The Dragon-Keeper

Life has a way of unfolding, so that the teacher appears when the student is ready to hear and understand messages. Such was the case one day in autumn, when a child called Ivan, was lost in the forest. He had heard guns and planes and bombs. He had seen men with uniforms and death. It prompted him to wander from the confusion into the quiet woods, where squirrels still scampered, and birds still sang. The child felt the power of the dragon as the cold winds ripped the leaves from the trees and blew away the stench of death in the air.

The lessons his mother had taught him were engraved in his bones. When the sky darkened, and it began to rain, he was not afraid. The three-year old remembered the stories his mother had told him. Before Ivan’s baby sister, Kateryna, had arrived he and his mother lay on a blanket together, under the blue skies in the golden, grassy steppes. They had watched the clouds pass and Mama had shown him the adult dragon, lying on its back, smiling at them from the sky. It stayed only a few minutes. Then Mama showed him the dragon that appears in all shapes and sizes throughout nature, twisting along the riverbanks and mountains and in the branches of trees and arrangement of flowers. She told Ivan to heed what he could understand of it’s message. She explained that the dragon and dragon-keeper were each other’s keeper.

Ivan looked through the rain and saw the dragon appear. He heeded it's silent message. It led him to a tree with an opening that was just large enough for him to crawl inside. Ivan sat on a dry bed of leaves and leaned against the roots that fed on the minerals and nutrients from the ground and water from the underground streams. Exhausted, the child slept, knowing he was surrounded and protected by the dead, dry wood and embraced by the dragon.

He dreamed of his father and mother and his Baba. During the years of COVID, Baba had come to help Mama during her pregnancies. Baba had been living in the New World but had moved back to the Old World to take a job at the University. She said she had returned as an ambassador of change. Baba valued old customs, but was part of the wave of the next generation, that was experiencing global transformation. She was ready to defend her cultural traditions. She told Ivan stories about the dragon in Ukranian and English, as she had told her daughter.

Ivan remembered when the isolation period of the pandemic ended. They had all gone swimming. On the way to the pool, they heard an explosion. Mama had looked in the back mirror and said, “I just saw a crow fly between power lines and explode into flames.” Baba had gasped. “It’s a sign. The black death mask of the Covid has passed, but I fear something worse is to come. It is a message from the dragon.”

Mama said, “Stop your superstition. With your education you should know better.” Then Ivan heard the adults speak of the war between Russian and Ukraine, and hunger, torture and executions. Soon after, came the unspeakable losses. Papa joined the army just before Kateryna was born. Ivan remembered when his mother and Baba carried his newborn sister and him away from their home. Then his mother was gone. Baba was all they had left.

Ivan was awakened from his bittersweet dream by his Baba calling through the woods. Baba had Kateryna strapped onto her front, and a bag of their belongings strapped to her back. Ivan emerged from the tree. He saw her face, stained with tears and molded like melted plastic into the Baba Yaga – the old hag who often accompanies Death on his travels. Then, as she held him tight and smiled, crying and laughing, she transformed into a beautiful lady, a tree maiden so dazzling he had to catch his breath. She was the guardian of the fountain of the water of life and mistress of magic who held the spirit of the forest. Between sobs she said, “I am so sorry to have not watched you more carefully little one. Are you alright?”

Ivan’s response was simple, “The dragon took care of me.”

Grandma held her grandson a little tighter, “My love, you have learned well from your mother. I remember how she would see dragons. It is a sign. You too are a dragon-keeper. The dragon came to you in your time of need and now you must always remember to be thankful and care for your dragon.”

Baba had managed to get them to Poland, then onto a plane to her sister’s home in Canada. Now, Ivan and baby Kateryna lay huddled under the covers curled on either side of Baba, who held them close. While they were travelling, the children had no toys or books. Baba made up stories about the dragons and dragon-keepers in English and Ukrainian. Ivan’s imagination thrilled at the adventures of these heroes, and loved hearing about the celebrations at the end of an adventure. On this particular evening, when Baba said, “Close your eyes and look into your mind’s eye. I’ll l tell you a story about the dragon,” Ivan smiled and little Kateryna laughed. Grandma’s voice flowed as a soft song of love that held the whisper of a familiar past.

Baba used her stories to help her grandchildren recover from the trauma of war and the loss of their parents and help them know the culture of their homeland. “Once upon a time “she began, “there was a fortunate child who knew love. Just like you two. The child was taught lessons about all sorts of things, but his favorite, was how to be a dragon-keeper. Dragons appear to the dragon-keepers, who know how to love and respect themselves, each other and the world. They learn all they can,so they will be able to let the light of wisdom shine from their heart. This was all that was needed to summon the dragon if ever in need.

