The Lung Dragon

-The Lung Dragon-

Good afternoon my dearest friends & followers. Welcome to my humble blog. I am going to bring you into the world of the Lung Dragon of China. I found the tale of the lung dragon very fascinating so I hope that you do too, my dears. I also find the dragons of china so interesting because they have been around so long ago. 

The Lung dragon of China lives in the sky during the summer and hibernates in the deepest lakes during the winter. It has the likeness of nine other beasts, so the Lung Dragon is an enormous. His appearance of these nine other beasts were the head of a camel, antlers of a deer, ears of a bull, throat of a huge snake, paws of a tiger & finally the claws of an eagle. As for the scales of the Lung Dragon well, they are very different than your average dragon. You see they have scales of a Carp, not your usual shimming scales. The carp scales number up to eighty-one, this being nine which is the number of a dragon multiplied by itself & hence the luckiest of numbers. Under the lung dragons throat the scales are reversed & beneath its chin there is bright pearl scales. These are the most fortunate of gems because its the source of the dragons power. These pearl scales has the power & charm of multiplying anything that they come in  contact with. So it anyone was to find one of the Lung Dragons pearl scales it would be like finding the lotto in ancient times. Why? you might ask... Its, because if they place the pearl scale into anything like that of a purse of gold, the purse will be overflowing the next day. Another example would be, if you were in need of food for you family. Just place the pearl scale in a empty sack of rice the same thing will happen as the purse. The voice of the Lung Dragon is an beautiful mix of chiming of a gong. Some said, that the lung dragon was deaf & the meaning behind his name was so. However, it has not been found or proven to this day. It is true that the lung dragon had no ears but it would gather sounds through its two horns(of an deer/horns). On each side of its mouth are whiskers & on top of his head too. It is said that since the lung dragon has the Poh Shan, the wooden foot-the rule without which he can fly into Heaven. When its breath escapes it forms the clouds in the sky, which sometime become rain & then changing into fire when the dragon breath meets the dampness it becomes bright... When the lung dragon meets the water it becomes flame-This dragon flame can be extinguished by ordinary fire. The dragon is fond of roasted swallows for their food, however swallows which are offered in sacrifices when it rain is needed. These Dragons are also fond of arsenic too! The lung dragon also, fears the large Centipede leaves of the lien tree-Melia Azedarach, the Blue-Flowered Bead or China berry Tree & Chinaberry Tree & Silk thread dyed with the five sacred colours. Lastly the lung dragon is also afraid of iron because it said that just one iron needle or lance will kill the dragon.

So, my dears I hope that you enjoyed this tale of the Lung dragon of China.. I found it to be interesting and fun.

I hope you all have a fantastic day

Love you all my dears

WENDY

The Jade Palace-

The Jade Palace-

The Jade Palace

Good Afternoon my dearest friends & followers I am so glad that you all have been enjoying my post these pass few months. And that you like to come and visit my humble blog. Without you all I would be able to stay here. For my next tale I found in many of my favorite dragon books-this tale about the Jade Palace is very ancient so it was very difficult to find an image for you. I did find some that were with the Disney story with the Panda Bear 1-2 & now 3 in the theaters. However I wanted to find something that had to do with the true Jade palace. After looking for about an hour I did find a few that I will share with you along with the tale. I hope that you enjoy the story. Wendy.

'The Jade Palace'

'In ancient china, there was a palace that was built entirely of Jade. Surrounding the Jade Palace was five cities. There was one centre city that surrounded all the other four cities and the Jade Palace too! Around the Jade Palace you can see an range of twelve towers that have nine gates between them on each side of the towers. There were also nine rings of smaller mountains that surrounded the Kunlun Mountain like it was the palace city walls.

It is said that the Kunlun Mountains are a haunted monsterious abyss, that also contains the Ruoshi River. This Ruoshi River is very usual water, meaning it was crimson in color. What this meant in those ancient times was that not even a feather would be able to float upon the usual fast moving crimson river. Hence it was often said that the only way for an mortal to reach Mount Kunlun was to ride on the back of a Dragon.

