Category Archives: Archetype

Any one – or all – of the major archetypes from Kabbalistic and Jungian-based Psychological Types, together with the archetypes for integration and other higher levels.

Our "Hierophant" – Mentor, Protector, and Guide for Our Love-Goddess "Hathor"

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Our Hierophant’s Most Important Role: Championing our Love-Goddess Hathor

My work with A Course in Miracles is really kicking up a storm. I feel as though there’s a whirlwind going on inside me. All the “internal dynamics” that I’ve ever had are massively active, and it feels as though I’m living inside a tornado.

Grounding things help. These include the physical hard work of cleaning; especially deep-cleaning – the sort that involves moving furniture and getting behind things. Gardening helps – slowing down and working with plants. Cooking also works. Anything that keeps my body moving and is not overly demanding of either fine motor-skills or a great deal of cognitive attention. (Does this explain why I haven’t updated my database in over ten days, despite meeting lots of interesting new people at recent events? Cognitive storm.)

With all this inner “churn” going on, I’m noticing the interplays – the dynamics – between my archetypes more than ever. And I’m amazed (sometimes shocked and horrified) to see how these same dynamics are playing out in the lives of people around me. Apparently, many of us are dealing with the same things. It’s just that most of us don’t know it.

The biggest challenge that I’m facing is in learning to love myself more. That means finding and loving the “real” me – not the “superficial” me – or the construct that I put together many years ago. The “real” me is artistic, sensual, and emotionally expressive. The “cover story” is that of being an intellectual, and even a businesswoman.

Now to some extent, the “cover story” is real. But it’s not real if I take it to be all of who I am.

There’s history behind this; for myself, and (I suspect) for almost everyone whom I meet. In my case, I did a form of “psychic amputation” when I was twelve years old. I decided – for a number of reasons that came together all at once – that being who I “really was” was not a safe place to be. That is, being in my expressive, feminine, sensual core was not safe. And I don’t mean physically; I was in no danger of physical harm whatsoever. This was all an emotional interpretation.

So instead of developing my artistic and sensual aspects, I sort of “lopped” that part off, and went into masculine-themed pursuits. I studied math, science, and martial arts. I tried to put a damper on my emotional expressiveness, and simply not to feel. (Hah! That was certainly not successful. Suppression never is.)

Be as it may, a lot of other life-decisions came out of this. Some good, and many not-so-good.

And over the past twenty or thirty years I’ve kept seeking to reconnect with, and to rekindle, my artistic/expressive aspects – with at best partial success.

This has resulted in a sort of “archetypal war” going on inside.

My Emperor is (as with many expressive women) my least “favorite” archetype. As I was explaining it to a friend two days ago, our Emperor builds empires. He’s all about structure and control.

My Hathor wants to come out and play. She’s the one who wants to do “kid-art.” Everyone has a Hathor, and each of our Hathors are a bit different – but this is where are inner “party girl” resides.

In fact, our Hathor really is our “inner child.”

So imagine what it’s like if we have a rather sour and dour middle-aged man running the show, insisting that life be lived in a framework of timelines and deliverables, and there’s a very active, imaginative, willful little girl that wants to divert all the attention.

Yup. That’s exactly what it feels like.

So how do we make our own inner breakthroughs?

It sure isn’t easy. I’ve been chipping away at this for years and years, and right now – even though a really big change could be underway – it feels like a maelstrom let loose. Just a “word of warning” for others who take on this process.

But in terms of dynamics: Our Hathor needs the structure and boundaries and guidance that one of our masculine archetypes provides. She needs this precisely so that she can run free and play. She is “safe” simply because someone else (one of our masculine archetypes) has taken on creating and protecting the “play zone.”

You wouldn’t just drop a wild and willful child off in an unknown area, would you? You’d make sure that there was a responsible, capable adult nearby. Not so much for supervision, but for protection.

The interesting thing is: the masculine archetype that fulfills this role is not our inner Emperor. He simply can’t. He’s all about building an empire. Creating and monitoring a play-space for a wild, expressive, sensual, fun-loving art-child is something that he’s just not capable of doing.

But our Hierophant is absolutely right for this job.

Our Hierophant, like our other “core” masculine power archetypes, is very focused on completing goals and getting to the “end-game.” However, unlike our two other primary male archetypes (Emperor and Magician), he is Feeling rather than Thinking. That means that he is strongly driven to connect with others, and that he (like our Empress) is governed by the feel-good sensation that comes from oxytocin release. This means bonding and connection.

Our Hierophant functions best when he can direct a student towards a “high goal.” Remember, our Hierophant is our own inner Obi-wan Kenobi; our own Yoda, our own Professor Dumbledore, and our own Mr. Miyagi. He lives to bring the student to a new level of mastery.

And our Hathor is not particularly concerned with mastery, so there’s a little dissonance in their interests.

However, of all our masculine archetypes, our Hierophant is most concerned with the true happiness and well-being of others. In other words, if we had to pick from our set of masculine archetypes the one who would be the best “baby-sitter” for a highly creative, expressive, and willful girl-child, it would not be our Magician. Our Magician will not take time away from his creative vision to be open-ended and playful.

Nor would it be our Emperor. He’d just want to put our Hathor off in a corner someplace, tell her to play quietly with her dolls, and don’t disturb him while he’s running the kingdom.

But the Hierophant? Now there’s a chance.

Our Hierophant is most likely to not only care about and be interested in our Hathor, but also to be fascinated by her.

If a man finds his soul-completion when he “lives to serve his Queen,” then our Hierophant (think of a wise older man, a grandfatherly sort) finds his true completion in nurturing Hathor.

Imagine a very kind, wise, and loving grandfather who absolutely adores and dotes on his grandaughter. He is endlessly fascinated with her. He’ll do whatever is in his power to schedule play-dates with her; to take her places where she can have fun (but safe) new experiences.

Of all our masculine archetypes, he’s the one to not only look out for her, but to be her advocate in “time-splicing” how we spend our days.

When our Hathor is deprived for too long, she stages a hissy fit. A good old-fashioned temper tantrum.

But that’s not the best way to keep our inner “selves” in order. Having our Hierophant negotiate up-front the playtime for his darling and wonderful Hathor is a useful strategy – if we can simply get to this place in our lives.

This archetypal integration process is not all that easy. And it’s something that we re-do and relearn, again and again. But each time, we add in a bit more of our wholeness and fullness.

If we can survive the maelstrom.

Hathor or Hierophant – Who’s On Top?

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Power Struggles Within Our Own Internal Archetypes – and Helping Our Love-Goddess Hathor to Win!

Have you ever wanted to make a life-change? I’m not just talking a cosmetic make-over. Not even a full-out, change-my-hair, change-my-wardrobe, change-my-life kind of life-change. Not even a get-a-new-job, get-a-new-boyfriend, move-across-country change.

I mean radical.

I mean a change that comes from inside, that router-roots out all our “icky-stuff” from the inside out. Something that is transformative. Something that is enduring. Something that sticks.

And oh, yes. By-the-way. Something that makes us so much happier.

