Ancestral Wounds and Cycles of Reciprocal Violence
Great works of literature, especially those dating from the archaic depths of human history, often have, at their thematic core, the recurring motif of reciprocal violence. Frequently, it erupts seemingly out of nowhere into a roaring conflagration that reduces civilized society to an ash heap.
Feuds and vendettas are central themes of the Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Trojan War and its many battles, as depicted in the Iliad, recount endless, cyclical blood feuds and reciprocal tribal violence. Similarly, the climactic episode of the Odyssey is a blood-drenched account of gruesome retribution. Much of Greek dramatic tragedy follows similar thematic patterns — the recurrent cycle of blood feuds and vendettas and the never-ceasing cycle of endless tribal violence.
History itself parallels this archaic literary and mythological pattern. And no historical episode is more striking in its account of an all-consuming violent conflagration seemingly erupting out of nowhere than the circumstances leading up to World War I. The political intrigues, international alliances, and scandalous episodes that triggered the First World War and its vast human tragedy have confounded historians for decades. They have tried in vain to make sense of how the thriving turn-of-the-twentieth-century European civilization could destroy itself so quickly and ruthlessly, seemingly without cause.
Generational Trauma in Shakespeare’s Hamlet
There is, however, one literary work that shines a brilliant light on the psychological dimension of the causes leading up to the outbreak of retributive, reciprocal violence and addresses these themes with stunning clarity. This is Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The psychological factors at work in this dramatic tour de force are clearly represented as rooted in the phenomenon of ancestral trauma, albeit allegorically. Shakespeare could not be more explicit in his portrayal of how unresolved ancestral trauma eats away at his protagonist’s soul, ultimately leading to the tragic climax of this human drama. He clearly depicts how the specter of ancestral trauma induces hereditary PTSD-like symptoms in Hamlet, triggering recurrent self-sabotaging, self-destructive behavior, and, ultimately, causing an outburst of retributive violence against his perceived nemesis, Claudius, the corrupt, usurping regent of Denmark.
In Shakespeare’s play, I contend, Hamlet’s “father’s ghost” epitomizes the specter of generational trauma and hereditary psychological wounds that plague the protagonist. This shadow of unresolved generational trauma surfaces in Hamlet’s life as he approaches adulthood and psychologically debilitates him. Hamlet’s resulting behavior — his apparent madness and bouts of severe depression and existential angst — reflect a kind of PTSD. However, it is an apparent nameless foreboding that reduces him to languor and something approaching paranoia. He reflects, “To be, or not to be, that is the question” (Shakespeare, Hamlet, 3.1.64) — a classic literary expression of existential angst. Elsewhere, Hamlet notes that “Denmark’s a prison” (Ibid., 2.2.262), expressing a condition of depression and indecision, and the palace guard Marcellus echoes Hamlet’s misgivings, observing that “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (Ibid., 1.4.65).
Hamlet’s impaired psychological state brings about self-sabotaging behavior, such as his accidental killing of the courtier Polonius and his callous, heartless repudiation of his love interest, Ophelia. This behavior is clearly described by Shakespeare as arising out of the PTSD-like symptoms induced by his ancestral trauma. Finally, Hamlet’s blood feud with Laertes, the brother of the wronged Ophelia, and his climactic assassination of Claudius, occur in a blood-drenched sequence of retributive violence that erupts like a festering ulcer towards the end of the story. It appears to represent the violent eruption of suppressed ancestral trauma that remains unresolved until the very end, ultimately asserting itself in the tragic, bloody conclusion of the story.
The question I would like to pose here may seem somewhat frivolous in light of the gravity of the grim circumstances described in this timeless psychological drama. However, it is intended to be a serious reflection on my part, even if it seems out of place. What if Hamlet had somehow acquired the skills to resolve and release his deep-seated ancestral trauma by means of such techniques as transcendental meditation, yoga, or qigong? What if he had been able to relieve his PTSD in a healthy manner? Perhaps he might have been enabled to respond to his circumstances more effectively, thereby averting the tragedy of the play. He might have been able to achieve a more meaningful resolution to the challenges he faced, ultimately putting Shakespeare out of a job by denying him the tragic, dramatic outcome to his play that has made it a timeless classic!
Ancestral Trauma and Reciprocal Violence
In archaic cultures, ancestral wounds have been the explicit sources of cyclical violent conflict, clan feuds, and tribal warfare since time immemorial. When one recognizes the recurring footprints of ancestral trauma as it persistently rears its ugly head in waves of influence over our lives — when we can have conscious awareness of its perennial, wave-like presence and sway over human affairs — one might be able to take the necessary measures to healthily release and short-circuit its negative hold over our lives. This is in contrast to suppressing it or succumbing to its baleful influence, both of which only serve to perpetuate its destructive effects.
Suppressing deep-seated trauma only strengthens it and results in the development of the “shadow” in the human psyche, as described by psychologist Carl Jung. It splits away the traumatized part of the psyche as a source of perceived guilt and shame and keeps it hidden from conscious awareness. It forces one to put on an inauthentic “mask” of societal conformity and conceal the wounded aspects of the soul. This leads, potentially, to severe long-term psychological problems in the subject of the trauma.
On the other hand, if one succumbs to the baleful influence of ancestral trauma, one is potentially giving in to deranged acts of violence or mental illness — to the disastrous outcomes of untreated long-term PTSD. This is precisely the outcome dramatized in the conclusion of Shakespeare’s classic dramatic tragedy, Hamlet. Hamlet’s psychotic, self-sabotaging behavior induced by the PTSD resulting from his unresolved ancestral trauma, leads, ultimately, to the tragic, violent, climactic outburst at the end of the play — he engages in a brutal vendetta against his perceived nemesis and, thereby, succumbs to the recurrent cycles of reciprocal violence that are characteristic of the blood feuds in primitive tribal societies. Hamlet takes revenge against his archenemy, but is consumed by the flames of his unresolved ancestral trauma, personified by his “father’s ghost.”
The healthy release of ancestral trauma can be achieved through practices such as transcendental meditation (TM), yoga, qigong, sound healing, breath-work, nature walks, and golf. Additionally, simply learning to recognize the appearance and occurrence in the psyche of recurring “existential angst” or “nameless fear” — one of the symptoms of ancestral trauma — and learning to breathe into it and release it, achieves a healthy, partial release of trauma. These are practices we need to incorporate into our lives to progressively release ourselves from the grip of ancestral trauma. One may not see immediate, overnight results, but, over time, through awareness, recognition, and practice, the fruits of one’s efforts will inevitably manifest themselves.
These practices echo the Christian doctrine of salvation by faith. In this sense, faith means letting go or releasing one’s stress and anxiety and trusting in God. Thereby, one is progressively able to relieve the psyche of deep-seated ancestral trauma. Similar Christian teachings, such as the practices of “turning the other cheek,” “loving your neighbor,” “doing unto others,” and not judging the “speck in your neighbor’s eye,” are also about generating an expanded awareness in the human consciousness, to avoid succumbing to the cycles of reciprocal violence that are the result of unchecked generational trauma.
Ultimately, we have to learn to deal with the deep-seated hereditary, generational trauma that is innately concealed within the human psyche, like a ticking time bomb. We have to learn to defuse this bomb within each of us intelligently and effectively before it explodes into a destructive, violent, horrific catastrophe, perpetuating the trauma that initially seeded it. Either we learn to release this seed of generational trauma healthily, or it will potentially erupt when we least expect it, consuming us all in a bloody conflagration.
