Dragon Dream Symbolism

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Dragons are known to be mythological and yet its image is so widespread across many cultures and religions that it is bound to eventually trickle down to your dream state as well. They are known to be symbols of power and rage and are seen as the majestic guardians of our principles. Having a dragon dream is symbolic of spiritual stirrings in your life. However, things like - the color of your dream dragon, its type affects the interpretation. When you do have a dragon dream, make sure you note it down as soon as you wake up and list as many details about the dream and the dragon as you can.

Dragons are often considered protectors in oriental culture. If a dragon turns up in your dream, it could mean that something that compromises who you are, the values you hold dear is threatening your sense of self. Depending on what the dream is, you need to either let go of your sense of control and follow your passions to find yourself or you need control your fiery, hot temper so that a balance can be achieved.

If you dream of fighting a dragon, it may be a symbol of you trying to tame your own behavior or urges. Being attacked by a dragon, on the other hand, can represent the fear of the unknown. In Chinese Mythology, the dragon is always seen as the symbol of wisdom. It is the Chinese equivalent of a phoenix and a dragon dream is usually seen as a sign of rebirth, of reinventing yourself.

Whatever your dream, there is one message that resonates across all cultures – when a dragon visits, pay attention! 

Dragon Coloring Pages for your Dragon-Obsessed Child

Dragons! The word conjures up images of scaled, horned and winged mythical behemoths that breathe fire to devastate entire villages unless propitiated by the sacrifice of a young maiden or two. Tales of dragons and dragon-slaying knights have enthralled generations of children and have featured in the mythology, art, culture and literature of disparate civilizations.

The dragon motif has moved with the times and now features in countless movies and computer games that continue to fascinate kids as much as fairy tales once did. The success of How to Train your Dragon and its sequel has taken the dragon mania to new heights, and has spawned a variety of games, clothing and merchandise that are eagerly snapped by obsessed young fans.

If you think dragons are all fun and games with precious little educative value, you’d be surprised. Many educational websites put the current craze for dragons to good use with their wide range of science worksheets, printable activities and scientific experiments to make science accessible to elementary graders. Dragon-themed learning materials for math, English and other subjects are a great hit with preschoolers, kindergarteners and even older students.

Dragon Coloring Pages – The Benefits

Photo Courtesy - Zyada

Another great way to put dragons to good use is to download printable dragon coloring pages and keep your creatively-inclined child busy. This has more benefits than you might think, especially for younger children.

·         Coloring an intricate dragon-themed page teaches your little one to hold crayons and other writing/coloring tools the correct way. Those tiny muscles in his fingers, wrist and hands get a proper workout and he builds his fine motor skills in the process.

·         Coloring a dragon’s wings, tail and other body parts is no mean task – it takes a fair amount of hand-eye coordination to color within the specified area without letting the color spill out.

·         In the process, your child learns to focus on details and develops lots of patience. And you can imagine the sense of achievement he experiences when he’s done with the page!

·         Dragon coloring pages are accessible to kids as old as two or three – this matters because children in this age group do not as yet possess the skills to draw or sketch complicated figures or landscapes. They get a chance to express their creativity through simple but imaginative dragon-themed printables, without getting bored or intimidated.

·         Filling in a dragon coloring page can also be an exercise in recognizing colors, lines, hues, shapes, forms and perspectives. Try and add variety to the dragon printables you give to your child – you can choose from Vikings and dragons, knights and dragons in battle, dragons and imprisoned princesses, dragons in training school, Chinese dragons, Welsh dragons, Indian nagas, and dragons from almost any culture and civilization in the world.

·         Dragon coloring pages also help kids to learn pattern-recognition– an important skill that is used to build reading and math skills later on.

·         Dragon coloring pages seem to work wonders with hyperactive kids and those with short attention spans – the highly imaginative printables engage their attention for an appreciable length of time and give you some much-needed quiet time.

In a nutshell, dragon coloring printables are an enjoyable and productive way of catering to your child’s dragon obsession. I’d definitely recommend them!

Have you discovered any other benefits of using dragon coloring pages for your child? If yes, I’d love to hear about them!

How to Train Your Dragon in Theatres of a Different Kind

The hit DreamWorks animated movie ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ has inspired many incredible offshoots for its fans, such as TV shows, games and toys. In keeping with the quality and appeal of the original production, the makers of related merchandise have likewise taken care to maintain high quality standards with their creations. However, in spite of certain incredible products such as the DreamWorks Dragons television show and the School of Dragons online game, nothing quite reaches the excellence of the ‘How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular’ theater production!

What is the ‘How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular’?

