The dangerous serpent – a Jungian view

Soon there will the year of the (water) serpent. My sign in Chinese Zodiac is Serpent, therefore I have written a few articles in (her!) favour. The Serpent manifests itself consistently ambiguous as both ” evil adversary” and “holistic power, both source of “temptation” and “wisdom”. Jung’s discovery of how the psyche works and how consciousness entwine with unconsciousness,  also refers to this ambiguity depicting the serpent as a symbol of our unconsciousness. The Serpent encounters Jung many times throughout his journey in The Red Book.

          

         

          

 

 

 

 

Around the world, for thousands of years, in one form or another, the reptilian Serpent has been an archetype for countless tribes, societies and civilizations. The serpent archetype is regarded with awe and fear. Why is that so? I will explore here the reasons what to make out with this symbol serpent, and where the given attributes may come from with most famous the symbol of a snake eating its tale is known as the Ouroboros.

Symbol of versatility and transformation

snake-inspired-transformation-metamorphosis

The serpent archetype stands for immense and powerful  movements deep under the earth, deep under the oceans, on the earth surface and in the sky. In fact, it is the very ability of serpents to move between various worlds and different dimensions, as indicated by their hibernation in winter and their life on and in the earth, which give them the aura of knowing and being, world-wide. Transformational qualities of serpents such as the shedding of their skins and regeneration add to the awe with which they are regarded. In Jungian reflections on various aspects of the transformation as individuation process—of the lived experiences of individuals and its impact on the experience of ego and Other, or the greater Self this is like the Serpent shading skins. There are potential states of consciousness and being that are actualized and incarnated in the individual personality as the individual develops a growing awareness of his/her relationship to the greater Self and the Ego.

Symbol of the unknown and the unseen

mermaid the unknown

The serpent is a trans-cultural and global symbol which can be identified as a reptile, an earthly serpent, a flying dragon in the air, a water serpent, with many supernatural characteristics. The ancient Greeks believed that there were four elements that everything was made up of: earth, water, air, and fire (Aristotle) which became the cornerstone of philosophy, science, and medicine for two thousand years. But Aristotle came up with a fifth – invisible – element, the aether to explain the stars, one can easily associate with the serpent: The basic theme of mythology and psychoanalysis is that the visible world is supported and sustained by an invisible world, which has been proved by modern physics: the visible (and classical) world is supported and sustained by an invisible (quantum) world. Jung similar, interpreted snakes as symbolic of the conflict between conscious ego and conscious instincts likening in a way the dragon fight.to individation. This is even truer if it is a black snake which represents the hidden or subconscious. In some cultures snakes are highly regarded and symbolize the ability to transcend into higher levels of consciousness or into areas of knowledge that exist outside perceived time and space. Snakes do not have conventional eardrums. They actually sense what’s going on around them through the vibrations in the earth rather than by listening like things affecting upon a subconscious level.

Symbol of sin and sexuality

The Sin Adam and Eve

In Judeo-Christian tradition, the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, of the Bible, portrays the Serpent as the deceitful harbinger of sin – and sexuality. In Freudian terms, snake is a phallic symbol. It seems both cases represent the fear of sexuality, rather than sexuality.Eve has been so frequently allied with the serpent and with the devil, as though they were all on the same plane of symbols. The first association between Eve and the serpent comes in the closeness of their names, for the Hebrew Hawwah is very close to the Arabic and Aramaic word for serpent, which was noticed by the earliest Jewish commentators:

The association between Eve and the serpent, and between the serpent and Satan (the Sammael of Jewish legend and the Shaitan of Iblis of the Qur’an) is made again and again in interpretations of the story of the creation and fall of the first humans . . . She is held to be the devil’s mouthpiece, Satan’s familiar. At times she herself is seen in some way to be the forbidden fruit, or the serpent in paradise, or even the Fall.

