Archetypal Characters
A deeper exploration of specific archetypal characters.
Victim-Victorious
Let's consider for a moment that we all have a container in our psyche that holds the entire history of our being wounded: betrayal, abandonment, shame - the whole painful enchilada. This same container also holds the story of our healing: past, present and future....
The Archetype of the Father and King
The Fifth edition of the Archetypal Tarot Podcast explores the meaning behind the Emperor card of the Tarot as a stage of a journey where one is asked to create structure and practical plans for your project or dream so that it can be fortified before going on to the...
Three Archetypes of Awesome
Little things can mean a lot. Let's say you're having a crappy day and you're at the store when the cashier pulls out a coupon that saves you a dollar. This gives you a boost and you walk out the door in a better mood. Maybe you don't honk at the numbskull ahead of...
Romantic Chemistry: The Knight and the Damsel
The Knight and the Damsel are a matched set of patterns with naturally occurring complimentary attributes and dysfunctions. This can be true of any couple with these archetypes no matter their gender, same, different or otherwise. While we think of the Knight as a man and the Damsel a woman, that’s not always the case. I’m going to go the traditional route here but keep an open mind that the archetypes are not necessarily gender specific.
The Networker Archetype and the Tipping Point
Are you the hub that connects a diverse group of people? If someone mentions they are looking for a new job or a place to have great Korean Barbecue do you have a list of suggestions for them? Do you make it a habit of never throwing out business cards or deleting...
Seizing the power of Lover Archetype
"So much is happening in the world, earthquakes, revolutions and wars and you're writing about the archetype of the Lover?" My reply: "Heck yeah, with all this chaos how do we approach what needs to be done without the passion of a Lover!?" She gave me a look of...
“I am myself” The Self Possession of the Virgin
In his biography of Emily Dickinson, Alfred Habeggar describes a scene where Emily sits happily in the lap of a male acquaintance in the front room of her family home. During her later years, she found pleasure in this man's attentions long after mysteriously...
Hedonist Revolutionary
I haven't found a more potent and exciting combination of the Hedonist and the Revolutionary archetypes than in Jamie Oliver (formerly know as the Naked Chef). One of the the UK's brightest culinary exports is taking America by storm and I for one love him all the...
Part of us is grouchy and lives in Florida
Understanding archetypes goes much deeper than a chat about a movie and beyond the confines of a psychology textbook. An archetype is not just a pattern "out there" in theory but it is a recurring set of experiences that unfold through the course of a human life....
DMC and the Angel
"Everything happens for a reason." Says Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, who is one third of the pioneering rap group Run DMC and one of the most influential rap artists of all time. At the age of 35, DMC made a startling discovery and suddenly, everything he thought he knew...
What keeps you in the cave? Archetype of the Zombie
We find ourselves in the middle of the first month of the New Year. The air is still fresh, dreams are new, and heartbeats run fast. Maybe, like me, you are starting to slump under the abundance of material on keeping resolutions for the next twelve months. Instead of...
An Artist Walks into a Monastery
How do archetypal motivations become passions that bring something new into the world? Sometimes one enriches another so much as to create a whole new experience. Inspiration is the deity of the Artist and contemplation the mark of the Monk/Nun. These two archetypes...
Myth and Motivation of the Martyr Archetype
Know a Martyr? Most people have had the experience of working with or knowing someone with a Martyr archetype, or maybe you even see it in yourself. I'd like to provide some information in order to help understand and work with this pattern. Bad Reputation The...
The Poet
I try to make a point to write about what could be called the 'unsung' archetypes. One's that don't seem to have a popular or even a very present place in our culture. Last month I wrote about the archetype of the Scribe to illuminate it's presence and potential...
Here’s to the bean counters: the power of the Scribe
This comes on the heels of a similarly themed article that I published in June called "Does productivity = happiness?" which deals with the same topic. Statistician (a Scribe in Archetypal terms) Nic Marks asks why we measure a nation's success by its productivity...
Storyfied: The Storyteller Archetype
This is a true story about one woman, the Storyteller archetype and it's power for both good and tragic. I came across it on a podcast recording from The Moth which is a not-for-profit storytelling organization. When Nancy Finton was in her early 20's she had a job...
Prostitute Finds Faith in You
The term Prostitute doesn't typically come up in polite conversation. It does however in popular culture, usually in it's slang form, "ho". In fact "ho" is used quite liberally and casually in music, movies and by kids talking on the bus. So what is all this "Ho"...
OFGM: Original Fairy Godmother
Once upon a time I was in a grocery store check-out line and struck up a conversation with the woman in front of me. We were talking about good deeds and she mentioned how her friend liked to put quarters in parking meters for total strangers. She called her friend...
Facing the Bully: A New Karate Kid
Poke fun all you want, but I am totally cool with their being a new Karate Kid movie (coming in June). I've no doubt that Jackie Chan can pull off the Mentor role first played by Pat Morita (Mr. Miyagi). He's made an entire career playing Fools and Warriors with a...
Survival Archetypes and “The Wizard of Oz”
The film "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" provides a prime example of the hero's journey of each of the four core (or survival) archetypes: the Child, the Victim, the Prostitute, and the Saboteur. This film is an archetypal treasure trove, but for brevity's sake I will...