The Tale of the Dragon Riders.

Hopefully, you’ve come across Jordan Peterson’s discussions on the reality of dragons, they are fantastic. To get us on the same page:

• Humans create abstract categories.
• Humans have an abstract category: predator. No animal called a 'predator' exists in nature. Predator is an idea that buckets ‘living things that hunt other living things’ together.
• Lions exist in nature. Lions are predators. Predator is an idea.
• Now, we do a cross-examination of all predators and their characteristics.
• Predators as a category, generally: fly (birds of prey), slither/scales (snakes), claws (big cats), hunt living things (humans), breathe fire (natural disasters, fires, lightning), are invisible or hard to see (sneaky, camouflaged, quiet), lie in wait outside the ‘protected zone’ (the edge of chaos, outside the village, beyond the pail, the unconscious, the undiscovered, deep in nature), protect treasure (new land, new discoveries, new resources).
• If we can abstract a level up from lion > predator, we can run a second-layer abstraction from predator > dragon.
• Dragons are the abstracted category of all apex predators. They are the mythological distillation of everything dangerous that lurks in the dark, beyond the known territory, waiting for you.
• If ‘predators’ are ‘real’ > ‘dragons’ are ‘real’.

Nearly every culture, no matter how far separated by time or space, has myths of dragons. 

It’s not hard to imagine the organic evolution of this: a group of explorers come stumbling back into the village in the middle of the night, frantic, semi-conscious, sputtering frightened tales of a great beast, size and shape unknown.

“…and giant fangs! …wait the fangs were claws? …wait claws for teeth!? …scales!? it flew in the air? there was fire too! the ground shook when it walked! it took my arm clean off, look!”

No one can confirm or deny these stories, because those who venture out into the dark chaos after either came back the same way or died and told no tale.

Over time these stories coalesced into living mythology: here, there be DRAGONS.

Dragons are the mythopoetic, symbolic representation of the CHAOS as such that sits always just outside the ordered territory.

🐲 The Dragon Slayers.

Thus we begin every great hero story. A dragon in a faraway land. He terrorizes the people. He ruins the crops. He protects some kind of vast treasure. 

For the brave warriors, for the young rascal with a chip on his shoulder, and for the one foolish enough to answer the call to adventure—the opportunity of a lifetime is here. 

It is time to muster courage, gather the group, venture out, and slay the dragon.

For that is all we can do with chaos: venture out and crush it through force and will first, before it comes and gets us in the safety of our ordered village.

Chaos is bad. Chaos is uncertainty. Chaos is death. There is only one thing to do with chaos: kill it. Smite it with fire and brimstone. Bulldoze it into submission.

The era of the dragon slayers begins. The beauty of humanity’s bravery, courage, mastery, and sacred order shines forth from these sacred warriors.

But strange things happen…

• No matter how many dragons are slain, more are found.
• No matter how many parts of the map are filled in, the unknown, undiscovered parts of the map grow equally. There is always chaos outside the village walls.
• Dragons and chaos find the village anyway: crops are plundered, land dries up and famines start, invisible diseases plague inhabitants.
• The archetype of the HYDRA is born. Cut off one head of chaos, 3 more appear.

While the eternal battle of good vs. evil wages on, man vs. beast, the dance between order and chaos, small whispers are picked up on the winds from foreign lands...

Whispers of a mysterious clan... the dragon riders.

They don't kill dragons, nor are they killed by them. A human<>dragon symbiotic pairing. They have tamed the great beasts. Or maybe… they elevated themselves to the level of dragons and thus earned their respect and companionship.

⚡️ All Hail the Dragon Riders.

There is a look written on the face of the dragon riders, that says more than any story or words can teach...

A gaze of total composure. Fierce and untouchable.

The look of a man who has met death many times and made his peace with it. A man who found the dragon deep within his heart and conquered it. A man who has walked through hellfire and found the part of him that is indestructible. 

These are the dragon riders.

Those firmly rooted in both chaos and order. Those who have seen through the illusion of opposites and realized the greater whole. Within order lies the possibility of chaos, and within chaos the dream of order. These are not static states but a dynamic flux, as fluid and graceful as dragon flight. 

In mastering this flowing dance, the dragon riders were born. Aligning with the rhythm of natural chaos. Deep within their martial art, they captured the spark of life—and made peace with the dragons. 

Chaos brings the possibility of opportunity. New lands, new resources, new skills, new seasons—great treasures. 

They recognized the dragons for what they were: great protectors of this divine realm, stewards of a sacred process: evolution.

And on the day the dragon riders arrived in our village, everyone rose... for we knew we were in the presence of great beings.

Half Human, Half God—Half Predator, Half Prey—Half Dust, Half Diety—Part Order, Part Chaos—Part Man, Part Dragon. 

They called themselves ANTHROPOS: Integrated Ones. 

All of us rose to bear witness to the dragon riders that day…