now. They are already here—you must keep this in mind—they are returning presently. That’s why this question is instigated within you. So, they are here; however, what you must keep in mind is they are abundant near the mountains. If you wish to really know them, you must go to a mountain. They will speak to you there in ways that will illuminate many of the questions that you have had.”

The Draco Constellation

The Draco constellation coils around the North Star

 In alchemy, the dragon symbolized the prima materia, the raw chaotic substance which must be “devoured and died by its own poison, to rise again as the stone”

“The dragon does not die from just one alone, but must be killed by both together…”

Archangels Vanquishing Dragons

St. George spearing a dragon, St. Michael the Archangel trampling a writhing serpent

The Higher Spirit conquering the lower energies and spirit of the underworld, of sin, lust, fear, darkness, evil…

“Hic sunt dracones” : “Here be dragons”

In medieval cartography, dragons often signified the unknown realms — places where ordinary knowledge failed and myth began.

Taming the Dragon

The dragon, though vanquished, is not destroyed in many stories — instead it is subdued or chained. St. George’s legend, for instance, relates that after he wounded the dragon, the princess of the town leashed the beast with her belt and led it tamely into the city

In many legends, once the dragon is subdued, a new blessing flows: in St. George’s tale, a spring of living water miraculously arises where the dragon fell and thousands of people are baptized, 

 the dragon’s defeat releases a pent-up divine energy (water of life) that had been blocked by ignorance or fear.

What the Dragon Guards and Protects

“Our dragon guards the innermost secret. Confront him not with hatred, but with resolve, and he shall reveal the treasure.”

Mythically, dragons guard treasure — gold, virgin princesses, Tree of Life apples, the Pearl of Great Price.

The Dragon as the inner kundalini serpent fire

What the Dragon Represents

uncontrolled power, heretical knowledge, sexual energy, nature’s wildness