Christmas is around the corner and I am again returning to some of my favourite Winter stories.
My most beloved winter stories are C.S. Lewis's 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' and Hans Christian Andersen’s timeless fairy tale the 'Snow Queen'. Both stories terrified and disturbed me as a child but I felt compelled to read them over and over. At some point fear transformed into fascination, and finally into delight.
In the book 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' I most identified with the character Edmund in part because of his love of sweets and partly because I recognised his frustration with his siblings and the feeling of being overlooked. Edmund often feels overshadowed by his older brother Peter and his sisters, Susan and Lucy. This anxiety of him being unwanted or not held in mind, contributes to his resentment and leads him to push strongly for getting his own way and behaving reactively when things go wrong. Fairly early on in the story he betrays his siblings to the White Witch for what appears to be a promise of power, some Schadenfreude and lots of Turkish delight. However, if we look more deeply at his actions he mostly seems to be driven by a desire to be saved from feeling ignored, and a wish to receive the recognition and validation that he doesn't receive from his family.
However, Edmund's journey is not just one of sibling rupture, it is also one of repair. Through his experiences in Narnia, he learns deeply the value of loyalty, bravery, and forgiveness. By the end of the book, he has grown into a noble and morally fair king, earning the title "Edmund the Just." His transformation is a central theme in the narrative, highlighting how the places where we are wounded also lead us to our deepest insights about the human condition. His storyline equally exposes the role of grace in groups: when group belonging can be offered, even when undeserved, so that groups can benefit from the adult wisdom of its members. To do this groups must keep space for some of the painful and destructive developmental experiences that take children into adulthood. To thrive groups must be able to offer grace.
Edmund's transformation begins when he realises the true nature of the White Witch and the harm she causes. She was not quite what she seemed. On first glance she is glamorous with brutal humour. She offers shelter and leadership to the misfit members of Narnia. But these things come at a high cost - that of silent obedience and conformity to her world view. So rather than Edmund being able to bask in the reflected glory of belonging to her group, he is left more unseen and alone than ever before. His redemption is facilitated by Aslan, the lion leader who represents a nurturing and life-developing force. Aslan's ability to offer seasonal interventions helps Edmund break free from the Witch's grip, allowing him to mature, embrace his vulnerability as well as his competitiveness and fulfill his potential as a just and courageous leader.
'The Snow Queen' is another story that focusses on sibling/peer relationships in a similar wintery context. This time it is the adventures of Gerda, a young girl, and her quest to rescue a little boy Kai. Gerda and Kai are neighbours and best friends. The pair grew up together and have a shared love of growing roses. The story takes a dark turn when Kai becomes captured by the evil snow queen. The kidnap could happen because Kai had developed a distorted, embittered view of the world and so was unable to assess danger when it came his way. To me the Snow Queen is an enigmatic figure and it is easy to see how Kai would be seduced to go along with her. She has a way of skating over problems and numbing out feeling, so that all you want to do is be around her. No matter the cost.
The Snow Queen story begins with the creation of an evil mirror The mirror had been formed by a troll, with the specific intention of disrupting society by distorting the appearance of everything it reflects. It leaves people feeling both like a victim (on the receiving end of something bad) and also superior in their self-righteousness of their noticing badness in others at the same time. Those looking through this lens feel entitled to mock and ridicule anything considered crass or old fashioned, that doesn't fit their ideal of how the world could be if people just bothered to put a bit of effort in.
One day the mirror shatters and glass shards from this mirror find their way into Kai's eye and heart, symbolizing the inception of a skewed perception of the world. Kai’s gaze had become captured in a distorted critical psychological understanding of the world, making him available to then become captured by the snow queen.
This description of a shattered evil mirror, makes me think of the concept of malignant mirroring in group psychoanalysis. Malignant mirroring refers to a destructive form of noticing in groups where two individuals or sub groups are attuned to each other’s negative traits, leading to a mutually harmful relationship. This type of mirroring can have a compulsive quality to it, however it is important to note that whilst there maybe noticing going on by group members, there is no real reflection or contemplation, no healing, no growth. Only incessant battles of who is good/bad, right/wrong. (Zinkin, 1992).
To me the mirror is a powerful metaphor for the perfectionist mindset - where the process of critique, rather than serving people to live better, has become a way to avoid the messiness of life by trying to tidy it up. It is the attitude we take on when we fall in love with how we think life should be and rage against its refusal to comply. In doing so we are left with the feeling of fear and anxiety that accompanies this refusal. When we strive for an ideal of how the world could be, one that will save us and others from our sins we become activist clinicians - crusaders and preachers, knocking on patients doors to help affirm those we care for into seeing the world the right way, like we do - with the cold, crisp, clarity of certainty that this understanding offers.