Well, you’ve wanted this, I’m sure. And I’ve wanted it as well. In fact, that’s why I wrote the book, Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

Writing Unveiling, and even getting it published, and sharing it with you, has by no means been the culmination of my own Inner Journey. A waypoint, most certainly. Having enough “stuff” together to be useful to you – to give you a concise guide and reference; well, that too. (If 544 pages can be considered “concise.”)

But the truth is, as soon as I got Unveiling finished, I began going deeper into my own Inner Journey. I began to get more insights – and have incorporated many of them into my blogposts over the past six months.

But still, during all this time, I was desiring – craving – a deeper level of personal transformation.

And over the past few days, almost overnight, I’ve reached a new milestone. Had a breakthrough. And I want to share this with you.

A quick bit of background.

If you’ve been following this blog for the past six months, you’ve been learning about each of our six core power archetypes in detail. (A bit randomly, but with at least a little attention to most of them.) You’ve also been learning why and how each of these is important.

And here’s something important: You and I are not alone in our Inner Journeys. We’re desiring happiness. We’re desiring to know and bring to fullness ALL of who we are. And we’re desiring to fulfill – for each of us – our true “meaning in life.”

And the word is: People – people like you and me – have been wanting this throughout time. And those who have accomplished this are those whom we regard as Master Teachers.

The truth is; these Masters really do exist, and various ones have existed throughout time. And – a very long time ago – certain ones either discerned or had “given” to them the Kabbalah, which essentially is a guide to life-mastery. It’s a roadmap to the cosmos – and also to the core of our being. And over the years, the teachings of the Kabbalah were used to create the Major Arcana.

Where this relates to us is that the first seven Major Arcana Cards depict exactly this Quest for personal happiness and integration. (At least, the first stage. There are two others beyond this – for a different day.)

At first glance, the equation seems really simple. Master (access and cultivate) each of our six core power archetypes, and integrate these archetypes (be able to use them at will), and we’ll have each achieved the first level of Life-Mastery. We will each be the Master of our Fate. The Captain of our own Ship.

And, of course, somewhere along the way – our “ship will have come in.”

If it’s that easy, then where’s the problem?

Well, it’s simple. (And it’s not.)

Our inner archetypes are very real, and very powerful. Each is strong-minded, purposeful, and willful. And they each should be. We don’t want any wussies in there!

The challenge is that occasionally (more likely, way too often), the wrong archetypes get to “pull the strings.”

Let’s be clear about this.

Each archetype is very useful. Vital, in fact. We can’t do without a single one. (For a quick review, go to Your Six Power Archetypes – What Happens When One Doesn’t Function? and Mastering the Power Archetypes – Essential for CEOs and Strategic Leaders.

So to be clear – we need our masculine core archetypes. We need our Magician, for vision and inspiration. (Sometimes, our Magician keeps us up all night – writing that play, coming up with a new business venture.) We need our Hierophant, who teaches others. (This is our own, internal Obi-wan Kenobi, our own Professor Dumbledore.) And oh-my-God, we need our Emperor. Our Emperor gets the projects done on time, the groceries bought and put away, and the bills paid.

The challenge is: these three masculine archetypes tend to pull “power-plays” inside our heads, just as they do in much of the world around us. And the real challenge – the real stumbling block for many of us – is that, over time, we tend to believe them.

Let me back up a bit. Bear with me, this is important. This is one of the most important things you’ll ever get in this blogpost series.

There are certain times in our lives when we hit a crisis. A certain kind of crisis. This is the kind of crisis that happens when we’ve been in one of our feminine archetypes for a while, and totally revelling in it, loving being in that state, and just rejoicing in the juiciness, the flowingness, the freedom. Examples are: being in love. Giving ourselves lots of time for artistic creativity and play. Feeling very emotionally connected with others.

And then something happens that we perceive as a life-threat. And we react by pivoting into one of our masculine archetypes. Very often, we move into Emperor. We “rule” ourselves with harsh authority. The only things that we value, in this mode, are a form of hyper-masculinity – almost a caricature of the masculine. So we will spend enormous hours at work, but somehow not ever get ourselves the perks or rewards that come to our male colleagues. We’ll find reasons to not go on vacation. (If you’re familiar with Jung’s concept of the animus, this is it. This is an animus-in-charge type of living.)

And there’s something that we do that’s even worse, that’s even more self-defeating. Once we give (any or all of) our masculine archetype(s) power in our life, they tend to keep control. And “they” tend to make decisions that get us “locked into” the mode where they stay in control.

An example? One very brilliant businesswoman whom I know. Fabulously effective. Hard-working. Absolutely the first person with whom I’d “do a deal.” But she has confessed to me – more than once – that in her “heart of hearts,” she longs to do fashion design. She started out there, but somewhere along the way, took a detour. She recently bought a wonderful new set of dressy day clothes – really a whole new “wardrobe look” – at a very high price. Paying off this expensive set of clothes partially satisfies her need to create her personal aesthetic. However, it also forces her to stay in her Emperor-dominant job. She now has far less “wiggle room” for exploring a different career. Many, many little decisions like this add up. Her Emperor now controls her life.

(Quick – and important – little digression. There are times when we are on a Heroic Quest – an important life-journey. Getting an advanced degree. Starting a new business. Heavens, even writing a book! During these times, we must remain very diligent, and true to our Quest. But Quests are transitions. They lead us from one state to another. They have defined endpoints. Being in our one of our masculine modes – for a long time – is different. These are not questing, they instead become controlling. Learn to discern the difference!)

Returning to examples of how we react to a life-shock by “pivoting” into our masculine modes: Another woman, a dear friend, was in love. Her lover was powerful, influential, and wealthy. She was exploring and moving into her feminine modes when she met him. Especially, she was opening up her Hathor – her Pleasure-Goddess. Her long, russet hair played freely in the breeze. She wore long, flowing dresses. She was in love with life. Her lover desired those qualities that he saw in her. He promised “protection.” He pledged his heart to her – and promised to divorce his wife. (Whom he said, in the classic sense, did not “understand” him.)

A while later, he told her – it had all been a mistake. He was returning to his wife. The time with her had been wonderful, it had been incredible, it had opened his heart – he would always treasure the memory. But there she was. Out on her own. No lover, and no more mirage of the support of a lover.

Her Hathor felt alone and exposed. Defenseless and scared.

So what did she do?

The only thing possible. She reacted. She slammed down – hard – on her Hathor. She got a job where (she was kindly informed) it would be “best” for her if she put her hair up in a bun. And this new job drew heavily on her Emperor skills. Spreadsheets and checklists. Time management and deliverables.

And because her Hathor was scared (Hathor knows about play – not about defending the fortress), her Hathor submitted to the new lifestyle. It was about survival. And she still lives the dichotomy. When it comes to survival, she emphasizes her Emperor strengths – and disowns her Hathor.

I have done the same. In fact, I shut down – hard – on my inner Hathor when I was very young. And I won’t blame family, or society, or pubescent angst, or any one thing more than anything else. And I’ll fully acknowledge that I chose – I created – my life in order to have these experiences and to learn these lessons.

However this came about, though, when I was about twelve years old, I shut down hard on my Hathor. With a vengeance.

And it has been the hardest thing that I’ve ever done to claim her back.

