rarebeings

My first Dragon encounter - at least the first one I remember - happened when I was all of four years old. I was at the local thrift shop with my parents and sister - a ritual excursion to look for rare and unusual finds. There, amid stacks of worn and dusty books, I discovered a volume bound in embossed green leather with a glorious Dragon on the cover.

It was a copy of THE DRAGON GREEN by J. Bissell Thomas.

Being basically in the picture-book phase at the time, I was delighted to find wonderful Vernon Soper illustrations inside. I could only imagine the story that accompanied them!
I have never wanted a book more.

That night, I heard the tale of The Dragon Green for the very first time.

Here was a Dragon!

Fearless from the moment he hatched in the sands of the Kalahari Desert,
growing up proud and funny, irreverent and loyal to a fault.
This was a Dragon with more heart than sense and enough love to change even the strongest magick.
A spiky-wiky Dragon of the first order.
A Dragon to be emulated.

Ever since then I've kept Dragons close, to ward the daemons of the dark
with fire and whimsical tales; to remind me that there is so much more
to the universe than most of us see.
Over the years, they led me through the world of rare
- and often misunderstood -
mystical creatures.

The following are some of my favorites.

MORE DRAGONS	Though Dragons have too often been vilified and daemonized in art and literature, still they remain in our world. Dragon are everywhere!

A PASSION of UNICORNS	I have been searching for Unicorns for years, and until recently, they were always just out of sight. When I was younger I thought they were pretty horses with horns - the sort you might entice into taking you for a moonlit ride. A familiar image, yet one I have since discovered to be very inaccurate. True Unicorns are rare and wondrous beings. One of the original mythic hybrids, they're more cervine than equine, thickly maned and bearded, with sharp eyes and even sharper horns. The Asian Ki-Lin has almost a leonine aspect. As Dragons will tell you, Unicorns are a civilizing force in an uncivilized world. They tend the waters and the earth and sing like nothing you've ever heard! We've treated them very badly over the ages, and it's time to make serious amends. Unfortunately, there are few modern photos of Unicorns, but the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries (Cluny Museum, Paris) remain marvelous testaments to Monocere allure. The tapestries revolving around the Hunt of the Unicorn are too barbaric for words, let alone pictures. Go to the Cloisters in New York if you must see them; you will not find them here.

A PASSION of UNICORNS

I have been searching for Unicorns for years, and until recently, they were always just out of sight. When I was younger I thought they were pretty horses with horns - the sort you might entice into taking you for a moonlit ride. A familiar image, yet one I have since discovered to be very inaccurate.
True Unicorns are rare and wondrous beings. One of the original
mythic hybrids, they're more cervine than equine, thickly maned and bearded, with sharp eyes and even sharper horns. The Asian Ki-Lin has almost a leonine aspect.
As Dragons will tell you, Unicorns are a civilizing force in an uncivilized world.
They tend the waters and the earth and sing like nothing you've ever heard!
We've treated them very badly over the ages, and it's time to make serious amends.
Unfortunately, there are few modern photos of Unicorns, but the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries (Cluny Museum, Paris) remain marvelous testaments to Monocere allure.
The tapestries revolving around the Hunt of the Unicorn are too barbaric for words, let alone pictures. Go to the Cloisters in New York if you must see them; you will not find them here.

CHECK OUT MY MOVEABLE BESTIARY - AN EVER-CHANGING COMPENDIUM OF
THE RARE and WONDROUS.

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