Rose’s Tips on Archetypes

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1What is an Archetype? From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: An archetype is an idealized model of a person, object, or concept from which similar instances are derived, copied, patterned, or emulated. In psychology, an archetype is a model of a person, personality or behavior. Other well known examples of archetypes exist in myth and fairy tale.

2What are some of your best resources for identifying and understanding your archetypes? Jung, C. G., (1934–1954). The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious. (1981 2nd ed. Collected Works Vol.9 Part 1), Princeton, N.J.: Bollingen.

Campbell, J. (1968). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton, N.J. Princeton University Press.

Campbell, J. and B. D. Moyers (1988). The Power of Myth. New York, Doubleday.

Hillman, J. (1975). Re-Visioning Psychology. New York, Harper & Row.

Hillman, J. (1979). The Dream and the Underworld. New York, Harper & Row.

3Does everyone have an Archetype & if so how many are there? Yes, most people have many archetypes. Everyone is living some archetypal myth; for instance you could be living as a pirate, a hero, or avenger. There are as many archetypes as there are people on the planet. Think of the people that live like Peter Pan, lovers, rebel bikers, villains, teachers, and priests. 4Do your Archetypes change? Yes, from the time you are born until the time you die you are being shaped, and defined by various archetypes. By becoming familiar with your archetypal behavior and your responses to people and events, you gain knowledge and understanding of yourself. They are part of you, throughout your daily life and especially when you dream. Consider your archetypes the ingredients of your life, and you are the master of your own recipe. With mastery, you can change which archetypes to express at any time, just like you can change the ingredients to a recipe. Just remember that you are the master of your own recipe and to always choose the best ingredients.

5What if you don’t want any Archetypes in your life? You can simply choose not to acknowledge them, yet they will still be there serving you every step of the way. One way you can test your archetypes is to make a list of the people in your life that surround you including friends, relatives, co-workers, lovers and mentors, and see if one of these areas is weak or suffering. It just might be an unacknowledged Archetype calling out for help.

6How can I put my Archetypes to work for me, and what are they capable of doing? Archetypes are the parts of yourself that come from your feeling, intuitive world and they provide structure by creating a foundation of strength and support. They are not visible, but throughout history painters, sculptors, writers, philosophers, and inventors have come to know them so well, that they have brought them to life in the three–dimensional world. In addition, new archetypes are being created all the time.

Inventor • Alchemist • Pioneer

Once you have defined your own personal archetypes, I suggest making a list of each of them and define the rolls they play in your daily life. The next step is to look at all your friends, family, co-workers, lovers, and mentors that surround you, and see how they best support each one of your personal Archetypes. The people in your life are the support structure for your personal Archetypes. They typically share one or more of the same archetypes that you selected for yourself.

If there are people in your life that don’t seem to fit into one of the archetypes that you defined for yourself, then you may want to look at them more closely. You may have omitted one or more of your archetypes by not acknowledging them; you could have someone in your life that is holding you back from your life journey; or that person may be there to birth a new archetype within you. Once you go through this process you are on your way to knowing your archetypes and accessing their energy to get the best results.

7Should my Archetypes and my husband’s be the same? No, you may share some in common, but if they were the exact same it would be like wearing the same clothes, eating the same meal, or watching the same movie over and over again without change.

8I want to bring a new Archetype into my life, how do I do this? First, read all that you can about that particular Archetype, and then write a job description, including the attributes you are looking for in that archetype. Imagine them coming in to be interviewed, what do they look like, how do they speak, what are their thoughts. Imagine yourself taking on these attributes and visualize integrating these attributes as a part of you. Keep the list near by and go over it daily. Your Archetype is manifested in this way, through your daily affirmations and thoughts. You can test to see if the archetype has been integrated by the people who come into your life who are aligned and connected to this new archetype.

9Are my Archetypes affected by my religion? No, because the archetypes exist within everyone. You can tell when you are under the influence of an archetype when you feel sad, abandoned, or are enraged by someone or something. Anytime you are deeply affected, like falling in love or anguished over a loss, you know you are being influenced by an archetype. Religion might put a face on it but, the true essence of your archetype comes from inside you.

10What is the difference between my Archetypes What and my Ego? Carl Jung developed several models that explained the conscious and unconscious processes and how they work. The conscious mind, is everything that we know and think, and wonder about; it can be understood as the ego mind. The unconscious is all that we have forgotten, repressed, or is lying dormant ready to be activated by some external personal or world event. Archetypes appear when a person is activated. What this means is, when an event happens that rocks your world, some material is released from the unconscious mind in the form of Archetypes. Like when you fall in love, you become the goddess of love who adores music and loves clothes.