Words From the Dragon: Eclipse Magic

A big event happened not long ago. The sun was devoured. It’s a thing. 

Apparently it’s a thing for you humans too. You’re still talking about it. 

When you gather here to sing and tell stories and craft stuff and move and chant and light candles and play instruments, you’ve been talking about it, preparing for it, recovering from it and reflecting on it. I’ve seen this before. In fact, as a dragon, I’m sometimes held responsible for it.

To some, I’m known as a sun-eater. 

I’m in good company with sky bears, giant frogs, sky wolves, serpents, werewolves and others. Generally, the story goes, when a sun-eater is trying to eat the sun, there’s only one thing to do, make a lot of noise. This is supposed to scare us ‘demons’ away. I like this, because there is an irony in it. We aren’t the ‘demons’ in the way you humans have more recently used this word, we’re those beings that bridge the worlds and are on hand to help devour your demons. We may seem ferocious, but doesn’t that make sense when we’re dealing with your demons? And it can help to make a lot of noise to bring our attention to you. So we can take care of all that doesn’t serve. When a big event like an eclipse occurs, it is a good time to reconsider the perceived arrangement between us and you, whether you remember the old stories or not. And a good time to consider those demons. 

You humans looked up to the sky, eager to capture the magic.

It made you think about yourselves, reflect on primal connections to the greater workings of the universe. It made you question your daily trudge. It is time to make a lot of noise and remember! Magic—true magic—is not just an event to be observed. It is an intricate tapestry woven from the threads of right relations - with nature, the cosmos, and each other.

Let this eclipse remind you that magic is real and worth making noise about. Let it also remind you that magic lives not only in the rarity of celestial events but in the everyday relations and interactions that define your existence. When you look not only above but around to see not only stars but also the faces of all beings as your neighbours, including us ‘sun-eaters’, you engage in the most profound magic of all. The magic of remembering, and that helps devour many ‘demons’. 

The cosmos speaks to those who listen. Wood Dragons speak to those who listen. Magic is born from right relations among all things.

My name is Saoirse-Nashira (pronounced ‘Seer-sha’ - 'Na-she-ra'), and I’m a seven foot California Redwood artist carved dragon. I stand at the door as a gatekeeper to watch the daily meanderings. I come from a great forest of trees and have travelled far and wide.