Guardian Dragons

Dragons

The image of the Dragon as a Guardian flows back through time into the Ancient Egyptians. A Dragon is viewed as a large and powerful creature. The Dragons connection with magick is legendary. In today's society, in many parts of the world, the Dragon is slandered into an enormous, fierce, bloodthirsty creature
appearing in fairy tales and legends as an accessory whose main function is to set off the bravery of knight challenging him. The Dragon is an obscure, mysterious
character, described in broad terms, and is little more than foil to enhance the hero's valor.
The Dragon, when not viewed from a humans prejudiced perspective, Is a creature that holds vast knowledge and wisdom, a creature that has great strength, great nobility and great magick as well.
Many people (myself included) believe that there was a time when the Fae creatures shared this realm with man. A time when man was not shut off from the natural world around us. We have many legends and myths about the these Fae creatures and how they came to separate themselves from us and why they did so. Today, we see it reflected in our cultural entertainment, movies and books, the stories are pretty much all the same... The Fae creatures retreated from this realm, closing themselves off from our presence. And who can blame them.
The Dragon is a part of the Fae Realm... Dragons are a type of Fae creature after all. In most legends, myths and stories about Dragons you will notice that the Dragon is hailed quite often as the Guardian of the Fae Realm, the Gatekeeper.
So, it's no surprise to anyone who studies such things to realize the potential of the Dragon as a Guardian.
The ancient Celts had many beliefs and traditions regarding Dragons. Unfortunately, so much of Celtic lore was deliberately destroyed that we have only remnants of tales and fragments of Dragon lore left today from that culture.
The Gundestrup cauldron is one such artifact. Found in Denmark in 1891, it is the largest largest known example of European Iron Age silver work. For many years, scholars have interpreted the cauldron's images in terms of the Celtic pantheon. The antlered figure has been commonly identified as Cernunnos...shows an antlered male figure seated in a central position, Cernunnos. In his right hand, the figure is holding a torc, and with his left hand, he grips a horned serpent by the head. To the left is a stag with antlers that are very similar to the humanoid. Surrounding the scene are other canine, feline, and bovine figures, as well as a human figure riding a fish or a dolphin.

The Celtic Ramsnake (Dragon) is also connected with the number 8... Eight is the number of spokes on the solar wheel; the solar wheel is set in motion by the ramheaded dragon.

Another such carving of the God Cernunnos pictures him with a bag of gold at his feet and a double headed ramsnake belt about his waist. This belt with its two ramsnake heads symbolizes the spiritual bridge between various planes of existence. The Celtic priests knew that in order to travel across this bridge, he must go inward to meet the Dragon guarding the bridge. A lack of self-discipline and self-knowledge would prevent any seeker from being able to pass the Dragon and enter the Realms of the Otherworlds.
It was during the Middle Ages that the Christians became prominent, taking control of nearly everything, and persecuting Pagans fanatically, they changed the idea of what a Dragon is or was, into a menacing and evil monster. It was during this time period that Christianity began to equate the Dragon with their Devil and their Hell. There are many Christian references to Dragons, all of them negative. These Christian tales of their Saints vs Dragons, always portrait the Dragon as Evil, and always end with the Dragon being defeated for the betterment of mankind. And thus ended the Dragon sightings... No more tales of glorious creatures seen at a distance, no more tales of Dragons and the magick they welded... Gone underground like the Pagans themselves. Hidden from the view of this new humanity, out of sight of the atrocious cruelties of Christianity.

Until now. With the reemergence of the Pagan beliefs & customs (albeit changed somewhat) So too, now is the time of the reemergence of the Dragon. Slowly all the Fae creatures come to the Pagan practitioner, showing themselves little by little... It is a long road to regaining their Trust, for once broken Trust is a hard thing to rebuild...

It is through our beliefs, our devotion to the old ways, and our Magick, that we will face the Dragon Guardian upon the Bridge... and pass through into the Realms of the Otherworlds.