Irresistible Reassurances, A Collage Poem, By Jennifer Angelina Petro, Arranged from the Beautiful Words of the Beautiful Suzanne Snyder

Irresistible Reassurances

A Collage Poem

By

Jennifer Angelina Petro

Arranged from the Beautiful Words of the Beautiful Suzanne Snyder

 

 

 

In a hammock behind the frog pond,

I’ve just made magical thoughts.

I’m coming back around to moments,

 

and feeling/sensing myself

and my surroundings

and letting myself notice: I am.

 

Gratefully. And it feels so good

to curate that experience,

with such intensity

I find myself wanting more,

and being as decadent as possible

with the wanting more—

 

for wanting is OK in meditation,

and in wanting still more.

 

Just because I’m quiet

it doesn’t mean my head is empty.

I am finding joy somewhere–

Here—I am taking peace in whatever form it comes.

 

Today, I found frogs and so many

pretty purple growing things (Yes—

that’s heaven), I listened

to their beautiful languages–

they all speak

with such excitement—giving me

way too many paragraphs

than I asked for—

but every sentence they speak

rings a chord in my soul–

irresistible reassurances

of how worthy I am,

and I wouldn’t change a thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


A Meditation on Spring, by Guest Writer, Diana Saldívar

 Dear Wonder Child Blog Readers,

I am delighted to
introduce to you
Diana Saldívar, a guest
writer today at the Wonder Child Blog. 
Diana and I met on my Musical You Tube Channel where she was kind enough
to write gracious comments on many of my songs. 
As we began corresponding I was struck by her lovely, ecstatic, stream-of-consciousness
style of writing.  Her joy for the
creation and the Creator seemed like the perfect fit for the Wonder Child
Blog.  We’ve had several guest writers
over the years (Jean RaffaDeirdre Boydmy friend Lefty, and others), but none recently. 
So it is with great pleasure I bring you a mediation on spring by
Diana.  Oh, and please check out her blog, A Place of Warmth.

Enjoy,
Joseph

Spring is:

Forever and ever the true essence of creation all to be born
over again over again …the AWWW and opening of eyes to see the unborn emerge
and arise…. to flutter and bloom from all about and everywhere  and the
warmth of the glow of our Loving Creator Father through Golden Sun … It is
the energy to run after the deep sleep and drowsy winter cold days …it is to
watch the snow melt and the flocks of geese returning…It is to feel youth and
it is the watch love in action through hand in hand walks and lover´s whispers
and sighs… it is to watch the  spirits that  caress the evergreen
land of hope and the luxurious breath of illusion …it is the Planter of time.
To the Fertile soul… it is the time to plan…it is the joyous  time to repaint
our thought and refurbish our hearts with the cute little walk of  Mrs.
Lady  Red Polka-dotted Coat bug …and even more so  to twine and
unwind in dreamland with the fast delightening breeze of Mr. Hummingbird’s
wings …to see the bright petals unveil the infinite beauty be held in the
rose who has been placed as the queen of the congregation of sweet smelling
 creatures as if  it were heaven´s  scent …Spring is and is
again for evermore the world of beauty to be explored in every heart and every mind
we come about to forever find the details to the silent signs always
communicating the wondrous beauty  of the Great Artist´s hand to let us
behold a bit of His                             Glory here below .                     

So may it be Sow.

 

Diana Saldívar is a teacher living in Mexico. She is married
to Anthony Grado, and is the mother of two children and also is grandmother of
3.  Born and raised in Canada by Mexican
parents who always encouraged art work and writing as well as searching for
wisdom in God.  As far back as she can remember
she would write short insights of her daily perceptions of life.  She would go off to some solitary place to
sing and gaze at creation.  It could be
the woods or the stream or even a pond. 
There in her young eyes she saw life as a wonderland of beauty.  At the age of 11 she wrote her first short
story.  It was called  “Rene the Dear.”  The story was chosen as a prize winner in a
local contest.  From then on she wrote
inventive stories and insightful, spiritual poetry.  She even uses her own illustrations.  Her religious background and faith were based
upon the traditional church of her family but her urge to find peace and well-being
has made her explore all belief systems and cultures.  And ultimately she has found true guidance
from the Source and Creator of all things deep within the soul and heart where
the truth is implanted and abundance lies and gratitude never ends.  In 1972 her parents chose to return to their
homeland Mexico, where she has been living ever since teaching English and art
to young and old.

