Salamander Transformation

Taking a detailed look at the Salamander transformation metaphor which is not about celebration but rather response to unexpected events, healing, and reclaiming of our authentic selves, 

Transcript

Salamander Transformation: Recovery – Restoration – Renewal

Most people are familiar with the transformation metaphor of the caterpillar becoming a butterfly. This is usually spoken of as something beautiful, pleasant, and positive, which is aspirational, but not always the reality. Whether experienced as a beautiful unfolding, a surprise from which we need to recover, or a dark night of the soul, each of us goes through this transformational something which draws a bright line between then and now. Often, it's many somethings, like bowls of various sizes which nest together neatly so we can store them. 

More common but less well known are snake transformations. We don't change into something completely different from what we were. Instead, we hit the end of a phase of development, complete a lesson, find out what we were doing has run its course, or outgrow a situation and so shrug out of the old life to find ourselves essentially the same as we were before, but stronger, wiser, and more capable. Snakes grow a new skin underneath the old and once the old is too tight or worn out, they bang their nose against something sharp (no hands, feet or opposable thumbs remember) until it starts tearing off. They then scrape at it repeatedly, with determination, until they can slide out. Afterwards they take a couple of hours to rest and get acquainted with their new self before they move off into the world again. 

Then there is a third type of transformation, which most people don't consider at all. One which is consciously chosen, and it is exemplified by Dragonfly. When Dragonfly hatches from its egg, laid in water, it is not in any way a flying creature. Instead, it's called a nymph, which is ironic as it is fairly ugly to anyone other than entomologists. It lives in relatively still water like ponds or lakes and, like wolves or eagles, is a carnivore. It hunts other bugs which helps balance populations and sustain a healthy ecosystem. 

While we are taught to think caterpillars are basically butterflies in waiting, or the caterpillar stage is something less than the glories of the final outing of wings (something caterpillar's might argue about), nymphs live an entire life of their own without any knowledge or care of what is to come. 

Then one day they make a choice. They climb out on a plant stem and split open. Their exoskeleton splits in all the weak places and they unfold their new form. Two sets of wings, multifaceted eyes, and the ability to refract light. Once transformed into a creature of air, they don't walk away from their old life. Instead, they remain linked to water, just in a new way. They are territorial like many other predators and so manage and enforce clear boundaries. 

This type of transformation, like those of snake and butterfly, is not about achieving some specific purpose or goal, but to become. So, while Dragonfly transformations can seem to be about some specific outcome, goal, achievement or objective, it's about being them rather than succeeding at them. They are a living exemplar of what they have learned and promote. They do what they say and say what they do, all of which is often an unconscious challenge for others to do the same.

However, as most of us have experienced in our lives, there are times when changes occur which are not on our path, not looked for, positive, or helpful to our unfolding. Instead, they are disruptive at best, but more often are along the lines of traumatizing, damaging, and/or destructive. These are changes which occur due to external forces such as layoffs, illness or injury, infidelity, unwise investments/scams, domestic abuse, destruction of home/property due to weather, and much more. The events can devolve our lives, our sense of self and self-worth, our ability to be in the world and there are any number of ways to respond to them and move forward. 

One of these is through Salamander Transformation.

Salamanders are amphibians which look quite a bit like wet, soft lizards. Their front and back legs are on the sides of their bodies like alligators, but they have short snouts and what look like suction cup toes.  They live in cool shaded places near small bodies of still water. Their skin is porous and can act like a lung if they need additional oxygen. They range in size from tiny (27mm 1 1/8") to almost 1.8 m (6ft).  Most are only 10 – 20 cm (4 – 8") from nose to tail.  They are carnivores, but for the most part eat bugs, grubs, and small fish or fish eggs.

Some salamanders protect themselves through poison by creating a tetrodotoxin layer on their skin. This is the same toxin as puffer fish.  Their skin is brightly colored to warn others of this which creates an extra boundary via visual communication.  The ones in my area are brown on the topside, but bright orange on their undersides and if threatened they will curl their heads and tails towards their back to flash this as a warning.  This toxin is only dangerous to humans if ingested, but if you do handle a salamander, it's wise to wash your hands afterwards.

The transformative aspect of Salamander comes from the fact it is able to regrow any of its limbs including its tail, as well as a number of its internal organs and structures.  Not all at once, mind you, but any of one or several of these being hurt causes it no long-term issues as it simply regrows itself.  Not a smaller version, not something scarred or warped or changed, but a fully functional replica with little to no evidence it was ever missing.

When attacked by something or suffering some kind of accident like being caught in the notch of a tree or trapped under a rock, it can release any of its limbs in order to escape.  With the added benefit if something bit down on it, the poison will leave that something in rough shape and a need to rethink its choices.   The salamander then transforms, not into something new, but back into its essential self. 

Salamander restores itself after external events try to change it without permission or consent. 

Rather than transforming into a new form, Salamander demonstrates a means for us to return to our true, appropriate and authentic self after negative experiences. These include:

•              Recovering and reclaiming ourselves after terrible loss. Each of us values things uniquely and so our losses are by their very nature unique to us, but some of the more common ones are the death of loved ones, loss of career, rejection from community, escaping relationships to individuals/organizations/faiths which has abused us, and/or loss of homes, property, or economic status.  

•              Regaining our might after prolonged hardships, which can include custody battles, prolonged lawsuits against us or others, years of being a primary caregiver, working long hours/multiple jobs to pay off debt, or raising children to adulthood as a single parent.