As with my friends – and with many of you – being in one of my masculine archetypes has represented “safety.” Sometimes it was Emperor. (My least favorite.) Sometimes Magician. (I learned to become a scientific inventor, and wrote four patents. Ground-breaking and magnificent in scope, each one. And each now in the hands of others.) Sometimes a Hierophant. (I’ve taught in several universities, and had my own dance school for aabout twenty years.)

In each case, the masculine “mode” has vied to be “in charge.” Each has wanted to control my life – and very often, I’ve let “him.”

So as a result, I’ve spent years at work – becoming a strong scientist and inventor, and even (more recently) a good businessperson. And of course, sacrificed many evenings, weekends, and holidays to the masculine motif.

But I’ve been determined to “break through.”

And the method?

I’ve been deliberately cultivating my inner Hathor – and my inner High Priestess.

For the past year, I’ve been doing the kind of work that has paved the way. Sometimes it has been simply housecleaning – every corner of the house, every pile of paper, moving out piles of “stuff.” (This allows a new wind to come through. And it’s very hard for Hathor to play, or for my High Priestess to have calm insights, when things are messy and disorderly.)

I’ve been doing physical conditioning of all sorts – and with the warmer weather, I’ve been walking much more. (This has always been one of the best ways to let our High Priestess come through. Julia Cameron, in the Vein of Gold, recommends a Daily Walk.)

And I’ve been focusing on pleasure. (My favorite source for encouraging Hathor is Mama Gena’s works, particularly Mama Gena’s School of the Womanly Arts.

Prayer (or at least, quiet time and “listening-in”) and play: the two vital themes.

Also, forgiveness. I’ve been doing A Course in Miracles for several months now, and yes – the “miracles” have been happening. Shifts in how I think. Shifts in how things are happening in my life. More focus. More energy. The daily exercises are challenging, though. Most recently, they’ve focused on letting go of grievances – and this has been an essential component.

What I’ve found is that experiences with any one man – or even with an aspect of the world – reflect an attitude or a judgment that I’ve made inside myself. So if I’ve entered into a relationship with a man who does not really honor my feminine aspects (business or personal), it is because that man accurately reflects how I am not honoring my femininity.

What has helped me to put such full attention on making this breakthrough is realizing that being (dominantly) in the masculine modes – for so many years – has simply not been effective.

It’s as though my Hathor and other feminine modes have at some level sabotaged the inner masculine ones. They’ve not allowed the masculine modes to receive the full adulation and acclaim that their pre-eminance (at least in my life) would seem to have drawn.

And why should they? After all, this would be an imbalance.

So my Hathor and High Priestess – both very unhappy – have sabotaged the “authority” of the masculine. In many ways, over many years. (Including various “dis-eases” – to the point that I’m lucky to be alive!)

Through a concerted effort – culminating this last month – of having substantial “quiet time” when the various archetypes could work things out, we’ve finally agreed. Hathor is number one. She’s the Queen. She makes the important calls (and the not-so-important ones as well!).

High Priestess is the moderator. She’s the observer. She notes when the other archetypes are yielding to Hathor, and when they need to be brought to heel. She also lets Hathor know when it’s time to “go Emperor” for a while – when a project simply needs to be done. (And then there’s a little dialogue – a little, “How can we make this project as pleasurable as possible?” Because Hathor is always the one who is to be satisfied.)

Empress is important also – she’s the one who wants connection. Family, girlfriends, pets, gardens – she’s always about connecting. About the “feel-good” factor that comes from oxytocin. That comes from bonding. So she’s always important as well.

The “men in my life”? That would be my Magician, my Emperor, and my Hierophant. Three wonderful, loving, caring men – now that their roles are carefully defined. Each of them now “lives to serve the Queen!” (See P.S. note at bottom, on why they are the way they are.)

And unlike some men in times past who have professed this intention, now I expect it to manifest more happily and completely in my life. Because my internal “masculine modes” are living to “serve the Queen,” and NOT the other way around.

This has taken time. It’s taken a huge focus and push. It’s taken an immense amount of physical work – moving boxes, cleaning odd spaces, pruning bushes – while letting the inner “psychic surge” work its way out. And it’s taken letting all the “masculine modes” know that the Hathor-Queen is now in charge. To the point where they’ve all come and prooffered their crowns, and pledged fealty.

Darlings, this is the most exciting and wonderful adventure. And I’ll let you know how it unfolds, so stay tuned!

Yours in the “dance of life” – Alay’nya

P.S. – On “why men are the way they are” – even in our internal modes, or archetypes. They are that way because they have to be. It’s that simple. They (both men in their masculinity – and us, when we access our masculine archetypes) – are effective at least in part because they seize control. An Emperor governs and establishes his kingdom through taking control and mandating that which should be done. And of course, there’s some wooing and charming, and some alliance-building, to be done. But an Emperor governs. He rules. And to do this, he takes control. He has to.

Similarly, a Magician – if he is to make his creation “real” in the world, must seize every resource and tool, every ounce of personal energy, and every moment of time. Creative genius is real, and it requires total commitment, passion, and focus. So any of us, in our Magician-moments, is totally wrapped up in our creation.

And our Hierophant? Ah, that’s the most subtle of them all. Our Hierophant, after all, is Feeling-oriented. (Unlike our Magician and our Emperor, who are Thinking.)

But our Hierophant lives not just to coach and mentor and guide, but to facilitate our breakthroughs. Our Hierophant is like a Zen Master who knows when to slap the student on the side of the head – so that he can get a breakthrough. (Going through a curriculum, step-by-step, is much more Emperor than Hierophant. And designing the curriculum is more Magician.)

So if our Hierophant is so wonderful, what’s the challenge?

It is simply that he, like our other masculine modes, is closed-ended. He wants us to gain insights and breakthroughs – to develop our genius – within the system. Our Hierophant, much though we love him, is very structured.

Our Hierophant does not really understand our Hathor. He just doesn’t “get” her open-endedness, her focus on pleasure-in-the-moment. Her desire for play.

So here’s the conundrum. For our Hathor to come out and play – safely – she needs the structure given to her by her masculine modes; Emperor, Magician, and Hierophant. And at the same time, once these modes are “given an inch,” they each want to “take a mile.” They LOVE taking over our lives, and all societal messages support them.

How do we solve this?

By giving our Magician, Emperor, and Hierophant – most especially our Hierophant (who is indeed most Feeling-oriented) a mission. A sense of purpose. Something that appeals to their masculinity.

They exist to serve the Queen.

Do this, and their lives have sense and make meaning.

Fail in this, and no matter how many achievements they create, their lives are barren. (And they probably won’t really have the success that they’re desiring either.)

Do I have examples in mind?

Most certainly. (How to dish without naming names? Hmmm. And believe me, I’ll point the finger to my own life as much as to others … )

This is probably the most important lesson that we can learn. This, in fact, defines our mastery moment.

More in the next blog.

Finding Peace and Happiness Through the Power of Your Archetypes

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Personal Happiness – Linked to Archetype Mastery and Integration

How happy do you feel, on an overall, consistent, across-the-year basis? (We’ll ignore the times that the dog’s thrown up on the new carpet.) How happy are you in specific areas of your life? This includes job, relationships, where and how you live, your friends, and other factors. And how much do you feel that you are in control of the evolving nature of your personal happiness?