"One day the little child got lost in the woods and as in the stories, a dragon appeared. This is your story, Ivan. Why don’t you tell it?” Baba did not pry into her grandson’s wounded heart. She knew he was traumatized. His entire life had been in upheaval. He had been isolated because of Covid and, by the tender age of three, he had seen destruction, death and lost his home and both of his parent. Yet, her grandchildren were luckier than many other refugee children. They were safe, they had her and Ivan could speak English. Baba waited. She did not push her grandson to talk.

Baba was thankful that her daughter had shared the stories she had been told about dragons and dragon-keepers. They were as powerful as any myth, like Santa Claus. The stories passed on a spirit of values that are essential to life. Baba had written the dragon stories, based on the mathematical fractals found in the Dragon Curve. Nature moves zigging and zagging, with the natural flow of a pendulum, repeating at different levels forming fractal patterns based on actions decided as either-or decisions.

As far as Baba was concerned, throughout history, mankind has been the dragon-keeper. The dragon hat is one of the ultimate forms of nature, creates the fires of wild passions. Individuals choose to care for and respect the dragon or try to control or destroy it. However, history has shown that the dragon cannot be destroyed.

Ivan said, “I do not know how the dragon knew to come to me Baba. Mama had shown me many dragons and said that they would come to those with a pure spirit who were brave and respected nature’s wisdom with polite manners. I was afraid and ran away to find peace. When it started to rain, the dragon appeared in a tree that gave me shelter. I fell asleep until you found me.”

Baba knew his memories could not go further for now, so she continued the story. “Your mother was an engineer and your father an artist. Your mother was also a dragon-keeper, the same as was I, and my grandparents were before me, just as you and your children will be after me. Dragon-keepers know how to be part of the energy that flows from the sun that formed when the universe began.

"Dragon-keepers offer the gift of service and receive it in return. The dragon-keepers are invited into the Dragon’s den, to triage what knowledge to keep for rebirth, and what poisons to release to bring about cosmic law and order. Your mother taught you about the talents of a dragon-keeper better than I can. She had learned so much more than I, about the dragon powers that are unleashed during these times of change. I am old but I will do my best to tell you, what I told her, of the timeless wisdom of the dragon and the dragon-keeper who work together to create a world that holds love and beauty, not fear and pain.

“My sweet darlings, years ago, children did the same job as their parents who had done as their parents before them. But times have changed. The populations have grown and grown, and now, many children are turning into adults who forget or ignore why it is necessary to take care of the environment, themselves and the dragon. Many do not respect the birds and bees; nor do they know how to plant and care for seeds and trees. Many have never seen frogs lay their spawn or how the eggs change into tadpoles with fins and gills and tails, and then frogs. They have not seen an insect grow from egg to larva, pupa then butterfly.”

“Do butterflies need to learn?” queried the child. Baba replied, “Actually, insect eggs have imaginal discs that hold the experiences of their early stages and instincts, that pass onto the adult.”

This prompted the boy’s next question, “Does this happen to humans?”

Baba remembered when she was young and driven to explore the truth. Her parents helped her learn the signs of nature and told her what facts they knew about science. She taught her grandchildren in the same manner. “We are part of the universe. Information in humans came from the universe and star dust that contains chemical messages from the ancestors. Life descended from the great mothers of mankind. We possess information that we have inherited. Our potential is encoded by chemicals that come from our parents that is contained in the nucleus of each cell. There is another kind of control, by small organelles called mitochondria, found outside the nucleus. Mitochondrial DNA comes from the first formed bacteria that became part of all plants and animals and passes through the mother. Mitochondria changes quickly according to conditions of the present.

Mitochondria are the energy factories of the body and the powerhouse for the spirit found in the dragon’s breath, that lets us learn and have memory. Mitochondria contain information that can influence how we act. We have to do our best to learn and explore, but must must accept that have limits to what we can understand and know. A character called Don Quixote said 'Facts are the enemy of truth.' Modern thinking soon becomes outdated.

“A physicist and priest, Teilhard de Chardin, said ‘we are not human beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a human experience.’ My love, I believe that we hold the dragon spirit that is found in many shapes and sizes throughout the universe and flows with the slightest change. The spirit can cause an emotional contagion of joy that drives us to learn and develop skills and tools to solve puzzles, or it can cause fear that leads to a freezing response in individuals, or a mobbing response by groups. Can you tell me about when you felt the dragon’s spirit Ivan?”

