I started this blog officially on November 15, 2013, so I will complete this yearly round of topics on Nov. 14 of this month; after that I will introduce a whole new process and set of topics for the next year. For November, then, let’s come full circle to focus on the Archetype of the DESCENDER pairing with the metaphor Life Is…A Golden Opportunity.
DESCENDER is one of my primary ensemble cast members as a beloved Archetype Ally. As described by archetypal psychologist Debra Breazzano, Descender is an “Archetype of transformation through death and life/rebirth.” Its Mission is “to honor the descent process and embrace transformation of Self.”
Life is indeed a Golden Opportunity, and your Descender can help you discover its deepest possibilities for you.
A good way to tune into your Descender perspective is through active imagination that involves an imagistic form of descent itself. Imagine sinking DOWN into a subterranean chamber or a cave, or even under water. Imagine there a semi-darkened space, with just enough illumination to see by. Find an image of your Descender there; what does he or she look like to you?
Start a conversation. I will model the process here:
L: Hello! I have come to visit with you. What would you like me to call you?
D: I live in your shadows, so you can call me Shade, if you wish.
L: That reminds me of the shade of a large oak tree.
D: Okay. I can see that.
L: Let’s sit under a shaded tree then to converse. Would that be okay?
{Tree appears, and she: (darker hair, more slim, taller than me) sits down beside me in the grass. The space around us is dim, mainly we have the focus just around us in a luminescent glow.}
D: Why are you here? What would you ask of me?
L: I guess I’d like to ask about what happened with you yesterrday, when you cried out in frustration while I was fighting a cold and with my body aching generally, that we/I had “hit a wall”?
D: That was a waking dream when you walked into that glass wall at the seminar–at the turnaround door at the hotel– Nothing is an accident, remember?
(I did hit my forehead two weekends ago at a hotel. I’m still bruised across the forehead.)
L: Are you saying you led me to bump into into that door?
D: No, that wasn’t me. But it did wake me up! Everything takes SO LONG lately with you, with us, now in this lifetime. I am tired of waiting — waiting — waiting, and for what? Will it ever really matter? What difference does all of this work make? Is there anything around the bend or just more of the same, always?
L: Those are worthwhile questions and I am glad you are bringing them forth, Shade. On one hand I figure patience is a big lesson here. But maybe there is a way to step things up, too.
D: Maybe talk to our Communicator about that.
L: OK, I will. I just want you to know I do care about your feelings. Thanks for expressing them and let’s stay connected!
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Archetype Dialogue can help you understand your own motivations and inner conflicts. Tune in any time!
I welcome your insights and stories of your own experiences.
Better Endings 