Reflections: Archetypes Everywhere

Archetypes are everywhere. Our life and this world we live in are governed by countless archetypal patterns of power that influence each of us. In turn, we act on those influences in our daily life through every single choice we make, right down to the clothing we wear to the person we fall in – or out – of love with, to the addictions we have, to our success – or failure – in our choice of business deals. Every choice we make is connected to an archetypal pattern. Every relationship we have is magnetized through our archetypes.

We are attracted to people because we share harmonious archetypal patterns. A Princess seeks out a Knight. A Warrior often looks for a Damsel. Addicts look for Addicts and always find them. Rescuers need a Dependent Child or Victim seeking assistance. Both mistake their mutual dependency for “love” – a classic archetypal relationship.

People who can recognize archetypal patterns, even to a slight degree, are at an advantage in relationships in that they are positioned to understand “what’s really going on here.” We often know that something unspoken is the real cause underlying ruptures in any relationships, from personal to friendships as well as relationships in the workplace. A person who is emotional and insecure will never be able to see what is actually unfolding around him or her because that individual is frozen in fear. Everything looks “personal” and frightening to someone who is terrified, angry and hurt. Examined through archetypal patterns, however, any and every situation instantly becomes “impersonal”.

For example, you could tell me that you were bullied at work by your employer, and of course for you, it was a very personal experience. Yet, if we looked at the man who is your boss through the Bully archetype, and you have stepped into the Wounded or Invisible Child or Victim or even Creative Genius archetype (an archetype that a Bully absolutely loathes), you would see that the Bully in him automatically attacks anyone that he senses is weak or better than him. It’s not personal. He would attack anyone. It just happened to be you this time. It could be me next time and a stranger the time after that. Bullies attack first because a Bully is always a Coward and their greatest fear is to be exposed as a Coward. They fear being challenged and so to insure that they are not challenged, they have to humiliate or destroy someone first. This behavior is archetypal. It is not personal, even though for someone who has been bullied and humiliated, nothing could feel more personal. Both are true simultaneously. And yet, the ability to understand the impersonal nature of the Bully archetype helps someone to heal and to protect him or herself from another encounter with a Bully – because there is always another encounter. What is the archetypal challenge when we are confronted by a Bully? Stand up to him and he goes away – the classic story of David and Goliath.

This Reflections Series is all about the power and influence of archetypal patterns – only with a bit of a twist. This time we will explore archetypes from a more expanded perspective that includes the psychic atmosphere created by collective intention. That is, when you are “thinking business”, so is the person with whom you are doing business. What archetypal patterns are likely to dominate that atmosphere? What archetypes dominate a psychic atmosphere in a room filled with romantic intentions? Or family issues? Or family decisions?

This delicious Reflections series will expand your perspective and stretch your psychic field with the realization that you are not the dominant energy system in any room. You are not the center of any universe. You are one person mingling in a room full of people, all of whom think they are the center of the universe. That “center of the universe” notion is rooted in the archetype of the Social Narcissist, an archetype shared by many these days.

I think everyone would enjoy this class and more to the point, personally benefit from it more than I can say. How could you not gain inner ground from such rich self-knowledge?

As you can see from the class descriptions, archetypes are everywhere. We live and breathe in an archetypal universe. Every relationship we have is an archetypal connection, even with our children, beginning with the primal Mother-Child bond. Every event in society is a creation of our collective archetypal energies. Nothing, not war or peace, not disasters or global events, just “happen.” We are participants in everything. We are co-creators of the events unfolding in this world, but the means through which we “co-create” is not our “will power.” Co-creation occurs through our archetypal patterns and the deep-rooted stories and beliefs we cling to that are rooted in our archetypes.

I hope you will join me for this next Reflections series.

Love,

Caroline