Nearby the corner of our street there is the Red Dragon Laundry. Aslan is wont to inspect this shop as we pass by because Eleanor, who does the ironing, buys him bones every now and again. As we exit our front door he surveys the streetscape from the vantage of the ramp for some minutes and he doesn’t half take his time about it (which is very annoying when we are rushing for a bus). One morning there was something different. Aslan saw it. Aslan’s eyebrows furrowed. Himself and I went to investigate. ‘It’ stood on the corner of the street, where it had never been before, and chattered insanely to itself. “Thrrrrrrrr It went. Thrrrrrrrrr It went again. Thrrrrrrrrrrrrrr” It roared. A low growl resonated from Aslan’s chest. He glared at It. ‘It’ completely ignored him and declared self-importantly Thrrrmmm- thrrrrrmmm. Aslan barked at it, not a measly Labrador bark but a proper Leo bark, like a lion he roared. Then the wind picked up and rattled the windows and ‘It’ answered Thrrrrrrrrrr. Thrrrrrrrrrrrrum, Thrrrrrrrrrrrr. On It was written in bold red writing ‘The Chinese Red Dragon Laundry’. It was a Red Dragon with a fierce Red Dragon painted on it. Aslan had a challenger. Aslan rose up and gave it a roundhouse with his paw that sent the Red Dragon skidding two yards to one side and two yards to the other, and it thrashed its wings and cried Thrrrrr, Thrrrrr, Thrrrr in alarm. Aslan gave it three swipes with his big paws in quick succession and tried to catch it in its middle but the Red Dragon Laundry board thrummed to and fro like a propeller blade and he couldn’t get hold of it. At that Aslan roared and reared up like a great grizzly bear and did a proper Leo bear pounce on it which spun it around and around like a drunken man but though the Red Dragon teetered it didn’t fall and as the wind died it fell silent. Aslan gave a Harumph of satisfaction. That’ll teach a Red Dragon to go Thrrrrrrrum on his street. He also left two bear-paw dents on the tin laundry board but I won’t tell them if you don’t.
A little excerpt from my upcoming book (currently page 209 ...):
There is no need to journey back in time nor to China or Egypt for an understanding of Yin Yang or the Ouroborous. There on the roof lines of Somerset churches are medieval decorative carved stone figures called Hunkypunks. These figures are complimentary to each other, some are pure and peaceful and others are fierce and obscene. They represent an ancient, spiritual understanding of the balance of life and they are sometimes paired that way to the eye of the observer. It is a perspective rarely communicated in modern life and philosophy, drowned out as it is with the commercial siren of 'never enough'. That shouldn't stop us from continuing this ancient tradition and have with us an ever present visual reminder of the cycles and rhythms that make up the balance of life. These ancient voices are racial memories of the timeless unfolding of feast and famine, of Dark Ages and Renaissance, of the light and darkness within man. They are memory sticks in stone. Hunkypunk is such a fun word. “Oh this amulet, this is my hunkypunk!” “Your what?”. Roy Mulholland, Founder of Satoro |
Roy Mulholland
Founder of Satoro, or the unwinding or unfurling of the body to centre through a TCM-based bodywork. Archives
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