Working with Dragons: On 'Draconic Codes of Honor'
In my early days of searching the internet for dragon magic resources, a lot of the same information got yoinked and passed around from website to website. This was the days of Geocities and Angelfire, when literally anyone could build a website and almost nobody liked to cite where they got their information. So you would have pages copied verbatim from D.J. Conway’s (singular) book on dragon magic (now there’s three), with personal UPG or other cool and mystical-sounding embellishments sprinkled here and there.
One of these often passed-around tidbits would be a “Draconic Code of Honor”, a 15 or 20 bullet-point list of ethics to follow that some sources brazenly added that “all true dragon magicians follow”. This at least did not stem from Conway’s writings, but originated online at about the same time as Dancing With Dragons’ original publishing in 1994; specifically, from J’Karrah Ebondragon’s “Clan of the Dragon” website. Formerly “Kerowyn J’Karrah SilverDrake”, J’Karrah has been a long-time active member in both Pagan and Dragonkin internet circles, as well as being a dragon artist. Her website, “Clan of the Dragon” (CotD for short) can be searched as far as 2001 on the Wayback Machine, with much of her content being stated to date back as far as 1994. Her dragon magic information is probably the second most-reposted after Conway’s work, including being directly plagiarized in some smaller self-published books in more recent years.
Her ‘draconic code of honor’ she even says was based on older traditional sources and codes that were being used in pagan spaces at the time, and according to information gathered by another longtime dragon magic practitioner and Dragonkin, Tysharina, the code was mostly created for use of J’Karrah’s small group of fellow practitioners for their particular ‘Draconic Tradition’; it was never intended to cover all draconic paths, especially with there being so few publicly at the time of its creation. It has been passed around and revised by numerous people and groups, with one version claiming that “dragons will not work with a practitioner that ignores [the code]”. Given that this code was created for one specific group and was never intended as a universal rule for working with dragons (and in fact the original version does not have this ‘dragons won’t work with you’ caveat), this can be misleading and off-putting for those looking to work with dragons with no prior experience or knowledge, and is in fact not shared by all draconic paths.
Some folks from around that same timeframe might also have been inspired by the DragonHeart movie from 1996, as the character Draco emphasized Bowen to follow ‘the Old Code’, which, in this case, refers to the Code of Chivalry. This may likely have led to a connection for some between dragons and some sort of code of honor, which has since infiltrated most information you see on dragon magic and working with dragons.
Since these two large influences on modern dragon magic, it has become almost standard for dragon magic resources to include some sort of code to be followed. Some of these are vastly different from the CotD’s code, original to their authors, and have been created to best suit their specific tradition.
In short, while you might find agreement and feel moved to follow such a code (which is perfectly fine, I’m not trying to dissuade anyone), do note that following such a code is not a necessity for working with dragons, is not universal to all dragons, and was created for specific traditions; dragon magic in general does not require moral guidelines in order to begin working with it. Anecdotally, the dragons I work with have never demanded or even discussed an ethical code with me, but I also give them the same basic respect I would give other people, which tends to be all you really need.
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https://web.archive.org/web/20091024212649/http://geocities.com/jkarrah/Honor.html - J’Karrah’s Clan of the Dragon 'Code of Honor' page via Wayback Machine
https://aminoapps.com/c/worldofmagic278/page/blog/the-clan-of-the-dragons-code-of-honor/odp5_Drsduq1NE3eX0x464DRNNb1odEjmW - Tysharina’s article on the CotD’s Code including information gathered from her personal correspondences with J’Karrah, and references to other draconic groups’ codes. (I would love to simply reblog her writing if she had posted it on tumblr, but alas, Tysha tends to go poof every few years, thus why I write this instead with due credit and linkage)
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Trivia Information about Jim and Blair from episodes..
More info for writers from Robyn:
https://web.archive.org/web/20090803084851/http://geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/8097/trivia.html
Jim:
likes sushi -- The Killers
works out -- Cypher
took SenQuil, non-drowsy formula in Night Train to combat cold (bad move)
golfs -- Vow of Silence
likes to gamble -- Caesar's Tahoe comment in bus and Vegas comment at tag scene of Vow of Silence
plays basketball -- Vow of Silence and Three-Point Shot
when angry, tends to grab phone away from Blair -- Flight and The Rig
likes the music group Santana -- Out of the Past
likes to fish -- Reunion, Secret, and Poachers
likes motorcycles, used to ride in high school -- Payback
has a phobia about deep water out of sight of land -- The Rig and Storm Warning
likes poppyseed -- Blind Man's Bluff
likes buttermilk in donuts -- Blind Man's Bluff
likes to surf -- Light My Fire
hates pineapple -- Second Chance (Thanks to Gen for the suggestion.)
