In which I get a dragon...

I’m remarkably dense when it comes to noticing things at times. I blame it on the responsibilities of raising two Witchlets, running home and garden, and being GoodWitchWife to LoyalBreadWinnerHusband. The word “boredom” has disappeared from my vocabulary and has been replaced by the phrase “LookitallthisshitIhavetogetdonetoday”. Busy doesn’t come into it. And the Care and Feeding of spirits, deities, ancestors and miscellaneous BooYaJumpedDin’tYa entities tends to eat into any relaxation time and often sleep time. So the Universe and its occupants sometimes have to hit me upside the head with a metaphysical baseball bat before I get the point. (When I say sometimes, what I mean is often. Okay, pretty much every fucking time these days, but I EXIST ON VERY LITTLE SLEEP and have VERY LITTLE BRAIN CELLS.)

So it took me from mid-December to just over a week ago to notice the Dragon Spirit that has decided to take up residence. Timeline: Sometime in December, Witchlet One got taken by my mother-in-law to see Santa. Witchlet One receives stuffed Dragon Baby toy (Witchlet Two not impressed; she got a colouring book!). Witchlet Two finds her stuffed toy Green Dragon and refuses to sleep without it. Both Witchlets have ceramic baby dragon ornaments in their bedrooms, and one morning a couple of weeks ago, after taking them to school, I discover the ornaments have relocated downstairs to the dining room table. I have a Dragon garden ornament in the middle of the herb patch, and I decided to give it a quick brush and wash off. And then I saw something on the TV about the up-coming Chinese New Year - of the effing Dragon. (Nope, I still hadn’t got it.) I go through stages of drawing a daily oracle or tarot card, and I’ve been using the Wisdom of Avalon Oracle recently. The Dragon turned up three days in a row, then again two days later. (And….. No, still nothing went ping in this ol’ head.)

“Let’s do something nice and Chinese-y food wise for the Chinese New Year,” I remarked to husband, who knows what is good for him and agreed. I grabbed my favourite Asian cookbook and the page swung open to Chinese Tea Eggs. “OOOOHHHHHH! DRAGON EGGS!” squealed Witchlet One in my ear.

Boom, there it was, across the back of the head so hard it made my eyes water. (Or that could have been the vibrations in my stinging eardrum.) I have a Dragon.

Switch on WitchSense. Nope, can’t find anything unusual in the house. Smirking sounds from The Old Man, who, between giggles (at my expense, of course) reminds me I’ve sealed all the doorways, windows and the letterbox with my Four Witch Vinegar and some nefarious other stuff, so anything oogie-boogie doesn’t get in. Well, nothing gets in without an invite, and I haven’t invited The Dragon in. What ol’ Draco was doing was knocking, metaphysically, at the door. Hammering on it.

So I invited it in, and made it - sorry, HIM - Chinese Tea Eggs, blended an incense for him, and offered sake.

恭喜发财 Gong Xi Fa Cai, Dragon.

For the record:

Chinese Tea Eggs

4 Eggs

Water

3 tbsp tea leaves

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp five spice powder

1 star anise pod

Put eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring slowly to the boil, stirring gently to help centre the yolk. Simmer for 7 minutes. Cool eggs thoroughly under cold running water, and crack shells by rolling on a hard surface. Don’t remove shells, but make sure they are cracked all over. Bring 4 cups of water to the boil, add the tea leaves, salt and spices, and then the eggs. Boil for 30 minutes and then allow eggs to remain in water for at least half an hour (I left them there for four hours). Drain, cool and shell. Serve with a dipping sauce.

The Dragon and I shared the eggs, and I was directed to bury the three eggs at the three points of our triangular garden (we have a corner plot) and apparently he’s here to protect the place. Beats a guard dog, I guess.