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog


Healing the Sacred Divide, The New Book by Jean Raffa

Dear Wonder Child Blog Readers,

What follows is a post from Jean Raffa’s blog, Matrignosis.  I copied it with Jean’s permission because I want you to see an interview she did at the Book Expo America.  So the words are from Jean.  I encourage everyone to buy and read her book, “Healing the Sacred Divide: Making Peace with Ourselves, Each Other, and the World.”  It is a rich, compassionate, and wise book that should be required reading for everyone seeking wholeness for themselves and the world.  Please check it out, you’ll be glad you did.  And now, here’s Jean:

Hello my dear friends. This post is going to be different from the others. Instead of using the written word to share my passions with you, I have a video for you to watch. It’s the interview about my new book, Healing the Sacred Divide, which was conducted on June 6th at the Book Expo America. It’s just come online and you are among the first to see it. Yaaay! I hope you like it, and I hope you’ll pass it along to others who might be interested. When you’re ready to watch it, click on the UTube link above.

Coincidentally, the online version of Publishers Weekly has just published a review of Healing the Sacred Divide in its Religion section. I’m absolutely thrilled to say they’ve given it a “Thumbs Up!” Another Yay!! Here’s the link: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-936012-60-2

Things are getting very exciting now. In another week I’ll begin doing book signings, lectures, and workshops. If you’re interested in knowing when and where I’ll be appearing, you can check out my website from time to time. And, of course, if you’re interested in having me make a presentation for your group, you can contact me through there too.

Also, to my loyal friends who are reading or have already read advance copies and offered to post reviews on Amazon, my publisher says the time has come. So have at it!! Thank you, thank you, thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to do this for me! I’m told there’s a magic number of reviews — somewhere around 20 — which will attract major interest and cause an important boost in sales. I know your kind words will make a huge difference. While you’re there, I hope you’ll check out the wonderful review Skip Conover has already posted.

Of course, to anyone who feels so inclined, I’d be extremely grateful if you’d add your own thoughts to Amazon! And if you don’t have a copy yet, please don’t be daunted by the fact that they only have one left! They’ve almost sold out of the advance copies they had, but after July 30 they’ll have lots more. Meanwhile, you can get one right away from my publisher, Larson Publications, Inc. at their web site: www.Larsonpublications.com. Plus, you’ll find several reviews and lots of other very cool information about Healing the Sacred Divide there.

My heart is very full as I write this. I’m humbled and deeply grateful for your interest in my work, and I want you to know how much I appreciate the fact that you are following this blog. Matrignosis and Healing the Sacred Divide are my gifts to you and the world, and you, my dear friends, are the world’s miraculous gifts to me!

Namaste.

Jeanie


Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog


Need To Get Away?



It’s a
new year.  

After
a lot of holiday hustle and bustle

do you
need to get away for a relaxing,

fulfilling
weekend to regroup

and reflect on your dreams and desires?

 

My
mentor Lefty and I are offering a retreat weekend

Friday,
January 20-Sunday, January 22

at the
Fatima Renewal Center in Dalton, PA.

 

The
goal of the weekend is to relax, focus, reflect, recharge, and share inspiration.

 

All
are welcome.

 

Both
Lefty and I will offer one-on-one mentoring sessions over the weekend.

 

If you
are interested or have any questions, click the link below 

and we will send you more information:

Mentoring Weekend

 Have a Happy New Year.



Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog


My Debut as Radio DJ. I Guest Host for WEBE Radio


Check this out: my friend Todd started a radio show a month or so ago: WEBE Radio, and not only did I get interviewed on his show (see archived blog entry Oct. 10) but I got to be the guest host.  In this show, I read stories, poems, and articles.  I also spin some of my favorite records.  In addition, my two older sons, Sam and Ben, compose and perform the music in the background of the spoken word pieces.  Enjoy, and check out WEBE Radio for other great programs. 
http://www.webeforem.com/

Listen to internet radio with Todd Weaver on Blog Talk Radio

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog


God is Within, A Post From Guest Writer, Lefty, of the 7 Day Mental Diet

Good Day, Good Readers of the Wonder Child Blog,

Today I have the great pleasure of sharing with you my mentor Lefty’s first ever poem.  It would seem I’m rubbing off on him.  J

This entry is a slightly edited version of one he published on his blog, The 7 Day Mental Diet (http://blog.7daymentaldiet.net/) on August 18th.  He wrote the poem August 13th

After his post I include the comment I wrote on his blog in response to his beautiful poem.  Enjoy!

 P.S. We will be having another retreat soon!

