So as I have been doing some inner work during the lockdown, and as Im returning from my cave now being that things are gradually returning to normal. I thought I would do some writing about the archetypes.

So what is an archetype? well they are found in Jungian Psychology to describe an “old pattern” that is found in the collective unconsious of humanity. So they are patterns and forms which are eons old (older than a single human life span) and influence human beings psychologically on an individual and grande/ collective scale.

We know about the iceburg model of the psyche where the part we are aware and consious of is tiny whereas the rest of the pyche is submerged with the hidden parts still hugely important. Well Carl Jung explored the psyche or the mind and found it was filled with mythical material and could provide access to some of the things we know of as the “spiritual realm”

So in our own minds there is actually a treasure trove of material both mythical and shadowy that has influenced us all our lives and even influences whole cultures collectively. You could even say the “shadows” or reflections of pure forms such as the gods are found in our own psyche (look at platos theory of forms) So these archetypes are mirror reflections of real pure form which are in the spiritual world.

One archetype I have mentioned already is the shamanic archetype – now this archetype emerges from the psyche when there is a crisis – so when we have a job loss, or health crisis, or some other breakdown in the usual running of our lives the shamanic archetype may appear as an age old form in our own minds to guide us through the crisis. So this may mean we may suddenly become interested in spiritual things, chanting, meditation, dancing, spiritual artwork and so on. The shamanic archetype has many facets and when it appears in our minds it can influence our behaviour in a myraid of different ways

So some of the other more famous archetypes you may have come across are not always so heroic. Some of them can be the victim, so if we repeatedly find ourselves playing the victim role in life it may be that we are influenced by this archetype – or wounded child if we experienced childhood adversity which may come to the fore. Magical or eternal/divine child may also appear like the shamanic archetype to guide us during a crisis and lead us to see the less serious side of life and play.

If someone you know is suddenly interested in witchcraft and astrology then they may be playing out roles from the witch archetype – not only are these archetypes in our collective unconcious influencing our behaviour from behind the scenes.

They also have their own narratives, so say the witch or shamanic archetype may clash with the church and the priest archetype – or they may go on quests like the heros journey. The archetypes are also found in tools like the tarot – and the major arcana of shows the fools journey or the heros journey in an archetypal narrative – which many events in our individual and global lives play out

They all run in patterns like seasons, but their old – their the basis of all our films and stories. You can predict events by them for instance when there is an universal calamity you know there is always a rebirth and reformation of order in a new form.

I have been experiementing with trying to find out what my unconscious archetypal influences are through doing the Shamanic Workbook on the school of modern soul science website and using Archetype cards to get to know all these old patterns and reflections of pure forms a lot better since it is apparent they have so much influence over my behaviour and the behaviour of others in my life. Once awareness is gained – so you may find you have definate influence by the victim archetype, martyr archetype and God archetype – so this may be something you want to change. If you are perpetually in the role of victim then this needs to be transformed to a different form and influence such as warrior or mother or some other more favourable archetype for a victorious life.

So gaining awareness of the patterns is the first step – to become aware as an OBSERVOR of whats going on with the archetypes and how these patterns are influencing your life. Their stories have been running in the collective since time immorial so if you allow them to they will run your whole life and you may become a personification of one of the archetypes such as fairy or shaman or witch or warrior. But in a way this is an honour as many people believe the archetypes we have in our psyche are are reflection of a pure form of them in the spiritual world. So they are in essence a pure expression of God. Its Gods creativity and divine story in the making running through the whole human existance and also the things we create (see platos theory of forms and the tree of life kabbalah – archetypal world) – so they are a fascinating and beautiful study of God which nobody ever mentions in places like church and it seems not everyone knows about.

Anyway I recommend learning what archetypes are unconsciously running your life and then choosing to live with them in union or break free for more conscious living – wondrous divine forms in reflection in the mirrors of our mind – hidden from us by our shadows along with our true self.