Archetypes: Practical Applications For Women

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Archetypes and the collective unconscious

Have you already come across the concept of an archetype, is it familiar to you, do you rely on knowledge about it in everyday life? In Russia, archetypes are in vogue: they are used by stylists, psychologists, business coaches, teachers of public speaking. More and more books by various authors on this topic appear in bookstores. What is it and why do we need it?

We owe the emergence of the archetype in psychology to K. G. Jung. After he formulated that there is a collective unconscious (a deeper layer of the psyche, the content and experience of which does not belong to a person's personality, but is inherited by them), he indicated that archetypes are its content. These are forms of representations of humanity, which are captured in fairy tales, myths, visions, fantasies and dreams. They do not refer to a specific time or territory. Theoretically, there can be any number of them.

Archetypes are basic patterns of instinctive behavior. In other words, in certain circumstances, a person is offered a choice of possibilities and forms of behavior, which he himself fills with content. The form itself (archetype), as a rule, is not realized by a person, but through its filling with personal content, a person can be aware of it. The archetype can be experienced at all levels - feelings, sensations in the body and knowledge come to us. As a rule, the intensity of these experiences is quite high.

How archetypes manifest themselves and what place they occupy in life

You notice that it is as if something is taking possession of you, a strong emotion, for example, and the state caused by it is significantly different from your normal state. The situation may be new, but there is already an idea of how to act. For example, someone offended your child, and you are close to the state when you are ready to tear this person to shreds, you are full of heat and angry. Or you were cut off on the road, and you will already catch up with the offender and take revenge. The warrior / warrior archetype has entered into you. A woman without children, left alone with a child, will know how she should behave - she has access to patterns of behavior thanks to the mother archetype. When we are in love, or something new begins in our life, and we are so carried away by this that we cannot sleep and think about anything else, then we experience the archetype of loving. These are typical examples of how our unconscious offers forms and strategies to our consciousness. Often people do not notice or do not realize that they have come under the dominion of an archetype. Then it can be dangerous, for example, revenge on the road can turn into a round sum and damage the family budget. And the excessive power of the loving archetype can lead to dependence on the object of adoration. How to make sure that archetypes do not have more power over a person than he would like and, conversely, get access to those that for some reason do not appear and thereby make his life more harmonious?

It is not enough to tell a person to be aware of your archetypes, but there is access to their energies through experiences. Feeling something, we can translate it into a picture, and describe the picture in words and thereby make a bridge between two worlds - between the world of the collective unconscious and the world of consciousness. For example, we had a very emotional dream, (after taking time and working with it) we can translate its content into a language that we understand, first into images and pictures, and then into words.

How to use mindful contact with archetypes in everyday life

These were all examples when archetypes autonomously used their power over a person. The danger is that while archetypes are present in our life autonomously, i.e. we are not aware of them, then they control our life - they seem to use us to manifest themselves in this world. Realizing the situation and consciously filling the proposed form with our content, we get the opportunity to use the energy of the archetype on the one hand and remain at the helm of our life on the other.

As mentioned above, there can be an infinite number of archetypes, because these are actually more or less typical situations that occur in a person's life in different spheres and manifestations. This is all human heritage. These can be heroes of myths and religions. Any archetype can also have an infinite number of aspects. For example, the archetype of the mother: mother (someone's) and the Great Mother; stepmother and mother-in-law; nurse; great mother; goddess Mother; Virgo; (Demeter and Cora); mother as the search for Paradise; in a broad sense, the Church, Earth, Sky, Forest, Sea; Matter, in a narrow sense - a place of birth, a garden, a tree, a source; in the narrow sense of the uterus; yoni; like an animal, a cow, a rabbit and all the helping animals.

For a quick guide in everyday life, I will take the classification used by D. Vest and R. Moore, they identified such archetypes as King, Magician, Warrior, Lover. To work with female groups, I use female archetypes - Queen, Witch or Witch, Warrior, Loving.

Queen

The Queen is aware of her power, and she uses it without belittling others. She deserves to be who she is, thereby allowing others to be too. She cares so that we can experience our value and our greatness, she shapes our values. She makes sure that her kingdom is safe. She is beautiful in these ways. This is not only a leading woman or a business woman, it can be a housewife and an artist. The rejected royal energy is manifested by the tyranny of others, coldness, manipulation, control and cruelty towards their loved ones, friends, colleagues. These women are often mistaken for the strong, but they are women who pay to suppress their femininity by not being alive.

How do I fill my queen with the right content? You can contact her at all levels. To start with fantasizing about what kind of queen I am, what I would be, if I don't have to hide, if I could be weak, whatever values I live with. You can watch films about queens and try on what suits me and what doesn't. After a while, you can draw pictures that arise, or just let these images come. You can use the attributes associated with your queen in everyday life. They can also be “tied” to the body, for example, by inventing a crown and walking around the house with it or a special outfit, putting on which you could easily connect with her energy. Every time you make the next decision, whether it's a plane ticket, or buying a baguette at a bakery, or choosing to stay further in a relationship, ask your queen if this is in line with her values, if it will contribute to the prosperity of her kingdom.