Hence then he or she could go beyond the abyss which was rings of fiery mountains which burned day and night. Also there was huge lighting clouds that burst over head. The cliffs of Kunlun were so steep that only the craws of a dragon could climb the mountain of Kunlun. To the northeast of Jade mountain was the beautiful Peach Garden. In this Peach Garden was an latter, so one could climb up into the heavens above. This is what the Yellow Emperor would do often, to refresh his spirits by visiting the enchanting Peach trees within the Garden.

Inside this amazing garden which was tended by Xiwangmn, the

Queen Mother of the West, a beautiful but often wild & capricious Goddess. The Queen mother's garden contains very special everlasting peach trees which bloom only every 3,000 years to bear its magick fruit. The Chinese Goddess/Queen Mother of immortality. In her Magical orchard of Peaches, she grows the most fragrant peaches that they can be smelled from miles away. It is said that her peaches has the power to bring peace to those who can smell them & if one is so lucky to get ahold of these magical peaches, it will grant you immortality. Just one of the Queen Mother's Peach Trees will bear fruit every 3,000 years [which takes another 3000 years to ripen]. When the Queen Mother Peach Trees are ready, it is usually held with a great feast to celebrate her birthday. At the time, all that were invited were all the immortals of the Gods to share her peaches of renewing their spirits. Also the Goddess/Queen Mother would make a very special drink of an

elixir from her magic peaches to renew their immortality. Well, this is the true story of what they might of

basic the Panda Disney movies on... I am not sure so don't quote

me on that. But there is a lot of similarity to both tales.

I hope you enjoy the tale.

Love you all my dear friends and followers

Your friend always

WENDY

CINNAMON

CINNAMON-

Real Cinnamon Bark/or sticks

If you think you've had cinnamon, there's a very good chance that you've had Cassia instead. You see Cassia actually tastes very much like cinnamon, however it is the cheaper spice or product of
Cinnamon. Sadly the US allows both products in the country, plus they also allow Cassia & Cinnamon to both appear labeled as being Cinnamon in all the stores in the US.
I don't know why they allow this but in my opinion this is very wrong! So when I found this article I thought you all should know the differences between Cinnamon - Cassia so that you can make your own choices between the spices. First you should know the true name of Cinnamon...
[Ceylon Cinnamon-Cinnamonmumverum]
It has many different other names too... It is sometimes called 'Sir Lankan Cinnamon,which is the inner layer of the bark of the Tropical Evergreen Tree related to the Bay.

Cassia Sticks

The Cassia Tree is similar to the Tropical Evergreen Tree as it relative produces bark similar to cinnamon. Although they are not quite the true Bark cinnamon sticks. There are still many varieties that are harvested for consumpition of the Cassia sticks. There are also a host of names for all of these type of Cassia sticks too.
1-C. burmannii-labeled, 'Korintje',Padang or Indonesian Cassia.
2-C. loureiroi-labeled, Saigon Cinnamon, Vietnamese Cassia.
3-Vietnamese Cinnamon-labeled C. Cassia which is labeled 'Chinese Cinnamon'
The trick to telling the true cinnamon Bark/Stick apart from a Cassia Stick is actually not that difficult. This is how you tell the two spices apart.. First Cinnamon is much more fragrance plus it has a much sweet, warm and woodsy smell. Its not a pungent as that of the spice Cassia which has a slightly bittersweet flavor.
As for the difference in appearce in the two- Cinnamon is light brown or tan. Cassia is a darker reddish-brown. Cinnamon bark sticks are sometimes called 'Quills' and usually three-quarters of an inch thick. They have many concentric paper thin rings within the cinnamon bark sticks.
Now the Cassia spice is also rolled into quills, however, the individual layers are noticeably thicker and usually fewer. Cinnamons sweetness and warming qualities makes it a perfect fit for many types of foods. It can be in desserts of all kinds, especially during the winter time, with the use of many fruits. You can use cinnamon sticks to infuse liquids such as milk for puddings and sauces.
Some great examples are-
You can add a pinch of ground Cinnamon to your coffee grounds during the brewing for a hint of flavor or more directly in your cup for a bigger boost make herbal tea with cinnamon sticks or add the sticks to black tea with milk and other spices for a soothing fragrant spiced beverage. You can also sprinkle Cinnamon on your oatmeal for a more tasty breakfast. The smell of cinnamon in the oven warm up cinnamon rolls can be very intoxicating too! Besides puddings, sauces, liquids and desserts you can also use it on your vegetables and meats too. Cinnamon is a very important ingredient in Moroccan tagines stews, Indian curries and potato dishes too.

