I've been diving deep into understanding how to effectively navigate the Archetypes over the last 6 months or so.
It's a tricky business, because it's very easy to get caught in them (some psychologists go so far as to say "possessed" by them).
I got caught big time after the birth of Quilah in what I like to call the Provider - what I've come to see as an aspect of the Warrior.
I want to share a key insight with you that can help you to navigate the Warrior.
The Warrior empowers our drive, our will
Every Archetype has an immature and mature aspect - the immature arising when the ego is in control, the mature arising when the ego is in service.
The Warrior archetype in our lives is that force behind our "doing", taking action, breaking new ground, striving to accomplish some goal, growing and training a new capability.
It's a deep yearning in us all this doing - this is why it's all through our mythology and identified as an Archetype.
When our ego is in service, this drive is balanced, in perspective.
When it get's caught in our ego...
When the ego is in control of this primal pattern, we loose sight of anything but "the mission". We become obsessed with our cause and loose perspective on the wholeness, and true value, of our life.
We'll destroy our health, our relationships, our support, even in extreme cases throwing our lives away all to accomplish some goal.
The work obsessed family man, the ideal obsessed activist, the fundamentalist healer, the man willing to throw his life away for his cause are all examples of this.
The Provider who looses sight of nurturing his family because he's so driven to provide for them (yes, that was me, I even wrote an article on it)
The Key is facing your real opponent: you
What I've discovered is a key that shifts, or matures, this Warrior energy so that it can move into the rest of my life.
The Warrior always has an opponent (a person, a structure, a past way of being, tasks in the way of a goal).
The key is that the true opponent is ourself. My true opponent is me. Yours is you.
This is the realisation that the cause, what we're working for, isn't the most important thing. It's our inner journey, our learning and deepening of ourself that's the important thing.
It's how our life, and those of others close to us, grow, that matters.
Let your old idea of yourself die
Once you're clear that you're actually facing yourself, your underlying (or true/mythical) mission you're on is exploring your growth through the cause.
The energy then begins to mature because the only way past yourself is to allow yourself to grow - to let go of your idea of who you were - as that's really what you were facing.
Let go of who you thought you were and allow yourself to be transformed by your undertaking.
The Warrior matures to the Lover
When the Warrior energy matures, the Archetypal energy of the Lover is evoked.
The Lover seeks unity, celebrates, opens, appreciates, loves.
On a day to day level, this can be as simple as letting yourself appreciate what you have done, what has grown, rather just focussing on what is still to do (or not done).
For my Provider, the moment came when I allowed myself to appreciate that I'd been providing for my family for 3 years - that it was still a struggle was actually irrelevant, I'd been doing it.
I allowed a moment of celebration, let go of my old idea of not being enough - my sense of self updated, my egoic structures evolved and I moved into the next phase - the Lover.
I was only able to get past this self opponent because I let go of who I thought I was.
Take action! - appreciate and celebrate
So is there something you're pursuing that you're stuck in?
Then think about:
- How are you not letting yourself face the real opponent: your current idea of yourself? What idea of yourself, if you let it go, would change the situation?
- Are you just looking at what's not done, or are you able to appreciate what you have done?
- How can you celebrate the small wins, even if it's just that you're on the path.
King, Warrior, Lover, Magician - Man of Will
If you live in Melbourne, I'm running a one day workshop that takes you through a transformative cycle of the Archetypes informed by the 5 phase theory of QiGong.
Sunday November 15th, check out the details here.