Ivan curled into his grandmother and recalled how afraid and sad he was. He remembered his mother teaching him how to look for the dragons in nature. “Mama said I must have discipline to look slowly, for the even paced flow of light that moves smoothly, twisting and turning through the darkness. She said to walk lightly, without disturbing the fish of the seas and birds, bees, and animals in the forest."

As he spoke, Ivan was watching the story play out in his head. He recalled seeing the dragon transform the light so he could find the shelter of the tree. “Mama said that by loving and being loved by the dragon, it can protect me and I can protect it."

Baba assured him. “ We are closely related to the Dragon. Before birth, humans have gills, and a tail. I like to think that we are the dragon-keeper, and we become what Buddhists call a terton, a ‘treasure revealer.’ The dragon-keeper gets to use and care for the special treasures that the dragon guards. The dragon carries the wish-fulfilling jewel, and the pearls of wisdom that are the divine fruits of the tree of knowledge. Our dragon ancestors hold superpowers, that are offered to the dragon-keeper. The dragon can fly higher than the highest mountain tops of the Carpathian Range, and move as a force through the chemicals in your blood. The dragon works to keep the dragon-keeper safe as it ventures to the land where dreams of hope become part of a wonderful destiny."

Ivan closed his eyes and slept. The years passed, in what seemed like a dream. Baba took every opportunity to offer Ivan and Kateryna opportunities to learn skills to increase chances of survival. Camping and exploring Canada's forests gave her a chance to have her grandchildren work hard to survive. They gained strength to pull more than their own weight. They could carry water and wood, make a fire and wait as the water boiled so it could be used for cooking and drinking. The children experienced cuts, bruises and felt their arms and legs get sore from the labours. Grandma encouraged them saying, “Many people are not so lucky. They do not know how to work with the perpetual motion of nature.”

She tended to raise her grandchildren as terracotta warriors, programmed like automatons. They were human-worker bees, with expectations couched in habits, rules and relationships directed to optimize functioning in the colony. She had not meant to hurt them but knew that her grandchildren would eventually question her good intentions. She had imposed her own fears and grief from her own struggles during the wave of demonstrations and civil unrest of the Euromaidan Uprising, that led to police and government clashes and death of protestors. The threat of Russian aggression had not yet been quenched. Her grandchildren were born into an historical reality that compounded their past trauma.

For her own peace of mind, Baba, like all grandmothers throughout time, looked to help her grandchildren have less suffering in the future. She had deemed it responsible to tell them, “I will not always be around, and you need to learn to survive, and gain strength and find the courage needed to be resilient and not give up on what you believe. You need to take every opportunity to learn, and step up when it is time to lead or to follow.”

Ivan was reaching the age when he would want a cell phone. Baba felt the wireless technological age held more danger for the future than had communication in any other era. First, it was doomed to failure. Solar winds, from the periodic 11-year solar flares cycle, had been affecting the electromagnetism and geothermal activity of the Earth. Combined with environmental destabilization and unusual weather patterns, seismic activity was increasing. Earthquakes, tsunamis and erupting volcanoes threatened a permanent communication blackout. Probability predicted that sooner or later, a rogue meteor or random environmental events would cause great changes. Basic skills would be lost.

Furthermore, technology had created an addiction to cell phones, not only because of Vagus nerve stimulation, but because social media falsely fulfilled a psychological need of belonging and connection. Using an avatar persona, individuals believed that they could reach out to their best 200 friends and consider themself an influencer, for the 30 seconds that it took to post a message. This was not a sustainable bond of real communication. If anything, the internet had proven to be an easy escape from the reality, a means of deception and a platform for mass hysteria born of ignorance and fear of the real issues so prevalent in humanity.

However, Baba realized she could not stop the wave. More than even she depended on her stories about the dragon to offer her grandchildren a defense against known and unknown pressures. She hoped that the dragon spirit could help her grandchildren manage the trials of trauma, puberty and peer pressure, and the struggles they would face as they made their way through this confusing world. If ever there was a time for everyday heroes, it was now.

Baba wanted to guide her grandchildren in a way that would encourage self-confidence, so they would dare to stretch their competence and be better able to deal with uncertain times.Her grandchildren would experience hardships and sadness and know pain and fear, joy and sadness. It was beyond her control to determine what lessons they would remember or what ideals they would choose as important.

