Salno and the Serpent

2.26.2023

There is a sacred structure underlying Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster (1964, 三大怪獣 地球最大の決戦, Three Giant Monsters: Earth’s Greatest Battle). The New Testament Book of Revelation is a strange and mysterious book to most of us. But armed with the interpretive key, the symbolism of the apocalypse becomes understood. At the center of John’s writings is what scholars identified as the key to unlocking the meaning of the book. That key is the story of the woman and the dragon/serpent in chapter 12. The meaning of this story seems obscure and opaque on the surface. But it quickly makes sense when the reader and interpreter recalls the first biblical story of a woman and a serpent in Genesis 3. The Bible is not the only source of such stories. This age old story is found elsewhere and its myth continues to be used to frame human history in fascinating ways. In Genesis, the story could be summarized as such. The serpent is at war with the woman. Her future salvation lies in the birth of her child who will grow up to be a warrior and who then will crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:13-15). Unfortunately, human history is replete with stories of the ravages of war that leave behind widows and orphans. And the question, Who will protect them? remains to be answered. The story of the woman and the dragon is an archetypal and mythical story that provides an origin, explanation and pattern for the cause, the nature and the outcome of human conflict and war.

Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster Japanese theatrical poster

Last night, I was enjoying Ghidorah when I was struck again by the importance and centrality of Princess Maas Doulina Salno (マウス・ドウリナ・サルノ王女) to the film. Her story and the plot parallel that of the woman and the dragon in Revelation. Both involve prophetic warnings anticipating an apocalyptic ending to the world. Like John possessed by the Spirit of God to see visions, the princess is possessed by a Venusian, who apparently is her ancestor who came to earth 5000 years ago.¹ Venus was once an advanced civilization but it had been devastated by the terrible fire dragon King Ghidorah. Now possessed, the princess warns the people of earth of the imminent arrival of that dragon and the impending doom it will bring.

In Revelation 12, there was a war in heaven that ended with the great dragon cast down to earth. The earth is warned that the dragon is coming: “But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” Upon arrival the dragon pursues the woman. But she is whisked away into the wilderness which has been prepared for her survival. The dragon spews a flood from its mouth to sweep her away. But the earth comes to her rescue swallowing the flood. Furious and frustrated, the dragon goes off to make war with her offspring, the inhabitants of the earth.

In a similar way, Ghidorah is cast down upon the earth inside a mysterious meteor waiting to appear. Such a scene is a heavenly portent and sign warning of dire things to come which was in keeping with the sentiments of the UFO society at the beginning of the film and of others who are concerned about where those tumultuous times will lead. The arrival of the Venusian prophet was met with skepticism and ridicule. But soon after her predictions came to pass when Rodan appeared, followed by Godzilla and Ghidorah. Because the princess’ life was in danger, she was swept away to protect her from those who sought to kill her. This is similar to the woman in Revelation 12 who escapes the dragon in the wilderness. Ghidorah unleashed his gravity beams on Tokyo and Japan and the stage was set for the battle of the titans. Mothra, Godzilla and Rodan rallied to defend the earth against the invasion of the Astro monster like the earth came to rescue the woman in Revelation.

Princess Solna’s story made of ancient stuff. The story of the woman and the dragon never grows old. This tale teaches timeless truths. Both the biblical story and this similar Showa classic reveal the depths and dimensions of the human dilemma through the symbolism of ancient combat myth and rivalry among the gods of heaven. The old principle, “As above, so below. As below, so above,” applies. There is war on earth as it is in heaven. The war in heaven is bound to spill out onto earth. Ghidorah is a divine super space monster. He takes over Godzilla’s old role as the god of destruction since he becomes an ally of the earth along with Mothra and Rodan. King Ghidorah threatens them all. Watching and listening to them sheds light on the human story and struggle.

The great dragon of Revelation is that old serpent the devil. Like Ghidorah, it has multiple heads, seven exactly. In the biblical tradition, the number seven represents the whole of something. Seven speaks of the completeness and wholeness of the heavens (3) and earth (4), both temporally and spatially. When combined, heaven and earth represent all of creation and the cosmos. Three and four make seven. Three is divine and God is a triad of persons (father, mother, child) and attributes (wisdom, understanding and knowledge). God is one but does things in threes like a hand using a compass to draw a circle. Therefore, three represents the divine. Spatially, heaven is God’s abode and is said to have three divisions. Four represents the earth because it has four corners, that is, four directions of north, south, east and west. Temporally, there are seven days in a week. Upon the dragon’s seven heads are ten crowns representing its power to take life and its political prowess on earth. This biblical dragon has manifested its power on earth two other beasts, the beast on the land and the beast from the sea in Revelation 13. Together, they form an unholy and counterfeit trinity which conquers the earth and brings harm to its inhabitants through oppressive kingdoms.

King Ghidorah’s design and appearance was not arbitrary as well. Godzilla’s arch rival was the idea of producer Tomoyuki Tanaka as documented by Teruyoshi Nakano in an interview with SciFi Japan.² Toho had just finished The Three Treasures (1959)³ and Tanaka wanted Godzilla to fight a multi-headed serpent. Seven or eight heads were too many. Two were boring. And three was just right. Ghidorah was inspired by Gustave Moreau’s illustration of Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra (from which Ghidorah’s name was based) in his Greek mythology book and by the legendary eight-headed dragon and serpent Yamata no Orochi (ヤマタノオロチ) of Japanese folklore.⁴ Ghidorah is also said to have been modeled after the three-headed dragon “Zmei Gorynych” from Russian mythology. In the 1956 Soviet film, The Sword and the Dragon (the American edition of the Russian film “Ilya Muromets”), it was called “King Dragon.”⁵

Similar to the ancient biblical story of the ancient dragon, in the Orochi myth, the dragon is expelled from heaven for tricking his sister Amaterasu, the Sun goddess.⁶ Interestingly, the woman of Revelation 12 is clothed in the sun, moon and stars. Ghidorah has three heads and comes from the heavens, speaking of status as king with victories over Venus and allegedly over Planet X in Invasion of Astro Monster (1965). What happens among the gods falls down to earth. The coming of King Ghidorah is anticipated by princess Salno turned prophetess, who comes before it to warn the earth. As the dragon pursues the women, King Ghidorah comes to destroy the earth and men from the kingdom of Selgina seek to assassinate Princess Salno.

And like the story of Revelation 12, the earth comes to the rescue of the woman. In Ghidorah, the earth is represented by the three great kaiju, Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan who battle the space monster. In ancient traditions like that of the Bible, the earth has a tripartite structure: the heavens, the earth and under the earth. In comparison, each earth monster represents one of the three divisions. Rodan represents the sky, Godzilla the sea, and Mothra the earth. Each is a force to be respected and to be feared. Each is a god with its own personality, power and strengths. Each has its own disposition towards humans informed by its unique encounter with them. But they come together to take on a common enemy and threat. These terrestrial gods despite their grievances have a shared interest with humans to save the earth. Humans and monsters find unanimity against a common enemy. The earth people don’t stand a chance against the villain from outer space. But the earth’s three monsters stood up against the three-headed King Ghidorah and turned it away. And this classic story of the woman and the serpent is the secret structure and power behind the success of the fifth installment in the Godzilla series.