Here be dragons. And doves. Human beings long for transcendence. Such longing is, for the world, always out of fashion because, of course, it is not a longing for the world, and the world knows it. We know what the world wants. The world—by which we mean Satan, the Lord of the World—wants above all our obedience, a jewel so precious that he will do anything to get it: lie, steal, murder, bear false witness, pretend to social standing, pretend to insider knowledge to get us to consent to his influence.  “God lied to you. You will not die.” And suddenly we are anxious about having other ..read more

Learn to discern. We all know what sin is, right? Right?!  Once upon a time in the desert, the hermit Evagrius Ponticus (d. 399) set out to make a list of the most deadly ones, albeit he called them “deadly thoughts,” not “sins.” You probably know the list, even if you don’t think you do: gluttony, impurity (a.k.a. lust), avarice (a.k.a. greed), sadness (a.k.a. feeling sorry for oneself), anger or wrath, acedia or sloth, vainglory, and pride (two different things).  Not quite the list you were expecting? That is because some centuries later—we’re talking ancient times he ..read more

The world needs good stories. Caedmon the cowherd sang songs about Creation (see previous layer). He also sang songs about other stories in the Scriptures.  According to Bede, he sang about “the creation of the world, the origin of the human race, and the whole history of Genesis, of the departure of Israel from Egypt and the entry into the promised land.” Which should be a bit confusing, given the way most people talk about the Old Testament these days. Wasn’t Caedmon supposed to Christian? Why wasn’t he singing stories about Christ? Well, you see, he was singing those, too ..read more

Good stories, like Ogres and onions, have layers.* We are not sure how many layers Ogres and onions (or cakes) have, but thanks to Dante Alighieri (and, before him, John Cassian) we know good stories, like Scripture, have four: historical, allegorical, moral, and anagogical. Are your eyes watering yet? Dante Alighieri was, of course, the author of one of the greatest stories ever written (the Divine Comedy) so we may take him at his word that his own story had layers, but even Dante found that his readers needed help recognizing the layers through the tears. (Real Ogres cry.) Acc ..read more

We made it! Our first-ever Kickstarter for the Dragon Common Room concluded on Tuesday, June 20, at 8:02am CDT. We have successfully funded the first three Acts of our five-Act faërie tale, while at the same time learning valuable lessons in advertising, promotion, and design.  Most important lesson: Be clear, rather than clever when telling people about your work. Not an easy lesson for dragons who love riddles! FAQ What is Draco Alchemiucs? A faërie tale, fully illustrated, with dragons. Why is it called Draco Alchemicus? “Draco” is Latin for “serpent” or “snake.” In English ..read more

1) Evangelical Animals, The Book of Kells, Trinity College, Dublin, MS 58, fol. 27v 2) Baptistery, St. John Lateran, Rome 3) The Copernicus Planisphere, by Andreas Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, plate 4 Act I, scene i  12 He stood beneath a dome of tow’ring height. The ceiling of the room was far away; a false sky met his gaze with twinkling lights, a belt of time in Zodiac array. Gold curtains fell like waterfalls, risqué and riverine they flowed around the vault. The veils were drawn across the grand archways and framed the ceiling made of dark cobalt. The neon lights flashe ..read more

The Trinity in the Unity, and The Cosmic Egg Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias, II.ii and I.iii Rüdesheim/Eibingen, Benediktinerinnenabtei St. Hildegard, MS 1, fols. 47r and 14r Act I, scene i  1 A band of crystal lit with heaven’s fire burst o’er the earth and flashed across the plain, reverberating through the raining pyre of stories sung in cities built by Cain. A pinioned cloud danced rings around the flame, its cooing harmonized with chords of grace. A deep base note encoded love reclaimed from kingdom’s fall of mankind’s ancient race. The resonating wings revealed a clouded face ..read more

Imagine being Chaucer before The Canterbury Tales. Nobody you know writes poetry in English. Certainly nobody you know writes poetry in English in iambic pentameter. For centuries, the literati have written in Latin (or French), but you, Chaucer, have the idea of writing in English. (Middle English, for you literary types.) Great literature. High symbolism. Various characters in all their embarrassing and heroic complexity. Except you do it in English. Even worse, you do it in rhyming, metered verse. Your first effort involves an animal allegory—a parliament of birds. Nobody reads it ..read more

DCR Poet KJ Crilly with more Spenserian backstory on our setting and characters to add to the Dragon’s hoard! Apogee A thousand points of light glowed in the room, illuminating throngs of devotees who watched the golden dragon fountain spume its water arches towards a canopy atop four pillars, tall as cedar trees. Below it, a foundation myth in tile belied the purpose of this apogee; the consummation of mimetic style was transformation of the world through Dragon’s guile. Smoke Signals The smoke from cigarettes and pipes was rising above the heads of guests at their banquettes around the cha ..read more

 Once upon a time... There was a City on the shore of a great Sea. Its name was Carthage, and it was filled with pagans. But not just any pagans.  These were pagans in the old style. Pagans who studied the liberal arts to become orators. Pagans who studied philosophy to live virtuous lives. Pagans who enjoyed the theater and the circus as entertainment. Pagans who gave money to their city to erect monuments and public works. And they wanted to become Christians. Deogratias was the deacon of the cathedral where they came for instruction, but he had a problem. As he wrote his friend a ..read more