Checking In With Your-Selves!

Are you engaged in some process that takes a long time yet brings a personal goal to fruition?  School can be like that, or now for me, writing for mainstream publication. I find this activity proceeds necessarily sometimes in fits and starts. During the fits or slow slog periods of editing yet one more time, I find it helpful to check in with my internal selves: those archetypal persona character modes that each have their own perspectives on our shared as well as their distinctive goals with regard to the project at hand. For it may be one or more of these Archetype Allies that has slowed the progress as a way to call attention to an opportunity for improvement before I can move forward more productively again.

Mindfulness is a popular term these days for this sort of checking in with your Self–or, more accurately for my purposes, your selves!  I like using an Archetype Dialogue Practice to help integrate conflicting internal viewpoints. I use an active imagination technique, such as Jung recommended, to “sink” into a subconscious level of awareness where I can make contact with my internally diverse viewpoints or parts of Self.

You can think of these archetypal personas as being associated with the various roles (or, masks) you occupy in life, as all of us develop somewhat distinctive points of view from the perspectives of each of our role types (e.g. Parent, Teacher, Lover, Nourisher, Idealist, etcetera).   You can have a conversation inwardly and/or journal a dialogue while you are imagining connecting with these internal parts of Self.  Just allow the interaction or conversation to proceed naturally. This is actually a level of subconscious interaction we take part in unconsciously much of the time, as we weigh a decision or an action.

Below is an excerpt from a journaling form of Archetype Dialogue I engaged with just a few days ago about the slow process of editing for publication:

ELDER LEADER     You need to finish the edit and begin taping for the webinar. Time is waning on our sabbatical.

NOURISHER.     Let her be, Marshall. She knows what she needs to be doing.

 LW:  Well I could use all of your input, actually. The editing feels too mechanical now. Taking stuff out is not so much fun as putting ideas into the book. It pains me to have to be removing the lined journaling pages, stripping down to only providing the instructions for library readers to do the techniques externally.

ELDER LEADER.    Yes we understand but that is what you need to do, so library readers will not be tempted to write in the books. That’s the editor’s decision. Why are you balking so much?

ARTIST    I know what you really want to be doing…and it is what I want to help you with… to redesign the Toolkit as a separate aid that readers will be able to download or receive directly as a workbook companion to the book.  The cover art your cousin has provided will fit beautifully with the Toolkit.

LW: Yes but then I also need to get rolling with the webinar production. And a larger than usual docket of classes looms just around the corner in August. Argh!

TEACHER.    One step at a time, dear. That is the best way forward. What is the ONE THING, as you tell people to consider with their own life mapping, that YOU need to be doing, Now?

MYSTIC.   Yes, dear Soul, what is your ONE THING, NOW?

LW:  Well, I want to have a clearer overview of the Whole–of where all this is heading, really. So much work for so many years, and yes we have a publication date, but the whole process feels like it is starting to get away from me, you know? Master, can you help me to re-center, to regain a stronger focus at this interval as I need to deliver these products in full strength and beauty, to best serve the Whole?

MYSTIC    Go within to find your answer, dear. What is your ONE THING, Now?

As I continued with this internal musing (a fine expression, by the way!), I did arrive at answers. My new process is to produce both the edit my publisher needs and, concurrently, I will generate the Toolkit from the extracted material. So I do not have to lose any of the vitality I want for the book to contain. As well, this contemplation led me to write a full draft script of the opening webinar sessions, so I feel back on track now!

I invite you to develop your own Archetype Dialogue Practice.  I will be sharing a full process for this approach with my upcoming book (March 2018), Your Life Path.

What are some of your own archetypal “parts of Self”? Allow them to present themselves to you. Just offer them a safe, open space for communicating with you. Keep in mind that these are not external “voices” or entities, at all. (If they feel as such ever, then it could be helpful for you to discontinue the exchange! ) These are simply your own INTERNAL points of view that much too often we tend to ignore. So, lend an ear!

images are from pixabay.com

I welcome your comments and stories!

Archetypal Alchemy

Carl Jung’s recognition of the value of encountering unconscious archetypical aspects of Self through active imagination leads to his understanding that this is a process leading to the “integration” of archetypal energies within the overall, individual identity of one’s Self. James Hillman further recognized that there is value in experiencing the dynamic vitality of usually submerged unconscious archetypal persona aspects, not necessarily to ‘raise them to conscious’ habitation but to explore the dynamics of their own field of influence within the Depth levels of Self.

Each archetypical mode or energy complex within our overall human consciousness formation has Its own nature and can be a staunch Ally in Its most positive (Strength, to me) mode— or an impediment if repressed or in Shadow. To me, as with Jung, Hillman, and Jean Houston, the forming of an Archetype Council— what I like to call your Ensemble Cast of Mystic Archetype Characters— is an important process that facilitates the integration and mobilization of your dynamic archetypal energies in the most positive way. I think in terms of Archetype Pairings and Archetype Constellations within your Total Self System.

Allying with your Warrior nature can be a good opportunity to forge an Archetypal Constellation in working toward a specific life goal or addressing a situation in your life that seems to call for your Warrior— at least in one aspect— to step forward. By Itself in full force, Warrior can lead the charge, when needed, to bring about a major shift in a situation. But Warrior also combines well with any of the other 11 universal archetypes (and/or their sub-modal, individualized forms), especially when you desire to establish a more tempered, balanced approach to a situation.

