Tag Archives: horses

Dragons, Dragons Everywhere

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Every culture has dragon folktales and these dragons share the same characteristics. David Jones reaches fascinating conclusions about our fear and fascination with these creatures, including that we are essentially “hardwired” to believe in them. Get a copy here.

Dragons are not just fairy tale creatures who like to eat an occasional princess or fight a knight or two. Dragons are mythic-poetic creatures used in tales or sermons to make sophisticated points. Perhaps rooted in early human experience of three major predators–lions, eagles, and large serpents–dragons both warn of danger and show how to escape that danger.

Although we think of dragons as fire-breathing serpents with legs and wings, the oldest stories report that dragons had a foul, poisonous breath, the stench of which could kill anything that inhaled it. Dragons are Chaos. Dragons are spiritual and emotional energy that is out of control. Unfocused. Wild. They are in stories or texts what horses with loose, untied tails are in icons.

In the New Testament (Revelation 12:3) we read about a vision of a Great Red Dragon with seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns, and a massive tail, an image which is clearly inspired by the vision of the four beasts from the sea in the Book of Daniel and the Leviathan described in various Old Testament passages. This dragon is the enemy of the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of 12 stars upon her head: the Church. The dragon attacks the Church at the End of Days and slays the martyrs as Judgement Day approaches. In the lives of the saints–such as SS. Margaret or George–a dragon is the enemy of the saint or of specific persons now, during history.

In the story of St. Margaret, she is swallowed alive by a dragon in her jail cell but she makes the sign of the Cross and the dragon’s stomach explodes… allowing her to step out, unharmed. (Not unlike Red Riding Hood and her grandmother stepping unharmed from the wolf’s stomach.) In the story of St. George (whose horse’s tail is always tied in a knot), the dragon is attacking a town and is about to devour a princess as its most recent victim but George is able to kill it; in some versions, he wounds it so that it becomes a tame beast and he can lead it into the town with a leash made of the princess’ belt.

St. Margaret is clearly attacked by the enemies of God but is able to overcome them by her faith in Christ, crucified and risen. The princess (soul) is attacked by the passions–anger, jealousy, greed, etc.–but is able to either overcome them by the help of the saints and the Cross of Christ (the wooden spear of St. George). In the versions where the dragon is wounded, it means the soul is able to redirect its energy away from destructive desires into constructive desires, such as righteous anger on behalf of the oppressed, desire to care for the needy, or peace-making between enemies.

Dragons are the great enemy both at the End of Time and now, as history plays itself out. They are the spiritual energy that we can channel to come close to God or that we can let it create chaos in our lives to destroy us. We can embrace the dragon within or we can tame it. The choice is ours.

SS. Florus and Laurus

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16th century Russian icon of SS. Florus and Laurus.

Florus and Laurus, twin brothers who were second century martyrs, are considered the patrons of horses among the Rus because a local horse plague was healed by their relics. Russian peasants would tether their horses around the church on their feast day (August 18) and avoid putting the horses to work in order to avoid a recurrence of the plague. According to The Golden Bough, peasants didn’t plough with horses on the brothers’ feast day for fear of causing a cattle plague but would lead their horses round their village church. The horses were often also driven to a local pond and driven into the water after a priest had blessed it; the horses were washed in the pond and then led in procession around the church.

The twin brothers were stonemasons in the district of Illyricum. According to the story, Likaion, the prefect of Illyricum, employed the brothers in the construction of a pagan temple. The brothers gave their salaries to the poor. When the son of a local pagan priest named Mamertin was injured by a chip of stone from the saints’ temple, Florus and Laurus cured the boy after the boy converted to Christianity. Mamertin also decided to convert to Christianity as a result of his son’s recovery.

After the temple was built, Florus and Laurus brought together many local Christians there. The group smashed all of the statues of the pagan gods, a cross was set up in the temple, and the Christians spent the whole night in prayer in the converted temple. As a result of this action, the local authorities had 300 Christians, including Mamertin and Mamertin’s son, burned to death. However, Florus and Laurus were executed by being thrown down an empty well which was then covered over with earth.

Later tales also say that one day Florus and Laurus lost their horses. The two brothers appealed to the Archangel Michael to help them recover the runaway horses. The archangel helped them recover the horses and the two decided to dedicate their lives to horses. In addition, SS. Elashippus, Speushippus & Melashippus are often depicted with SS. Florus and Laurus. These three other men were Cappadocian brothers, two of them twins, who were grooms and horse doctors, who were said to have been trained as horse doctors by SS. Florus & Laurus and the Archangel Michael himself.

This icon was painted approximately AD 1500 – 1600 in Nizhny Novgorod and depicts the 3 horse doctor brothers below SS. Flarus and Laurus.

St. Lawrence on the Griddle

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Medieval illumination of St. Lawrence being roasted to death.

As archdeacon of Rome, St Lawrence was responsible for the material goods of the Church and the distribution of alms to the poor. During the persecution of Christians in AD 258, he was arrested and told that the financial resources of the Roman Church–which the judge suspected was quite considerable–would be confiscated but he would be spared from execution if he would help gather the Church’s resources for the imperial authorities. Lawrence said that he would need three days to gather all the wealth of the Church and bring it to the court; he was released, with the understanding that he would came back to the court in three days with the wealth of Roman church.

Three days later, Lawrence came back to the court at the head of a large crowd of the old, the ill, the crippled, the orphaned, and the destitute. The judge asked where the Church’s treasure was. Lawrence pointed to the people behind him and answered, “These are the treasures of the Roman Church.” He went on to say, “Behold in these poor persons the treasures which I promised to show you. In addition to these, I will add pearls and precious stones, those widows and consecrated virgins, which are the Church’s crown.” The judge was so angry that he had a great gridiron prepared with hot coals beneath it, and had Lawrence placed on it, hence St Lawrence’s association with the gridiron. After the martyr had suffered pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he cheerfully declared: “I’m well done on this side. Turn me over!”

In many places, the feast of St. Lawrence–August 10–is the end of the summer harvest and the beginning of sowing the winter crops (such as rye). Because of his quip on the gridiron, Lawrence is the patron of cooks, chefs, and comedians. In some parts of eastern Europe, Lawrence the archdeacon was also a patron of horses because he was confused with Laurus the saint associated with horse doctors.