The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Flight of Dragons, The Dragon Riders of Pern, How to Train a Dragon and Harry Potter are all books and films that explore dragons in one way or another.
Appreciate A Dragon Day is a day set aside to celebrate this cultural icon
Dragons have been part of culture and mythology for hundred if not thousands of years. Appreciate a Dragon Day is the opportunity to explore dragon history, which is long and varied. There are good dragons and bad dragons. Some can be found at sea others live in caves, some are part of mythology while others are pure fiction. Some are even in musicals like Pete’s Dragon. There are many dragon toys and stuffed animals as well as games like Dungeons and Dragons the first of a long line of role playing games.
Our childhoods were filled with stories of princes going into caves to fight a dragon and rescue the princess. Christianity has at least two dragons associated with it, St. George and The Dragon, and The Book of Revelation, where the dragon is used as a symbol in St, John’s prophecy.
Appreciate a Dragon Day was created by Donita K. Paul. Her purpose for this day is to explore the fascination people have had with dragons over the centuries and to become aware of their significance in culture.
Ms. Paul also has a second reason to create this day and that is to promote literacy. Any attempt to get both children and adults reading more should be applauded.
So how can you celebrate this day? Researching the history of dragons is certainly one way, getting together with friends to play a game of Dungeons and Dragons, starting to read one of the books listed above, or even spending some time drawing a dragon of your own.
There is one other way to celebrate this day which I hesitate to mention. Playing Snap Dragon! Snap Dragon is a game that is at least two hundred years old. In England the game is played at Halloween or on Twelfth Night. The game is very easy to play and requires things you may already have in your home. You put on a plate a large quantity of raisons. You then douse the raisons with plenty of brandy and set them on fire. Then you pull as many of the raisons out as you can without getting burnt. This is actually a children’s game, but since alcohol; is involved adults may enjoy it too. However make sure the insurance on your house is paid up before attempting this game.
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