Combining archetypal modes or ‘guises’ normally happens unconsciously, but as an “alchemical” practice, the individual can choose consciously to enlist and combine specific archetypal elements in order to facilitate a specific objective. By the way, if this is not done, and as Joseph Campbell has reminded us, in some situations you might feel ‘dissociated’ or ‘split’: one part of you thinking or acting in one manner, another feeling or speaking from a very different ‘location’ within your Self. This is represented by the classic “angel on one shoulder, devil on the other” motif.

One technique I offer to you for forging an archetypal Constellation to explore how best to approach a specific goal or deal with a difficult situation, is what I’ll call the Roundtable Room technique (based on the symbol of King Arthur’s Roundtable):

1. FRAME a question or a situation;
2. State your goal in relation to this situation or decision;
3. On the picture below, circle those persona archetype characters you feel might be helpful to enlist to help you realize your goal or arrive at your decision:

 

4. Enter into an Active Imagination (imaginative contemplation) session and Descend to the Roundtable Room where these selected Archetype characters have been assembled. Now invite each of these Archetypical personas to offer how they can help your overall Self with the situation or decision. Have an open conversation with these parts of your Self, seeking their input and asking to draw upon each of their Strengths in a team-based, collaborative manner.

5. Emerge from your Active Imagination contemplation and write down all that transpired (you can also journal this conversation as it occurs if that works better for you).

Below are some spaces where you may print this post and  record which archetype modes you have invited to help you work with the situation you have focused on with your active imagination.

 

SITUATION:

Ensemble Cast Allies/Strengths to Draw Upon:

Warrior  /  (e.g. resolve)

___________________________

___________________________

___________________________

___________________________

___________________________

 

So, choose a situation for which your inner Warrior would be one ‘part’ of your Self that it feels appropriate for you to recruit in the Roundtable Room. What does your Warrior want for you and of you in the situation? How can he/she help you to deal with the situation and achieve your goal? What other parts of your Self have something to add to this? What Strengths can these Archetype Allies each contribute to help you implement this plan and manifest your goal?

images from pixabay.com

I welcome your comments and stories!

 

How to Calm the Shadow Warrior

All persona archetype energies or unconscious character forms may express in either what I would call Strength (positive attributes) or Shadow (negative attributes) modalities. A jilted romantic partner might dwell for a time (sometimes a long time!) in a Shadow Lover domain of unconscious feelings or beliefs, or the Shadow Idealist might express itself strongly when one’s ambitions feel shattered. The Shadow Warrior is a ‘side’ of a person that might become enraged at not accomplishing a desired goal or might become incorrigibly stubborn to the point of obstinacy, refusing any offer of aid as a symbolic gesture of defiance.

       

The next and final March-Warrior post which I will publish next Tuesday will explore the notion of Alchemical Pairings and Constellations of Archetypes in the pursuit of attaining a greater INTEGRATION of archetypal influences within one’s Total Self System. Integration, which can be thought of as forming a Council of Archetype Allies (Jean Houston also looks at this aspect), can bring about a much more balanced approach to everyday life events and to situationally important moments than relying primarily on one or another archetypal identity ‘shard,’ especially if that locked-in aspect of self presents in a Shadow mode.

images from pixabay.com

When you feel “caught” in a personality mode that you know is  “not fully who you are” or that “comes out” only in certain situations such as an argument with your spouse or family members, this is a good sign that you may be  allowing one archetypal sub-identity to govern that situation, for good or for ill.

So stay tuned! But meanwhile, if you feel a particular force of stubbornness or obstinate defiance running through you, you might look at the chart above and consider (or journal a dialogue with) what any other of these Twelve Primordial Archetype modes—as cast members of your own archetypal Assembly—might say to you at this time. What might your Nourisher offer to help dislodge you from an overly aggressive stance? What valuable advice might your Descender (familiar with dark spaces) or your Mystic (able to find meaning and lessons in any life situation) offer to you at this time?

I welcome your insights and stories!

(And thanks to Kery who offered a good interpretation of my Jaguar dream: the bike wheel spinning clockwise indicates forward motion, and the Jaguar (as Anima) suggests the importance of bringing my Feminine Energy along on this transition.)

Integrating Your Mystic Ally

This month we have focused on helping you to tune into the perspectives and Vision of your MYSTIC Archetype Ally. All of us have this aspect, this ‘energy of the unconscious’ that is available to us always, so long as we listen for and accept Its input.

The Twelve primary Archetype persona forms are most helpful to us when they are consciously enlisted to serve the Self and especially when they are allowed to form an integrated Council.

