There is a parable about the tortoise and the scorpion that I felt like commenting on:
“Once, the tortoise gave in to the scorpion’s pleas to carry him on her back across the river. The scorpion sat still for most of the way, but just before reaching the other bank, he couldn’t help himself and stung the tortoise. The tortoise was outraged: — My nature is such that I strive to help everyone. That is why I helped you. How could you sting me?! — My friend — replied the scorpion — your nature is to help, and mine is to sting. And now what, are you trying to turn your nature into a virtue while calling mine a betrayal?”
For a long time, I didn’t understand the meaning of this story. I mean, I didn’t understand it fully. It didn’t seem fair. The tortoise was not only innocent but had even done a kindness to the scorpion—she had carried him to the other shore, and in return, he stung her! I knew that mental health meant being in harmony with oneself and one’s own individuality, yet the sense of injustice prevailed. Until one moment, I understood.
In the story, there was actually no injustice at all! There was a tortoise that needed to be stung, and this tortoise was located inside us, not outside. The scorpion was also within us. The stings from the external world were merely its material expression.
If we look at the tortoise from the parable in an external, extroverted way, what happens to her is extremely unfair. However, if we see in her something within ourselves that needs to be transformed, we will not see injustice. We will see transformation (symbolized by the scorpion). And what needs to be transformed are the qualities symbolized by the tortoise—such as patience, stability, longevity, and protection.
At first glance, these are all good things. Their only flaw is that they are associated with maintaining the status quo, and the status quo is the opposite of change. If we want to evolve, we will have to change by releasing the old. This is precisely where the need for the scorpion’s sting comes in.
The Illusion of Innocence
Besides stability, the tortoise is associated with innocence. This is also very important to understand. Psychic wholeness means that both parts of the duality of life are represented within us—both the light and the dark. The opposite of “tortoise-like” innocence is “sin,” or the knowledge of the dark side of life. This is the very knowledge the scorpion expects us to receive. Psychologically, this means to stop running from our Shadow, to mature, and to grow up. To stand on our own feet and see that so-called darkness is an inherent part of our own human nature. To look it in the eye and see that nothing the scorpion symbolizes is foreign to us—all those strong desires we cannot give up, which push us into power struggles and taking things too personally.
Therefore, the only way to stop jumping like we’ve been stung when life doesn’t go the way we want is to accept the scorpion’s sting. I am reminded of James Hillman’s words that “the divine spirit does not tolerate innocence.” Although the stinging of the tortoise can be interpreted in many ways, the most important for me is to free ourselves from our illusion of innocence. It is precisely the resistance to parting with our innocence that is one of the main reasons we stay stuck and cannot bring about the desired changes in our lives.
When we cling to it, we are like small children who do not want to grow up. We are afraid of hurting others or making mistakes. And if we do make a mistake, the feeling of guilt is so great that it knocks us down. But guilt, as Fritz Perls writes, is in its essence the truth of our rejected shadow. It becomes clear that resistance to the loss of innocence is resistance to declaring and experiencing our own truth. It also becomes clear why we lack the power to make necessary changes—power comes from contact with the truth.
The Surgeon vs. The Murderer
Truth and power are the two main themes symbolized by the sign of Scorpio in astrology and its planetary ruler, Pluto. Their shadow side is manipulation and weakness. If we want to manifest this archetype of transformation in its positive form, it is helpful to remember the metaphor of the knife: in the hands of a murderer, it takes a life; in the hands of a surgeon, it saves a life. What makes the difference is only the intention with which the knife is used. The same applies to the scorpion’s sting.
What turns the scorpion from a murderer into a surgeon is its ability not to distort the truth—the truth about one’s own and others’ dark side, which is an inherent part of our psychic heritage. When our desires are strong and our projections are unconscious, we enter into power struggles; when we take things personally, we are fearful, vengeful, or furious if we don’t get what we want. The dark part of the scorpion is already in action, and the only challenge before us is to see it and admit it to ourselves.
To be unconscious of our own internal scorpion while seeing it projected in others is like performing surgery on someone while full of negative feelings, because you have taken their “tumor” personally and want to remove it at any cost. But because your hands are shaking with indignation and ambition, you perform the surgery so poorly that the situation worsens.
Furthermore, the desire to prove we are right makes us dependent on the very person we want to prove it to. The logic of being unable to escape harmful relationships is simple: we are held captive by the other person as long as we continue to demand what they refuse to give us. The moment we relinquish our desire, they cease to have power over us.
The tortoise must be stung, and naivety must eventually go
Regardless of whether the “scorpion” attacks the “tortoise” in an external, extroverted way—through a person or situation in the outer world—or whether we play out this story within ourselves, the process is the same. The tortoise must be stung, and naivety must eventually go.
It is foolish to continue entering the same situations over and over due to our own naivety and inability to learn from experience. It is like bleating in the forest, believing the wolf will not eat us. It is wanting to help people from whom we know we should stay away. As long as we maintain the tortoise mentality, there will always be a scorpion to sting us. This will continue for as long as necessary, until we are cured of our naivety and learn not to give in to the pleas of scorpions asking for a ride to the other shore. This is for our own good, and for theirs as well.
Therefore, the significant question is not how to avoid the sting, but how to make it healing. This means using the sting to release the old and the useless, stepping into the role of the wise surgeon. From such a thing, the “patient” may cry out in pain, but they will not be able to “take it back,” because the “knife” the surgeon used is now clean. Their intentions were clean too—since they have liberated themselves from their ego-desires, the other person no longer holds power over them. The same applies to removing our own internal “diseased” parts.
Many people who only want to be “nice and kind” and are afraid of causing pain to others will once again agree to carry the scorpion across the river. It is good for them to know that if they want to be whole and true to themselves, there will always be some form of hurting. The vital task is to transform that hurt into a healing surgical operation. To do so, one must be in contact with their own truth and free from the desire for things to turn out exactly as they want.
Then, whatever they do, there will be no injustice. There will only be the cutting away of the diseased, leading to growth and maturity.
Kameliya Hadzhiyska
