Dancing With Dragons

[SmokeyRose]

I had stumbled upon a book at work called Dancing with Dragons. I had figured it would have been some teenage fantasy book, given the area I had found it in. However when I got the chance to investigate, it turned out someone must have stuffed it there for safe keeping as it was on sale.

Investigating further, it wasn't a fantasy book but a book on dragon lore, dragons through history and invocations. (Among other things, haven't really checked it out.)

I was just wondering if anyone had read it before. I did ended up buying it, and it's in my list of things I need to read, but I was curious for others opinions.

Dancing With Dragons by D.J. Conway

[shadowdust]

I have this book but haven't read it. I found a thread about the book and author in forum.

http://www.creepyhollows.com/phpBB3/vie ... s+#p376078

[starfire]

I do have that book and it is a really good book to get started for working with dragons!!! I have personally talked with D.J. Conway, and she is a very sweet person and she does love dragons and has worked with them for many years!!!!

You can take the invocations and make them your own in doing them and wording them for how you work with dragons, they are just a guide line to get started!!!!

starfire :dragons::

[starfire]

I will also say that many of her other books was not liked by others in the craft and I will say that many of them kinda are the samething, just with different traditions, the dragon book is the only one I found that was different, however her other book of dragons I did not liked as much, because it was what I call so far out there, that it didn't make sense as Dancing with Dragons did!!!

So take what you want from the book and make it your own, and there are many other really good books out there by some really good and experienced people who know what they are doing as far as working with rituals and the like!!!!

starfire :dragons::

[SmokeyRose]

Thanks for replying so fast!

After some research a lot of reviews had said that, and it looks like it'll be a great read. (And one I can throw at a friend.)

I had noticed it didn't seem well liked by some people, but if it's a beginners book I would imagine it would be on the more basic stuff. (Which can be repetitive if that's all they're reading.)

Thanks for the quick reply!

[shadowdust]

While I haven't read this book thoroughly, I do research A LOT about it to see if it reasonable or not. You can say that this book lead me to spirit keeping lol

Most people who disagree with the book is because they don't think dragon can be helpful and lovable toward human. When I'm into spirit keeping, I realize natures of dragon is very varied, some will not harm you even though you murder their childs, some very hateful toward human. So I think both have their own rights, just don't think every things in the book can apply to every dragons.

[SmokeyRose]

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for the late response. Turns out I'm sick, so I haven't had the energy to really do much.

Right, I have a few dragons with me right now, and they are very different from one another.
Dragons do have a reputation from movies, fairy tales, and other such things it can make people edgy towards them.

(We need more movies, and books with a better perpetual of them. Like Dragons Bait (A book, but I don't remember the author.), or the dragon from Shrek. (Or Dragons Heart, I think...)

Now I'm going to go rest 'cause I don't think I'm making any sense and have been staring at this screen for about five minutes.

[starfire]

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for the late response. Turns out I'm sick, so I haven't had the energy to really do much.

Right, I have a few dragons with me right now, and they are very different from one another.
Dragons do have a reputation from movies, fairy tales, and other such things it can make people edgy towards them.

(We need more movies, and books with a better perpetual of them. Like Dragons Bait (A book, but I don't remember the author.), or the dragon from Shrek. (Or Dragons Heart, I think...)

Now I'm going to go rest 'cause I don't think I'm making any sense and have been staring at this screen for about five minutes.

Dragons have always had a bad rep from people who don't understand them, and of course the early days of Christians had the dragon liken to the devil which was to be used as a tool of fear to get more people into their fold!!!! Not all dragons were evil, but people sure can be!!!! Anything that was more powerful and or not understood was enough for humans to destroy it and or make into something that is bad or evil!!! Are there bad dragons out there, yes there is, but most dragons are not evil or bad, they are peaceful!!!! They have a lot of knowledge of the Earth and everything else!!!! Also they will share that knowledge with us, if they find us wanting to learn and willing to work with them!!!

starfire :dragons::

[AlexCzernosech]

I have both this book and her other book, Mystical Dragon Magick. I will only speak on the first book, because I've covered the second book elsewhere and at another time (suffice to say, I was not impressed... well, I'll say that about both, but I'll delve into why of the first).

Starting off, I will say it is okay as a beginning point in working with dragons, but I would not encourage people to take her system as an ultimate truth about dragons in the long run. She works by elemental classifications heavily reliant on colours as opposed to actual species, something that is a personal peeve of mine when it comes to dragons, as many kinds do not follow the same classifications she gives. ("it's just a start", I remind myself quietly)

After the section with mythology, she then has practitioners calling on one of the dragons in the myths, Fafnir (whom, if I recall correctly, was not even originally a dragon to begin with), whose lore does not exactly want me having him at my back. One could argue that he's simply misunderstood and demonized, but I would sooner personally connect with a dragon who can stand in the Southern Quarter and not worry they're going to backstab me for any valuables I might have. :p

Dancing with Dragons is essentially a cobbled-together system mashing the pick-and-choose eclecticism of modern Wicca with dragons. It works for some people. For others, they need something a little more sensible. Most of the people who disagree with the book that I know of are advanced practitioners of magick in general or have worked extensively with dragons otherwise. Perhaps D.J. Conway ran into some other realm of dragons that work differently (and conveniently follow D&D-esque rules), and don't represent all dragons that exist, or I could be mean and say she's spewing heuwey, especially as the second book claims her dragon spells are almost word for word the same as ones used by Lebanese dragon magicians, when most of them read more like third grade poems. But that's me being mean. To be fair, a lot of things I come up with probably don't sound any better or make any more sense than hers does. The difference is I don't try to market my system.

Though for anyone who can pick out what works and what doesn't for them, Conway's work can act as a template upon which their own powerful works can be built off of, supplemented by what they know and learn of dragons through their own direct communications. And that is at least something. And some of her advice is good. I agree with Starfire that the second book was very out there even for me, though, with one part that had me wondering if she was trying to ripoff part of the Illuminatus! trilogy or was otherwise on a trip. X3