doesn't like horse racing -- His Brother's Keeper
rides horses well (except for the blue-screening) -- His Brother's Keeper
Jim reads books by author Jack Kerouac -- Sleeping Beauty
seems to have a thing about silverware theft -- Sleeping Beauty (locking it up) and The Girl Next Door (counting it)
likes the TV show Bonanza (has at least 5 episodes recorded) -- Vendetta
Jim's cell phone number is 555-4563 -- Poachers
reads Asian philosophy -- Poachers
cousin Rucker is a Coast Guard -- Storm Warning
plays poker -- Storm Warning
has a six-year-old niece -- Prisoner X
grew up in Cascade, rich family -- Remembrance
parents divorced, he and Steven both living with father -- Remembrance
father - William, mother - Grace (?), housekeeper - Sally -- Remembrance
got nickname of "Chief" from an adult friend, Bud, which, of course, he later uses for Blair -- Remembrance
played football, number 12 -- Remembrance
had Sentinel senses as a child (age 10), suppressed them after finding Bud's dead body -- Remembrance
father somehow knew about Jim's special senses, didn't want Jim to use them -- Remembrance
has a habit of clenching his jaw -- just about every episode!
frequents hot dog stands ("Mr. Tube Steak") -- Blind Man's Bluff, Sweet Science, Foreign Exchange
likes prune danish -- Most Wanted
Blair:
phobia about heights -- Black or White and Survival
climbs trees at Jim's request despite height phobia -- Pilot and Dead Certain
has a brown backpack he carries with him about everywhere
Blair's outfit in Siege is the exact outfit later worn by Lash in Cypher (he won't be wearing that again)
"Uh-huh, no way, I'm not going around packing. My deal is that I'm here strictly, strictly as an observer." -- famous last words by Blair in referring to using a gun -- The Killers
beginning of the great "Does he or doesn't he have a nipple ring?" debate -- tag scene of Cypher
doesn't approve of junk food -- Love and Guns, Blind Man's Bluff
plays basketball -- Vow of Silence, Three-Point Shot
ironically lacks a sense of direction despite "Guide" status -- Reunion and Survival
collects baseball cards and things relating to the year 1961 -- True Crime
likes to surf the net and is computer-savvy -- True Crime, Secret, Red Dust
mother Naomi; father unknown, maybe Timothy Leary -- Spare Parts
has an uncle who drives semi-trucks; Blair helped him drive one summer -- Spare Parts
ate a piece of contaminated pizza despite aversion to junk food -- Blind Man's Bluff
"I minored in psych." -- Dead Drop
"Spent two summers at a welding plant. Fastest torch on my crew." -- Dead Drop
started taking college classes at 16, thought he knew everything -- Smart Alec
leaves keys in bad places -- Smart Alec (in his car) and Vendetta (on top of loft door jamb)
likes horse racing and likes to bet on them (and is pretty good at it too!) -- His Brother's Keeper
stole a microscope when he was 12 (I think) -- His Brother's Keeper
has basketball card that "Orvelle Wallace" signed when Blair was in high school -- Three-Point Shot
cousin Robert is a bookie -- Three-Point Shot
has cousins in Fort Worth, Texas -- Vendetta
twelfth birthday present was an electric guitar signed by Jimi Hendrix originally given to Naomi -- The Girl Next Door
eats weird food (he calls it "experimenting in panculture cuisine") -- Foreign Exchange
doesn't like sauerkraut -- Foreign Exchange
is very adept at calling the station for backup/reporting crimes (playing "Phoneboy" as named by Moniker and Kaz) -- multiple episodes (Out of the Past, Vanishing Act, Foreign Exchange)
has an algae shake every morning for breakfast (Neighborhood Watch)
Jim and Blair undercover personas:
Blair as a social worker into Earl's grandmother's building -- The Debt
Jim as country town policeman -- Reunion
Blair and Jim infiltrate a car theft ring; Blair is semi-truck driver (and Jim is a wanna-be) -- Spare Parts
Blair pretends to be Amber's male friend, Hank (complete with facial hair, picture right) -- Iceman
Jim and Blair as Cyrus's drug dealing agents in the area -- Blind Man's Bluff
Jim (as Jim Tanner) and Elaine as poachers and contraband dealers -- Poachers
Jim as Jim Lawson - security for a mafia family and Blair as a personal tutor -- The Inside Man
Jim as Bill Murdoch from Texas, a safecracker (with a lilt) -- Vendetta
Jim as Jim Curtis, a copkiller and Blair as a creative writing teacher -- Prisoner X
Blair as a mental patient at Conover -- Mirror Image
Jim as Joe Brock (freon buyer) and Blair as Arthur Saban (freon seller) -- Finkelman's Folly
Jim and Blair as bums -- Love Kills
Jim and Megan as a married couple and Blair as Jim's nephew (by a second marriage) -- Neighborhood Watch
Jim -- Carl McQueen, hired as a bodyguard by Hydra -- The Real Deal
Blair -- Anthony, an artist, lover of Mrs. Somerset -- The Real Deal
Megan -- Mrs. Somerset, rich married woman who hires Hydra to protect her from a lover who won't leave her alone -- The Real Deal
Jim -- driver for bank robbery heist -- Most Wanted
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