That last one is crucial, isn’t it? It suggests that each of us, alone, is in charge of our personal happiness – and that we can do something to adjust our “happiness factor” along the way.

This isn’t a new question. In fact, I believe that the “happiness question” is what led certain people – sages and mystics, for the most part; certainly “seekers of truth – to receive the Kabbalah. I’m saying receive in a loose sort of way; I don’t think that the Kabbalah was discovered; and I certainly don’t think that it was invented. It seems to be the sort of thing that certain seers grew to understand – that they communed at some level with a higher wisdom. “Higher wisdom,” in fact, is what the Kabbalah is all about; it is a roadmap to God-consciousness. And it’s been around for a very long time; it was oral tradition long before Jewish scholars wrote about it in the Middle Ages. In fact, there is some research that suggests that the Tree of Life theme, central to the Kabbalah, predated even the formation of the Hebrew peoples.

This is not to get too far into historical dating; rather to support our central notion that our human search for happiness has been linked, for many millenia, to our search for connection with God. That is, we seek to experience the “God Within.” We seek to know God; personally.

Now we’re not going to get into religion here, and we’re not going to become Kabbalah students, either. (At least, not right now.) But we are going to note a very important point; one that I made in Unveiling, and one that many other scholars have made as well: The Kabbalah is the foundation on which the Major Arcana of the Tarot is based, and the Minor Arcana as well. We’ll concentrate, in the majority of these blogposts (as in Unveiling itself) on the Major Arcana.

The Major Arcana consists of 22 cards, or “Trumps.” Not the “Donald” sort of Trump, but rather, the notion of a major, big, important idea – the kind of idea that we call an archetype.

Now get this: There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet (also in the Phoenician alphabet, and in the Pre-Phoenician as well – as in – in our very oldest Indo-European alphabetic system). There are 10 “Centers” in the Tree of Life, and while there are numerous possible “graph links” between them, there are only 22 connecting “pathways” defined in the Kabbalistic system. And there are, of course, those 22 Trumps or cards in the Major Arcana.

So for scholars in this area, the connection is clear – and has been clear for hundreds of years. The Trumps – the Major Arcana cards – correspond directly to the pathways, or to steps that we take enroute to knowing God.

So suppose that you were a seeker of knowledge, several hundreds of years ago. Perhaps even a few thousand years ago. And you had reached that point in your life – children grown, career stable – when you were asking yourself, “What next?” For all your success in the world (let’s presume that you were moderately healthy and wealthy, and let’s even throw in “wise” for a good measure), you felt there was something missing.

So you did what many men and women had done before you, and what many would do in the years thereafter. You went to your local Mystery School or Temple, and consulted with the best teacher that you could find; someone who was kind and gentle, and who seemed to emanate a sense of both loving-kindness and wisdom. In short, you set out in search of your own Obi-wan Kenobi or Yoda. And you asked your question.

And because you were not the first to do this (nor the last, to be sure), this kind, wise teacher spent some time talking with you, but then, ultimately asked you the question: Were you ready to take on the next level of life-study?

And your answer was, in all likelihood, yes.

Thus you found yourself, at the next time that their “academic year” started, in a class with people like yourself – and some not-so-like. There would have been other local business-people and professionals. There would be society matrons. There would be the occasional itinerant seeker-after-truth, whose whole purpose in life was to visit the various temples. But together, you would be undertaking the first steps in a course in God-realization, in personal mastery, and – ultimately – in happiness.

Now, here’s where the archetypes come in.

The Major Arcana are designed to have a single starting card representing you, setting forth on your “search for wisdom.” (And for personal happiness, for enlightenment, for the meaning of life, etc.) This card is called the Fool. (No real insult intended; this just means an open mind, a sense of lightheartedness, and – most importantly – that you’re not carrying a whole lot of “baggage” with you as you set forth on your journey.)

The remaining 21 cards are grouped into three sets of seven, and – this is where our connection to “happiness” comes in – the seventh card is a sort of “completion” of a life-journey-stage. That is, you attain a certain kind of happiness – unique to each journey-stage – as you reach the seventh card (or completion) of each stage.

Interesting idea, isn’t it? There are various kinds of happinesses. And they correlate to certain levels of life-mastery.

The very last card, called the World, shows a naked woman (sometimes a hermaphrodite – a being both man and woman, or combining the qualities of both genders), dancing in space, surrounded by a laurel wreath which contains the heads of four animals, each looking outward. These are the traditional four “powers” (lion, ox, eagle, and a human head as well). The central figure is lightly draped in a purple veil, she holds the two scrolls of knowledge in her hands, and she is simply – dancing. She represents complete joy and freedom; the successful completion of our life journey. And yes, she represents happiness.

But it is not as though we need to get through all 21 cards (or life-lessons) in order to experience peace, freedom, and happiness. At the end of each of seven-card sequence, we have a card that represents some level of integration, mastery and well-being, and – yes – happiness.

So the World card is the end of the whole journey. But prior to that, we have two other sequence-completion cards. They each represent completing a big portion of our life journey. It is somewhat like saying that reaching the World card is like getting your Ph.D.; before that, you get your Master’s degree, and before that, you get your Baccalaureate.

Everything that I’ve been writing about for the past several months – all of these blogposts on “archetypes” – has paved the way for you getting your “Baccalaureate in personal happiness.” This is what seekers-after-truth did hundreds and maybe even thousands of years ago. And it’s what you’re doing now, when you focus on archetype mastery and integration.

Now, here’s where things come together – at least for a while. There are six core archetypes in the first set of seven Trumps, or cards. These are the six “core power archetypes” that I’ve been writing about for several months, and which I’ve described in some detail in Unveiling (Chapters 7 and 11).

These archetypes are the ones that you would – essentially – have “gone to school” to study and master. Of these six “core power archetypes,” three are masculine, and three are feminine.

Masculine Core Power Archetypes:

  • Magician
  • Emperor
  • Hierophant

Feminine Core Power Archetypes:

  • High Priestess
  • Isis/Empress
  • Hathor (“Love Goddess”)

There are two other core archetypes as well; I call these the “reserve” archetypes, or the “rest and recharge” ones. They’re not a part of the set of six that you need to master, because they come to each of us more naturally and easily. These are Hestia (Goddess of Hearth and Home; essentially – the one who “keeps the fires burning” – and keeps our personal lives in good order), and the Green Man (the one who returns to nature for balance).

Now, here’s the summing-up point – where all these archetypes “come together.” The seventh Trump in this series is the Chariot. Essentially, at this point, you have it all “under your control.” You really, truly, literally do “have your life together.”

It’s a fantastic feeling. And also, for many of us, it’s hard-earned. Just as no college curriculum is easy for everyone – each of us finds some courses hard and some easy – getting to the Chariot stage, our first waypoint in our big life journey – is a huge completion. But it is at this point that we really do experience a very real sense of happiness.

This happiness doesn’t come from having developed any one particular archetype, but rather, from having them all – and having them in working order and in balance with each other.

