Whenever I try to sort myself, I always seem to land right between lion and snake for my primary and for my secondary. Badger and bird don't come up and feel totally alien to me. Do you have any advice for how can I differentiate between lion and snake for primary and secondary?
They’re weirdly similar. Both these primaries are internal - you get your truth and morality from inside yourself, not the outside world. And both these secondaries are improvisational - they feel safe and comfortable thinking on their feet, and can land in a totally new situation with very little prep-work and be happy and fine.
The stereotype is that Lion secondaries are terrible liars. And they don’t have to be... but oh man do they not like it. A Lion secondary’s strength comes from saying - This is who I am, this is what I’m doing, you can help or get out of my way. They’ve been compared to battering rams before. Snake secondaries are the total opposite. Let’s try a workaround, who is this person I’m talking to, how can I act in a way that will get though to them? From a Lion secondary’s perspective, a Snake can look sneaky, manipulative, two-faced. From a Snake secondary’s perspective, a Lion can look shouty and dumb. (Or, noble in a sort of tragic way, if you’re definitely-a-snake-secondary William Shakespeare, writing about them).
Primaries are harder. Snake and Lion primaries can both get to that place where they stare down the world and go no. you move. But a Snake will be there because they are protecting a person. It’s a very focused morality. A Lion will be there because of some deeply felt cause. I think Lions tend to take things like titles and jobs incredibly seriously. It’s ‘I will protect you because I am your teacher/captain/doctor/lawyer,’ not ‘I will protect you because I like you.’