Sexuality greensnake

When spirituality and sexuality fall into polarity, the sexual instinct, split off from spirituality and a concrete image of what was simultaneously feared and longed for: the swallowing genital of the female. As C. G. Jung put it: “What is  projected is unconscious; that’s the rule”.  Some things to keep in minds: They are cold blooded – they depend on their environment to keep them warm. Snakes lay eggs, and abandon them as soon as they have made their nest.  Snakes may not be a particularly cuddly, but they are certainly one of the most powerful and transformative. The snake has acted as a diverse symbol throughout history, representing immortality, evil, femininity, and masculinity. The Legend of the White Snake is one of the most famous folk tales in Chinese culture. Cleopatra identified with the snake during her life, and it becomes even more highly symbolic in her death. By examining three movies (DeMille’s Cleopatra, Mankiewicz’s Cleopatra and the ABC version of Cleopatra) and two dramas (Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra and Mary Sidney’s Tragedy of Antonie) different symbolic representations of the snake emerge along with contrasting depictions of the Queen of the Nile. Cleopatra is a suiting product of myth.

Symbol of knowledge and cunning

There is the classical tradition of the snake, of the accumulation of wisdom. We cannot remain with one or the other exclusively, but must harmonise the two – logic and intuition….Jesus says he has come not to destroy law but to fulfill it in spirit. Meta noia – means not only change your ways but also, think further, because a time comes when respect and obedience to law keeps you from seeing god.  Another example from the Gospels that I like very much is when Jesus tells his disciples that when they go among men they should be ‘wise as serpents and harmless as doves’.

In Christianity, the serpent also pertains to Satan and the world we currently live in. It also refers to the men and women of this planet as being self-centered and “fallen”. The whole idea of the serpent itself is that it reflects something that is re-creating itself. Be wise as serpents …  Genesis 3:1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Fight the serpent Fear

Symbol of protection and harm

There is an obvious link between the serpent with poison and medicine. The famous symbol of the Caduceus, composed of twin snakes entwined around a staff with the wings of Hermes in the background, is a symbol of modern-day medicine. Again this association goes back to the ancient Greeks and linked to the Hippocratic Oath. Navajo have stories of giant serpents as protector and Pueblo tribes honor the great water serpents. the pre-Christian days, snakes were considered symbols of fertility, healing, and nurturing (the healing serpent representing a god). Serpents were therefore often linked to protection and guardianship in many cultures, including stories of Buddha who is often represented as being supported by the seven coils of a naga, with the cobra-like hood of the naga shielding him from harm while he meditates, as a storm is manifesting. But one proverb in many languages is, “he speaks with a forked-tongue,” a clear reference to the characteristic of deceit like the image of “poisoned relationships.

Symbol of creation

Again there is an obvious link between the fertile serpent with creation and the Serpent is often described as the primary figure in the chronicle of Creation.Today researchers and scientists through multiple academic disciplines have studied the relationship of the serpent to plants, animals, humans, chemistry, physics, and biology linking the significance of the serpent to DNA and the origins of life. The serpent archetype as it pervades many ingenious cultures seems to speak to the idea that our diverse cultures have some things in common. It was C.G. Jung who gave us the concept of the psychic unity of mankind to attribute such similarities to deep, inner templates learned in our human past and embedded as archetypes in our unconscious minds.

Symbol of infinity

We have all looked up at the night sky at some point and wondered about the bconnected myth. Some stars (animals), as well as planets (gods) are ‘eaten’ or then expelled and reborn anew by the actions of the celestial serpent.In the Greek and Roman astronomy we find different parts of a serpent. In the Greek lore Ophiuchus is holding a serpent, in the Norse myth Loki is bound with serpent-like entrails.

In  Egypt, China, Southeast Asian, India, South America, Meso-America and ancient Sumeria, serpents carried a significant presence in the astronomical symbols from ancient times to today. The Mayan temple El Castillo shows the serpent shadow at equinox representing the serpent god “Kulkukan” for which it was built. Many stories of the serpent are linked to the Milky Way as a “serpent of light residing in the heavens.” This association goes back centuries to Egyptian and Greek stories and is linked to the Greek symbol “Ourobouros” the serpent that forms a circle with its tail within its mouth. This symbolic association includes the holistic universe which lead to infinity and holistic cycles.