Think about this. Many women reach their early forties with two archetypes that are almost over-developed; their Emperor (a big component of their inner Amazon, which they use not only on the job, but to organize their lives and their families), and their Empress (nurturing and caring).

But if that was all that we needed, why would so many of us feel – as our children leave home for college – that we’re eager to get back to ourselves? We seek to find those aspects of who we are that were pushed aside during career-building and child-rearing. In short, we’re ready to discover – and to integrate – those other core archetypes. And this is where we get our “happiness.” It’s not just in two or three, but rather in using all six (actually, all eight, since we call on our reserves from time-to-time). This is the basis for personal happiness. It is also a basis for personal freedom.

So here we are, at the beginning of a new year. (The Chinese and Druidic New Year, at least.) Why not make this a year of starting your archetypal discovery, mastery, and integration journey? Make this the kick-off point for entering your own “school of happiness” – and also well-being, awareness, and total life mastery? Join me, because I’m beginning aspects of my own journey along with you!

A Strong "Inner Amazon" – Our Most Powerful Ally!

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Our “Inner Amazon” – Strength at Our Service

When Antonia Wolff, the protege of Carl Jung, intuited her understanding of the four “modes” that made up the feminine psyche, she did a great job of describing three “feminine” or “soft” archetypes, and one that she labeled the Amazon. She published her work as a pamphlet; Structural Forms of the Feminine Psyche.

Wolff’s delineation gives us a very useful way to “look inside ourselves.” Functionally, we each have eight core archetypes (four masculine, and four feminine), and six of these (three masculine, and three feminine) are our power archetypes. These are the ones – according to the Kabbalah (and shown visually in the Major Arcana) – that we need to cultivate in order to become a fully integrated person. (The remaining two, it seems, are those which we naturally use as “rest-and-recharge” modes.)

When we women “look inside ourselves,” we easily see our three feminine modes or archetypes; our wise, intuitive, and calm High Priestess, our loving and nurturing Isis or Empress, and our sensual, fun-loving, and playful Hathor or Love-Goddess. We can also easily discern our feminine “rest-and-recharge” mode; Hestia. This is when we clean house in order to clean out our heads.

Because we live in a masculine-dominant world, we see the masculine roles very easily as well. Thus, it is easy for us to discern when we are being in any of our three masculine power archetypes; our creative and visionary Magician, our organizing and managing Emperor, or our guiding and coaching Hierophant. We can also discern when we are in our masculine rest-and-recharge mode, or Green Man. (For women, the Artemis imagery is useful; think of Women Who Run with the Wolves.)

As a side note: If we were male, it would be easy for us to “lump together” our three feminine power archetypes into one. This would be a convenient kind of emotional shorthand. Moore and Gillette did this when they described the four core masculine archetypes as King, Warrior, Magician, Lover. In their “typology,” they’ve combined all three feminine power archetypes into one, and called it the Lover. Not completely accurate, but useful. Or rather, this is as useful a shorthand for men as it is for women to think about their inner Amazon. Each is a compound of three modes, but each of these “compound archetypes” has something in common.

So what is it that characterizes our inner Amazon, and makes her so distinctly different from our other three feminine power archetypes? And at the same time, we could be asking ourselves: What is distinctly different about the Lover “compound archetype” that makes it unique when compared with the three power masculine archetypes? (These are the Emperor, Magician, and Hierophant – Moore and Gillette missed this last one, and instead substituted the Warrior archetype – which is transition mode, not a power archetype. More on that in some future blog.)

The answer is simple. (Keep in mind, now, that we’re talking archetypes – overarching and really rather simple modes, and that we each have some aspects of each of these archetypes in us.)

The masculine archetypes are all Judging, to use Jung’s terminology. That means, they are all “come-to-closure” archetypes. (This is what Jung meant with Judging; this is not about being “judgmental” about people.) The feminine archetypes are all Perceiving; that is, they are more open-ended. They are open to possibilities and connections.

In short, the basic “male psychology” (each of the core masculine power archetypes) likes to compartmentalize-and-complete. The basic “feminine psychology” (each of the core feminine power archetypes) likes to connect-connect-connect. This insight is what led authors Bill and Pam Farrell to write their book, Men Are Like Waffles – Women Are Like Spaghetti: Understanding and Delighting in Your Differences.

So with all of this as a frame of reference, we now understand that what our inner Amazon does for us as women is to give us the masculine strength of “getting things done.”

And is this ever a useful gift!

One of the best things that we can do to empower our inner feminine archetypes is to have a strong Amazon living in service of our feminine core. She gets things done, she protects and defends, she provides strong boundaries. Within the boundaries that our Amazon establishes, we get let ourselves go. We can be soft and vulnerable. We can be as “diffuse” as we desire. We can connect-connect-connect – knowing that our Amazon put some structure around our connecting.

Our Amazon is valuable. She is our strongest ally. And the more that we cultivate her, the more we are able to let ourselves go safely into our feminine core. Sounds a bit contradictory, but worth considering. So why not make this a journal topic over the month of February? Re-ignite a hot, sexy, voluptuous love affair with yourself. And let your inner Amazon “live to serve the Queen”!

Where to Look for the Latest

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Archetypes, Pathworking, and the Fountain of Youth

There are three core themes in Unveiling: The Inner Journey:

  • Archetypes: Our “high-level roadmap” for personal power. This is the 10,000-foot-high view of our life-journey.
  • Pathworking: What we do on a day-to-day basis; this includes using a body art (such as Oriental dance, or the martial arts) for body awareness and integration. This also includes tension release and processing our emotional “stuff” – the emotional tensions and reactions that we store in our bodies.
  • Fountain of Youth: Intrinsic vital energy (ch’i) cultivation and circulation, and what we can do with our ch’i once we’ve cultivated enough to have something that lets us be effective.

In this Unveiling blog, I am currently focusing on the archetypes. This is largely new material that builds on the subjects of Chapters 7 and 11 of Unveiling.

In the Alay’nya blog, I focus on the Pathworking and creating our very own Fountain of Youth. The Pathworking develops material presented in Part II (Chapter 8), and Parts III – VI of Unveiling. The original Fountain of Youth material is in Chapter 29, “Pragmatic Esoterics” of Unveiling. What I’m developing in the Alay’nya blog has more to do with practical steps; the Unveiling material itself was more high-level and conceptual.

Hestia – Our "Rest and Recharge" Archetype

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Our Hestia Archetype – The “Power Behind the Throne”

It might seem a little confusing.

In Unveiling: The Inner Journey, I write about six core power archetypes. But lately, I’ve been referring to eight. What’s going on? Where did these two “extras” come from?

And more to the point, how important are they?

Well, what my research showed – fully disclosed in Unveiling – is that we have six core power archetypes. These are the ones that we have to master – in order to be on top of our “life gamee.”

But what was not so clear when I was writing Unveiling – and what has become more clear since then – is that we have two more power archetypes. These are ones that we typically don’t have to learn. They come to us naturally and innately. What is more significant is that they provide us with two essential “rest and recharge” modes. They’re the means by which humans (men and women both) naturally “regroup and refresh.” I call these two modes Hestia and the Green Man. Today’s post discusses our Hestia mode.