However, in this short time on earth with them, she wanted to offer them a glimpse of how to physically, emotionally and spiritually take care of themselves, their loved ones, humanity and the environment. She used her stories of the dragon, a symbol found in nature, that awakens memories that trace through past lives. The dragon is recognized throughout all cultures without teaching. It evokes an innate respect based on fear .

The mind acquires information, and is conditioned to associate the context of an experience, with memories of many lifetimes, that are often associated with pain and fear. Fear is a great teacher. Humans fear the unknown. Humanity’s arrogance, ignorance, idiocy and blindness often stem from fear. Fear could easily blind her grandchildren.

Baba had intuitively taught them to gently awake the embryonic state in the dragon shaped Hippocampus by controlling their breathing. The sea monster dragon of the mind has a major role in learning and long-term memory. Now, she had to guide Ivan and Kat to name and reject their fears then replace fear with different thoughts. They needed to know how to reprogram their cognitive brain. The dragon had a more important function than to guard against fear. It was needed for problem solving.

Baba believed that necessity is the mother of invention. In order to rebuild neurons and activate the frontal lobes of the brain, her grandchildren had to act, with awareness of their competence and confidence in their creativity. Baba planned a way for Ivan and Kateryna to experience the fear of the unknown. Ivan was turning 12 and Kateryna was 10. It was time for Ivan to test his own animal spirit. She would be there, as he faced fear that can last a lifetime. She would let him plan an experience so he could practise fulfilling dreams of what can be, without fear, or the pain of loss of that which can no longer be.

Baba said, “Ivan, this birthday is the time of your initiation. We are going on a camping trip. You will be the leader. Kateryna will be the apprentice, and I will be like an infant on an adventure."

As was usual, Baba spoke of astro-mythology to help her grandchildren understand themselves and their place in the world. "Your birthday this year is special. We will see Jupiter, whose orbit is ending a 12-year cycle in Aquarius and is moving into Pisces. Astrologers say this helps with imagination and compassion.

"According to Chinese horoscopes, the gas giant Jupiter, the King of the Sky, is associated with the dragon. Jupiter and the dragon both prevent objects hurtling through space from causing destruction. They are associated with good fortune and blessings. Plus, Uranus will appear. Uranus disrupts what is comfortable and stable. It's appearance indicates there will be a wake-up call for individuals and the collective whole. Finally, there will be a lunar eclipse. We will see each of the phases of the moon and see if we can notice if they create biological effects in us like they do in other animals. So, where would you like to go camping?”

Ivan did not hesitate. He chose a familiar spot that Baba called ‘the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.’ He spent time planning the outing and then, with tent packed, sleeping bags and meals in tow, they began their pilgrimage. They hiked over the crystalline rocks to the great tree on a hilltop overlooking the ocean and mountains. The children set up camp, found wood, started a fire and boiled water and made the evening meal, then quickly cleaned up in time to watch the sun lower.

They sat, leaning against the tree, looking out at the darkening sky. Ivan wrapped a blanket around his sister and Baba then he settled down. Kateryna held Baba’s hand. Baba remained silent but her eyes held a sparkle, from the tears of joy. Her grandchildren held the fire of the dragon-keeper within, they knew compassion and how to care for others to prevent suffering, and how to make comfort and beauty blossom.

Kateryna asked to hear some stories of the night sky and the dragon. Ivan took a deep breath, held it, then exhaled as he began to create his own rendition of the stories Baba had told him over the years. “We are children of the stars. Life came from the star dust and was formed from the green ooze that was shocked into existence. We hold flashes of the memories of past lives of a mixed lineage of travelers, including males and females of all sorts of races and colours, as well as plants and animals. We stay in harmony with our star brothers and sisters because we are all influenced by the sun and the moon that governs the tides of the ocean and our blood."

He continued, “On a night like this, when the Earth turns away from the sun, the darkness closes the gateway to the light and unlocks the mysteries of the night sky. We are pulled by the night arrow, to the home of the celestial dragons. The dragon help us navigate through the fears born of the dark unknown.”

Ivan motioned toward the sky. “This is the full beaver moon, that some called the hunter or digging moon and others call the mourning or frost moon. The Sun is behind the Earth, that is facing to the North. Look, the blood red planet Mars, the Greek God of War, is the first light to appear in the sky. This is the planet of energy that foretells adventures but does not decide how we choose to fulfil our desires. Do you think it should it be through competition or cooperation?”

Kateryna said, “It depends. We must be responsible and think about more than just ourselves. Selfishness that hurts others leads to bad luck.”