“If our religion is based on salvation, our chief emotions will be fear and trembling. If our religion is based on wonder, our chief emotion will be gratitude.” Carl Jung
The Symbol of Snow
What occurred to me when thinking about these two stories is that in both there is the rather obvious symbol of snow. In wanting to consider this more, I thought I might to amplify the symbol of snow. What is it? How does it function in the physical world and what parallels might there be in our internal realities when thinking about individuals and groups?
Snow is a form of precipitation that consists of ice crystals. These ice crystals form in the atmosphere when water vapor condenses directly into ice, bypassing the liquid stage. When these ice crystals cluster together, they create snowflakes, which fall to the ground when they become heavy enough.
Snowflakes are unique in their structure, with each one having a distinct pattern. The intricate designs of snowflakes are influenced by temperature and humidity conditions as they form and fall through the atmosphere.
Snow plays a significant role in various ecosystems, providing insulation for plants and animals during winter and contributing to the water supply when it melts. It also has cultural and recreational importance. For example, baby's snow bathing is a Navajo tradition to remain strong and be prepared for hardships. They can also be seen as a way to wash away all the jealousy, naughtiness of the past year. A kind of physical and emotional cleansing and immune system boosting ritual.
One place I understand that experiences a kind of permanent winter is the tundra. This is a unique and fascinating biome characterized by its cold, harsh climate and limited vegetation. One of the defining features of the tundra is permafrost, a layer of permanently frozen soil that lies beneath the surface. This prevents deep-rooted plants from growing and affects the overall ecosystem. In the tundra, the presence of permafrost—a layer of permanently frozen soil—acts as a natural form of preservation. The cold temperatures and frozen ground prevent the decomposition of organic materials, much like how freeze drying preserves food and other perishable items. This natural preservation can keep plant and animal remains intact for thousands of years, providing valuable insights into past ecosystems and climates.
The Timelessness of Trauma
Being trapped in a timeless way of relating to an experience makes me think of trauma. Trauma's effects are often long-lasting, transcending generations and influencing future relationships and behaviors.
One way of understanding the impact of trauma is when parents teach children how to exist in the world in a way that would have fixed their own realities. The child in turn grows into adulthood and keeps the same understanding alive and so on and so on. This is described powerfully by Massimilla Harris, Ph.D., and Bud Harris, Ph.D., in their book Into the Heart of the Feminine
“Our culture’s wounding and belittling of the feminine and its values has led many mothers to mistrust the world and men to a greater extent than ever before, and this mistrust inevitably becomes part of the emotional heritage of our children.”
Marion Woodman also describes this never-again dynamic in her reflections on the death mother archetype. In fact the snow queen and white witch are both ways of understanding the death mother. The “Death Mother is born out of despair. It is incubated by the crushed hope of an unlived life. Death Mother is the shadow side of disappointment. When you look into the eyes of death mother you see they are glazed over with hopelessness. You see a blank look; there is nobody at home. You see an unconscious, frozen and profoundly wounded body-psyche devoid of authentic feeling. You see somebody with desperate need to be in control. You see someone who is driven by will power.”
Thawing and Embracing Growth
In both stories, the process of thawing or melting the frozen state represents the awakening and integration of the unconscious mind, leading to personal growth and transformation.
But thawing, both literally and metaphorically, can be a painful process. In the physical sense, thawing involves the transition from a frozen state to a warmer one, which can cause discomfort or even damage to tissues if not done carefully. This is why frostbite, for example, requires careful and gradual warming to avoid further injury. As the skin thaws and blood flow returns, the nerves reactivate, which can cause sharp, shooting pains. At the beginning of the process light touch and mild temperature changes can cause painful responses. It can take time to acclimatise.
Metaphorically, thawing can represent the process of emotional or psychological healing and follows a similar trajectory. When someone has been "frozen" by trauma, grief, or other intense experiences, the journey to "thaw" and reconnect with their emotions can be challenging and painful. This process often involves confronting difficult memories, feelings, and truths that have been suppressed or numbed. As the ego thaws and creative flow returns, sensitivity activates. At the beginning of the process even the experience of the most gentle noticing and compassion can cause painful shame responses. It can take time to acclimatise.
In the stories, the thawing of eternal winter symbolizes the painful yet necessary journey towards healing and renewal. For Edmund, the thawing of Narnia's winter parallels his own redemption and the painful realization of his mistakes. For Kai, Gerda's tears that melt the ice in his heart represent the painful but transformative power of love and compassion.
Thawing, whether in the physical world or in our internal realities, signifies a transition from a state of stasis to one of growth and renewal. It is a process that, while painful, ultimately leads to healing and the restoration of life and warmth.
As a final thought, in the Snow Queen our heroine Gerda loves gardening. In the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe it is Spring and the return of Flowers in the story symbolize the restoring of life and beauty to Narnia. In contrast to the cold timeless, perfection the flower metaphor suggests that true fulfillment is not found in the static state of perfection but in the ongoing process of growing up and acceptance of life on life's terms.
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