Do you remember watching the movie Hannibal? A bit of a grisly tale, to be sure. But there is one telling scene in this movie. Clarice, the young FBI agent, runs afoul of the FBI “system.”

Clarice is suspended from active duty, pending an official “investigation” into her performance. She returns home, suddenly divested of the two most potent symbols by which she defines herself – her official FBI badge, and her (phallic-identifying) weapon.

This is a horribly challenging moment for Clarice. For about ten years, this young woman has defined herself through her Amazon role. The badge and weapon were not only “tools of the trade.” They gave her identity. Now, her core identity has been taken from her, and her future is in jeopardy.

The next scene in the movie is telling. We see Clarice cleaning out her kitchen cupboards, glass of scotch close at hand.

Under stress, Clarice does what many of us do to get a “clear head.” She enters into her Hestia mode.

Who – or what – is Hestia?

In goddess mythology, Hestia is goddess of hearth and home. But more than that, she is often our portal to one of our most necessary modes; our inner High Priestess.

Clotilde Dusoulier, author of the lovely cookbook Chocolate and Zucchini, is quoted describing her mental process while trimming green beans for a salad:

My fingers busy themselves instinctively – much like those of people wh knit without looking – while I let my mind wander, thinking about therest of the menu, plans for the weekend and whether I should cut my hair.” [Food and Wine, January, 2007, p. 58]

The Hestia mode is not exclusive to women. Men use this mode – they need it – just as much as women do.

Think of the character Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the hit TV series NCIS. What does he do to unwind from stress? He builds a boat in his basement. Without power tools. That’s a man in his Hestia mode.

And to quote another of our favorite characters, Hierophant classic Mr. Miyagi, instructing his young protege in the Karate Kid, “Wax on, wax off.”

More on Hestia in a future blogposting.

The "Hierophant" as Guru/Guide

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The Hierophant Archetype – A Way of Life, Not a Jungian Psychological Type

Last night, I was talking with my dear friend Artie. Somehow, the conversation swung around to Jungian Psychological Types, as expressed by the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI). “I used to be an ENFJ,” he said, “but now I’m much more an ENFP.” He’s right, but his comment brought a great insight to me on the relationship between our archetypal modes (Magician, Emperor, Hierophant, etc.) and our “Types” – usually denoted by the MBTI Type-coding such as “ENFJ.”

This is important. Artie really has made a shift, over the years. When he was in his corporate career, he really was an ENFJ. His life and his world encompassed the three major masculine archetypes; Magician (NTJ), Emperor (STJ), and Hierophant (NFJ). (Artie was and still is an Extrovert, making him ENTJ, ESTJ, and ENFJ as he expressed each of those modes.) During his professional career, he really did have excitement, energy, and enthusiasm for each of these modes. He led teams that devised new technical approaches, several different times (Magician). He was effective as a team leader and as a project manager, getting projects funded and successfully accomplished, and leading performance demos and reviews for his clients. (All Emperor-related tasks.) And don’t get me wrong, he loved each of these roles.

But what was the underlying base for his being? The “river” that flowed consistently through his personailty? It was always his Hierophant mode. He was, and still is, a born teacher.

During the earlier stages of his career, he expressed this as a lot of “career coaching.” He also brought together interesting people, and created environments in which they flourished.

In all of these situations, Artie was still dominantly “Judging,” or “J.” That is, in all of his career roles, he was driven to “come to closure.” He may have been coaching a junior member of the team, but the focus (for example) would have been on “how to put together a Powerpoint presentation that will wow the client.”

Now, retired from corporate life, Artie is still a Hierophant. He is still a coach/guide/guru. But he is a lot more open-ended about this.

In part, this is because his life is structured differently. In retirement-mode, without the stringent performance demands of today’s corporate world, he is able to shift into being more “Perceiving” (open-ended) than “Judging” (coming-to-closure). In a broader sense, he is also more separate from our overall cultural zeitgeist that is very performance-driven, and which tends to demand “Judging” behaviors from us, from childhood on.

In part also, Artie’s shift is due to the kinds of people with whom he interacts. He does a great deal of what I’ll loosely call “service work.” He spends a lot of time just talking with people; being the “wise old man” with whom they can consult as they work out life issues. The people who seek him out the most are themselves a bit more “open-ended” in how they approach life – or at least they are in this mode when they seek out Artie.

So Artie is probably right. He has indeed shifted from being dominantly ENFJ to being ENFP. But according to our archetypal mode system, the NFP “mode” is what we call Hathor – playful and pleasure-seeking.

So is Artie dominantly in Hathor mode now? Becuase he has shifted from “closure” to “open-ended,” does that shift his fundamental orientation – that of being a teacher – to being more of a pleasure-seeker?

Heavens, no!

Again, don’t get me wrong on this. Artie would be the last one on earth to decline a good dose of pleasure and fun. He may even be more able to enjoy the “pleasurable” aspects of life more now than when he was younger. But at the same time, his fundamental orientation towards life – that which gives him meaning and purpose – that which helps him “define himself for himself” – that which gets him up and going in the morning – is not about “pleasure.” Or at least, not about “pleasure” per se. It is about teaching. It is about connecting. It is about making a difference in the lives of the people who come to him.

His shift from “J” to “P” reflects a shift in the way in which he goes about being a Hierophant, but not the fact that – in his absolute core – he is a Hierophant.

But more on how this “shift” is expressed in a later blogpost.

Your "Inner Magician" – Part I

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Your “Inner Magician” – Creative Fire

Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium!
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, Dein Heiligtum.

Lyrics by Schiller, later used by Beethovan in “Ode to Joy,” Symphony #9.

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We approach, drunk with fire,
Heavenly One, your holy shrine.

Translated by A.J. Maren.

Creative fire! Genius! Divine inspiration!

It is moments like these in which we feel uplifted; exalted even.

Moments of inspiration, in which we are seemingly infused with the “fire of the gods,” set us apart from the “dailiness” of living. They seem to redefine us and reframe our lives with new meaning. In such moments of creative passion, we really do feel ecstatic.

When we are consumed with the “inner fire” and totally absorbed with our creation, we are accessing our inner Magician.

Being in this mode – which can even take us to exaltation – is a transcendent experience. It can even become addictive! We desire to fulfill our creative potential to our utmost.

For this reason, many “creative types” have been willing to forego many of life’s amenities. The mythology of the artist, starving in a garret in order to devote himself (or herself) to creative passion – there actually is some truth to these stories!


Thomas Edison

Not only does our “creative fire” give us some immunity to our body’s (and even our psyche’s) demands for comfort, this “fire” also embues us with seemingly supernatural powers of endurance. Thomas Edison, for example, was known to work around the clock for days at a time. He took short naps in which he recharged, and required relatively short sleep at night (only four to five hours).

In Jungian terms, our Magician mode is iNtuitive, Thinking, and Judging (NTJ). That is, we use our “intuition” to gain insight into what we desire; what we are creating. We leap beyond the “what-is-so-right-now” to “inwardly know” the final product, and then work backwards, filling in the details. A composer, for example, “hears” the music in his or her head at first, then writes down the melody, and then the full orchestration.

