Listen to Your Golden Child

This week we have been exploring together (thanks for all of your insightful comments!) qualities associated with the GOLDEN CHILD Archetype, both as an inner Archetype Ally within your personal unconscious cast of characters and as manifesting in some of your loved ones or others in your life.

Let’s take some time to ask ourselves, “What is my GOLDEN CHILD asking of me Now?”

Some of us are reticent to fully express our Golden Child archetypal potentials most of the time; our sense of “humility” might hold us back from possibly seeming brash or extraverted as much as a fully expressing Golden Child aspect could be.  But listen closely: If you could give full voice to YOUR Golden Child nature, what would it like to say or ask of you, Now?

Let me try briefly as a model (only); I invite you to do this yourself, either in an active imagination/ contemplation mode or through direct Archetype Dialogue journaling.

LW: Okay, GC, I am wanting to check in with you to see if you have anything you have been wanting to share with me/Us directly. Is there anything you want me to be saying or doing at this time that I am not expressing as well or as fully as you would like? You are my Ally and I trust you to speak forth as you desire!

GC:  Well then, that’s a welcome invitation. Are you telling me I could have full rein to speak my heart?

LW: Yes, absolutely.

GC: Hand me that mike, then! Ok…hmmm…ahem (clearing the throat, pausing to consider deeply)… First, about the book….Don’t hold back! It is ready to be launched; the new titles I’ve been helping you with yesterday and today are better, stronger, more clear. “Don’t hide your light under a bushel,” remember? And “Behold the turtle; s/he makes progress only when s/he sticks her neck out!”

LW: I hear you; these are two platitudes you have reminded me of since childhood! What else?

[Incubation throughout the day; including active contemplation before the rest…]

GC: As for the other issue we are being confronted with today…

LW: Work related?

GC: Yep. Don’t let this person take further advantage of your “good nature.” Don’t be milquetoast, got it? He will eat you up!

LW: I do know I must refuse to be codependent with an addictive personality.

GC: Then act, strongly.

LW: What would you say?

GC: {I choose not to publish this section; GC provided strong advice on how to confront a pressing personnel issue; advice I intend to follow through with.}

…  

LW: Wow…well, Okay then. Thanks!

GW: Any time. Remember to ACT!

******   ******

So then, I invite you to check in with your own GOLDEN CHILD, either as an unconscious archetypal outlook or converse with someone in your life who is not shy about expressing their helpful viewpoints!

I invite and always welcome YOUR Comments and Stories.

 

Your Communicator Ally

Consider there is a part of yourself we can call your COMMUNICATOR, an archetypal aspect of your total Self identity. That means you have developed an “archetypal” mode of expression that you can draw upon unconsciously when you aim to communicate well. Of course, if your COMMUNICATOR part of self has been inhibited or is conflicted then this may actually interfere with your communicative style until or unless you recognize these issues and work through them to a condition of greater awareness or balance.

Are there some situations in your life in which you rely on your inner COMMUNICATOR and in which you feel more—or, less—confident communicating? When does your COMMUNICATOR feel most competent? Least? What issues may be coming up for you with the latter?

To model addressing such questions, let me share here just a bit. I feel most comfortable “as” a communicator in a classroom or lecture type setting (pairing Communicator skills there with my dominant Teacher persona), or in the process of writing, or else in conversation with a close and trusted friend.  One of my best friends, Jan, really taught me HOW to communicate as a friend; she encourages me to be open about feelings and from her I have become a better listener, so this pairs COMMUNICATOR with my NOURISHER persona. When writing, I tap into  my spiritual or MYSTIC outlook.

In all then, I find COMMUNICATOR is a versatile archetypal aspect that pairs well with several other facets of Self.

I feel least comfortable communicating when I feel I may be judged or scrutinized. Then my Communicator turns inward, pairing with my reserved, Descender character. I have always felt Silence to be a valuable form of communication especially when used to be introspective or to refrain from talking inappropriately. Silence, in the right form, can be a generous, thoughtful act. Of course, it could also be used to withhold trust or honesty.

It can be helpful to listen to your COMMUNICATOR if you are feeling restraint or fearful about self-expression. You can contemplate or journal to tune into your unconscious archetypal “Assembly” to see what your COMMUNICATOR may need. Sometimes It just needs to be heard!

I welcome your insights and stories!

Tuning In to Your Mystic Awareness

How can you tune in to your own inner Mystic Guide? Let’s count some of the many ways available to you:

Active imagination

Meditation

Contemplation

Yoga

Dream work

Archetype Dialogue Journaling

Prayer

Mindfulness

Each of these natural modes of accessing your unconscious and/or spiritual awareness offers great potential for engaging your Mystic archetype as an Ally who can help your conscious self by sharing deep insights. Let me describe a few of these methods, then, that you may wish to practice.

Active imagination:

This is the technique Carl Jung himself used which he wrote about extensively (e.g. see the marvelous new Reader’s Edition of Jung’s The Red Book). It is a mode of creative visualization. You can journal about your inner experience after returning to your normal waking perspective.

Contemplation:

Contemplation is an active, engaged form of meditation. You maintain awareness while asking an inward question for inner guidance, or you can travel, either astrally (in your emotional state of consciousness), mentally, or via soul travel, to explore dimensions of consciousness beyond the Physical realm. With active contemplation you may assume the perspective of being in the state which you wish to observe, and release your conscious mind to allow whatever experience is relevant from that perspective. You may begin with active imagination and then shift into a contemplative experience.

Dream work:

Dreams occur from many different levels of consciousness, so different kinds of dreams reflect these different levels of perception (and action). Lucid dreaming occurs when you become aware within a dream that you are dreaming; achieving lucid dreaming can help you to be more conscious of your ability to control your outer states of consciousness while waking as well as your dream state.  Archetypal dreams—which Jung was interested in—appear with symbolic content that can reflect either universal, collective archetypal imagery (e.g. a snake can refer to transformation, or a circle can refer to completion or wholeness) and also personal unconscious archetypal parts of Self can appear as personas in your nightly dream. Waking dreams may also happen (more so when you pay attention as such), wherein you realize an outer occurrence has a symbolic component or gives you an answer you are seeking in a serendipitous manner. Some mystical philosophers would remind us that the outer life is as much of a dream as a nightly, “inner” dream scenario.’ (A good primer: The Art of Spiritual Dreaming, by Harold Klemp.)

Archetype Dialogue Journaling:

Using active imagination and contemplation, you can enter into a conversation with your own personal unconscious archetypal ‘parts of Self’. This is the approach I use with the Life Maps Process, and it is the approach Jung used that is described in his The Red Book.  Once you become proficient at invoking and ‘shifting’ between these perspectives, you can journal a dialogue with your varying archetypal personae as it occurs. This can allow you to explore your conflicting attitudes and motivations. These different archetypal perspectives may be identified with “typical situations” in your life; that is, with the distinct ROLES you have established and that you enact daily.

You can approach your MYSTIC archetype for a direct, dynamic dialogue or within a soul travel type of inner encounter.  Remember, all you have to do inwardly is to ASK! And then, accept what happens with a loving heart, ready to learn, and record your experience so you can interpret and remember the insights gained.