Conclusion

Sometimes serpents represent negativity in our lives that threatens. In the long run the snake may be a positive symbol; to me they represent transition and transformation that lead us to the center of personality and result in feelings of completeness and transcendence.

Unfriendly fire. Serpent – Earth – Water – Air and Fire

Carl Gustav Jung writes in his book, Man and His Symbols about the serpent:

This is the universal quality of the animal as a symbol of transcendence. These creatures, figuratively coming from the depths of the ancient Earth Mother, are symbolic denizens of the collective unconscious. They bring into the field of consciousness a special chthonic (underworld) message …

Appendix Archetypal images with the serpent:

• Water: the mystery of creation; birth-death-resurrection; purification and redemption; fertility and growth. Symbol for the unconscious.
•    The Sea: the mother of all life; spiritual mystery and infinity; death and rebirth; timelessness and eternity; the unconscious.
•    Rivers: death and rebirth (baptism); the flowing of time into eternity;transitional phases of the life cycle; incarnations of deities.
•     Sun (fire and sky are closely related): creative energy; law in nature; consciousness (thinking, enlightenment, wisdom, spiritual vision); father principle; Solar year
• Rising sun: birth; creation; enlightenment
• Setting sun: death
•     Colors:
• Red: blood, sacrifice, violent passion, disorder
• Green: growth, sensation, hope, fertility, in ironical context may be associated with death and decay
• Blue: usually highly positive, associated with truth, religious feeling, spiritual purity, security
• White, highly multivalent; signifying in its positive aspects light, purity,innocence, and timelessness;
• Black (darkness): chaos, mystery, the unknown, death, primal wisdom, the unconscious, evil, melancholy
•     Circle (sphere): wholeness, unity
• Mandela (a geometric figure based upon the squaring of a circle around a unifying center; the desire for spiritual unity and psychic integration. Nunber 4
• Egg (oval): the mystery of life and the forces of generation
• Yang-Yin- the Chinese symbol representing the union of opposite forces of
• Yang (masculine principle: light, activity, the conscious mind)
• Yin (the feminine principle: darkness, passivity, and the unconscious mind).
• Ouroboros: the ancient symbol of a snake biting its own tail, signifying the eternal cycle of life, primordial unconsciousness, the unity of opposing forces (as in Yang-Yin).
•     Serpent (snake or worm): symbol of intellectual energy and pure force (cf. libido); evil,  corruption, sensuality; destruction; mystery; wisdom; the unconscious.
•     Numbers:
• Three: light; spiritual awareness and unity (cf. The Holy Trinity); the male principle.
• Four: associated with the circle, life cycle, four seasons; female principle, earth, nature; four elements (earth, air, fire, water).
• Seven: the most potent of all symbolic numbers – signifying the union of three and four, the complement of the cycle, the perfect order.
•     The archetypal woman (Great Mother- the mysteries of life, death, and transformation):
• The Great Mother (positive aspects of the Earth Mother): associated with the life principle, birth, warmth, nourishment, protection, fertility, growth,abundance (Cybele Demeter, Ceres).
• The Terrible Mother: the witch, sorceress, siren, whore, femme fatale associated with sensuality, sexual orgies, fear, danger, darkness,dismemberment, emasculation, death; the unconscious in its terrifying aspects.
• The Wise Women: the Sophia figure, Holy Mother, the princess or “beautiful lady” – incarnation of inspiration and spiritual fulfillment (Jungian anima)