I like to call this your Ensemble Cast of Mythic Archetype Allies, similar to Dorothy’s cast of Tin Man (Shadow Lover)/ Cowardly Lion (Shadow Warrior)/ Scarecrow (Shadow Teacher)/ Glinda (Mystic)/ and Toto (Animus) in the Wizard of OZ. Once these cast members work together in harmony, they come into their greatest Strengths and together they successfully rescue the Self from its imprisonment within the Shadow Descender’s (Witch’s) castle, dissolving the negative energy of the Descender altogether as the Integrated Self (Dorothy) assimilates that energy as a positive Strength and ultimately; well, you know the Story (it is yours too): She GOES HOME as a mature, well integrated “Total Self System” (my phrase). I figure after all of this, Toto is going to be okay. Dorothy has the Heart, Mind, and Courage fully self-realized to manage the intrusive neighbor and to assure Toto will not bother the neighbor’s garden any more.

images from pixabay.com

Imagine a large, Round Table, reminiscent of King Arthur’s table at Camelot. There are thirteen seats around the table, for The Twelve primordial Archetype Allies, and the Self. Place an issue on the Table in some form (a request or an inquiry about a situation about which you would like a “concerted” input from your Inner Council). Imagine (listen to inwardly) or write out the conversation wherein various of your Ensemble Council members contribute their perspective or advice.  Take note of all suggestions received. Allow the Council to discuss the situation from all angles, among themselves and with You. Consider this input deeply; it may carry unconscious Truth beyond your conscious mind’s tendencies to conceptualize.  Express GRATITUDE to each and All for their input and constant Presence.

                                                                                Artist   Idealist   Nourisher    Self      Lover   Teacher  Elder-Leader

                                                                                             

                                                                              Warrior   Mystic     Descender   Communicator   Healer  Golden-Child

A Mystic Message for You

image from pixabay.com

Your inner Mystic archetype Ally has a clear message for you. Allow It to impart this message in the following two mediums:

1)Imagine you have just finished a wonderful Asian buffet dinner. The waiter has brought you two fortune cookies at the end of your meal. You will recognize that the first message relates to your present life and the second forecasts a desirable future condition that you can realize.

Open them here (allow your Mystic consciousness to fill in the words):

(You can print out this blog then use the fortune cookie shapes and heart shapes below as templates to write, draw or paste images.) 

2) After reading your fortune cookie messages, please take them to Heart. In the Heart space below, place your own words or images to communicate to your Mystic Ally how you will manifest the future condition S/he has forecasted for you. 

It is vitally important that you work IN TANDEM (like a bicycle-built-for-Two) with your Mystic Ally, so that your Inner perceptions and intentions can be effectively, powerfully in alignment with your Outer capabilities and Action.

I welcome your insights and stories!

Integrating Your Elder Leader

 

This year for the final post every month let’s focus on INTEGRATING the Archetype of the month within your Ensemble Cast of Archetype Allies. Your archetypal persona parts of Self function best in dynamic interaction with one another within what I like to call your Total Self System. This harmonizes their various energies to bring a greater balance to your perspective and more depth to your thoughts and creative expression.

Consider your Elder Leader mode with respect to your overall  presentation of Self. Acting alone, this archetypal role persona can be overbearing or rigid. Yet tempering this focus by integrating it with other archetypal energies such as the Nurturer, the Healer, the Lover or the Artist can bring a much more dynamic and brilliant approach, a multidimensional depth to your leadership style.

To help you integrate your Elder Leader, think about a leadership role that you occupy either as a parent or at your work or in your social or spiritual group. Is there a plan of action you are intending to implement from your leadership stance? How might your plan of action or a leadership decision you may face benefit from taking multiple internal (and external) archetypal perspectives “to Heart”?

The list below represents The Twelve primary persona Archetype modes that are universal to human consciousness.  For each of these, I invite you to contemplate and write down how each might contribute to your plan of action, then write out a unified account of how you might utilize these various perspectives in implementing your leadership strategy for the situation you are facing. In italics just as exemplar statements I’ll model the practice but I encourage you to try this one yourself!

 

The Situation requiring a plan of action:  Acquiring some needed resources for my department.

Contributing archetypal input (abbreviated):

ELDER LEADER:  Draft  a formal  request specifying needs and itemizing costs.

NOURISHER: Discuss needs with department faculty and staff, collecting their input.

WARRIOR: Identify benefits for the group and establish a strategic, logical argument explicating needs.

LOVER: Compromise where possible to temper your request in relation to the needs and feelings of people in other departments.

IDEALIST: Reach for the highest! Don’t settle for less than what is truly needed for all concerned.

ARTIST:  Design your presentation to be well organized and clear, to shine.

GOLDEN CHILD: Be assertive in order to be generous, taking everyone you represent into full consideration. Envision abundance and deliver that.

DESCENDER: Consider deeply what the true needs are versus frills, and prioritize. Consider carefully before proceeding.

TEACHER: Demonstrate the key elements of your needs assessment clearly.

COMMUNICATOR: Write carefully to frame the request effectively.

HEALER: Aim to present how the needed elements can improve/ repair the capacity of the department to better fulfill its role for students and will benefit the whole system.

MYSTIC: Use wisdom, not just knowledge; approach this process wholly.

Dynamic Plan of Action: Gather input from faculty members and develop a well considered list of needs. Frame the request carefully and deliver it effectively and with wisdom.

images from pixabay.com

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN! Try this for yourself!

I welcome your comments and stories.