The ‘How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular’ is a mind-blowing theater production based on the animated movie of the same name. Now you must be wondering how brilliant a theater show based on dragons and dragon riders can get when enacted by real people, live in front of an audience. The makers of the show have grappled with this problem and come up with a performance that is truly one of its kind. We’re talking about life-sized dinosaurs that look and behave exactly as a live animal would, roaring and stomping about the stage, flying through the air and interacting with Vikings. And yes, the Vikings too fly, on the backs of these dragons! Now we know what you’re thinking – having realistic flying dragons is pretty impressive, but what about the rest of the factors, such as the breath taking setting for the story? How can you recreate something like that inside a theater in front of a live audience? The brilliant team behind the show have come up with an answer for that as well, and here’s how it works.

The Making of ‘How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular’

The entire theatrical production takes place on a stage whose back wall alone can fit nine movie screens, with double that space on the ground floor. The settings are brought to life with 2000 square meters of projections, providing an animated backdrop that is constantly changing and shifting to reflect changes in place and time. Twenty four larger than life dragons move about on this stage, breathing fire and smoke, and flying about with the help of rigs hanging from the ceiling. The concept for these dragons was inspired by various other forms of puppetry such as shadow puppetry and marionettes, while the dragons themselves are brought to life through animatronics – a combination of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, telecommunications engineering, control engineering and computer engineering to create machines that seem animate rather than robotic. Toothless alone has over thirty servers to articulate body movements, resulting in a creature that has a distinct style and personality of its own. The skilled cast was hired after two trips around the world, while around one thousand people in all have worked to bring the story of ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ to life inside an arena. And in spite of the scale, the entire set can be packed and put on the road in one day. The real hero behind the show is director Nigel Jamieson, whose inspiring vision, creativity and perfectionism is evident in every aspect of the production, and under whose guidance the team was able to recreate some of the most memorable scenes in ‘How to Train Your Dragon’.

For something so unique and spectacular, seeing is believing – check out the trailer for the show on YouTube and be amazed!

Fun Things You Didn't Know About the 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' Dragons

‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ was a spectacular movie that touched a chord with audiences of all ages around the world. While the first movie dealt primarily with the Vikings and their attitude towards dragons, the sequel takes its time exploring the world of dragons, and teaching audiences more about their interactions with each other and with human beings. We are invited to visit the secret dragon cave that houses hundreds of previously unknown dragon species. With dragon expert Valka as the guide, we learn about the alpha dragon the Bewilderbeast and its ability to control all other dragon species. We are also told about baby dragons and how they are the only ones that ignore the dragon king. Later, we see the Bewilderbeast in action and witness its terrifying ability to control dragons against their own will. The end of the movie, too, deals heavily with the workings of the dragon world.

However, in spite of all the focus on dragons, there are many fun facts that don’t make it to ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’. Here are some interesting details you probably don’t know about the fire-breathing heroes of HTTYD 2 (unless you watch the cartoon series!).

Photo by DreamWorks Animation

Toothless – Ha! Bet you didn’t see that one coming! After all, with Valka’s revelation about the set of extended spines on his back, and the unexpected revelations about his character at the end of ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’, what more is there to know about this Night Fury, right? Well, Toothless has a hidden ability that enables him to fly about in dark areas where he can effectively blend in with his surroundings – much like bats, he has an echolocation sense that helps him ‘see’ his way around in pitch darkness. Toothless issues a plasma blast in all directions, which bounces off nearby surfaces and returns to him, giving him an accurate picture of his surroundings.

Gruff – Not much is revealed about this poor Hobblegruntin How to Train Your Dragon 2 except that it was blinded by a tree snare left by DragoBludvist’s trappers. It turns out that this dragon can still lead a happy life thanks to the fin on its head, which allows it to sense its surroundings and react to threats or obstacles a split-second before dragons that can actually see.

Skullcrusher – Stoick’s pet dragon is revealed to have an excellent sense of smell in ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’, tracking Hiccup all the way to the ice cave merely by sniffing his fallen helmet. What isn’t revealed is his fearsome battle skills, though the name does give it away. With a head resembling that of a rhino, Skullcrusher can use it as a battering ram to devastating effect.

Cloudjumper – Valka’s fearsome pet dragon is shown to have a second set of wings in ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’. With four wings, Cloudjumper is able to fly through the skies with extreme agility.However, what is really unique about this dragon is its sharp fore-talons, which it can use dextrously enough to pick the lock of a dragon trap!

It turns out that these fantastic creatures can do a lot more than just breathe fire and give you a ride on its back through the skies. Imagine how cool it would be to have pets like that!