Frequently Asked Questions - All FAQs

FAQs - All FAQs
They certainly can, but not all do. Dragons are so far removed from the accepted paradigm that most people haven't even seriously considered their existence, but many are tolerant enough to approach the idea objectively once it's presented. My friends (and parents!) have all come to terms with my draconity, and I've explained the situation to many strangers with favorable receptions. (Other dragons haven't been nearly as lucky, and my heart goes out to the ones whose parents won't accept them.)
 
Opinions vary from individual to individual, and depend largely on culture, upbringing, willingness to listen, and level of ingrained skepticism. A common attitude I've seen is that someone can't personally believe in dragons, but accepts that I believe I am one -- which works for me; as long as they respect my view of reality I am quite willing to respect theirs.
 
Of course, whether draconity is accepted or rejected by "the mainstream" does not make it any more or less real. The only opinion that counts, for your reality, is yours.
Escapism is the adopting of a particular belief in order to avoid confronting the harsher side of reality. The very act of accepting one's draconity involves mental struggle; proclaiming one's draconity to friends and relatives often results in estrangement; and there is no "fantasy world" that a dragon can hide in -- on the contrary, dragons have the added difficulty of trying to fit into human society as a spiritual outsider. Where is the escapism?
 
Escapism can also indicate a lack of introspection, an unwillingness to face oneself. And here, too, draconity is not escapist. Instead, denying one's draconic heritage -- abandoning truth to avoid social and inner conflict -- is escapism, and someone going through the struggle of finding his or her inner dragon doesn't need the condescension of others who don't understand that draconity's an uphill battle.

Yes -- in the same way that one can "believe" they are Lithuanian or Catholic or heterosexual. Draconity is an identity. We choose to accept that part of us which we identify as draconic. Do we ultimately choose to be dragons, or is it something that is predetermined? I don't know.

 

Also see next question.

This is the question that most people mean when they ask "Do you really believe you're a dragon?" -- and there is a misconception that all people aspiring to draconity expect someday to sprout wings and scales. This is not universally true.
 
Many people are dragons spiritually, and that (more or less) abstract connection is as far as it ever gets. There are also those in the dragon community who believe that in this life they are humans, but in the past they have been dragons, and that draconity is a "more natural" form for them. Of course, there are dragons who expect within this lifetime to regain dragon form, and there is not anything wrong with that, either.
Unfortunately, there's no simple answer to this -- no tests you can take, no card you can dig out of your wallet. The only way to tell is to look, long and hard, at yourself and to come to a decision on your own. Don't take shortcuts, and don't trust anyone who says otherwise: how much meaning your draconity has is proportional to how much effort you put into it.
 
Ask yourself: Am I aspiring to draconity because it's right rather than cool? Do I have a real perspective on what it means to be a dragon? Would I be able to accept that I'm not a dragon if the evidence I find says so? Is draconity a consistent explanation with all of the evidence I have found so far? Is it the best explanation? If you can't answer any of the above, answered "no" to any of them, or are anything less than 100 percent sure of your draconity (and if you're convinced, why are you reading this question? :-)), then take some time out to evaluate.
 
It's perfectly OK to not be sure; I told people "I think I am a dragon" for half a decade before I found out enough to know. And don't rush yourself. Draconity is a beautiful destination on the road of self-discovery -- enjoy the journey!
There are many people out there who consider their dragon to be only part of, or separate from, their human self -- a distinct facet of their personality, or an "avatar" which they are spiritually in touch with, or an outside identity with which they communicate and have bonded.

As I consider my dragon to be not only me but all of me, I have written this FAQ from that worldview. But I am not trying to exclude those whose dragons play different roles in their life! Many of the questions in this FAQ apply no matter what your relationship with your dragon may be. Some questions (and answers) may apply more specifically to the way I perceive draconity, so if any of my writing rubs you the wrong way, please feel free to talk to me personally (see "contact information" at the bottom of this document).

(See also "what's the deal with dragon magic?" Below)
The answer would seem obvious at first: Would we be proud of our draconity if the answer were "no"?
 
But this is a very shallow look at the issue. There are many things which humans excel at, and just because dragons are proud of their heritage doesn't mean that they can't recognize the beauty of human life. True dragons don't maintain their identity to reject humanity -- they insist on their draconity because it better fits them.
 
Speaking personally, during my last life as a dragon I snuck into a local human town on a weekly basis to buy books, and I have always been fascinated by human music. (You should see my CD collection!) I would not be ashamed to be a human, and sometimes (like when I read Loren Eiseley) I envy you. However, I am a dragon. It's not better than humanity, but different. And far better for me.
Just because dragons haven't been proved to exist in the physical world doesn't mean that they hold no claim on reality. Consider the variety of cultures, both Eastern and Western, in our world that have dragons in their mythology -- and the lack of cultures that don't. How can we explain this prevalence of dragons in myth? Is it any more plausible to say "early racial memories of dinosaurs" (we're talking tree-shrew early, since dinosaurs haven't existed for 65 million years) than to consider dragons as real?
 
But the question of whether dragons are physically real doesn't make a difference in the end. Dragons are mythic creatures (see “what are dragons?") -- and, therefore, are exceptionally real beings to those who choose to accept the myth. That acceptance is a matter of faith ... the same faith that drives people to turn to Christianity or to scientific skepticism (yes, even being a skeptic requires faith -- faith that everything can be neatly parceled up, explained and understood, a faith which not everyone shares).
We do love being dragons. It means a lot to us. Otherwise we wouldn't acknowledge it.
 
"Taking it too far" is a judgment value, and the question that hinges on is: "Why do you believe in something which I can't accept as real?" The only possible answer to that question is "Because it is true to me."
Draconity is an issue of identity, and being acknowledged as a dragon by others is important to that identity. A name is the most direct and obvious way of accomplishing this. If someone prefers to go by their dragon name, refusing to use it can be just as insulting as insisting on calling the pope "John."
 
This is not an issue of validation, however, nor is it an issue of rejecting humanity (see "Do you consider dragons superior to humans?" above). Many dragons see their dragon name as more fitting or more meaningful than their human name, which after all is rather arbitrary. For example, "Baxil" means "beloved" in a dragon tongue, and as such it is a powerful word for me. Also, a dragon name can be a strong reminder of someone's commitment to their draconity, in the same way that a convert to Islam may take a new name (e.g. Cassius Clay / Muhammad Ali).