Feeding Dragons

Once upon a time there was a young prince named George, who lived in a splendid castle on a beautiful green island. 
His father, The King of Vita, gave him a very special present when he was born: two little dragons, a mossy green one, named Calmy and a black one, his name was Feary. Both dragons had a very special trait,  they were fed exclusively on the images which arose in Prince George’s head. 

The pictures in his mind were transmitted to a particular dragon as food according to the emotion they evoked. When he was afraid, for instance, like in the dark or during  thunderstorms as a small child, that was delicious food for Feary and always made him grow a little. 

On the other hand when young Prince George had nice thoughts and images, visions of being happy and content or when he indulged in his daydreams in the meadow, in front of the castle, that was excellent food for Calmy, the green Dragon, who in turn grew a little more.

Both dragons thrived quite well during his childhood, but the green dragon was always a lot bigger than the black one. It was perfectly fine for Prince George to be afraid now and then, after all fear is also very useful when, for example, there is danger from a running wild boar or an outbreak of fire.

As the young prince grew up, he heard more and more stories from his fellow humans about catastrophes and dangers in the world, highlighting the hatred and violence among people. With the best will in the world, he couldn’t imagine that people could be so cruel to one another. Why couldn’t they live in peace?
So he began to ask more and more questions in the hope of gaining understanding. 

Little by little he realised how devastating such incidents could be. The more he heard, the more disturbing the pictures in his head became, overshadowing any happy thoughts. His imagination ran wild with images of disasters, attacks on the castle that he could not defend, wide scale death of his beloved people caused by siege or famine.  
He imagined failed harvests and bare land, year after year with even the cattle in the fields perishing. One picture of horror followed the other, day after day.

Soon the inevitable happened: Feary, the black dragon, who enjoyed being fed with these dark pictures, got bigger and bigger every day. The more terrible pictures appeared in the young man’s head, the fatter Feary became. 

Meanwhile dear, green Calmy languished, flabby and malnourished in a corner. The black dragon rapidly grew to a tremendous size, so huge that he could no longer fit in the stable and had to be moved to the castle courtyard. 

Feary continued expanding, displacing everything that was in the yard. Soon there was no room for anything else, the people, the animals, the stands, simply everything was pushed out of the castle.

The young prince became desperate and could only see  the danger of this monster advancing. The more fearful images appeared in George’s head, the bigger the black dragon grew. 

Eventually he was so big and powerful that he lay down swamping the whole castle like a giant fat slob, paralysing the people and the entire castle courtyard; he was literally choking the life out of the  castle.

Calmy, the green dragon, became more and more stunted, he huddled in the corner of the barn, a little pile of misery. 

The young prince’s head was so filled with the dark thoughts that nourished Feary that he had no room for the happy images that Calmy needed to grow and he languished, completely forgotten.

The young man was completely stumped and deathly sad because he had no idea how to save Calmy and the people in the castle and prevent Feary from growing even more. He became so desperate that he went into the forest to think and clear his head. 

After walking a little way into the forest he met the wise old woman, he had heard about in the past. She introduced herself, “Hello, my name is Faith.” she said,” it is very good you have come. Whatever worries you, I am sure I can help you.“

Once the young prince had explained his problem to Faith, (which, by the way, was not necessary, because wise women usually know these things beforehand, although they always let you speak out of courtesy), she said to him: ”Well, you’ve been so obsessed with your fear of the black dragon that you’ve forgotten to feed Calmy, the green dragon. The best thing to do is to start by analysing the images in your head:

What images have you got in your head at the moment? 
How strong and clear are these pictures? 
Are they beautiful or ugly? 

You alone have the power to decide which ones you keep in your head. If an ugly picture comes, send it away! Tell the picture: ‚I don’t want you, you’re not good for me! Go away!‘ 
You are the master of your castle! You alone have the power to decide what is allowed in and what is not.

You can use the time you gain by banishing the ugly thoughts and pictures and removing the worry they create to focus on beautiful pictures again. Imagine the most beautiful and happiest moments and situations.  How does it feel when you think about a peaceful future? Adorn these pictures with all sorts of beautiful details and colours. Imagine the people of your castle living  freely and happily together. Then, you will be happy again. 
Try it! Just feed the green dragon again!“

The young prince was a little sceptical at first as to whether this could work. Frankly, he was quite disappointed that this was the best advice the supposedly wise woman could give him. 

However he felt, he had no choice other than to follow Faith’s suggestion.
On his way back to the castle he began to think of good things. The first thing he imagined was, how beautiful and light it would be if the giant black dragon were no longer enthroned in the castle.
He imagined, with all his might, how people could move, dance, laugh and be happy again. How they would all work in the fields and reap good harvests. How happy they would be! He concentrated with all his might to keep painting beautiful pictures in his head. 

Weeks and months later, he noticed how the green dragon was slowly coming back to life, getting stronger and stronger and growing more and more every day. The black dragon, on the other hand, was getting smaller and smaller until he was only crouching in the corner of the barn. 

Calmy grew stronger and stronger, whenever Prince George read beautiful books or listened to sweet music or just went for a walk outside in the forest or the meadow.
Prince George became more and more relaxed every day and even managed to be thankful for how his life had changed. And the more grateful he was, the faster Calmy grew into a beautiful, giant, kind dragon.

Unlike the black dragon, Calmy did not lie down on top of the castle but encircled the castle wall with his full length to stabilise and protect it.

Calmy became the solid grounding for Prince George, the castle, and the people of the kingdom.

And so, they all lived happily ever after…… until … 

… well, until the young prince met a young princess who somehow sparked some completely new pictures in his head 💖 

 THE END  

© by Brigitte Ciraudo