God Is Within
by Lefty

I was giving a retreat this weekend with a few other people. The theme of the retreat was a book by Emmet Fox “The Power Through Constructive Thinking”. My part was what has become a passion for me, “The 7 Day Mental Diet”. I do another session on Dream Boards and finding your dreams/heart’s desire. After the first session and our morning meditation, I made a connection between 2 phrases that I have heard many times before.

The first one was Friday night, one of the presenters, Mike, said “God would not destroy something that he had created”. The next day, a participant named Jack read our morning meditation. In it were  words we hear quite often: “God is Within”.

The connection came as Jack said those words. I did something that I have never done. I wrote a poem. Reading poetry is something that I do not do. It is a chore. Most poetry does not make sense to me. I have been listening to a subliminal track to remove writer’s block, so when I had the idea to write my thoughts in the form of a poem, there was no resistance.

Here is the poem.

If God is within me
If God is present within me
If God cares about me
If God is my Father

If I am suffering, then God is suffering
If I am melancholy, then God is melancholy
If I am happy, then God is happy

God would not punish me
For God would be punishing himself
God is always directing me towards happiness

It was a very powerful weekend. 29 men on retreat, not one of us left without shedding a tear, both of sorrow and joy. To be a part of that is to be as close to my God as I can be. I thank every one of the men there that share their heart with me.

 

 

Joseph Anthony wrote:
Your poem, inspired by Mike and Jack, inspired the following reflections:

For years I believed I was unlovable. For years I believed God was out to get me. For years I believed God was everywhere, but inside me. My house was filled with too much filth and debris for Him to even want to set foot in it.

Over the last three years however, these false beliefs began changing. And when I read your poem (especially on the day you wrote it, infused with the light of the retreat), I had such a sense of validating hope. God IS inside me. God WANTS to enter into me, ESPECAILLY when I feel unworthy. God DOES care for me. God WANTS me happy. And God would never destroy or punish something He created. Anything that even remotely appears to be destruction is simply transformation. After all, the caterpillar literally dissolves in the cocoon before solidifying into a butterfly, and that process seems rather destructive. There is never a question of punishment—consequences yes, admonishment, perhaps, but punishment, never.

God transforms what He creates. And that is such a comforting truth. I am not a finished product. God is constantly molding and fashioning me to fit the dreams He has for me. Sure sometimes the pressing and kneading hurt, I imagine dissolving would feel uncomfortable too (but who knows? Someday I’ll ask a butterfly, but it probably wouldn’t remember). Anyway, there is much hope in your words and in the very fact that you wrote them. I am grateful that God decided to embellish you with a poet’s touch. Truth, when carved into poetry, becomes beautiful and more accessible to the soul.

May the Muse be with you!

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog


Of Speaking and Listening, the Circle of Sound—A Post from Guest Writer, Deirdre Boyd

 Dear Wonder Child Readers,

The Wonder Child Blog is proud to have Deirdre Boyd as a guest writer today. 

Deirdre Boyd describes herself as a writer of Journey and believes our voices have power and our gifts are wanted. She devours life with great enthusiasm, delighting in the wisdom of her 6 yr old daughter/oracle living in the wonderland of Wisconsin USA. You can visit her on twitter @BeingInJoy.

In fact, twitter is where we met.  We have a lot in common.  When Deirdre shared this beautiful piece of writing with me, my first thought was, “I wonder if she’d let me put that on the blog?”  She graciously accepted.  This is her first ever published piece of writing.  And so, it is with great pleasure that I introduce, Deirdre Boyd. 

Deirdre PG Boyd

 Of Speaking and Listening, the Circle of Sound

         Written by Deirdre Boyd, September 2010          

 

“Sound is at least as intimate as smell, and clearly more intimate than vision.”

Thomas Moore PhD in The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life

It occurs to me that this thought is representative of why poetry must be read aloud…why books read aloud are so stirring…why music lyrics should only be read once and only if absolutely necessary for clarity. It reminds me how I try to evoke sound in my texts and Tweets with little symbols. And why I think before I text~ could I give someone the unique sound of my voice?

Once, my partner left a bit of writing on the table the other morning…just a little piece of paper. He wrote it while waiting for his dinner to re-heat in the oven as my daughter and I slept. It was an essay about why I loved elephants.  I was caught off-guard the next morning, as he had left very early, and when I picked it up and read it in the half-lit kitchen, tears spilled over my cheeks…more and more with each sentence. He captured a piece of my spirit on that small scrap of paper. But it wasn’t until I read it aloud later to my soul-sister, my dearest friend, that I really experienced the writing…it is his genius, but loving a creature like me; even understanding a tiny bit of a creature like me; is a miracle. We both cried over it…she came to respect him more and loved him for expressing his impression of me (for having an understanding of me?!). 