After a pause, Ivan said, “You are wise. We are dragon-keepers. Let’s find the dragon Draco. There is the Big Dipper, now we can find Polaris, our North star. Follow the top of the pot of the Little Dipper. It points to Alpha Draconis, or Thuban, midway in the tail of Draco. Thuban was once was the celestial north pole to Earth, from where the solar and lunar discs were mapped. Even though what appears to be the center of our world changes, the dragon circles the cosmic egg each day.

“Do you see Orion’s belt? Follow it down to the brightest star Sirius, and up to Aldebaran, the eye of the Bull. The moon is in the constellation Taurus. As the moon enters behind the Earth’s shadow it causes the lunar eclipse. Hindu mythology says this is when the south node of the moon becomes the shadow planet, known as the tail of the dragon, called Ketu. Ketu lets us trace how past lives have changed and transformed along the path toward liberation from desires. A few weeks ago, the head of the dragon, Rahu, the shadow planet seen at the north node of the moon, caused a solar eclipse in Europe. Rahu is said to help individuals think of present attachments and plan the future with a spiritual understanding of purpose.”

The three looked at the dimming moon as it entered the Earth’s shadow. Ivan continued. “The moon is turning red. The colour is caused as the sun’s light bends into the Earth’s atmosphere, and low frequency long red wavelengths that follow dragon lines along the earth’s crust, bounce off creating the blood moon. Intersecting waves of reflected light form overlapping loops and create the pattern of the seed of life through which the Naga dragons twist and flow from the universe to the Earth and through our bodies.”

Baba listened as the calculating genius of the dragon emerged in Ivan’s story. "We are the dragon-keepers, and part of a world of heroes who nurture the relationship with the dragon. We are descendants of the dragon, whose power goes beyond mathematical proofs. The dragon moves with the opposing currents along the path of least resistance.”

Time stood still. Baba felt the calm and peace of knowing Ivan was a dragon-keeper who knew the paths of nature that the dragon followed because he was connected to the dragon.

Ivan continued his tale, dreaming up conflicts where danger threatened the dragon spirit or the dragon-keeper. They were partners who helped each other. Ivan became a metal conductor who, along with the dragon, was swept into a vortex that flowed between worlds and dimensions of the macrocosm to the microcosm. He was one with the lion-faced Dakini, the sky-mother and sky dancer. He and the dragon overcame challenges by acting with peace, harmony, strength, courage, truth and generosity and then they celebrated.

Kateryna had fallen asleep. Ivan asked Baba, “Can you see the scales and teeth of the dragon in the skies glitter on the water?" In an instant that contained eternity, Baba told Ivan, "Yes my love. And I must tell you, that you have passed the initiation with flying colours. Ivan, your story shines like a beacon. You have let the spirit of the dragon create light that permeates the dark. You now have what tools I can give you, to deal with the pressures of growing up. How you care for them is up to you. We will get you a cell phone. It can be a good tool but it also is dangerous. You must be responsible and know how easy it will be to forget your dragon and get lost in cyberspace and social media."

Ivan put his arm around Baba's shoulder and said, "Thank you, for this birthday present camping, and the phone.” They slept outdoors, curled together. Baba knew Ivan was gaining independence and hoped she could guide him for just a little longer.

Within two years Kat was initiated. She awoke Baba as the sun rose. Baba quoted Shakespeare's Othello, ‘If it were now to die, ‘twere to be most happy.’ Her grandchildren were on their path with sound foundations to live the life they wished to live. They were dragon-keepers and had the tools to handle some of life's pressures.

Time is relative. It goes faster as a person ages. The grandchildren were finishing university and Baba was finishing her life. Ivan and Kateryna were at her bedside during her last hours. The mood in the room changed as an even flow of light twisted in the room. The dragon appeared as Baba took her final breaths. Baba held their hands and said, “Do not cry, I have lived a good life and I have been blessed with both of you. Remember you are dragon-keepers. Keep the fire alive. Be the heroes of this post- Einsteinian world, where mass and energy change one into the other. As trends repeat throughout history, remember herstory. The giant fractal mathematical mother dragon who scales in the multiple dimensions of the infinite. Remember to always respect her message."

Baba closed her eyes. The dragon disappeared. Ivan and Kat held each other.

The years passed. Kateryna and Ivan got jobs, found partners, and sat under the stars with their children telling stories. "We come from a line of dragon-keepers, who acknowledge that the dragon instills fear but can help face challenges. The dragon-keeper responsibly cares for the dragon that repeatedly appears in nature and in memories. Carefully look at the flow of light. The teacher appears when the student is ready."