The Consuming Fire of Spirit - The Dragon Who Breathes the Fire of Life

“If you ignore the dragon, it will eat you. If you try to confront the dragon it will overpower you. If you ride the dragon, you will take advantage of its might and power.”

— Chinese Proverb (1)

In Chinese and Japanese lore, the goddess Kuan Yin is representative of the Divine Feminine. She is the female Bodhisattva of the Buddha. She is also the goddess of the sea. She represents the power of all that is the feminine in our lives, including emotion, healing, romantic passion, depth of wisdom and birth to life. As the Eternal Mother, Kuan Yin is often depicted holding a child in her arms, much like our other feminine deities, including the Mother Mary, Isis, Hera, Demeter, and of course Gaia, who is often shown as a pregnant deity holding the world in her belly.

What is different about Kuan Yin is that she is the representation of light and compassion, dressed in white, flowing robes and crowned with a veil, much like the halos over all of the divine beings in all beliefs. She is also kin to Shakti, Pavarti and Sita, the highest maternal goddesses of the Hindu pantheon and special wives to the gods. In the study of the Ascended Masters, Kuan Yin as the Mother of Compassion is known as “she who harkens to the cries of the world.” (2)

What is significant about her character is that she is the original “mother of dragons” (which is an excellent use of character depicted on the famous book and television series, Game of Thrones). Kuan Yin is often depicted in art riding on the back of a sea dragon that rides through ocean waves. She calmly surfs the dragon, which represents raw potentiality, terrifying transformation and death of human negativity and evil. The waves represent the overwhelming emotions of grief, loss, pain, renewal and release. As life gives us its storms of fear, we call upon Kuan Yin for her compassion to overcome the challenges we face before we drown. The dichotomy of a dragon of the sea that breathes the fire of transformation within its core is what we face every day of our lives: the choice to be overcome or bury all emotion or to face the fire and ride the surf of awakening.

So with this kind of awakening being so hostile and painful, why would we want to go through it at all? Well, often as in my case, it was a necessary life process given to me, not something I particularly “asked” to experience. But I do realize that those of us that are awakened are in the positions of changing the world. We couldn't do what we do if we didn't face the fire of transformation. Dragon energy represents infinity, longevity, wisdom, the depths of the Universe, and rising from the ashes. The Phoenix is the feminine Eastern dragon of rebirth, corresponding to the masculine water dragon that we see Kuan Yin riding. Phoenix energy is pure death and rebirth—out of the ashes. This kind of transformation is even more striking to those of us that have taken it upon ourselves to face our Dragon energies.

What transforms us into Dragons who embody Spirit? Why are we different than other spirit creatures? I wouldn’t want to run into a Tiger spirit in the dark of the forest. Nor would I want to be confronted with the giant Whale spirit that dwells in the darkness of Neptune’s playgrounds. Yet Dragon spirit appears as the most lethal and difficult to master. Recently I have been asked, “How does one become a dragon?” This is not an easy, how-to manual of steps to finding one’s inner dragon. However, if we examine the characteristics that dragons possess, we can see how Dragon spirit has manifested in our own lives.

The first of Dragon’s characteristics is fire. Fire represents emotions such as anger, passion and rage. It comes from deep within, often associated with lungs and heart, the fourth chakra. Fire also is colored red, orange and yellow, tapping into the lower chakras of physical, emotional and relationship change. Around a campfire, we huddle and sing and cook and invoke sexuality. Winged insects are drawn to the flame. The candle is a fire that illuminates a space and allows us to see. So if you incorporate these elements of fire into your Dragon transformation, you are invoking the passions within you that radiate heat, light and energy into the darkness. You are also awakening the pleasures and provocations of relationships, from the depths of lust to the fury of facing one’s enemies. Fire is painful, burns flesh and purifies soul. Witches were burned at the stake because men feared their power. Dragons too have the element of invoking fear due to fire. This is the awakening of Dragon spirit.