It is why when writing e-mail, one might write as if it would be read aloud, and it would be wise for people to read e-mail aloud. Sound enlightens words on a page…and if you read it and find that it could be intended different ways, you have a chance to reply for clarification. I can’t remember how many times people have misinterpreted another’s e-mail because it wasn’t written carefully! Or those moments, when reading a book, when you just must read aloud a passage to someone, or wish you could? And singing…I am a being who cannot sing without tears if the song moves me, because we become one voice. Many times tears have escaped while listening to music. Our spirits are connected. When I hear music or read a poem aloud, that composer’s spirit and mine are reminded, poignantly, we are One. Our souls expand in those moments. It doesn’t require a standard of others imposed upon it…if something you hear moves you, the connection has been made.

And isn’t it why, when kissing, we close our eyes? The smell of another, the sounds…experiencing that does not require vision…in fact, it is distracting. Vision robs you of the surrendering, the trusting, and the freefall. Experiencing, yes, but missing a deeper essence of intimacy. Listening to a piece of music that stirs your deepest passions, with eyes closed, in a room alone, is truly incredible. It is a doorway to beginning to understand why you need nothing from outside yourself to feel complete. A distracted encounter with another person is like wolfing down fast food when you’d rather be an alchemist in the kitchen! Think of conversations over the phone…are you being intimate or just passing along information? Why not make your phone conversations an exceptional experience every time? Use delicious words and express energy that feeds the souls of others…If the threefold law is real (and I believe it is), what you issue forth is returned to you threefold. Be careful, because if you give in a spirit of selfish returns, then you will be receiving from the same spirit. Every time you interact with another, be sincere and really thoughtful about what you want for them. You will find people doing the same for you more and more, and you will realize you are living a charmed life! Just take a few breaths before speaking or writing. Don’t react, respond. Respond consciously. The more consideration you take in your life, the more consideration you will be given. Trust is important as well. You won’t experience much joy from life if you don’t trust. Intuition comes in strongly here…it must be developed, and only by trusting and possibly learning from a few mistakes can you really become intimate with your intuition. And what does it take? At first, trusting your feelings…your body gives you signals when you are “off.” Eventually, you will begin to hear your intuition like the most compassionate and beloved friend. But in order to hear anything in our experiencing universe, you must first listen.

 

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog


The Art of Facing Your Dragons: A Collaborative Post by Jean Raffa and Joseph Anthony

Profile Picture: Jean Raffa                                                  
Jean Raffa

I am thrilled to be able to introduce you to a new friend of mine, Doctor Jean Raffa.  I met Jean on twitter of all places.  One or the other of us commented on one or the other’s tweet, and the rest is present day history in the making.  Here is how Jean is described on her marvelous blog: Matrignosis: A Blog About Inner Wisdom: (http://jeanraffa.wordpress.com/2011/07/) :

Dr. Jean Raffa is an author, speaker, and leader of workshops, dream groups, and study groups. Her job history includes teacher, television producer, college professor, and instructor at the Disney Institute in Orlando and The Jung Center in Winter Park, FL. She is the author of three books, a workbook, a chapter in a college text, numerous articles in professional journals, and a series of meditations and short stories for Augsburg Fortress Publisher.

Through formal and informal means, including a five-year Centerpoint course and an intensive at the Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, Jean has been studying Jungian psychology and her own inner life for more than twenty years.

Since 1992, Jean has made more than a hundred program appearances, including television, radio, and Internet interviews, classes, workshops, and book signings. Her book The Bridge to Wholeness: A Feminine Alternative to the Hero Myth (LuraMedia, 1992) was nominated for the Benjamin Franklin Award for best psychology book of 1992. Reviewed in several journals and featured on the reading lists of university courses, it was also picked by the Isabella catalogue as a must-read for seeking women.

Dream Theatres of the Soul: Empowering the Feminine Through Jungian Dreamwork (Innisfree Press, Inc., 1994) has been used in dreamwork courses throughout the country and is included in Amazon.com’s list of the Top 100 Best Selling Dream Books, and TCM’s book list of Human Resources for Organizational Development.