Desiderata

I have contemplated an important truth this past week, for myself at least, about archetypal psychology—my own. The goal is always balance and integration, working collaboratively with pairings or with broader clusters or constellations (as I like to think of them) of persona archetype Allies. When I find myself out of balance, it may be that one of these personae is being too dominant, “sticking out like a sore thumb.” That is not who I am…For example, I am not “Elder Leader” or “Warrior” standing alone.  My Nourisher, Mystic, Idealist and even my Descender Ally facets can bring balance to my approach to an endeavor with which Elder Leader or Warrior might be tasked.

Whew!  I cannot be that which I am not; I am not within my holistic, integrated Self an overly rigid, “intransigent” person. Even in a situation that calls for me to exercise a disciplinary action I must find repose and come from a center of balance. Still, I must at the same time own and exercise authority in its rightful scope… :

 After writing all but the last sentence above, I dreamed a type of dream I thought I had transcended: a dream in which, once again, I run from a magnificently graceful, powerful Anima image: I run from owning my own Power and Grace. This time it is Mountain Lion. I am in a city scape with a same-aged, female friend. We approach and pass a female mountain lion, laying in repose along the sidewalk. I urge my friend to run once we pass Her, sensing she will pursue us, as that is Her nature.  Mountain Lioness leaps and knocks me to the pavement softly in one bound. I wait for further action but She hovers over me as if waiting for me to act. AWAKEN.

Two weeks ago while I was already laden with this ongoing test of consciousness, I took a walk with Sophia to a St. Francis retreat center, where in a Garden of Peace I walked right up to the poem-prayer Desiderata, which I recognized immediately was a Healing form of waking dream or golden-tongued wisdom for me at this trying time.

 

So, I/we all move on, always seeking Balance which must be won and re-won with every unfolding adventure. There is always another layer of life lessons to explore and integrate, as best we can in the Moment.

 

Better Endings to YOU!

I  welcome your insights and stories!

 

 

Your Archemes

Consider: All humans become members of their societies by assuming behaviors and attitudes associated with culturally patterned ROLES. A Mother or Father, a Doctor or Teacher, an orphan or an idealist, even a “depressive” all enact social positions vis a vis other social positions by displaying somewhat normative dispositions. In a way we wear masks, or what George H Mead would call personas as we seek to match identifiable images connected with situational identities. As well, we are all multiple in that respect; we adopt different sorts of persona images in different relationships and in different kinds of situations.

Next consider this intriguing statement from Carl Jung: “For every typical situation in life there is an archetype corresponding to that situation.” The archetypal persona forms associated with situational roles are what I am calling Archemes in Life Paths. Stock character forms that help you to learn and display your roles in social positions and in your relationships of various sorts become integral to your identities on both conscious and unconscious levels.

So when I speak in the blog this week about the metaphor of “Life is an Ensemble Cast of Archetype Characters,” I am referring to the notion of Archemes that we each have internalized or that have become ingrained in the very structure of human consciousness along with the evolution of society and culture. I speak as a professional anthropologist here, and I believe this approach explains much about the phenomena of archetypal personas. An understanding of Archemes helps dissolve much of the mystery surrounding the idea of collective and personal unconscious archetypes. While on the unconscious level your inner ‘voices’ and nudge-producers certainly do have a “noumenal” quality about them which can show up in dreams, they are also part and parcel of your conscious, outer roles which are closely connected with your feelings of identity and Self.

Getting to know your Archemes can be as simple, then, as to understand who you are in different sorts of typical situations, both on conscious and unconscious levels. Integrating your internal archeme personas can help you grow as a more unified, Self-aware individual.

I welcome all of your insights and stories!

Life Is… Your Ensemble Cast of Mythic Archetype Characters

Friday night there was a triple feature treat for me on Turner Classic Movies, with Man of La Mancha, Camelot, and Lost Horizon all playing on the same night! These are three of my favorite tales. Now I know better why these stories all appeal to me: they each have ensemble casts with very distinctive personalities. Don Quixote has his Sancho Panza and Dulcinea, as well as his shadowy foils. Lost Horizon has a range of personalities within the group of plane crash survivors and Temple personages including the Abbot, Conway’s resistant, pragmatic brother, and several other colorful characters each with their own distinct motivations and roles. And of course, Camelot has Arthur’s Merlin and his Lady Guinevere along with his Knights of the Roundtable and his own set of shadowy foes.

Arthur’s Roundtable image is what I want to focus on as we begin a new month here at Life Paths for Better Endings. Carl Jung makes reference to a similar Roundtable that he saw in a significant dream he describes in The Red Book.  Jung’s table had an emerald green surface and twelve seating positions around it like spokes on a wheel. He comments in The Red Book about the significance of twelve, as in twelve disciples or the twelve zodiac signs, and in his dream a feminine archetypal figure visiting Jung as a white dove mentions “the twelve” as well. Elsewhere Jung has written about the factor of twelve primordial archetypes representing the four elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) and the three natural energetic phases of any process (origination, maintenance, and dissolution). Dr. Charles Bebeau (with his wife, Nin Bebeau) developed these Jungian concepts—which Dr. Bebeau also relates to god/goddess figures in Sumerian astrology—into a pantheon of twelve universal persona Archetypes for his program in archetypal psychology at the Avalon Archetype Institute formerly in Boulder, Colorado.

