Summer Bonus Episode: The Slumbering Dragon

This story is about a celestial dragon ready to enter his resting time.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Welcome to Spirit Stories, a spirit-driven podcast that focuses on the songs, poems, teachings, and stories of what spirits wish to share with the world at this time. I am Diana, your host, and with deep gratitude, thank you for opening your hearts to what spirits wish to say. This story is a bonus story given by spirits. It is one about a slumbering dragon.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

In the universe and the celestial realms, if you will, there are many, many peoples. There are celestial dragons, star whales, star monkeys, and there is the Lady of Slumber. This story focuses on a celestial dragon. These type of dragons, they fly through the universe. They fly from galaxy to galaxy and solar system to solar system. Some of them have wings, some of them do not. Some are colorful, while others are pale. Some exude a hot breath. Some do not. Some have two legs, others have four legs. There are a few that have no legs at all. They travel among the stars from one place to another regularly, living a solitary life until it is time to mate. The mating time frame is a brief interlude, and they disperse once more, with the mother remaining with the egg that is hatched and gently raised. She remains with the youth until they are approximately an adolescent, at which point the adolescent goes on his own or her own. Then a dragon after mating might go into what they call a great slumber. It is a time of rest and deep contemplation. From that great slumber, they would return and wake, traveling among the stars once more, only to begin the cycle anew. Interestingly enough, dragons prepare for a great slumber by collecting beautiful stars, shiny rocks, things that bring them joy, whether they are colorful or sparkly. They use those collecting them in a great mass to create their nest for the great slumber. This nest has often been referred to as a dragon horde by those who did not know better. For it looks like a great amount of treasure that the dragon has collected, and indeed it is a great amount, only to make a soft bedding. This particular celestial dragon that we focus on was a wingless dragon with a great hot breath. He was pale, and he had come to the part in his life where he was indeed preparing for his great slumber. In that preparation, he had found himself among the stars, a place that was relatively empty, and he had chosen this area to make his bed. So he traveled from galaxy to galaxy, collecting sparkly dust, great rocks, or the most shiny stars. This dragon was old and wise. He knew to maintain the balance among the universe, and maintaining that balance meant never take more than what he needed. So he came in, would look, he would never select or harvest the very first thing that caught his eye. No. He would wait to see were there more, how much more? And he would never take anything near fifty percent of what was available. Always less, always. He brought a little from here and there, collecting it all to make his lovely bed. And as his nest grew, so did the observers of his behavior. One particular audience, unknown to him, was fascinated by this, and they were the celestial monkey clan. Now monkeys, much like dragons, have a great appreciation for beautiful things, and they watched the dragon very closely as he collected things. Hmm, and they appreciated his attractive rocks and stars. And they knew that the dragon would be using this as his bed. And the monkeys greatly desired those rocks and stars. They wanted to play, for you see, monkeys are very playful beings as well as clever. Yet they did not want to ask the dragon for those rocks. No, they were concerned that he would be sleeping upon his nest and not share. So instead, the clever monkey clan had devised a plan. They created a beautiful invitation and sent it to the Lady of Slumber, telling her that the dragon was ready for her and would wish her to come and visit with him. They delivered it personally to the Lady of Slumber, and the Lady of Slumber was so happy and flattered about an early request which she hardly ever got. So she came immediately to visit the celestial dragon. Now dragons are well known for their politeness and graciousness. And like any well-bred dragon, he would certainly not turn away the lady of slumber, even though she had come perhaps a tad bit early. So they sat down with tea and conversed together. They enjoyed each other's company, until finally the lady of slumber mentioned that she was ready to sing her lullaby to him. And the dragon, looking upon what he had collected, had decided that it was perhaps enough, and maybe it was a good time for her to sing. So he agreed, and as the Lady of Slumber sang her lullaby, the dragon closed his eyes, gently nodding off, entering the state of slumber earlier than planned. Now the clever monkeys watched the entire conversation from a distance. They took extra precautions, ripping the fur from the tips of their tails and stuffing it into their ears. That is why several of the monkey clan do not necessarily have as bushy of tails as they used to. And with the fur in their ears, they were not nearly as affected as the dragon was by the slumbering lullaby that the lady sang. Some of the monkeys took it upon themselves to memorize the song in case they needed it for later. Once the lady of slumber had left, the other monkeys swarmed in, poking at the dragon to make sure that he was asleep. And he was quite soundly. And once that was determined, they started to take some of the rocks and the stars and go and play with them. And monkeys, being exactly who they are, ran frolicking around in the universe, playing with the stars that was not collected by them. And when they were done with the game that they were playing, they would just drop the stars wherever they were, only to go back for more the next day and play with those stars in a different area. And drop those stars when they were finished. And on and on it went until the stars and the rocks were scattered across the galaxy, creating what appeared to be a river in the sky, one that we humans know of as the Milky Way. Yes. Time passed, and the monkeys grew bored with what was left of the horde and the dragon, and they moved along. Most of them. A few stayed behind because they were concerned that the dragon would wake and be angry with what they had done. And periodically the dragon would move and stretch, and the monkeys would sing the slumbering song to keep him asleep. And time continued to pass, and dust covered the dragon, and he curled up upon himself, and more dust collected and condensed, and it grew to a point where the dragon was covered with a thick layer of dirt and soil and rock. And the dragon was surrounded, and he became, if you will, a planet, with him curled up in the center. And as time continued on, water grew on the surface of this planet, as well as growing things which brought about more and more life. And each time the dragon shifted, positioned just a little, the plates of dirt and rock that would cover him would maybe overlap, creating mountains on the surface of this planet. Anytime the dragon exhaled, his fiery, hot breath would ignite the rock down below, and it would bubble up through one of the mountains and spill over onto the surface. There were times when he sneezed, and that would create even more lava. But always, always he slept, as the monkeys sang periodically the slumbering song, as some would return periodically to play with some of the rocks and disperse it among the stars. Some of the more responsible monkeys observed the beings who lived on this rock, on this planet, and they noticed that there were a special few among them. Spiritual leaders, if you will, that sang to the planet, to the volcanoes, and to the nature. They sang and somehow they were able to access the spiritual realm. And when they did, some of them were able to visit with the monkeys themselves. And so the monkey clan devised an idea of teaching these spiritual leaders the songs of slumber, the songs that would keep the dragon tame. And then they would no longer have to monitor the situation. They could go off about doing what they wished, playing with the rocks that they had. Steel such a strong word, maybe used, absconded with, and subsequently forgotten about. And so when the spiritual leaders visited, the celestial monkeys would teach the song, really emphasizing the need for maintaining harmony and balance by singing these songs to the dragon. They sometimes explained that they were keeping the dragon asleep. Because if he awoke and stretched and broke through, the planet would be destroyed. And so the spiritual leaders of communities throughout the world have sung songs to the planet, to the mountains, to the deep dragon at the core of the planet, in order to keep him slumbering and allow for the survival of the entire world. And the celestial monkeys abla abandoned the planet to go about playing among the stars as they were always meant to do.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Thank you for sharing this time with me and listening to what spirits have to say. If you are driving or working heavy machinery, please turn off the recording now. Otherwise, I invite you to sit with the lessons and teachings that this story has brought to you today.