Drakmanka Writes: A Blog to Celebrate the 2023 Spring Draconic Summit

I wanted to write something about how I experience my Draconity for this Summit. For inspiration, I turned to some saved Otherkin questionaires and picked out two questions that spoke to me. I have reworded them slightly from the originals to better fit the topic at hand:

What are some of the mythological, magical, religious, fictional, or cultural

themes and species which are a part of or remind you of your Draconic race? Have you voluntarily embraced certain aspects of these, or did you merely find yourself resonating with them from the beginning?

Upon this Earth, there are many creatures, ideas, and cultural themes that have resonated with me even before I Awakened as a dragon. A few examples would be: flying animals, especially bats since their wings resemble my species' wings substantially. Also large birds like eagles or condors, as their flight movements remind me of my own. Perhaps less obviously, animals such as sharks also resonate strongly with me and I consider them one of my HeartTypes.

Within the realms of fiction, I "clicked" from a young age, unsurprisingly I'm sure, with Spyro the Dragon. I've played all the games in that franchise with the exception of the handheld titles and the Skylanders series. I must admit even before I Awakened that my absolute favorite thing to do in any given game was to find a place where I could glide as far as possible.

Another fictional world that has strongly and deeply resonated with me is the world of LEGO Bionicle. I will restrain myself here, but it is one of the fictions that is burned deeply into my brain and I can recite most of the lore from memory. One of my very first shifts happened while I was watching one of the four Bionicle movies, and after that it became more common than not for me to experience a shift whenever I engage with the franchise, whether it be reading books, watching movies, or actively building a set. My horns, wings, tail, and claws, if I wasn't already experiencing their phantom presence, all appear or become more strongly present.

On to cultural themes. For the most part, human cultures... annoy me. However, certain aspects of some cultures, such as Celtic and Asian cultures, draw me. I unwittingly have adopted certain mannerisms that are more common in Asian and especially Japanese culture, such as head bobbing and bowing to show respect and gratitude. This is actually not too different from some of my Draconic species' culture, where exaggerated body movements were used when communicating face-to-face. Similarly, the aspects of Celtic culture that I have been drawn to are also similar to my Draconic culture. The Celtic appreciation of the natural world and their place in it, and in modern times their acceptance of speaking plainly and sometimes bluntly, but without rudeness, remind me of my own kin.

I think I largely covered the second question throughout my answers, but I will touch on why I didn't mention any magical or religious themes or species. Primarily, there are no magical themes or species (other than Western Dragons' body style) that resonate with my Draconic self. I was not a magical creature, as such, nor are there any magical/mythical animals on Earth that remind me much of my own self. As to religion, there really aren't any Earthen religions that at all remind me of the beliefs I held as a dragon. That said, I have adopted some religious beliefs from Earth simply due to exposure and appreciation of said beliefs, even if they weren't originally part of my Draconic beliefs.

How do you incorporate your Draconity into your daily life? Alternatively, or in addition to that, how does your Draconity manifest itself in your daily life in notable ways?

At this stage in my life, having been Awakened for roughly 15 years, I don't really intentionally incorporate aspects of my Draconity into my daily life; it just happens. I am always in some level of mental shift (or M-Shift as some call it) and so who I am/was as a dragon is automatically part of everything I do.

This can definitely manifest in varying ways depending on the level of shift I'm in. I have, for example, occasionally caught myself trying to pick something up or open a door with my wing or tail. The most egregious of these, which thankfully bore no witnesses, was when I actually reached up to where my phantom wing's claw was, trying to hand off a grocery bag to my wing claw so I could free up my burdened hand to open a door. Thankfully I remembered my wings weren't physically there before I let go of the bag...

I usually am able to "keep a lid on" my Draconic behaviors when they want to manifest themselves, but I have caught myself growling when irritated before. I have also unwittingly adopted Draconic body language and only realized it when I detected that I was confusing the people around me who weren't sure how to read my behavior.

It was also observed to me once, by the only person in real life who ever knew I was Otherkin, that I do a "funny shuffle" when I pass through doors. She never knew the source of that behavior until she found out about phantom limbs and correctly guessed that I was trying to keep my wings and tail from getting shut in the door behind me. I suppose others have noticed this behavior and just shrugged it off as "Well, Drakmanka is a weird ol' goofball, aren't they now?"

Because I am. That technically does come from my Draconity I suppose. My species shared our planet with a humanoid race who affectionately dubbed a group of us as "a Frolic of dragons" because of our capacity for joviality and playfulness. We were, of course, quite capable of being serious as needed. But we were much more ourselves when we were just enjoying ourselves and the life we had to live. That has most certainly bled through into my human life, and I do my best to use it as it worked for my dragon life with my fellow dragons: I try to spread a little happiness wherever I happen to be.

That's all I've got to write for the time being, thanks for reading!

Drakmanka awaaaayyy!!