Above is a wheel of Bebeau’s universal archetypes, named as adapted for contemporary psychotherapy by Debra J. Breazzano, MA, L.P.C.. These are The Twelve that I am exposing you to with this year’s blog schedule, pairing one of the twelve universal archetypes with one of twelve positive Life Metaphors each month. As these archetype energy modes are universal, that means that each of us has all twelve of these potentials within us, although each of us develops some more than others especially in relation to the sorts of “typical situations” and roles we establish in our particular Life Paths.

So, this month’s Life Metaphor is “Life is…An Ensemble Cast of Mythic Archetype Characters,” which are The Twelve Universal Archetype figures identified in the Archetype Wheel shown above.  They are an ensemble cast much as Arthur’s Knights of the Roundtable, or they can be, when they are integrated as a Council of Allies within your integrated, individuated Self. That is the topic we will explore this month!

Building Community with Your Archetype Allies

 

We have been focusing on one archetype Ally per month with this year’s blog theme, introducing one after another of 12 universal persona or character archetypes that are part of the makeup of the human psyche for everyone though in different proportions situationally and culturally. Let’s not lose sight of the fact, however,  that the goal of recognizing and exploring all 12 of these primordial parts of Self is ultimately in order to integrate their unconscious potentials and to align them within the Psyche as an interactive Assembly or as a Council of Allies. You want to be able to call upon all of your archetypal perspectives and Strengths, together as a combined force of holistic energy, as you go forward to Live Your Dream, Now!

I know that many of you readers are, like myself, also writers or artists of varied backgrounds and media. Consider the EDITOR in You. Archetypally one might at first assume that the Editor will draw upon either Communicator or Elder Leader strengths; or Artist or Idealist or even Teacher… but actually ANY of the Twelve might be associated with your artistic process and goals. If you limit your energetic focus to only one or another of these deep  unconscious energy reservoirs, you may limit and unduly constrain your creative, productive output considerably.

For example, sometimes in the past (less so recently) when I would be writing an academic paper for a conference presentation or for a journal, I used to every once in a while hear this strong, sudden inner voice that stated emphatically, “Heil Hitler!” Whenever I would hear this, I would know it was time for me to step back, take a break, and re-read what I had been writing with an eye to seeing that I was being too forceful or didactic with my writing style and voice. I would need to simplify, add some humor or use less academic jargon in order to SOFTEN the message and to broaden the appeal of the article or presentation. Maybe I was in that moment channeling (as it were) my Elder Leader’s authoritarian traits but then my Nurturer or Artist intervened to call my attention to this unbalanced, overly strict or controlled focus. I always found the message amusing but it was also instructive; I learned to listen when this happened so as to know when to ease up and shift my approach to be more inclusive of a wider set of INTERNAL voices and values.

The more integrated you become through attending to the multiplicity of perspectives within your REPERTOIRE of archetypal Ally orientations, the more holistic and integrative your creative and day-today work output—or parenting, or travel enjoyment, or whatever you are doing—will become. So I invite you to PLAY and to ENGAGE personally with the material I am presenting with this blog from day to day, week to week, and month to month. We are building here a COMMUNITY OF ALLIES that you can draw upon, always.

I invite your insights and stories about your own archetypal creative experiences!

Jung’s RED BOOK: Using Mandalas to Ground Your Awareness

 

Today I want to discuss Jung’s RED BOOK (or, Liber Novus; 2009) as an example of how to use Totemic Representation to ground and illuminate your personal growth and development.

For a series of evenings starting from November 23 – December 25, 1913, just before the outbreak of WWI,then continuing for 16 years off and on after that, Carl G. Jung, founder of Depth, or Analytical, Psychology and the primary pioneer in the field of archetypal research, undertook an adventurous odyssey; he dived into the netherworlds of his own unconscious depths, and he returned to integrate his dreamlike encounters with the denizens of his unconscious domains within his conscious awareness. Using a form of contemplative practice that he termed “active imagination,” Jung sank willingly into a dreamlike awareness in order to encounter aspects and personae of his own Psyche that he would refer to as Archetypes.

 To Jung, Archetypes exist in a “collective unconscious” dimension; that is, similar archetypal images or forms are found all over the world and often appear in myths and dreams in similar ways and with similar meanings, although the individual appearance of an archetype might have very individual, personal form and specific cultural relevance. Jung identified several collective archetypes in his active imagination scenarios: an Anima (feminine aspect of a man’s Psyche), Shadow forms, and a Mage sort of figure represented in Jung’s experiences as a philosophical guide or guru figure, Philemon. He also experienced many fairly idiosynchratic figures related to his personal relationships and to his academic, religious, and literary background studies.

Some of Jung’s archetypal encounters lasted for several nights at a time, weaving a meaningful story.  Every night after his active imagination session, Jung recorded what he had experienced—including dialogue that had occurred with his archetypal figures—in a special journal he called his Red Book. He would sometimes paint some of the content of his experience in the Red Book, too. Every time a storyline had revealed its full significance to Jung, when he came out of his reveries that night he painted a special artistic image to represent his understanding of that archetypal encounter in the form of a circular Mandala (see link).

