Dragons' Blood

Response to The Serpent Grail

Hello Mr. Gardiner,
My name is Marc Garner.
Two years ago I was travelling with my girlfriend in the Peruvian amazon. She was bitten by an insect and had a reaction to the bite. Our guide took us to a tree called the 'Dragons Blood', and used its sap to heal her. I've written an account of the incident as part of a travel book that I'm writing, and thought that you might find it relevant to your investigations into serpent medicine. (Please find the story attached to this email). You may be interested to note the red and white aspect of this medicine..
Some of the information regarding my comments about serpent mythology came to me via your wonderful book 'The Serpent Grail'. Many thanks for that. I hope that you don't mind.
Regards,
Marc Garner

He examined the wound with mounting concern - it had grown larger since the previous day, and her body was reacting to the toxins injected by the unknown insect. Her leg was swelling; purple; angry; and we were a long way up river from the nearest doctor.
“I’ve never seen this before”. He said. “But the local people have a cure for this sort of thing -
What you need is the Dragons Blood.”
He stood up and drew his knife, and I saw the fear spread across her face. Then he turned and strode over to a thin tree nearby, and made an incision about an inch long into the trunk. A few seconds later, a viscous crimson liquid oozed forth from it.
“This is the Dragons Blood”. He said, catching it in his hand.
He took only a small amount, and began rubbing it into his palm. As he did so, it changed colour and consistency to become a smooth white cream. He took this and spread it over her injured leg. The effect was instantaneous - the bite lost its anger, and within 24 hours there would be sign that it had ever been there at all.
“The locals claim to also have a cure for cancer”. He said. “I don’t know if that’s true, but I’ve never known any of them die from cancer. It’s also said that the big American drug companies know of its existence, yet they don’t use it. I don’t know why. I guess there’s more money to be made from their synthetic treatments. Proof of that is in the Dragons Blood - you’ll never find it on the shelves of any drug store, yet it is a thousand times more effective than any of your Western medicine, and for a whole range of problems”.
He was right. She had used conventional creams for days without any effect, but after just one small dose of the sap from that tree, the wound was healed without a trace.
The dragon (or snake) has long been associated with healing in many of the world’s cultures, from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece, to the Maya, Toltec and no doubt the Inca of the Americas. It can be found in the legends and folklore of Europe; Africa; Australia and China; from the shores of the Dead Sea, to the Celtic lands of Britain and legends of King Arthur. It is embedded deep in many of the worlds’ great religions – Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and is even alluded to in Shia Islam. It can be found in Wicca, Cabbalism and Shamanism, and yet I was still surprised that it had found its way here - to the remote native settlements of the Amazon basin. Here was a tree with remarkable healing properties, which had been given the name of the dragon.
Some have suggested that the dragon is representative of the human life force, and that the great treasure that it invariably guards in our myth and legend, is a metaphor for a healing of a division in human consciousness, which can lead to enlightenment, extended life, and God. It’s through claims like this that it has been linked to alchemy, the philosophers’ stone, the elixir of life, and the Holy Grail.
Whatever the truth behind such stories may be, she took the sap; the ‘elixir’; the ‘blood of the dragon’, and she was healed after Western medicine had failed.
We headed back along the river beneath a humid sky, and settled down for the night grateful to the forest; the ancient knowledge of the native people; and for their wonderful mastery of natural medicine.
There is so much of the world, and of ourselves, that we simply do not know.