Warrior

The unconscious archetype of a warrior can manifest itself in the struggle against everyone, just in case, so that they do not hurt, so that they do not touch the wounds and unlived feelings, do not touch the soul. When we know ourselves and our weaknesses, then the struggle against someone or against everyone can develop into protecting ourselves and our vulnerability, into finding a solution to resolve the situation.

What can be done in order for the warrior to defend the necessary and conscious interests? Remember the situations of resentment that are still relevant, cause pain, you dream constantly, in which you dream of revenge. Find yourself a secluded spot and allow plenty of time. Take a large mirror and sit in front of it, look and let everything that is not expressed become expressed, just start talking, remembering the situation that you want to deal with. As you speak, express your feelings with your voice, constantly looking in the mirror, and being aware of them, but not identifying with them. At some point, there may be a lot of them. Let there be a pillow or something that you can squeeze, beat, twist, so that, if necessary, it can be used to express feelings. Show your feelings and say words directed to the offender that were not heard or uttered then. These can be situations with caregivers, parents, sisters, brothers, strangers, classmates in which you were unable to respond and protect yourself and your boundaries.

Loving

I will mention a little about the loving one, as it is planned to release an article dedicated only to this archetype. This archetype invites us to be alive, to be a part of this world, to merge in our experiences with nature, loved ones, the work of life, to trust this world. He invites us to lose our boundaries. It also manifests itself through sexuality and sex. When this archetype takes possession of us, and we are not aware of our actions, then it manifests itself in addictions, in an endless search for pleasure that knows no boundaries.

For example, knowing that I have difficulty with feeling, I will consciously develop this sphere. I will go to meet the sunrises and see off the sunsets so that my eyes enjoy, buy delicious food, feel the play of taste inside, go for a massage, and develop tactile sensations. Do whatever can help me get the experience of dissolving my boundaries with the boundaries of the outside world. Inhaling the aroma, try to become this aroma, when eating food, to become food, when washing the cup, to be the cup washing yourself.

Witch

The witch shares knowledge with others, she does not use it for her own benefit, but spreads it for the benefit of others. Knowledge about how the world works, how everything functions. To experience this archetype, try the following. For example, they came to you for advice in a difficult situation, while listening to the story of another person, mentally observe the situation from the outside, try to see its essence, what they are actually telling you and what they want to know. Observe your feelings and emotions, but do not let them influence the knowledge that comes from the story.

Conclusion

If you do not succeed, everything described above, then continue anyway, and pretend as if it works. Imagine that you have access to your queen, and imagine that you are already living the values that she offers. If you are not yet familiar with these values, then take any that attracts you and try to live it for a while, understanding your own values will come with time. You don't feel anything when you watch the sun rise or when you see a beautiful landscape, imagine that you are feeling, imagine that you are worried, that your whole heart is filled with joy. You cannot get rid of the control of others, watch it first, be aware of situations when you wanted to control something or someone. Take a step back in your mind and look at the situation as if you know the true cause of what is happening. Use the information as if you know how to do it for the good of everyone.

These four archetypes cover a large number of areas in our life: work, home, family, personal life, hobbies, friends, finance, relationships, spiritual development. At the same time, they support each other and contribute to the development of a person on his way. The loving one makes sure that other archetypes remain filled with life, endows them with the goal of great love. Without her, they would become sadists. With the unconscious sorceress, the lover could not distinguish reality from illusion and reflect; without the queen, she would have drowned without order in the chaos of feelings; and without clear boundaries, it would lose stability and strength, fall into dependence and would not be able to act. A queen without a loving one would be dry and calculating, the witch's decisions would be manipulative, and the warrior would turn into a destructive mechanism.

Try to see in which areas the indicated archetypes appear and how they are connected. The values and laws that the queen has established, do you make you happier, do you receive the necessary knowledge and clarity from the witch to make decisions, does the warrior protect your kingdom, and does the loving one make you alive, able to love and trust?

I often work with this topic, as it allows you to see the situation from different angles and find access to resources that are hidden and not yet available to humans, and using the experience of humanity, to better understand your own path. We all go through processes such as birth, growing up, partner selection, loss, aging, and death. But there are many others - becoming a mother or father, promotion at work, conflicts, starting a business, breaking up with a loved one, etc., which were passed in different ways by different people in different eras, but which somehow imprinted on our collective unconscious. It is access to archetypes, conscious living of the proposed forms that helps to better understand oneself, the prevailing circumstances, and move on.