•              Rebuilding our lives after trauma or tragedy including having to literally rebuild after a home is destroyed, relearning mobility and speech after stroke or accident, starting over after escaping war or domestic violence, creating a new identity to prevent the harm which someone is determined to perpetrate on us and much more.

•              Renewing our sense of self which was denied to us through the opinions and actions of others such as discovering we are good at something, capable of something, have a place in a community after being told our entire lives by our family and friends we did not.  For example, being told we're dumb when our learning style simply isn't conducive to prolonged focus. Being told we're lazy or physically incapable when we simply aren't into sports/competition and don't do well with performance pressure, or bootcamp techniques. Being forced to go into a career we hate because what we want to do isn't prestigious enough, doesn't pay well enough, or fill the needs of our family, friends, or community.

Through Salamander transformations we come to learn holistically and thoroughly that not everything which happens to us is meant to be and we are the final arbiter on what any of it means.

Embodied lives are rich, complicated tapestries of interconnection, filled with family, friends, acquaintances, peers, strangers, artists and artisans, ideas, industries, inventions, and the unknown.  We seek to weave ourselves and our lives within this tapestry each day in each moment and we are successful by the sheer fact we are here.  We focus our efforts by setting goals, choosing lessons, putting structures in place thereby creating a small but manageable sphere in which to live within the incomprehensible immensity of what we think of as the world. The frightening grandness and overwhelming malleability of it all comes in part from the Free Will each of us is endowed with from the first spark of our creation.  This means life, any life, is a creation of moments and choices, ours and others, in which we co-create ourselves. 

So, is everything happening for a reason? Yes. Is this reason for our best and highest good? Well, not necessarily. Even at the best of times what we think of as our best and highest good can come into conflict with the needs of someone else. The lesson being learned might not be for us or we might have learned it long ago but remained stuck in the classroom refusing to move on. There is a great deal of meaning in everything which happens to and around us, but much of it isn't meant to be or preordained, but instead the consequences of everyone's unfolding. 

As Megan Devine states in her book It's OK that you're NOT OK:

"Learning happens in a million different ways. Grief and loss are one path to depth and connection, but they are not the only path. In an essay on post-traumatic growth, a veteran's therapist states that people who look back and see their devastating loss or injury as a growth experience are those who felt most dissatisfied or disconnected in their personal lives before the event. They are not grateful for what happened, but they see the arc of their own development in the shadow of their loss. But for those whose lives were full and deep before their loss? The researcher admits that these participants didn't experience big surges in growth because there were no big surges to make. There's no comfort in "becoming a better person" when you were already happy with the person you were.

Grief is not an enlightenment program for a select few. No one needs intense, life-changing loss to become who they are "meant" to be. The universe is not causal in that way: you need to become something, so life gives you this horrible experience in order to make it happen. On the contrary, life is call-and-response. Things happen, and we absorb and adapt. We respond to what we experience, and that is neither good nor bad. It simply is. The path forward is integration, not betterment"

Healing is an important aspect of Salamander transformations, but built into this is the reality not everything can be healed. Living salamanders can heal a great many things and, because of their amphibian skin, this healing leaves little to no marks, scars, or diminished ability. With enough time, safe space, and resources, salamanders can be restored to their full selves. However, if the injury, illness, intrusion or impact is too all encompassing, destroys structures necessary for life, or removes too much of the body, they are unable to heal. 

In the face of all the current messaging in spiritual community which tells us anything is healable if we apply ourselves, have the right mindset or do the right thing in the right order, and a lifetime's propaganda telling us we are incapable of being and should be grateful for the life we are allowed and must strive to survive, salamander transformations can help us reclaim, recover, restore and renew our essential authentic selves. 

Salamander encourages us to grow back that which others or events have tried to remove from us. This can mean restoring trust in our own judgement, recovering our reputation, regaining certifications, starting a business, getting back into the dating scene or finally having the money to buy the house we had saved for all those years. Taking back what has been removed from us allows us to restore our own might and move forward in the world the way we were intended to be.

This is the I AM manifesting process, the mantra of unfolding which allows us to take up space, be present for ourselves and others, and fully inhabit our lives internally as well as externally.

Salamander also shows we don't need to be armored against further events. It's beautiful, porous skin allows it to fully utilize multiple environments and have a broad range of capabilities where others are limited to only land or only the water, i.e. only groundedness or only empathy and emotional reactions. Salamander is an example of how we can be fully interconnected without defensiveness and live an authentic life which benefits us and all around us.

It also teaches about clear boundaries and clear communication through its coloring and poisonous skin excretions. Salamander doesn't feel the need to explain itself with rattles or hissing, with bared teeth or lowered horns. Salamander's colors are displayed for all to see if they only look and through its scent moving in the air. The message is clear, respect my boundaries and all is well, try to harm me and you'll have a mouthful of possibly deadly regret. If Salamander senses a threat, it displays its colors more fully to get the message across. Responsibility for what happens next stays solely with the aggressor.

This is the I Don't Think So manifesting process which helps us keep on our path when events attempt to make us do otherwise. We can't control the behavior of others and we are not responsible for them. Rather can inhabit our own healthy, and clearly communicated boundaries and therefore unfold our true and authentic selves.

Salamander Transformations are, like Butterfly, Snake, and Dragonfly, deeply moving and life affirming. Unlike the others they aren't naturally occurring events or ones we would have chosen, but happen to us without our consent. Some may find they are moving through them naturally or instinctively, while others discover they must choose to engage with them in order to return to a form of themselves which rings true. In either case the path is often difficult, full of struggle, but also provides amazing rewards and unforeseen magic.