The Magician – The first of eight Core Power Archetypes
 – Jungian Type NTJ

Our inner Magician is very much a “Thinking” mode as as opposed to “Feeling.” “Feeling” modes are dominated by the neurohormone oxytocin, which induces bonding. The bonding can be with a spouse or lover, with a parent or child, with a group of friends, or even with a pet. Physical touch (cuddling, petting, grooming someone else) and even conversation all contribute to a warm, gooey, oxytocin-induced good feeling.

Our Magician mode operates on a more abstract and logical plane. When we are in this mode, we do not require connection with others. In fact, attempts by others for connection may seem like intrusions to our concentration; they become distractions that break our focus.


Ludwig van Beethovan, drawn by Klober

Finally, our Magician mode is definately a “Judging” state. This does not mean that we “judge” others, forming opinions of whether they are good or bad, or even opinions on someone’s daily habits. (“Oh, Mary is always late,” or “John always talks too loud.”) Rather, it is a desire to come-to-closure. When in this state, we desire to see our creation emerge in final form. We want the invention to work, we want the symphony to be completed and performed, we want our newest marketing campaign strategy to be launched in all its glory.

Our inner Magician is the first “core power archetype” that we seek to access and master. As we gain competence in this realm, we define ourselves – and our creative gifts – uniquely. We become who we truly are. This is one of the most exciting and sublimely fulfilling of our core archetypes, of our personal “V8 power car engine.”

The "Unveiling Archetypes" and the Jungian Dimensions

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Eight Core Power Archetypes Correspond with the Psychological Types

The previous post presented the basic diagram for the Unveiling archetypes. Here it is again, for easy reference.

Core archetypes octant chart - each archetype (each octant) corresponds to one of Jung's Psychological Types (discounting the introversion/extroversion distinction).

Core archetypes octant chart – each archetype (each octant) corresponds to one of Jung’s Psychological Types (discounting the introversion/extroversion distinction).

There are three “dimensions” in this figure, and each corresponds to a specific aspect of our personalities.

The first “dimension” is the Thinking/Feeling distinction, shown as the top/bottom of this figure. The four octants (the “orange slices”) here that are in the top half are all those where the person is dominantly in a Thinking mode, and the bottom four are all “Feeling.”

One distinction that I’m particularly making here – somewhat unique to this approach – is that the “Feeling” corresponds to oxytocin-related states. That is, the “Feeling” is connected to how we feel good by connecting with others. The “others” can be children (particularly our own, especially if they’re young), our husbands or lovers, our girlfriends, or even our pet animals.

The “Thinking” is of course our logical, rational aspect.

The second main distinction is Judging/Perceiving, shown on the left/right sides of the diagram. The “Judging” is not about “judging” someone, as in saying to ourselves, “Oh, I don’t like her hair.” Rather, it is a desire to come to closure or completion on tasks. It is a “get-things-done” and “get the problem solved” mindset.

The “Perceiving” mode is a contrast to “Judging” in that it is open-ended. It is willing to tolerate ambiguity. It is willing to just be with something without having a firm, clear resolution.

Just for fun, I’ve put “Judging” on the left, and “Perceiving” on the right – not really trying to say “left” and “right” sides of the brain – but it’s a useful mnemonic!

Finally, within each of the four Judging/Perceiving and Thinking/Feeling quadrants, I’ve subdivided further into two more dimensions: Sensing/Intuition.

When we are in a “Sensing” mode, we are concerned with real, tangible things – things we can pick up, taste, feel. We can measure and analyze. Even abstract things – such as numbers on a spreadsheet – appeal to us when we are in “Sensing” mode, because we can be analytic about them.

In contrast, when we use “Intuition,” we make leaps of logic, connect beyond the obvious, and follow our gut. We interpret patterns, often very subliminally. While we may not be able to “analyze” our understanding – in terms of putting it under a microscope or counting up numbers of things – we trust this aspect, becuase we’ve learned that it serves us well.

Three dimensions, and a total of eight different combinations. (Thats 2x2x2=8.) That gives us the different Personality Types often used as a simpler form of the Jungian Psychological Types. It also gives us a handle for correlating the Unveiling archetypes with the Jungian system.

The basic organization of the archetype-to-Psychological-Type matching starts when we make a very simple distinction. We’re going to assign the entire “Judging” dimension to the masculine archetypes, and the “Perceiving” dimension to the feminine ones. Simplistic, yes. But we’re talking about archetypes here – knowing that each person combines multiple archetypes within their own being.

Second, we note that any feeling-oriented state is going to connect with a dominantly feeling-oriented archetype, and vice versa. This makes some of the matches very easy!

Thet next posting will walk through the assignments.

Very best wishes as discover and empower each of your core archetypes during your own inner journey!

Alay'nya - author of "Unveiling: The Inner Journey"

Alay’nya – author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey

Alay’nya
(Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.)

Author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey
You are the Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus. Become the Jewel!

The Unveiling Journey blog details the theory – archetypes, life journeys, integration.

To experience your own Journey in a structured, safe, and gentle (yet effective) setting, visit Alay’nya’s website, and consider either a workshop with Alay’nya or one-on-one coaching.

Resources

Connect with Alay’nya and the Unveiling Community

Unveiling, by Alay'nya, currently has an overall five-star Amazon rating.

Unveiling, by Alay’nya, currently has twenty five-star Amazon reviews.

This blog series develops themes originally published in Unveiling: The Inner Journey, published by Mourning Dove Press.

Unveiling currently has twenty 5-star Amazon reviews, and has been recommended by luminaries:

  • Dr. Christiane Northrup – “This book is delightful”
  • Midwest Book Review, in Bethany’s Books – reviews by Susan Bethany – “highly recommended”
  • Nizana al Rassan, writing for (the now out of circulation) iShimmy.com – “a fascinating read with so much wisdom and solid advice.”

 

 

Julie Marie Rahm, aka America’s Mindset Mechanic on Unveiling: The Inner Journey

What does Julie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic and author of Handle Everything: Eight Tools You Need to Live Well and Prosper have to say about Unveiling: The Inner Journey?

Julie writes:

Unveiling is the definitive guidebook for women who want to experience lives of joy and fulfillment, and who just want to exhale into each day. Alay’nya reveals powerful, personal stories of her own life journey to fascinating womanhood, sensuality, and self-acceptance in ways that struck me like a velvet hammer. Her fresh approach to living illuminated my own bind spots. It is impossible to read Unveiling without awakening to new and possibly shocking self-awareness. For women ready to make real and lasting changes toward enlightenment and bliss, Unveiling is a must-read..”

Read this and more reviews of Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

 

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Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic

Check out Julie Marie Rahm!

Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic and author of Handle Everything: Eight Tools You Need to Live Well and Prosper and also Military Kids Speak (great for parents, teachers, and coaches of military kids) uses a great technique that can help you clear energy blockages, ranging from those from this life through the influence of your ancestral karma. Connect with Julie at info (at) americasmindsetmechanic (dot) com to learn more about how she can help you.

Books by Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic

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Copyright (c) 2013, Alay’nya (Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.). All rights reserved.
Blog originally posted December 28, 2011. Revised and updated, October 22, 2013.