When you face your demons, examine where your anger is focused or confront your inner passions, you are invoking Dragon spirit. When you are feared by others, you are emanating that spirit. How about when you are protecting your children or have an overwhelming sense of compassion? These too are invocations of Dragon spirit. Each has its own resonation, its own flame color, but they are all manifestations of the depth of wisdom dwelling within.

Dragon also has scales and claws and often is depicted with a vicious tail. These elements are representation of the armor of Dragon spirit. We have the ability to protect our massive hearts. We can use our scales to reflect energies of those who want to control or hurt or steal from our deep fire within. We can pierce the armor of our enemies and oppressors with our powerful claws. And we can knock over those who fear our power with the force of our tails. Invocation of Dragon spirit's armor helps you go within when you feel attacked or take the time to stalk the enemy within that is eating away at your soul. When working with Dragon spirit, remember you are not alone. It is a powerful message for those who have lost a spouse or a child. Our scales may appear to keep us from being "warm" to the outside world. But we are in this together, Dragons, and even in our solitude we have a clan of souls to draw upon in our journeys to wisdom.

More powerful yet are the teeth and jaws of Dragon. There is a saying “for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup” that is a description of how we can use our Dragon teeth to swallow our enemies and those who want to come after us with pitchforks. Fear is the Dragon’s favorite food. We eat our fear in order to transform it. The confrontation of Dragon’s fiery breath and massive teeth can make anyone tremble. So the lesson we learn by invoking the physical characteristics of Dragon is that we can become a greater presence if we fight the powers that be, invoke restorative justice, and destroy those characteristics even within ourselves that limit our potentiality, such as cowardice, the inability to see the truth and the pride of haughty individuality (i.e. narcissism). Better yet, these transformative teeth give us the sustenance to survive the explosion of ended relationships. We can eat those false expectations and bitter words that were shot like arrows into our massive scaled frames. Use those teeth to remove the arrows and swallow the darkness. Transform those experiences into the pure light of compassion--let Kuan Yin ride upon the waves of your memories.

Many dragons also have a powerful similarity in strength—either a dragon has wings or the ability to fly through water at rapid speeds. Whether your Dragon spirit soars into the Universe and astral projects around the stars or it can dive into the darkest depths of oceans and surface many continents away in record-breaking time, all Dragon spirits have power. This kind of power is exactly why others become terrified when you transform. This is gut-wrenching, heart-pounding power that makes any Halloween costume appear cheesy in comparison, no matter how dark and scary. Dragon spirit power uses all its characteristics and gifts to manifest this atomic energy into an explosion of devastating proportions. Invoking this strength of character often manifests into gentleness, so don't limit your power by creating power just for power's sake. Harness your wings and soar into higher consciousness.

This is important to know because it can also unintentionally burn those around us. Often we don’t mean to hurt our loved ones, but in a rage of Dragon fire, untamed and unchecked, we can destroy those souls that mean the most to us. Those that fear us often have a different version of a story to tell about our manifestations. On the other hand, sometimes the fear-invoking power is a way for others to blame us for their insecurities and inabilities. We must remain true to our power and harness it with wisdom to separate those explosions of rage and the true transformation of fire that burns those out of our lives that have taken a lesser path.

When you choose to take the path of the Dragon, be humbled and ask Kuan Yin for her unconditional compassion. Find ways to breathe the power of fire into your relationships, your children, your work and your passions. Make a safe place to learn about your transformation so you can heal from your scars and wound and invoke your beautiful scales to protect your heart. Breathe deep into the fire of meditation. Fly high into the realms of possibility. Use your speed and power to dive deep into the oceans of emotional healing. And when you become the Dragon spirit, look at yourself in the mirror or the water below as you fly over it and grin with those massive teeth as you prepare to swallow those fears around you. And we will all ascend to the mountaintops and into the ocean depths together. Just look for others who radiate with light. We will all come together when we are needed. Don't be afraid. Now is the time to manifest your Dragon spirit.

Quotes from the following pages:
(1) http://personaltao.com/services/school/
(2) http://www.lightascension.com/arts/Ascended%20Master.htm