Cinnamon should smell sweet. If it doesn't toss it.

CASSIA TREE

CINNAMON

CINNAMON TREES

CINNAMON

CINNAMON TREE

Stocks both Cinnamon and ground. The Sticks can last up to a few years and the ground cinnamon will last about six months. Here is a great link for more info.  www.penzeys.com

I hope that you find this to be interesting . love you all my dears your friend always

WENDY

 

CENTAURS

Centaurs-

Good Morning my dears, And welcome to my humble blog. Today we are going into the Magick World  of the Centaurs. The Centaurs lived in a region called Pelion in Magnesia, a coastal region in Central Greece. They can be either female or male.They have a head, torso and arms of either a man or woman & the body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are very large in size. However, the Male Centaur is much larger than the female Centaur. As I have said earlier the Magick Centaur are part human part horse beings. First I thought I would give you a bit of history of the Centaur, then I will go into the myth's of the Magical Creature of the Greeks. Centaurs are said to be the children of Ixion and Nephele. The tale kinda goes like this...Ixion fell in love with Queen Hera, and tried to rape her, but she reported his to her husband the King Zeus, who decided to test his wife's testimony to him. For this purpose, the God Zeus made a Cloud resembling the Queen Hera. Zeus laid the Cloud that look like like Hera beside Ixion to see what he would do. So when Ixion awaken seeing Hera beside him and then started to go around the kingdom boasting that he had enjoyed the company overnight of the Queen Hera. This of course didn't sit well, with the all powerful Zeus who bound Ixion to a large wheel, on which he is whirled into the winds by Zeus. The cloud, that Zeus made of Hera that lay beside his wife and queen gave birth to the Centaurs when Zeus consorted with the Magnesian Mares, the Centaurs were born. However, Diodorus said at the time that the Centaurus were the sons of Apolo and Stilbe, daughter of the River God Peneus. The Thessalian river flows from the foot of Mount Pindus and Creusa. There is another version or saying about the CENTAURS thus we are 'Like the Mother below, the Father above'. There are others that say the Centaur was born directly from the Cloud that Zeus created. From that tale in Greek times, there is also Greek

Mythology where it is said that the Centaurs had one father known with the name Ixion, who was one of Ares sons. Ixion killed the father of his wife, but Zeus took pity on him and forgave his acts after some time. However, in order to do so, as I had said above Zeus had to test him. As a result of the test he failed as he tried to seduce the Queen Hera and mating many others in the Kingdom of Gods. Resulting in the making of many of his Children that they Called Centaurs. Others say that the Centaurus mated with the Magnesian Mares. One never really knows, how these amazing creatures came about so many Centuries ago.
Centaurs-
Good or Bad Reputations in
Greek History-
It would be a huge mistake if I didn't go into the history of the Centaurs. You see not all centaurs were good in the day of the Greeks. Some of them were very bad others were very good. The Good Centaurs that were actually pretty famous in the Greek Mythology and History. These Centaurs aimed to find harmony in Nature. The first on of these Centaurs was Cheion, who was a scholar who loved harmony in nature, learned many things about medicine within nature, the arts, philosophy and the liberal Arts too. Cheion also learned about disciplines and the sciences that were usually irrelevant with the Centaurs.