A Mandala is a universal sort of artistic image, created in a Circular form within what might be a 4-corner outer frame and with a center image around which the rest of the picture aligns. Tibetan monks and Navajo Indian healers alike use Mandalas in healing and centering rituals. Mandalas represent Balance and the organized coherence and integration of what might otherwise be considered disjoint or even chaotic elements or forces. To Jung, his Red Book mandalas represented the “integration” of archetypal energies within his own Psyche or Soul as he came into greater understanding of their presence and significance.  This process of integrating archetypal energy forms is crucial within Jung’s broader psychological theory of Individuation which he developed more completely after completing his Red Book ‘Descent’ and reemergence.

Jung’s Red Book mandalas—which I can link to only indirectly here so as not to infringe on copyrights—are an excellent form of totemic representation. They served to literally ILLUMINATE the shadowy unconscious forms that might appear in Carl Jung’s dreams and reveries. The process of arranging these archetypal images in Mandala forms revealed the deeper significance of these forms to Jung; it represented the integrationof their MEANINGS within Jung’s holistic understanding of his own Psyche or Self.

I certainly recommend reading Jung’s Red Book (there is a new Readers’ Edition available that makes this precious gem more accessible and affordable). Even more,I encourage you to engage in an ‘active imagination’ exploration of your own archetypal depths. In Life Paths–also in the next year of this blog that will begin in a couple of weeks from now— I’ll be offering an Archetype Dialogue process to help you discover aspects of your own unconscious archetypal influences that can be thought of as your own ensemble cast of archetypal Ally characters.

For now, though, I invite you to create a MANDALA to represent your LIFE DREAM. Place an image that represents your GOAL ACHIEVED (how you will feel or what your life will be like when you have fully integrated your Life Dream into your daily reality) in the center of a blank page. Around this Life Dream image, place other images or words and phrases to represent significant aspects of this Dream or representing the steps you can take to manifest your Life Dream.  You can refer to last week’s “Yellow Brick Road” and “Your Next Step” blog posts to find or develop material to use in filling out your totemic Life Dream Mandala image.

 

I welcome your Mandala image or comments!

Your Helpful Archetype Allies

When I was a senior in high school in New York state (Lewiston, NY), our English professors came up with a great idea for that year.  Called “Universal Man”, the study year was segmented into a series of 3 or 4 week modules each on a different theme. Man the Lover, Man the Prisoner, Man the Seeker, Man the Adventurer, Man the Thinker, etcetera (now it would be Man or Woman…), was the basis of the themes. For each module we would choose relevant literature to read and we would write about it, plus we would reflect on that aspect of our own lives as well. Only many years later would I come to appreciate that these themes were “archetypal” in nature.  I really enjoyed that year’s English program. It helped me see how all these threads or energies interweave within everyone, giving us special qualities from each perspective.

Each archetypal character MODE has a unique viewpoint and stance in our overall Psyche. Some are more active and others are more suppressed, depending on the situation or context. This week I am inviting you to choose one of your own archetypal sub-selves to get to know better and to enlist in your adventure toward achieving a meaningful life goal. Since goals are usually related to some active role or career that we are already engaged with, let’s begin by selecting a goal associated with a role with which we are highly identified at this time. (For example, for me right now, it is my Writer/Author role that carries the most poignant goal; that of publishing LIFE PATHS.) So, after identifying your ardent goal related to some active role in your life, you can then identify an archetypal member (or more than one) from your unconscious ‘ensemble cast’ that could be most helpful aligning with you as you advance toward realizing your goal.

I will repeat Sunday’s lineup of archetypal character modes below. Which of these is most closely connected with the Role and Goal you are interested in strengthening?

Elder Leader: Strength mode—strong authority figure, self-confidence, director, leader; Shadow mode—harsh authoritarian, strict, imposing

Lover: In Strength—romantic intimacy, self-sacrificing, passionate; In Shadow—over-attachment, selfish desires

Warrior: In Strength—fighter for a good cause, courage, blazing new paths; In Shadow—attacker, domination or exertion of power

Nurturer: In Strength–Caregiver, gentleness, supporter, giver of consolation or understanding; In Shadow—stingy, over-protective, undue worrier

Artist: In Strength—expressive, talented performer/artist, creative, innovator; In Shadow—blocked creativity, inhibited, introversion, negative fantasy

Idealist: In Strength—High ideals, far-ranging vision, traveler, manifesting change; In Shadow—frustration, feelings of persecution, criticism, over-perfectionism

Golden Child: In Strength—charismatic, mover and shaker, destined for success, generous with largesse; In Shadow—overly controlling, vain, needs to be onstage or center of attention, fickle

Descender: In Strength—introspective, reflective, thoughtful, cocooning; In Shadow—depression, self-restriction, hiding, avoidance, introversion

Teacher: In Strength—imparts knowledge with enthusiasm, studious researcher, reader, notetaker, patient instructor, coach; In Shadow—overly didactic, my way or the highway, micro-manager, overbearing

Communicator: In Strength—public speaker, writer/author, workshop presenter, interpersonal communicator, promoter, a good listener; In Shadow—tight-lipped, withholding viewpoint, holding ideas close to chest, suspicious, or overly extroverted, “rabble rouser”

Healer: In Strength—doctor or nurse, concern with diet and exercise, natural energy, implementing positive change; In Shadow—masochism, perpetuating pain or sense of fatalism

Mystic: In Strength—seeker, prayerful, contemplation or meditation, dreamer, focus on cosmos, monk-like, alchemy; In Shadow—addictive personality, dwelling in Darkness, isolated hermit, withdrawn

Have you identified one or more potential character allies? Next then, I invite you to engage with this archetypal aspect-of-Self in an active imagination and/or in a journaling DIALOGUE. Get to know this energetic part of yourself. What are his or her own goals for you? What are their greatest loves, fears, worries, hopes? How and when do they show up for you? How are they part of the ROLES you enact day to day? When and why do you sometimes suppress them or why do they sometimes retreat?