Jean is married with two adult children—a daughter with a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy and a son with a Ph.D. in Economics—and five grandchildren. She currently lives in Maitland, Florida and Highlands, North Carolina with her economist husband, Fred.

As you can see it is an honor to have her here today. 

What we’re going to do is read a post called, ‘Dragon Lady: The Shadow of the Queen” that Jean wrote on July fifth, and then we’ll read the comment I posted on her blog, and her response to my comment.  We’ll end it all with a story I wrote at 1:30 AM on July 5th after reading Jean’s wonderful post. 

She is writing a Part Two to her Dragon Lady post tomorrow, July 8th, so please check it out.  Here’s the link: http://jeanraffa.wordpress.com/2011/07/   I will also be adding her blog to our blogroll on the left side of your screen.

So grab a cup of ice-coffee or ice-tea, a smoothie, or a cold glass of lemonade.  This entry will be a little longer than usual, but it’s well worth it.  Please read Jean’s article on the Dragon Lady.  It is both fascinating and inspiring.  And then check out her blog tomorrow for part 2.  Cheers everyone!

Dragon Lady: Shadow of the Queen, by Jean Raffa

 July 5, 2011

The Western world has been obsessed with the masculine aspects of Deity for thousands of years. As a result, to experience the Sacred Feminine we must be willing to follow Bear into the remote caverns in our unconscious selves where we have dumped all our unwanted garbage in hopes we could forget it ever existed.  In sum, we must be willing to develop a relationship with our “dragons,” by which I mean our frightening, disowned, less-than-lovely selves.

The myths that emerged in the Near East around 2000 BC featured a male deity who, unlike the son/lover of the previous Goddess religion, was a storm god of fire and lightning who conquered a dragon of darkness and evil. According to Merlin Stone, author of When God Was a Woman, “…the plot and the underlying symbolic theme of the story is so similar in each myth that, judging from the stories that do use the name of the female deity, we may surmise that the allegorical identity of the dragon or serpent is that of the Goddess religion.”  Some still call a powerful, assertive woman a Dragon Lady. To many males, especially those with domineering mothers, their own feminine sides and some women seem extremely dragon-like:  something terrible and threatening that needs to be overcome.  Jung agreed and considered the dragon to be “a mother-image (that is, a mirror of the maternal principle or of the unconscious)…”

But the dragon is by no means all negative.  Hindus and Taoists consider dragons to be powerful spiritual beings, masters of the waters and guardians of treasures, especially the pearl of perfection that symbolizes enlightenment and bestows immortality. The Herder Symbol Dictionary says that in China and Japan the dragon grants fertility “because it is closely associated with the powers of water and hence with the yin [feminine] principle.” Thus, one meaning of this paradoxical symbol is that if we wish to attain the highest levels of consciousness and spirituality, we need to face all the despised and rejected qualities we have relegated to the feminine unconscious, and it is this descent that earns us the ultimate prize.

Unconscious parts of ourselves acquire negative power because of the well-known psychological law that the longer and harder we repress them, the more energy we give them until they start influencing our behavior in disagreeable ways.  They are like sweet little girl dragons which start out innocently enough.  If we love them and allow them to come out and play they will grow up to become our friends. But if we ignore them and starve them and keep them cooped up in dark and cramped cages — in much the same way many male-dominated cultures have treated women and their own feminine sides —  they grow stronger and angrier every day.

While the bad news is that facing the Dragon Lady, a symbol for the Queen archetype’s shadow side — i.e., the regressive powers of the feminine unconscious — can be very painful, the good news is that she can initiate us into a far nobler fate than we could ever imagine.  After all, if Snow White had not been terrorized by the evil Queen she never would have run into the wilderness, met her protectors, the seven dwarves, eaten the poisoned apple, or been awakened by the kiss of the prince to experience union with her Beloved.

Prince Ego’s search for the princess, our unconscious feminine self, is the authentic hero’s journey, and their union symbolizes wholeness or enlightenment, the ultimate prize and true destiny of every soul.

And here is our exchange on Jean’s blog:

Joseph:

Well, Jean, your post has inspired me again. You might know from following me on twitter that dragons sometimes appear in my messages…and they almost always have a child with them. Here are a couple that I wrote over the past month or so just to give you an idea of where this response is going:

The child curled up snug against the side of the dragon. And the dragon smiled and shifted his wings to create a kind of tent over him.

The dragon lowered his head and said, “Do I really have to say sorry to the villagers?” “Yes,” said the child, “and then fix their barns.”

So, I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination in Jungian archetypes. I just write what comes.

