A Critique

D.J. Conway is a prolific author who has researched many aspects of magick; however, this book falls short - on its face, in fact - when it comes to Dragon Magick. While Ms. Conway does a good job of recounting the lore of dragons from various cultures, her explanations and conclusions based on this lore are the uninspired product of an uninitiated perspective. While Ms. Conway has done a good job of wedding Dragon lore and pagan magick, this combination does not constitute genuine Dragon Magick. The supposed personal experiences with dragons which Ms. Conway sprinkles liberally throughout her book show that she is without a clue when it comes to the true nature of the Dragon.

One can get a feel for the tenor of the book without actually having to critique it page by page. A brief analysis of the first page one sees after opening the cover pretty well summarizes the entire book. This page is titled, 'Enter the Mouth of the Dragon.' Let's examine some of the statements here:
(1) "they live on the astral plane"
The astral plane is one of many planes in our universe, which is one of many universes. The Dragon exists outside of all of these as one of the primal forces arising from Chaos before anything else existed. The Dragon is not a resident of the astral plane, and one will not find the Dragon hanging out there - although contact may occasionally be made with the Dragon on the astral.
(2) "Dragons have control of… elemental energies"
Elemental energies are the manifestation of the activity of inorganic beings typically referred to as elementals, and have nothing to do with the Dragon.
(3) "dragons make excellent protectors and powerful fellow magicians"
The eldest of the ancient primal gods has no interest in protecting humans or being a "fellow magician."
(4) "This is the first book ever to provide complete dragon rituals…"
All of the magick presented in this book is common pagan magick which has nothing to do with the Dragon. Dragon magick is knowledge received directly from the Dragon; it always concerns personal transformation and always refers to magick that can only be performed in other spheres by one who has already spent many years undergoing personal transformation on the Path of initiation.
(5)"…the many types of dragons…"
There are not "many types of dragons." The Dragon is a singular force that has been only vaguely apprehended by initiates throughout human history.

Now let's look at the poem following the title page, from which the book apparently takes its title, 'Dancing Dragons.' That which dances, i.e., has motion, characterizes the phenomenal universe, the manifested universe which emerged from the Abyss. The noumena, that which is above the Abyss, is motionless and thus does not 'dance.' That part of the Dragon which manifests does indeed dance; however, this dance can only be compared to the Dance of Shiva, by which Shiva creates and destroys whole universes. This poem is wholly inadequate to represent this concept, and inaccurately represents the Dragon's intent - which is not "to dance with joy life's plan," but to transcend it. The poem ends by asking the Dragon to teach the poet "to lift myself to higher planes." Unfortunately, one can only make contact with the Dragon after one has learned to do this on one's own, or after one has learned to manipulate Time itself.

In sum, this book is largely a piece of pagan fluff and nonsense, with none of the High Magick characteristic of true Dragon Magick. Somehow Ms. Conway has confused an ancient primal force of Chaos which has created whole universes and Time itself with the elemental spirits that any housewife can command. I did like the illustrations, though.