The Siren's Song - Rethinking the Mermaid Archetype

That seductive, sultry energy which threatens to drag us out so deep that we drown? Well, it has another side to it: an integrating, healing side.

The fear of mermaids is so intense, and common, that there is an official name for it: serenephobia. It's absurd really, when you pick that word apart: a phobia of being serene? A phobia of being called-bewitched by the magical voice from the deep? It's real and it's a 'thing'.

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

One might argue that we have a deep phobia about being called from within our own murky depths. There are pop-culture online articles about the traits of the seductive mermaid-type woman, characterized by:

• running on passion and being emotional (sweet goddess forbid)
• rebellious
• introverted and antisocial
• paradoxical
• focused on beauty to the point of narcissism
• pleasure seekers
• extremely sensitive

You can read more about the 'seductive' traits of mermaid women Here in this pop-culture article from Rebelle Society.

I often joke about my withered mermaid self being so far away from the sea, as I now live 800km inland after half of a lifetime living beachside. But I was NOT actively thinking, or planning to think, about mermaids when we went off for a much-needed healthy-break-time-out-rest-&-restore to the Thai island of Koh Samed. As soon as the ferry pulled in to the pier, I was confronted by a towering bronze statue of a grieving sea giant named Pisua Samut, which intrigued me. And so I did some idle reading and posted about the epic Thai poem which tells the epic story of Aphai Mani and his journey-quest with giants, legendary figures and mermaids.

You can read that post and the general story outline of the massive 30,000 line-long work of Thai literature here: Giants, Epic Thai Literature and a Different Type of Mermaid's Tale.

And so as we walked, swan, lazed, walked, slept, ate and swam some more, I noticed the mermaid statues around the islands and noticed that they were depicted rather differently than the average stereotype:

The Mermaid As Creative, As Giver, As Mother

The Mermaid As Bewitched, Rather Than Bewitching

The Mermaid as Strong, Independent Rescuer

And so I swam, ate, slept, lazed and considered bringing home a different idea about mermaids - one that might be healing and sustaining, rather than the feeling of loss and being withered away from the ocean.

So here, after a week being back 800km inland and having carefully extricated myself from a huge deluge of "urgents" which accumulated in my absence, I sit. Today I do NOT feel my mermaid self withering or drying out (as I have so often before), but rather I feel her curling up into hibernation deep within my moist, succulent, creative self where she has these words to whisper:

• The Mermaid is an A level adapter - she did not drown and she still straddles both worlds. If I call on her masterful adaptive energy, I can be renewed and not overwhelmed by the idea of either-or choices.
• The Mermaid allowed herself to be entranced and bewitched - she let her defenses down - and in that place through the love she held for Aphai Mani and the son she bore, it was SHE who initiated the healing between the two mighty warring Kingdoms. Take home message? I could learn to be less defensive.
• The Mermaid understood that she could be BOTH stunning, sexy and voluptuous AND be a Mother. I could hear that encouragement anytime soon.
• The Mermaid created and gave her son to the Greater Good - she did not swim aimlessly forever, lost at sea, contributing nothing. When I allow myself to create and give, the whole world is enriched and yes, ultimately huge conflicts can be healed through small things I bring to birth.
• The Mermaid did not live happily ever after with Aphai Mani - he had wars to win and Kingdoms to unite, and he ultimately left. She loved, gave and she released. It is in the releasing of things and people not meant for us that we are able to be healed. The love was not - and is never - wasted or lost.

And so I come back to the fear of being dragged to the depths and drowning. She did not drown - she made the rocks her places of shelter instead of being battered against them.

Let me RETHINK those pop-culture Mermaid traits and given them a different slant:

A Mermaid is strong, resilient and healing BECAUSE:

• she is fueled by passion, rather than driven by it;
• she knows which rules need breaking and she is not afraid;
• she cherishes, creates and savours alone time;
• she is fluid enough to live with paradox and able to suspend judgement;
• she sees beauty, is called by it, responds to it;
• she KNOWS that the joy received from pleasure outlasts the pleasure event, and so she unashamedly seeks out the pleasure to enable that distillation;
• she FEELS and uses that feeling as her radar to steer her away from sharp rocks and fishermen with dark intentions.

I leave you with this thought: When you seek out, explore and swim through your own murky depths, the Mermaid you find will not drown you, but rather enable and facilitate a level of healing that will sustain you through dry times away from the Waters of Life.

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