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Take Charge of Your Relationships

Relationships and Archetypes

Relationships clearly access our true motivations and unconscious beliefs. It's important to learn how the four central archetypal forces reveal themselves in your relationships with others.

Archetypes are patterns of behavior and perception. They are not simply external models, but live deeply inside of you affecting your beliefs and attitudes. Understanding archetypes and how you identify with them, will help greatly in your journey to a more conscious life.

In examining the four central or survival archetypes as they play out in relationships, let's use the example of how an adult woman interacts with her family and friends:

Child: The Child often prevents you from taking responsibility for your own life, and keeps you expecting others to cater to your needs, desires and wishes.

• She refuses to ante up any amount toward care of elderly parents because her siblings make more money than she does.

Victim: The Victim is the one who blames lack of fulfillment and happiness on other people. When things go wrong or become challenging, it must be the other person's fault.

• When her daughter has emotional difficulties in school, she blames her more-popular niece, who attends the same school, for not taking her daughter under her wing.

Prostitute: The Prostitute goes to any length necessary to attract a particular desired relationship partner or to keep a dysfunctional relationship intact.. Even though she intensely dislikes certain socially prominent neighbors, she continues to act as though they're best friends in order to remain attached to the social group.

Saboteur: Saboteurs will destroy relationships rather than dealing with the challenges they present.

• Rather than supporting her best friend's dieting efforts, woman constantly tempts her friend with favorite treats.

See how these archetypal patterns play out in your life by answering some questions.