The symbol of serpent and dragon – an Jungian view

Everywhere the symbol of the serpent and dragon is connected with the (d)evil. That does hurt me a little bit, as I am Serpent in the Chinese Zodiac – which is the least favored sign. The snake has a bad rap not only according to my wife, but certainly within Christianity. In defense of myself (and the snake), I wanted to look at the snake in symbolic terms, in Jungian terms and to explore this from all possible angles.  In alchemical symbolism dragons are associated with fire and the primal chaotic material. The Western concept of dragons is to portray them as to be feared, and destroyed, whereas in the Near East these negative traits are minimized, Furthermore in the  Far East the dragon possesses different aspects, in that it is simultaneously a creature of water, of earth, of the underworld, and of the sky. A self depicting serpent or dragon eating its own tail ( Ouroboros) is an ancient symbol which is often associated with Gnosticism, and Hermeticism. Carl Jung interpreted the Ouroboros as having an archetypal significance. Jung gave the serpent an important role in his Quaternio Series Diagrams in his book “Aion”.

The Dragon

This is one of the most easily recognized mythical beasts. It is also a pervasive symbol in a variety of cultures, giving rise to many interpretations about exactly what a dragon is, what it represents, and how it behaves. It can be associated with good luck, fortune and wisdom, or with bad luck, elemental evil and heresy. Carl Jung would have called the dragon a symbol of the universal unconscious, since so many cultures have myths associated with a dragon, or dragon like beasts.

The dragon is for Carl G. Jung the personification of Sulphur and is by far the male element. Since the dragon is said to impregnate himself by swallowing his tail, then the tail is the male organ and the mouth is the female organ.  The winged dragon represents personal obstacles that must be overcome to insure a more-perfect being; thus, leading to the saying: “You conquer the dragon or he will conquer you.”   We see that Jung did, certainly, inspire awareness of the connections between modern psychology and ancient spiritual practice.  Some credit the Chinese as the inventors of dragon. The origins of dragon lore are a matter of some debate. It is known that at least as far back as 300 BCE, some bones of prehistoric animals were labeled as coming from dragons. In Christianity the dragon is generally a symbol of evil, a demon or the devil. The most famous Christian legend is that of St. George slaying the dragon.

Much of dragon lore tells us that dragons were loathsome beasts and evil enemies to humankind. But dragons were born of a time other than men, a time of chaos, creation out of destruction. The dragon is a fabulous and universal symbolic figure found in most cultures thought the world.

Symbology of the dragon:

Gnostics: “The way through all things.”

Alchemy: “A winged dragon – the volatile elements; without wings – the fixed elements.”

Guardian of the ‘Flaming Pearl” symbol of spiritual perfection and powerful amulet of luck.

Chinese: “The spirit of the way”‘ bringing eternal change.

In Scripture the term dragon refers to any great monster, whether of the land or sea, usually to some kind of serpent or reptile, sometimes to land serpents of a powerful and deadly kind. It is also applied metaphorically to Satan.

• Thou breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. — Ps. lxxiv.13.
•  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. — Ps. xci.13.
•  He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. –Rev. xx. 2.
•  In the New Testament the word “dragon” is found only in Rev. 12:3, 4, 7, 9, 16, 17, etc., and is there used metaphorically of “Satan.”

The Serpent.

Aroused snake by the entrance to a Yezidee-temple. It is blackened by soot.

Dr. Jolande Jacobi signifies in her chapter “The Dream of the Bad Animal” the serpent initial material, in need of transformation, the chthonic, moist element of water, female, standing for unconscious  symbol for many things depending on the context, also wisdom. In the famous Houston Interviews (Bollinger, C.G. Jung Speaking or youtube) he talked about a  28-year-old woman who told Jung that “she had a black serpent in her belly.”  The woman was “only intuitive, entirely without a sense of reality.” Then she announced that the snake, which had been dormant, had suddenly become active. “One day she came and said that the serpent in her belly had moved; it had turned around,” Jung says. “Then the serpent moved slowly upward, coming finally out of her mouth, and she saw that the head was golden”  Jung amplifies the image of the snake in the abdomen by reference to the serpent in Kundalini Yoga. “I told you,” Jung says, “the case of that intuitive girl who suddenly came out with the statement that she had a black snake in her belly.” He situates the snake in the context of the collective unconscious. “Well now, that is a collective symbol,” he says. “That is not an individual fantasy, it is a collective fantasy.” The image of the snake in the abdomen, Jung says, “is well known in India.” Although the woman “had nothing to do with India” and although the image “is entirely unknown to us,” he says that “we have it too, for we are all similarly human.” When the woman first told Jung about the snake in her belly, he wondered whether “perhaps she was crazy,” but then he realized that “she was only highly intuitive.” She had intuited a typical, or archetypal, image. “In India,” Jung says, “the serpent is at the basis of a whole philosophical system, of Tantrism; it is Kundalini, the Kundalini serpent” (1977: 322).

