Anarchetype is a symbol or pattern that commonly manifests itself throughoutcultures. The word archetype is from the Greek arkhetupon, meaning the first model,or the preliminary version of something later adapted. Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded analyticpsychology, further expanded upon this description to characters torepresent personality types that share behavioral patterns. Archetypes canapply to situations in a story, characters in a story, themes of a story, andeven colors and numbers in a story. Example of a common situational archetypeis the Journey; in which the hero searches for something to gain justice orpeace in the kingdom, and faces many trials that they overcome to gain whatthey are searching for. This relates tomythology by giving each myth certain archetypes that reveal specific lessonsbeing taught by each story. Not only do characters have their own archetypes,but people do as well.
Archetypes define a person by categorizing the humanmind into typical behavioral groups, and in finding your archetype you candiscover more about yourself and that archetype’s strengths and weaknesses. Whenexamining what my own personal archetypes were, I found that the top three mainarchetypes that describe me from most significant to least are caregiver,visionary, and spiritual. As a caregiver, their life journey is to carefor others in ways they are unable to care for themselves. They gettheir energy and also fulfillment from being compassionate, generous and acomfort in an otherwise chaotic world. Caregivers also express themselves as Nurturers,Mother, Lovers, Sister, Teacher or Mentor, Rescuer or Helper, Homemaker, Heroine,Best Friend, and Companions. One of the many goddesses who share this archetypewith me is the Greek goddess Hestia. Hestia is the goddess of the hearth andhome was the most gentle of the gods. A symbol of Hestia isfire and warmth, and she is a caregiver in a way that she nurtures and is ahomemaker.
When Zeus wanted to make room on Olympus for the arrival of Dionysus,Hestia graciously stepped down to give him her place. Her selflessness showsher kindness and love of others and helping others. Another goddess whom alsoshares the archetype of a caregiver is the Greek goddess Demeter. Demeter isthe embodiment of Mother Nature herself. She is also known as the overbearing parentto Persephone. Just as Hades is the god of death, she was the goddess that gavethe people life. For Demeter, nothing comes before the wellbeing of her loved ones;she would put herself in harm’s way to care for her loved ones without a secondthought.
She is a mother, lover and rescuer, and nothing can stop herfrom protecting others. As a visionary, their life journey is to bring the futureinto the present, and sense the changing of society. They believe in theirvision and their creative potential to change lives. Visionaries have atendency to be inventive, expressive, and open-minded, while also being full oflife, persuasive, and courageous. Visionaries express themselves as Entrepreneurs,Innovators, Pioneers, Guides, and Dreamers. There are multiple ways to beconsidered visionary, but the Greek god Hephaestus easily comes to mindconcerning this archetype. Hephaestus is the god of fire andthe forge—and he was responsible for creating the dazzling armor and fantasticweapons of the gods.
He was such an incredible visionary craftsman that hiscreations could breathe and move. He was definitely the most innovative of thegods, as he was the only god who actually labored despite his lameness due to aclubbed foot. It is said that he is the god who teachesus about how to use all the parts of ourselves, the whole and the broken, inbringing new ideas into the world. Another god who has a unique way ofbeing visionary is the Greek god Apollo. Apollo was the Greek god of prophecy,known for giving out his wisdom from the Oracle of Delphi.
Although logical,Apollo was very intuitive and creative in his music and performances. As a spiritual archetype, their lifejourney is to discover the meaning and purpose of life, and create a life thatbalances their spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. For spiritual archetypes,faith is of the utmost importance. This could mean religious faith, but it couldalso be faith in the power of the universe.
Spiritual archetypes expressthemselves as Mystic, Healers, and Seekers. It may seem silly to refer to godsand goddesses as spiritual, however some became god and goddesses throughspiritual practices. Tara, a Tibetan Buddhist bodhisattva and Tantric goddess, earnedher way to immortality and as a result has an archetype of spiritual. As sheworked to achieve Buddhist enlightenment, monks suggested she ask to be reincarnatedas a man so she would have a less challenging life after reincarnation. Tararefused, and told them she would continue coming back as a woman until shebecame a Buddha.
Eventually she did, and has been guiding women down the pathof enlightenment and spirituality ever since. Another god who is consideredspiritual is the Greek god Hades. Hades was the king of the dead, but he wasnot primarily evil, as he is usually depicted. He took care of mankind’sspirits in the afterlife, which is no small task, even for a God.
He believedin balance, which ties into his faith in the power of the universe.