The First and most Beloved

Centaur Cheion

However Cheion was very different than most Centaurs. He was mostly know as the tutor of the God Apollo. Also as a advisor to many people and deities such as Peleus was Cheion whom he also advised t marry the Goddess Thetis. Although the Goddess was resisting the wedding at first, she decided to marry Peleus and gave birth to the Hero Achilles.
The Second Known Good Centaur
was Pholos-
Pholos happened to be a friend of Heracles. Pholos allowed
Heracles to stay with him and gave him a grand feast in his fancy cave. In this cave Heracles asked for wine and the best food; And of course Pholos opened his Jars of his Best wine for his friend Heracles, however the two friends had no idea they were being watch by hundreds of jealous drunk wild Centaurs who wanted all that Pholos was giving to the God Heracles. Besides they could smell the wine and food being that they were have beast. So when the Centaurs though the timing was just right about a hundred of them attacked the two friends inside the cave, where they were just sitting and realizing, enjoying their company and the fine feast and good wine. Also celebrating their friendship with each

The beloved Cheiron at the

Gods Kingdom asking to died

other. The battle was ferocious and many of the centaurs and humans men were either killed or injured. On of the main Centaurs that was seriously hurt was their beloved Cheiron. He was so badly wounded that he wished to die even though he was immortal. It was a very sad day in the Kingdom of the Gods - Prometheus Heard the cries of the Beloved Cheiron and then offered him to die and gave him his immortality. Indeed the Centaur did died laving Prometheus being eternally alive. A gif that shows the kindness of Cheiron soul even at his death bed, surrounded by people that loved him dearly. There were only a few images to pick from the death of Cheiron however, I hope I pick the the most graces one I could find, for the most special and kindle Centaur of all time.
Now as for the Second known Good Centaur named Pholos. I am sorry wasn't able to find any photos, drawings, painting of any kind in the Greek Mythology. I don't really understand that but there wasn't much written about him either so who is to say what is the truth about this Centaur named Pholos. All that I do know about this Centaur Pholo is and what he is most famous for is the Centauromachy, which means to the Centaurs of the bad nature. So I guess he wasn't the most kindle of sort of Centaur like that of our honor Cheiron - I am guessing? You see they or Pholos and his Centaurs had grand wars against the Lapiths. This is not a Good quality in my opoion, its more of a bad one. It would seem that the Centaur Pholos and others in his group attempted to Carry off the Hippodamia& and the rest of the Laith besides the Wars between the Lapiths& the

Centaurs. The Centaurs with the Bad reputation, were said to be extremely heavy drinkers of wine and were usually depicted as beasts. Probably because they were so unpredictable and wild. Some of the Centaurs would often be so drunk& violent, they would eat raw flesh while drinking too much wine. These Creature also had a very bad reputations in Greece as being extremely violent towards women and other people but mostly women both human and their own. It is said that there were numerous myths and stories about centaurs violating women in the Greek mythology. One of these tales  refers to a Centaur by the name of Nesus who tried to rape Heracles wife Deianeira.
However, Deianeira, not only managed to defend herself from the Nesus Centaur but she was also able to kill the centaur too! In the last moments before his death, Nessus tried to excuse himself and gave the wife Deianerira a love drug that she used to seduce her husband Heracles. However, one should never trust a Centaur that is trying to rape you from a God son. The love drug was actually poison a very strong and painful one. Heracles had suffered so terribly from this poison that he decided to throw himself into the flames to die rather than to suffer the agony. of the effects of the poison. [note I really don't know what happened after that if what was the end of our beloved hero Heracles.] As for more history on the Centaurs, they were thought to carry bows & arrows and had very short tempers. I don't know if this was with both male and female of just the male after drinking to much. Also most Centaurs are said to be Good. And work against Evil. Its just a few fallen ones that fall between the cracks . So there you have the history of the Centaurs both good/bad. At the end of this post I will put a few of the images that I did find which I hope you all will enjoy. 

Love you all my dearest Friends & Followers

Your friend always

WENDY