Sleeping Beauty - Paladin vs Dragon

Something that I probably should have included in the Struggles in Mortality part of this multi-blog-post message is the Forest of Thorns. Once Prince Philip had escaped the Forbidden Mountain, Maleficent was still determined to keep him from reaching King Stephan's castle. She tried several times to blast him with lightning bolts, but those attempts luckily failed. Then she cast a powerful Forest of Thorns spell around King Stephan's castle to keep Prince Philip out, but with his mighty Sword of Truth, he was able to slowly cut a path through the Forest of Thorns.

I'm not sure what the Forest of Thorns could represent in real life. It could be general opposition. It could be the multitude of temptations that face us throughout life. Since it's overcome by the Sword of Truth, it may represent such things as lies and misconceptions. I like the idea of it representing general temptations, partly because Prince Philip's cape gets caught on the thorns for a moment or two, and partly because of what happens next.

***

When Prince Philip made it through the Forest of Thorns, Maleficent was very angry with him, and challenged him directly.

"Now shall you deal with me, O Prince, and all the powers of hell!"

These words were meant to frighten Prince Philip, to weaken his resolve. Satan usually uses such tactics when he attacks someone directly. You remember Moses vs Satan. When Moses proved that he wasn't a pushover, Satan tried to scare him. It almost worked. And Maleficent's threat almost worked, too. I mean, if someone told me what Maleficent told Prince Philip, then transformed into a dragon, as Maleficent did, I'd be pretty scared.

But Prince Philip wasn't. At least, not for long. He took his sword and charged at Maleficent. She knocked him back with a breath of fire, but he caught the attack on his shield, so he wasn't harmed. Then Maleficent shot fire at the ground, just to show what her fire could do. It utterly and instantly destroyed the stone bricks Prince Philip had been standing on. Then she blasted him with her fire again, but again, his shield protected him.

That Shield of Virtue was one powerful shield! No wonder we encourage the youth of the church to hold on to their Virtue; to preserve it, so it will preserve them against the power of the enemy.

***

At about this point, Philip decides it's a good idea to put some distance between him and the dragon, and once again, there's a Forest of Thorns in his way, but this time, he had already cut himself a path through it.

This is an excellent example to me of how we can escape temptation - by already having an escape route planned. If Prince Philip had had to cut his way through the thorns while the ferocious dragon was right behind him, he almost certainly would have died, but since he had already put in the time and effort of cutting a path through the thorns, we was able to make it back out the same way.

Modern-day prophets have suggested memorizing a favorite scripture or hymn to recite when faced with temptation, to focus our minds on something uplifting, something that will help us stay true and resist temptation.

***

Finally, Prince Philip reached a point where he could no longer retreat. Backed up to the edge of a cliff, the Prince was then hit with a very well-timed burst of dragon fire that knocked his shield off of his arm. This is a very discouraging and frightening event. As you remember, this is the Shield of Virtue. Losing one's virtue can only happen one way - by committing a serious sin. This leaves the person who loses their virtue more vulnerable to further attacks. At this point, Prince Philip is only one fireball away from utter destruction.

But Prince Philip still has his Sword of Truth! To me, this sword represents one's testimony. To be a strong testimony, it would have to be centered on Jesus Christ. And any testimony of Jesus Christ would have to include a belief in His role as our Savior, and a belief in the power of His Atonement. Through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all our sins, even our serious sins, can be washed away, and we, even those of us who had lost our virtue some time in the past, can defeat Satan and be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. Satan would have us believe that once we had lost our Shield of Virtue, we are doomed to be destroyed, but the TRUTH is that there is always hope.

Holding on to this hope, Prince Philip threw the Sword of Truth into the heart of the dragon and killed her.

***

When I think about the symbolism of the events in this scene, it makes me think about my own personal battle with Satan, and I reevaluate how I'm doing in that fight. Do I still have my Shield of Virtue? How strong is my Sword of Truth? Am I defeating Satan, or is he defeating me? These are important questions I need to ask myself frequently to make sure I'm doing okay and to find out where I can be doing better. Our battles with Satan aren't nearly as visible or dramatic as Prince Philip's fight with Maleficent, but the stakes are just as high, or even higher. The Dragon isn't trying to end our lives - He's trying to steal our souls. That is a very frightening thought to me, but I can take courage from the story of Prince Philip. He defeated his dragon, and so can we.