How can they help you to realize your Goal?

As a sample, while I find many of the 12 archetypes have qualities essential to my current goals as a writer/author, I want to get to know The Healer better this week, because I think that is a part of myself to which I do not give enough room overall in my life. I catch from the character description that Healer can be helpful with “implementing positive change” and has a quality of “natural energy”. I feel the need for a second wind lately to help circumvent some of my own habitual self-limiting attitudes. So I seek out HEALER as an ALLY on this leg of my journey.

First then, dive Down into the Deeps of your personal unconscious realms. Do not expect your archetypal sub-selves to necessarily come “up” to your world of consciousness to meet with you. You can use an active contemplation or meditation mode to “sink” into an imagistic realm that you share with your archetypal cast.

LW: Is one I can call Healer present here? Can we talk?

H: I am here.  How are you?

LW: Worried. I feel like I’ve been sabotaging myself lately; I need a dose of some positive self-confidence for taking the next big—or small—step. I am scared.

H: Why then is it me you seek help from? Why not some of the Others? Elder Leader or Artist, or Descender even?

LW: I feel I need your Healing energy to help me assuage self-doubt in order for me to be more empowered to communicate from a greater strength of awareness.

H: Who injured you? When?

LW: Wow! You are right, this goes way back to my father and others who led me to inhibit or to subdue my sense of confidence in life overall. Better to stay in the shadows they would tell me. Be silent; don’t make waves. The world will beat you down if you stick your neck out, they would say.

H: There is more. What did your father say that inhibits you so deeply? He is down here still you know, both as what you call Shadow and as Strength. Do you want to see him?

LW: …not right now. I remember several disparaging remarks, most of which I don’t want to include in the public blog…so I’ll reflect upon them privately instead.

H: What do you need a healing for then?

LW: For hiding from him all these years—or the Shadow side of him. I am still grateful for the rest and I know he ‘meant well’ and had his own dragons affecting him.

H: What do you need from me?

LW: Just to be with me as I forgive him. To be my Ally as I take a step to communicate ‘forward’ this week. I need you to acknowledge the purpose I aim to fulfill with this goal.

H: Many others can benefit; the time has come to release this child of yours into the world.

LW: Will you mid-wife then?

H: Yes if you will allow me to.

LW: Please.

H: Then remember to BREATHE, okay? Breathe and review where things are at. Breathe and communicate forward.

Enough from me. I hope that the process is clear for how you can engage with your own archetypal parts of Self. I invite you to do so. Identify a goal that matters to a role you seek to strengthen in your life right now. Identify an archetypal part of Self that could help you. Get to know that archetypal persona and invite that one to serve as an Ally.

I encourage and look forward to YOUR insights and STORIES!

Tiger and Mouse, by Gail (an Archetypal Dialogue Guest Story)

Hi,
Your blog is interesting. We had an event happen or I guess a couple of things which makes me wonder what mirror I’m putting out. My two characters in this dialogue will be Tiger for me as Soul, a child of God who loves herself. Mouse will be the other side who feels she has to hold on to straws and settle for whatever enters her life.

First the back story:

My husband and I are both blind. Therefore, we do depend on friends to help us. We have someone who we have known for many years who often has helped us do atm transactions, read mail with personal information, has picked up stuff for us and used our debit card to do so. We pay for the gas we use, and often allow him to buy meals.

Last month sometime we got one of those mailers which offers a loan for an lump some of money. Then you have to pay it back within a specified time period.

This loan came in my husband’s name. It is very remotely possible that it could have been taken out of the mailbox by a stranger. Whoever did this knew my husband’s Social Security, and all the other pertinent information needed for the form. On the 22nd of last month a check from this loan company was cashed. Our account number was on the back. In my thinking this was planned. Since the loan check was sent out in March and it wasn’t cashed until April. He put his phone number instead of ours and it was cashed at a branch which we never go to.

We went into the loan company and they said as long as we file a police report we won’t be held liable for the payments. They said they’ve been trying to call his number to welcome him to the program after he cashed the check but he doesn’t acknowledge their calls. If he had put our phone number then nothing could be traced back to him.

This really smarts since in many ways he’s a likeable guy and my husband and he have worked on a number of projects together.

Tiger: “I love myself and deserve to be valued. I know I need help with stuff because of my disability yet I am worthwhile enough to have people around me who want to be friends and understand there are times when I’ll or we’ll need extra assistance. My willingness to share meals and a listening ear is worth the trade.”

Mouse: “You know he has made many poor choices in most of his life so you shouldn’t be surprised. Besides, you really need him to run errands for you. Besides, everybody since they are Soul needs unconditional love.”