Of course, everybody knows the Biblical story of the fall of man tells of how Adam and Eve were deceived into disobeying God by a snake (identified as Satan by both Paul and John in II Corinthians and Revelation, respectively). In the story, the snake convinces Eve to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which she then convinces Adam to do as well. As a result, God banishes Adam and Eve from the garden and curses the snake.

Fighting with them – The Hero Myth

In the fight with the dragon the hero battles the regressive forces of the unconscious, which threaten to swallow the individuating ego. The forces, personified in figures like Circe, Kali, Medusa, Sea Serpents, Minotaur, or Gorgon, represents the Terrible side of the Great Mother. The Hero may voluntarily submit to being swallowed by the monster, or to a conscious descent into Hades so as to vanquish the forces of darkness. This mortifying descent into the abyss, the sea, the dark cave, or the underworld in order to be reborn to a new identity expresses the symbolism of the night-sea journey through the uterine belly of the monster. It is a fundamental theme in mythology the world over — that of death and rebirth. All initiatory rituals involve this basic archetypal pattern through which the old order and early infantile attachments must die and a more mature and productive life be born in their place.

The mythological goal of the dragon fight is almost always the virgin, the captive, or more generally, the ‘treasure hard to attain.’ This image of the vulnerable, beautiful, and enchanting woman, guarded by and captive of a menacing monster gives us a picture of the inner core of the personality and its surrounding defenses. The hero’s task is to rescue the maiden from the grasp of the monster and, ultimately, to marry her and establish his kingdom with her. This dragon fight and liberation of the captive is the archetypal pattern that can guide us through those major transitional passages in our personal development where a rebirth or reorientation of consciousness is indicated. The captive represents the ‘new’ element whose liberation makes all further development possible. In response to the call the hero undertakes  a dangerous journey to an unknown region full of both promise and danger.

Getting there – the night sea journey.

The night sea journey is a kind of descensus ad inferos--a descent into Hades and a journey to the land of ghosts somewhere beyond this world, beyond consciousness, hence an immersion in the unconscious [“The Psychology of the Transference,” CW 16, par. 455.]. Mythologically, the night sea journey motif usually involves being swallowed by a dragon or sea monster. It is also represented by imprisonment or crucifixion, dismemberment or abduction, experiences traditionally weathered by sun-gods and heroes: Gilgamesh, Osiris, Christ, Dante, Odysseus, Aeneas. In the language of the mystics it is the dark night of the soul.  Sometimes, as with Jonah, Aeneas, Christ, and Psyche, it is a descent into the depths — the sea, the underworld, or Hades itself. Always there is a perilous crossing. Sometimes the faintheartedness of the hero is balanced by the appearance of guardians or helpful animals that enable the hero to perform the superhuman task that cannot be accomplished unaided. These helpful forces are representatives of the psychic totality that supports the ego in its struggle. They bear witness to the fact that the essential function of the hero myth is the development of the individual’s true personality.

Symbols of Spiritual Growth and Transformation

Uroboros

The Ouroboros, the snake forever swallowing its own tail, is a famous alchemical symbol of transformation. Jung saw the Ouroboros much like he saw the mandala, as an archetypal template of the psyche symbolizing eternity and the law of endless return – and individuation.

This Ouroboros symbol was first created in 1682. However, the idea of a snake/serpent eating its own tails can be referred to as far back as Ancient Egypt.

