I think of archetypes as living portals that a soul can cross through and be imprinted with a pattern as they move through life. We only know archetypes through their expression. And we can find ourselves as the expression, imprinted with the pattern of an archetype.
Joan de Arc holds the archetype of a martyr. And now she is the expression of that archetype we refer to as the archetype of Joan de Arc. Girl gets a download from God, bravely tells the King how to win the battle, leads the army herself (I can only imagine why the king didn’t send a warrior or brave night to do the job) I can hear him now, something like, since you believe it so much – you do it. Sparing his best leaders from taking direction from a teen girl and possibly to their death I suppose. I know history tells it different. And she did do it herself. Only to be burned at the stake for her reward. Thankless job, the job of a martyr. Very self-sacrificing. This is how we remember Joan de Arc. Not as a great spiritual leader and teacher with profoundly spiritual gifts, we know her for her untimely end. She is the expression of the martyr archetype not the Buddha.
There are many examples of not only different expressions of well known archetypes but also how those archetypes express through different cultural lenses. One of my dear friends collects pictures of Madonnas with different cultural representations and skin tones. Regardless of color, religion, culture – the archtypes are part of our human experience and express through every lens. Norse mythology has Loki and Hawaiiian mythology has Maui – both the jokster archetype.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the narcissist and condependent behavior patterns and how those could be better understood as archetypes. The tarot deck is a deck of scenic pictures which each depict an archetype although not exhaustive. I’ve found myself as the 10 of wands – carrying a large burden that is maybe not mine in an effort to people please or carry out the wishes and burden of another whose value I have placed above my own. This, I know is part of my co-dependent pattern and also an archetypical expression related to that pattern. Within the spectrum of narcissism there are many expressions. Overt, covert, sexual and many others. I’ve also recently learned of something in recovery circles called King Baby Syndrome. Another related archetype.
There is an enmeshment of culture, archetypes and behavior patterns that seem to be as diverse and complex as nature itself. We’ve dissected it down to behavioral health diagnosis, stereo types, labels and personality traits in many and various systems designed to help us understand how archetypes are expressing within us and our relationships to others. We all know what our zodiac sign is, if we’re and INTF or a ENTJ and more recently whether we’re a manifesting generator or some other combination of labels that fits our particular expression. All of these systems are helpful in understanding our selves and how we relate to others. But unhelpful when they are used in a way that dis-empowers us. I prefer to believe we express the way we do, not because of the diagnosis or label. But that the diagnosis or label, more or less accurately puts a name to an aspect or view of our particular expression.
If I express in a way that is labeled ADHD or dyslexic – there is a deeper archetype pattern imbedded within, that can be understood and worked with. Maybe even shifted.
And if I find myself carrying 10 proverbial wands that are not mine – can I put them down?
Non traditional healers hold space for healing, sitting in the darkness and shining light see the wounded can see the archetypes imbedded within their expression that may keep them in relationships where they are victim or perpetrator. Many healers themselves have seen the Magdalene archtype and the Isis archetype within their expression during this incarnation. Frequently they confuse these archetypes as past life memories. But they are different.
The mainstream practice of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy also works in this way of highlighting the pattern and empowering the individual to shift into a different way of being once they see it. To leave behind an archetypical imprint.
Similarly Rudolph Steiner said all people express as one or a combination of four archetypal temperaments: sanguin, melancholic, choleric or phlegmatic but he also said as we grow and mature we should round out and integrate all the temperaments so that later in life we do not express so strongly as just one or two.
I also particularly like the astrology archetypes found within the zodiac and also the archtypes of the cards of destiny.
In combination with the tarot we can layer archetypes. Each tarot card is also related to a zodiacal archtype. And mythologies help us to understand the archetypes through their expression into characters. The witch, the princess, the brave knight and so on. These fairytales aren’t just for children’s entertainment – they help train our minds to wrap around a concept that is a pattern imprinting mechanism on the human sub-consciousness so that we can better identify and work with that energy consciously. Reading fairytales and myths to children is important foundational work for their psychological wellbeing in life. Their mind can play within the story and decide how they would have escaped the catastrophe. Maybe how they would have made a better or different choice. Or whether they identified more as the mean step sister or always joyful despite her circumstances heroin.
I remember once upon a time, having an experience at work where a woman was behaving in unexpected ways that seemed to be about more than what met the eye. Felt like a set up. Smelled of manipulation. My colleague and I reached out to a friend who immediately shed light on the situation through the story of Little Red Ridinghhood. A younger girl coming of age still very innocent. Her mother bitter maybe of her daughter’s youth and beauty as hers fades. Jealous. On the surface maybe she portrays herself as a wise caretaker with a good intentioned idea but there is something unspoken underneath. She sent the girl off to bring grandma some sustenance – she probably took credit for that idea. But she sent her off in a way that set her up for failure. Through a dark woods known to have wolves, with a basket of fresh baked and fragrant food sure to attract such wolves and wearing a red cape like those used to entice bulls into a fight. The mother who is setting the daughter up for failure, to bring her down and demonstrate that for all her youthful energy and beauty she couldn’t complete the mission. This archetypical drama of a narcissitic mother who is jealous of her daughter and needs to be viewed as helping when really she is sending her daughter to the wolves with a red flag on her back, creating drama and putting everyone including grandma at risk. And of course the daughter took the basket and the mission without leaning into her discernment maybe. Believing what her mind wanted her to believe – that her mother wouldn’t steer her wrong, lived her and had her best interest at heart. What if she had said, no way – I’m not doing that, it’s too dangerous and not worth it. How would the story have changed. Maybe red and grandma wouldn’t have needed to be saved by the hunters, the masculines. This pattern of women competing, sabotaging and not standing up for themselves until they get into situations where they have to be rescued by men. We see it in the story – if we notice. And we can re-write that story when we are empowered to consciously change the pattern. Or not.