Related Posts: Archetypal Roles and Everyday Life

Moore and Gillette, "King, Warrior, Magician, Lover" – 2 1/3 Out of Four Ain’t Bad!

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Moore and Gillette’s “Archetypes of the Mature Masculine” – Most (Although Not All) of the “Mature Man”

I’m enormously grateful to authors Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette for their in-depth and fascinating work, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Archetypes of the Mature Masculine. They do a great service to all of us – women and men alike. And as this book is a prequel to a further set of four books (addressing each of these specific archetypes in the masculine context), I suggest each of them for further reading.

I particularly like and appreciate that in their introduction, authors Moore and Gillette identify that the reason that we have a hard time cultivating mature masculinity in our culture is a combination of three factors:

  1. The breakdown of family, in which we all too often have a weak or absent father,
  2. Current lack of an effective “initiation ritual” so that boys can become men, and
  3. A “patriarchal system” that really is based on an immature, rather than mature, masculinity – and is thus wounding both men and women in our culture.

Their insights and exemplars are excellent; well-thought-out, well-worked, and well-explained. Their work can help men of all ages – and women as well as men – understand masculine psychology in depth.

What is missing? Only one of the core masculine power archetypes – and a somewhat “bundled together” set of the three core feminine power archetypes.

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As often happens in our culture, for all their insights and true wisdom – and even their reference to this role – Moore and Gillette do not make a point of the Hierophant archetype.

Let’s look a bit more closely, because they do implicitly identify the role of the Hierophant, throughout their book. From Chapter 1:

“Ritual process is contained by two things. The first is a sacred space and the second is a ritual elder, a “wise old man” or a “wise old woman” who is completely trustworthy for the initiate and can lead the initiate through the process and deliver him (or her) intact and enhanced on the other side.” [King, Warrior, Magician, Lover, p. 6]

Throughout their book, Moore and Gillette clearly acknowledge both the need for and the significant role of the Hierophant. The Hierophant is precisely this “wise old man” or “wise old woman.”

But it is entirely in keeping with our society’s loss of “initiation rites” that we don’t have much of a clue about what a Hierophant really is! That is, we can’t look at someone and say, “Yes, this person really has a realy strong Hierophant essence!”

It’s a blind spot.

But it’s also a solvable blind spot.

Because as soon as we “get a clue” that we should be looking for Hierophant-instances, they pop up all around us. For examples, see Are Hierophants Really Important” (MacDonald’s Thinks So!) and also Who and What is a Hierophant?.

The fact that we don’t have as strong a concept of the Hierophant as we do of the King and the Magician is yet one more instance of how in our society, we greatly need to identify and honor this role.

Now, I’ve said (in this blog’s title) that Moore and Gillette have “2 1/3 out of 4.” Yet they identify four core archetypes. What’s missing?

First, they’ve introduced the Warrior as a core masculine power archetype. What I’ve been showing in my last several blogposts is that our Warrior mode – the “who we are” when we are on a Heroic Quest – is a means of “getting there.” It’s a transition mode. Really, in our society right now, our Warrior-path is our initiation process.

Further, we need to call upon our Warrior-selves time and again. We do this every time we step out of safety and comfort and venture into something dangerous and new. (For relevant posts, see Hero or Hierophant? Warrior or Wise Man? and also The Hero’s Quest and the Hierophant: Part I.)

Ideally, we use our inner Warrior to break through some limitations in our self and take on a new level of power or leadership. But we don’t need to stay in our Warrior mode.

So now, what do we have?

Replace Warrior (a transition mode, a means of activating one of our core masculine archetypes) with Hierophant. Warrior is a transition. Hierophant is an end-state; one of the culminating “archetypes of the mature masculine.” This gives us 3 1/3 out of 4.

To complete that remaining 1/3? We need to acknowledge that the Lover is a bundling up of the three core feminine power archetypes; High Priestess, Empress (Isis), and Love-Goddess (Hathor).

This is not a bad bundling. For simplicity, the bundling of three core feminine archetypes into one (the Lover) works for men, just as bundling three core masculine archetypes (Magician, Emperor, and Hierophant) into one (the Amazon) works for women.

But as men move further into their own integration journey, they would do well to identify, cultivate, and own each of their specific feminine strengths – the wisdom and intuition of their inner High Priestess, their love for wife, children, and community (as Empress/Isis), and their ability to revel in physical love and sensuality (Love-Goddess/Hathor).

The balancing of all these for men is different than that for women. But for all of us, all six core archetypes are necessary – as well as the two “reserve archetypes,” which I’ve not yet discussed in detail. (These two aspects will be subjects of later posts.)

Very best wishes as discover and empower each of your core archetypes during your own inner journey!

Alay'nya - author of "Unveiling: The Inner Journey"

Alay’nya – author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey

Alay’nya
(Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.)

Author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey
You are the Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus. Become the Jewel!

The Unveiling Journey blog details the theory – archetypes, life journeys, integration.

To experience your own Journey in a structured, safe, and gentle (yet effective) setting, visit Alay’nya’s website, and consider either a workshop with Alay’nya or one-on-one coaching.

Resources

Connect with Alay’nya and the Unveiling Community

Unveiling, by Alay'nya, currently has an overall five-star Amazon rating.

Unveiling, by Alay’nya, currently has twenty five-star Amazon reviews.

This blog series develops themes originally published in Unveiling: The Inner Journey, published by Mourning Dove Press.

Unveiling currently has twenty 5-star Amazon reviews, and has been recommended by luminaries:

  • Dr. Christiane Northrup – “This book is delightful”
  • Midwest Book Review, in Bethany’s Books – reviews by Susan Bethany – “highly recommended”
  • Nizana al Rassan, writing for (the now out of circulation) iShimmy.com – “a fascinating read with so much wisdom and solid advice.”

 

 

Julie Marie Rahm, aka America’s Mindset Mechanic on Unveiling: The Inner Journey

What does Julie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic and author of Handle Everything: Eight Tools You Need to Live Well and Prosper have to say about Unveiling: The Inner Journey?

Julie writes:

Unveiling is the definitive guidebook for women who want to experience lives of joy and fulfillment, and who just want to exhale into each day. Alay’nya reveals powerful, personal stories of her own life journey to fascinating womanhood, sensuality, and self-acceptance in ways that struck me like a velvet hammer. Her fresh approach to living illuminated my own bind spots. It is impossible to read Unveiling without awakening to new and possibly shocking self-awareness. For women ready to make real and lasting changes toward enlightenment and bliss, Unveiling is a must-read..”

Read this and more reviews of Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

 

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Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic

Check out Julie Marie Rahm!

Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic and author of Handle Everything: Eight Tools You Need to Live Well and Prosper and also Military Kids Speak (great for parents, teachers, and coaches of military kids) uses a great technique that can help you clear energy blockages, ranging from those from this life through the influence of your ancestral karma. Connect with Julie at info (at) americasmindsetmechanic (dot) com to learn more about how she can help you.

Books by Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic

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Copyright (c) 2013, Alay’nya (Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.). All rights reserved.
Blog originally posted December 13, 2011. Revised and updated, October 22, 2013.

Related Posts: The Hierophant – the Missing Archetype in King, Warrior, Magician, Lover