A DragonEye view on Lust and Greed

Let me start with the basics of Faerie dragons:  We're immortal.  We're androgynous.  We don't reproduce.  We were created at the beginning of time from God's greatest imaginings and have been around ever since.  So we have no use for lust.

Greed, however, is a different matter.

Of the seven deadly sins, dragons are most prone to greed, wrath, and pride.  (Although, to be fair, what you humans call "pride" is really just a natural acknowledgement that we are the superior species on Earth--but that's another post.)

What's the deal with dragons and greed?  We're natural hoarders, like I mentioned in my Apologia on Dragon Greed. At any rate, I'm not here to psychoanalyze my species.  I want to compare lust and greed.

I've had the unique position of being in human form, with all its accompanying, irritating hormonal consequences, once "helped along" by a curse I still owe a demon a roasting over.  So, I've felt lust, and I've got to tell you, it's not all that different from greed.  For one, it's a basic emotional desire--object or person, it's still that kind of feeling.  At its heart, it's about possession: permanently or until you lose interest, the goal is to own that object or person in some way.  It's the same for lusting for power: you want to make it yours.

Of course, there's a certain biological mechanism involved.  If humans weren't attracted to each other, there wouldn't be much "fruitful and multiplying" going on.  Since dragons don't procreate, we don't have that mechanism, and thus don't lust.  However, as hoarders, we do have the mechanism for collecting, which makes us susceptible to greed.  Every species has its weak point.  The problem, as I see it, is when you let that biological drive get the better of the spirit God gave you, i.e., your conscience.

Of course, that also means the remedy is the same for both--a clear conscience guided by perspective and prayer and some proper education in moral values.  Works for greed as well as lust.

Unless, of course, you're a dragon cursed into human form and influenced by enchanted perfume, but that's a story I don't plan on sharing anytime soon.