Snake Response Theory (for fairytales)
How traumatized children access reptile neurology
Fairy tales always portray different aspects of ourselves. The characters act as fragments of a single psyche that is trying to work out a problem. I have noticed that quite a lot of these stories are about a hero subduing a snake or dragon, like: Aladdin, Sleepy Beauty and Harry Potter. I couldn't help myself from asking what the Serpent means. Though there exist a couple of theories on this, I wanted to figure it out on my own, and pondered it for quite some time. As a bioinformatician, it became obvious to me there was a genetic neurobiological entity at play here. A reptile ancestry (related to trauma) we still carry within our genomes. I call it SRT, or Snake Response Theory, because it appears substantial (and I really needed a name for back referencing 😂 ).
Let me explain.
Children of Nyx — Greek Mythology
Creation myths worldwide are about how humanity came into awareness. First there was the word, the sound, or light; and the world unfolded. Not that the world wasn’t there before, we just didn’t see it. At this stage of evolution we start to become aware of it. And so Homo Sapiens emerged out of the shadows of the unaware animal kingdom. The brain, our cranial castle, was lit.
The Greek poet Hesiod wrote the Theogony in 700BC in which he describes the origin story of the Greek Gods. The prose tells of the theogonic, cosmogonic, and genealogic story of the deities. But within the Jungian lens we read: the origin of the psyche and emergence of consciousness. The Greek dark deities are nicely split into their own branch. And they are birthed first out of Chaos. And from Chaos is born Nyx, Goddess of Night (unconsciousness).
Subsequently, Nyx births deities representing involuntary autonomous functions of the brain (the Dark Side) and have a relation with the fight-fright-flight-fawn (F4) response. These are inherited biological actions from fish, amphibians and reptiles; before the advent of mammals and the birth of man’s consciousness (i.e. when it was still dark). For example:
Hypnos (sleep), Geras (senescence), Moros (doom), Thanatos (biological death), Oizys (anxiety), Oneiros (dreams), Philotes (friendship), etc., describe unconscious early biological functions in vertebrates.
Eris, daughter of Nyx, births some higher level pain and survival functions: Limos (famine), Lethe (forgetfulness), Pseudea (lies), Neikea (arguments), Dysnomia (anarchy). These might not all be from reptiles, but some developed in mammals and our most recent ancestor: monkey.
One night, when I was 9 years old, my step father saw me fall from the top bunk bed in a hostel. Magically, I didn’t hit the ground. He told me the next morning I had reflexively grabbed onto the ledge and climbed my way back into bed without ever waking up. I had no recollection of the event. This memory is just an example of a dark deity protecting me, an inherited function from my monkey ancestors. By all means, it should have made it into the Greek Pantheon: Péftontas, daughter of Hypnos, Goddess of Sturdy Branches and Protectress of Alpinists.
Anyhow, what this deity branch represents is the select resources available to children. When trauma occurs in early life the light Gods, like the great Titans and Olympians, are not yet available. Kids are still in an animal stage when the neocortex (rationality, memory, language, other human traits) is not yet fully developed. Thus, kids can only resort to the Children of Nyx and apply strategies like forgetfulness, anxiety, and lying in order to survive. These are great survival strategies, but they inhibit growth in adulthood.
For example, if a child experiences abandonment by its parents, the infant will protect itself from feeling hurt again. This can lead to numbing, avoidance, and anxiety to survive a future abandonment event. This survival mechanism unfortunately also shuts off grief, desire, and passion. Without these capacities a meaningful life is hard to achieve.
So in short, the Snake represents the inherited reptile response, the dark deity who protects the child.
In order to overcome this strong behavioral response it will require some hefty neural rewiring by the Hero. This is a huge challenge, as we don’t like to let go of our primal instincts. That’s why it’s such an important recurring motif in stories. The fairy tale is the software for solving these psychological issues.
Let’s look at some examples from folklore, literature, and cinema.
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets
J.K. Rowling's hero character Harry Potter is traumatized at the age of 1 when both his parents die. Until he is old enough to be trained as a Wizard at Hogwarts he has to survive with aunt Petunia and the abusive Dursleys. His Snake Response is symbolized by the snaky face Voldemort, Harry's personal shadow, his Nyx side. Shocking statement: Voldemort has protected Harry up until age 11. The dark wizard insulated him from his pain. All is symbolized by the scar on his forehead — the wound inside the brain.
When he becomes 11 he has reached the age to dismantle his Snake Response as he leaves the house and enters the Castle. In the second novel, the Chamber of Secrets, he has to fight the Basilisk that resided underneath the School (castle, brain) that slithers through the piping. The Snake has captured Ginny, (princess, desire) and in order to save her he needs to kill the serpent. In the end it becomes clear, that the Basilisk was a horcrux, a fragment of Voldemort's soul, i.e. Harry's own soul that he has now recovered from trauma.