The image, according to Dr. Jolande Jacobi, “shows a sinful world of creation, surrounded by the Serpent of Eternity, the Ouroboros, and characterized by the four elements and the sins corresponding to them; the whole circle relates to the center, the weeping eye of God, i.e., the point where salvation, symbolized by the dove of the Holy Ghost, may be achieved by compassion and love.”

Ouroboros symbol in Alchemy

The Uroboros symbol in Alchemy, was also seen as a symbol of assimilation. Consumption of the opposite. This sign was also regarded as a symbol for immortality as the serpent never dies and is always reborn.  The snake is seen as a sacred creature in Africa, especially in West Africa. The Ouroboros symbol is prevalent in many religious aspects in the form of the Oshunmare. The Oshunmare is also seen as a symbol for rebirth.

Quaternio series: Moses – Shadow – Paradise – Lapis Quaternio

In the Quaternio series; Man culminates in the of a good God, but rests below on a dark and evil principle (Devil or serpent). The serpent has its complement in the Paradise Quaternio which leads into the world of plants and animals. Indeed, this serpent actually dwells in the interior of the earth and is the pneuma that lies hidden in the stone. The point of greatest tension between the opposites…(is)…the double significance of the serpent, which occupies the center of the system. Being an allegory of Christ as well as of the devil, it contains and symbolizes the strongest polarity into which the Anthropos falls when he descends into Physis. Symbols of fear and cunning

A lack of first hand experience with snakes makes the serpent a creature representing a fear of the unknown. As such, snake symbolize that unknown fear. The fear can be an intuitive warning or an unfounded anxiety about some undefinable, something hidden. Honest analysis provides the key to deciphering the snake symbol. In Christianity, the symbol pertains to Satan and the world we currently live in. It also refers to the men and women of this planet as being self-centered and “fallen”. The whole idea of the serpent itself is that it reflects something that is re-creating itself.  Be wise as serpents … – Serpents have always been an emblem of wisdom and cunning:

Genesis 3:1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Snakes as Sexual Symbols

Sexuality greensnake

Snakes are usually symbolizing sex and sexuality. The feelings the snake evokes is key to its interpretation. Feelings of revulsion indicate sexual dissatisfaction.
The Legend of the White Snake is one of the most famous folk tales in Chinese culture. Legendary actress Brigitte Lin, is a snake spirit who has come into the human world with her sister Green Snake. Human scholar Xu Xian  immediately catches White Snake’s attention from afar, and the two quickly fall in love and get married. However, a Taoist priest sees the two spirit sisters returning to their true self. There is an enigmatic seduction scene in there. Maggie Chung is the lusty maiden & titular character Green Snake, flirting erotically with thrilling, dynamic, not to say with perverse personality. Despite having accumulated 500 years of merit, her ability to remain in human guise is restricted by her delight in her own snakey sensuousness. She frequently reverts to her serpent form, in whole or in part. Green Snake in her unrestrained manner finds that she is attracted to the monk, & as White’s Snake disciple, she thinks it only correct that she find a human partner as admirable as Xu Xian has been for White Snake.

Symbols of Wisdom

The Egyptians used the serpent in their hieroglyphics as a symbol of wisdom. Probably the thing in which Christ directed his followers to imitate the serpent was in its caution in avoiding danger. No animal equals them in the rapidity and skill which they evince in escaping danger. So said Christ to his disciples, You need caution and wisdom in the midst of a world that will seek your lives.

My Chinese sign of the snake serves as embodiments of intellectual, elegance, wisdom and sensuality, but describes the bearer of the sign also as cold, arrogant and feared by many. For Chinese astrologers, the snake is a revered creature of  intuition, and spiritual development. The very same mystery and elusiveness causing fear in some gives rise to a fascination or intrigue in others. I connect to the sign of the snake as embodiments of elegance, sensuality,  the intuitive, introspective, refined and collected of the Animal Signs.  But am I dark  and  cunning,  plotting and schemes to make certain things turn out exactly as I want them to? I guess that would be similar to the “green snake”,  would be my shadow.