Tiger:
“I’m not a door matt. I don’t have to settle forsome who uses my husband’s identity to get money he doesn’t have any intention of paying back. It was a blessing from God that I found the statement saying how much the payments were for. We were able to start the process before it went against his credit.”

Mouse:
“You should just pay for the loan because you need his help. You can’t afford to make people angry at you.”

Tiger: “It’s not about whether we make him mad or not. It’s about what the truth is.
The truth is if he didn’t do this then all of us need to know who did to protect all of our identities.
Is it necessary? Yes, I value myself and my husband and we shouldn’t pay for somebody else’s stupidity. I trust the Holy Spirit to help us solve this situation with as little baggage as possible.

Mouse: “No one will help you if you turn him into the police for fraud. They would all be afraid you’d make up something and do the same to them.”

Tiger: “You are a child of God and worth joy and happiness.I trust my spiritual guide; the Mahanta, the Living ECK Master is always with me. He looks out for me as long as I remain a loving soul.”

******

Dear Gail: I notice that in your Archetype Dialogue, Tiger speaks first as well as last, suggesting this is the stronger viewpoint.

Tiger can be an ELDER LEADER or a WARRIOR archetype.

Mouse, in all its “mousey” aspect, can be a Shadow IDEALIST or a Shadow NURTURER archetype. By Shadow I mean this is the “negative” or “weaker” mode of these two archetypes. Of course, a mouse could also be a Mighty Mouse! But yours seems more timid than that.

How can you integrate these two? It is possible to be strong and assertive yet also kind. (I saw a bumper sticker on a car today that said: “Be Kinder than you need to be!” Perhaps this was a waking dream.) The fact that these archetypal aspects express themselves in opposition here suggests to me that if you combine their energies, you can go forward as the loving Soul you are while not allowing others to take advantage of you.

Enabling a Thief (also a  Shadowy archetype, a DESCENDER) not only allows them to get away with perpetrating on innocent people but lets them think they can get away with this again, affecting others and possibly you again, if you continue to utilize his ‘help’. For them to learn their lesson in this lifetime–to confront the karmic results they have reaped–may require for you, or someone eventually, to confront them with this fraudulent aspect of their own nature. How else can they learn, and how else can you be true to yourself? Your inner dialogue may represent two aspects of your inner guidance, as well! Two images of Soul, or a Master and chela interaction?- Linda

***

Would others like to reply to Gail, too?

Feel free to add your Comments or your own stories.

Listening to Your-SELVES: A Balancing Act

Welcome to Prompts Day at Better Endings. On Tuesdays we entertain a list of topics for applying the principle of Better Endings to a weekly theme; this week, Attitudes. Some speak of a “Law of Attitudes,” which makes sense to me. Our attitudes to a large extent determine our experience. Attitudes reflect and can establish “mindsets,” which act like filters between our minds or hearts and the “reality” we are able to perceive.

Let’s consider especially opposing, paired attitudes this week. These are polar-opposite perspectives that frame very different outlooks on the same event or situation. Here’s a list of some paired-opposite attitudes for you to consider and add to:

optimistic            pessimistic

open            closed

impatience            contentment

       insecurity            self-confidence

   belief            cynicism

expansive            narrow

kindness            meanness

acceptance           rejection

constructive            destructive

respectful            demeaning

gratitude            conceit

Can you recognize within yourself BOTH poles of one or more of the above pairs of opposing attitudes with regard to some situation or enduring conflict in your life? I invite you to choose that sort of opposition to explore. Consider a subject that you can “look at” from either of a very opposite pair of perspectives. Allow yourself the space to feel-think-Be first in one attitude, and then shift grounds to the polar-opposite attitude about that same subject and feel-think-Be in that attitude instead for a while. What do you pay most attention to, in each perspective? What appears more important, and less important, depending on your outlook? What about the subject itself motivates you to shift more to one or the other side of the polarity?

Recognizing duality or bipolarity in ourselves, especially around ideas or situations we feel conflicted about, is natural for everyone, sometimes. From an archetypal psychological viewpoint, situations that evoke conflicting attitudes can expose to us ‘parts’ of ourselves that are worth listening to and exploring–in moderation–because we may tend to suppress some ‘sides’ of ourself at the expense of a whole, balanced, integrated outlook. Allowing an attitude you normally suppress to express itself while you are there to pay attention to it can help you to get to the root of some issues you might otherwise be denying or seeing only from a self-limiting perspective. These ‘buried’ attitudes can help you to troubleshoot a stubborn point of view in order to develop some more balanced and creative solutions!

For today,simply choose one or more of the above attitude-pairs–or use another–that represents a set of opposing attitudes you sometimes hold about some situation or subject in your life. Let both sides have their say, either through journalling from each perspective, or engaging in an imaginative internal ‘listening session’ to both sides, one at a time. The only guideline is that each side gets to have its say without judgement or interruption. Then, try looking at the situation again, AFTER clearly expressing both of your opposed attitudes.

Does a creative solution or a deeper understanding of the situation light up for you?

Tell us about it (if you’d like). If you wish you can submit your story or journalling practice as a Story of the Week (If I receive more than one, I’ll probably blog them all!) And always, I welcome your insights and Comments!

Better Endings to You!  – Linda