This all happens when Harry is coming of age. The Snake Response is no longer needed for the approaching adulthood. Note that the whole story takes place in and around the Castle (brain). Even the final battle. It's all about control of the brain between the forces of unconsciousness and awareness.
Aladdin
The thief Aladdin has no parents as has to survive in the streets by stealing food. One day he meets Jasmin and his goals shift from survival needs to desire. The only way to be with the Princess is for him to overcome what made him so resourceful on the street. This transition is mentored by the Genie (his true self) who prepares him to bond with Jasmin by becoming himself. The Princess is again just the symbol of desire which was locked within the Royal Garden on advice of the Snake Sorcerer Jafar. Jafar is the main adviser to the King and snakes around secret passages in the castle (brain).
When Aladdin comes into contact with his desire and starts freeing her, the evil Jafar starts fighting back, as he is bound to lose all control. Before these neural pathways die, they always puff up in the end and show their true face. In this case Jafar turns into a Snake who has to be killed by Aladdin in order to save his desire.
Sleeping Beauty
When you don't invite all aspects of the human psyche, bad shit is bound to happen. In the classic, the Sleeping Beauty, it is Maleficent who is not invited at the birth of Princess Aurora. The witch curses her to die at age 16 at the prick of a spindle.
Though the King tries to prevent the Fate set by the 4 witches, it is inescapable, and damage was already done by repressing the Snake from the get go. When the Princess turns 16, Maleficent still has access to a trapdoor in the hearth leading to a spindle.
The three good witches are darker than you think. They map onto the Greek Sisters of Fate, the Moirai, who control a person’s destiny given at birth. Maleficent is just their negative counterpart. They are included in Hesiod’s Theogony as children of Nyx: Lachesis (selecting the threads), Klotho (weaving the threads), and Atropos (cutting the threads). They weave the pattern of Aurora’s fate. The Princess lives out her whole childhood with these fairies. So she’s completely controlled by her fate until the Prince saves her. Only after reaching her destiny, her pattern becomes undefined.
Maleficent brings about a whole set of shadow traits even before the prick: sleep, forgetfulness (that she's even a princess), death, and feeling morose. The spell is eventually broken by the Hero Prince. Again, a sorcerer shows its true face as a Snake (dragon) in the end as the Hero tries to literally awaken his desires.
Another Parallel: Castle and the Snake
As you can see it's the same story time and time again. Also note how in each tale the Snake slithers through the Castle (brain) using secret pathways. It controls gates and passages the characters in the light have no access to. This is indicative that the Snake Response is innate to our psyche and has its dedicated neural structures. They are probably big shadowy corridors and twisted staircases constructed in early childhood.
A Final Point: Killing vs. Cooperating
Western mythology is conclusive about what to do with the Snake: Kill it! Eastern tales are more cooperative towards snakes and dragons. In Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, heroine Chihiro cooperates with the dragon (wound) to heal her trauma. It suggests an alternative solution for dealing with the neurons on our Nyx side.
Conclusion
The Snake Response Theory (SRT) is, in my opinion, a great clarifier for what fairy tales mean and how they are constructed. I hope by shedding some light on this motif we can honor these great tales of imagination as genuine sources of healing and understanding of the psyche.
Some frown upon old mythologies and equate myth and fairy tale with falsehood. Yet, I believe the ancient Greeks and pagans were actually quite advanced. They profoundly understood the brain through the inner experience — something modern science doesn’t appreciate. And so today, we find ourselves fallen out of story and in the clutches of the medicine wizards who can't heal, can only suppress psychological symptoms, and ignore story.
Ever since, the Snake still remains in shadows and we became Sleeping Beauties.
Read more on these topics in my other articles. Thanks for reading.
Addendum 03 Sep. 2023 — An African Snake Tale
After writing this, I found an African story told by Michael Meade about the boy who needed to die to the snake, and a maiden who had to grasp it out of the fire. In the analysis Michael Meade explains the snake needs to be killed for it symbolizes the boy's protection.
Addendum 10 Sep. 2023 — The Frog Prince
In Grimm’s Frog Prince the snake is a frog that guards the Princess’ golden ball in a well underwater (unconscious) where she can’t reach it. The frog makes a deal with the Princess to bring back the ball in exchange for marriage. In this story the hero needs to sit for a while with the ugly snake before she becomes sick of it and smacks it against the wall, transforming it into a Prince. A similar motif plays out in Beauty and the Beast (the original story has the Beast scaled)
Addendum 15 Sep. 2023 — Prince Lindworm
In this story there's a neglected older brother to Prince who is a snake and makes his presence known to the Prince when he's ready to marry. But the Snake doesn't let him out of the kingdom and says, "A bride for me, before a bride for you." Twice he eats another Princess until the shepherd's daughter is asked, who is aided by a fairy, and is able to deal with the Snake. This is the same motif as in Harry Potter, where the Snake (Voldemort) is faced again in early adulthood. (Note that worm (ormr) in Norse means both worm, serpent and dragon.)
