Myth & Magic

One Chinese view behind these images is that of an “old sacred cosmos that has acted as a place of close encounter with the spirit world for countless generations…. The Dragon is the animating spirit of this cosmos. His weaving body surrounds us as the rippling lifelines in the landscapes around us and as a mysterious vital force circulating through our subtle body that connects us with the power of the inner images that are the symbolic language of the myth-world and the deep personality in all of us.”
— Stephen Karcher

The mythic Gods, Goddesses, and animals represented come with complex stories handed down through generations of Chinese culture. The Shen — or divine spirits in China and Kami in Japan — are the subtle spirits and intermediaries for the Dragon energy to manifest in nature and our bodies and minds. These are places of close encounters with immaterial realms. They are the “crossings, the Dragon Holes that give us access to creative power, places where Heaven and Earth intersect.” (Karcher)