Daily Meditation: Monday, June 24, 2024

Feast of St John - inner fire symbolized by the dragon

06/24/2024

The feast of St John, which comes just as the Sun enters Cancer, is not a celebration of spiritual fire but of physical, earthly fire. And this fire is not only that which ripens the wheat and the fruit on the trees, but also the inner fire of the planet that maintains a great body of molten matter in which minerals and metals are elaborated. This fire has often been identified with the fires of hell. In certain traditions, summer is symbolized by a fire-breathing dragon. The dragon is the mythical monster that lives underground and appears on the surface only in order to burn, devour and destroy. But it is also the guardian of all hidden treasure – precious stones and metals – the fruits of the earth, and those who wish to obtain these treasures must be able to face the dragon and defeat it. Here too, many traditions, which often come down to us in the form of fairy tales, tell of the daring hero who conquers the dragon and takes possession of its treasures. Disciples would do well to meditate on such tales: the fact that the summer releases subterranean forces is no reason to let ourselves be devoured by the dragon.*