And sadness came when I read your post. Sadness at thinking of the negative ways women have been treated by men. Sadness came at the thought of the negative ways men have been treated by women. Hurt people hurt, no matter the gender… And I am someone who suffered abuse from the hands of both sexes…So I know; I can still get frightened by the wounded dragons of both men and women. And I have also lashed out to avenge the pain…But that was long, long ago. Sadness also came when I thought about how poorly dragons have been treated also.

But Wonder also came when I read your post however, and much Hope. And I thought: “OK, going to meet our dragons is hard and terrifying. But having come back from the journey many times over these past few years, I know it is not only possible, but Wonderful. Here is what I have found.

What is in the heart of the darkness? Light. And where does the Light come from? The eyes of the dragons. And what makes their eyes shine like fire? Their hearts. And where does the fire in their hearts come from? Many sources. One is their pain…And their pain comes from each of us in one way shape or form. Another source is their joy. And their joy comes from those who journey to face them.

And when I faced my dragons I did not go with a masculine or feminine energy. I went as a child. That might sound cute, but it’s true, and it wasn’t a conscious choice. And I don’t mean necessarily, my inner child—there’s too much idolatry wrapped up in that term now. I mean, perhaps, an archetypal image of both creative power and wonder, and innocence—Divine Innocence. Of course within the heart of that child burned masculine and feminine fires, but it was a child nevertheless that made the journey into the darkness. And the child did not go to kill or subdue the dragons, the child went to Love them.

Your post also inspired a story, but I don’t want to hog up too much more space, so I’ll send it to you personally Jean on fb to do with as you wish.

Thank you again for the inspiration.

Your friend along the journey,

Joseph

  • jeanraffa Says:

    Dear Joseph,

    Jungians have a name for your symbol of childish wonder: it’s called the Divine Child. It can appear in dreams as a very wise, beautiful, precocious, or otherwise unusual and fascinating child, and is, as you have so rightly intuited, a symbol for the Self, the archetype of divinity, love, wholeness, etc. Facing your dragons with the openness and trust of a child is the healing way. I salute you for trusting and following your intuition so beautifully, and look forward to reading your story.

    Blessings,

    Jeanie

And last, but not least, here’s the story I wrote that Jean inspired:

Once upon a time a child traveled inside the Darkness of Darkness. He had heard dragons prowled there—starving dragons, wild with hunger and pain. He had heard that the stars in the sky are the fragments of the armor of the foolish knights who tried to kill the dragons. They didn’t get within 50 feet of the dragons before fire flew towards them, entered the openings in their gilded feet and rushed upwards exploding the knight from inside his own armor sending him and his armor into a thousand, thousand pieces. And the armor makes the shining stars.

More recently, brave warrior women thought they could subdue the dragons so they went to face them. But alas, being more or less wiser than the knights they therefore didn’t allow themselves to get so close as to be eaten by fire. So they stood off at a great distance and sang their muscles and spells into the earth. And their powers wove through the sand like a snake. And they rose up in the dragon’s cave and formed bounds around their scarred, scaly bodies. Amused and outraged at the audacity of the warrior women—at even thinking about trying to subdue them, the dragons shook off the cords like string made of sugar and sang back a melody of power into their heads that was so intoxicating that they simply danced away and decided to become knights. But that’s OK, the knights have all quit being knights so they could became warrior women…but that’s another story.

And so it was a child who danced and played and otherwise performed all manner of shenanigans on the way to the dragon’s cave. And being altogether wiser than the both the knights and the warrior women, he learned from their fatal mistake of going to visit the dragons in order to kill or subdue them…The child went to Love them.

And before the dragons knew what was happening, a child stood in their midst.

“Leave us,” they snarled, “we have been too long forgotten. We are hungry and we have eaten many a child before…”

“But I am here because I remembered you,” said the child. “I am here to feed you. What I mean is, I am here to Love you.”

“LOVE US!” cried the dragons, “No one loves us.”

And the child, sensing their pain, moved towards them like a breath of honeysuckle, and placed his hand on one of the dragon’s faces.

“I do,” he said. And as tears fell from his own eyes, he looked those dragons right into their eyes and let the Light stream from his eyes and his hands and travel down, down, down into their dry, smoldering hearts.

“Don’t extinguish our fires,” wept the dragons.

“Never,’ said the child, “I am making them stronger so that they can be used to one day save the world.”

 

 
This is a painting I did twenty years ago, called, “Eye of the Dragon.”

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog