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.

Hero or Hierophant? Warrior or Wise Man? (Part I)

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Heroic Journeys: A Part of Our Growth Path (But Certainly Not the End!)

A dear friend and colleague – someone who is already successful with her own business – is on a Heroine’s Quest. She’s forming a new business – one that is much more in line with her core heart’s desire – and one which has potential for being solid and profitable. Yet it will not take advantage of the government regulations, her advanced degree, or the well-identified corporate needs that give her current business such a solid and stable base.

Nevertheless, she feels impelled towards her new calling, and launching her new business.

Another colleague – someone whom I love and respect dearly – is at the peak of her career with a major organization. She has respect. She has influence. She is comfortable with, and intimately knows how to “work,” her current organization. She is financially – and organizationally – secure. Yet she is also preparing to leave her “nest” and start a new business.

Anytime that we leave the comfort of our known, safe, and familiar surroundings to take on a new venture, we are “questing.” And in order to find the strength and courage to leave known, safe, and familiar, we have to posit ourselves as Heroes (or as Heroines – this blog is gender-indifferent).

There’s a huge amount of emotional charge that we get by identifying ourselves as a Hero on a Quest. This defines our role, and gives us ego-identification. It pulls us out of being a “cog in a machine.” The sense of difficulty and danger becomes galvanizing and even energizing. We know who we are in the sharp crispness of taking on an “impossible dream” – which perhaps even involves conquering certain “forces of evil.”

Heroic Quests are alluring – and they are necessary. Without them, we would never find the courage to buck the status quo, to step out from the norms, and to do – very literally – “great things.” All the great adventures of humankind have sprung – one way or another – from such Heroic Questing.

Yet there is a danger hidden within the addictive nature of such quests. We can use them as a means of repeating life-stages through which we’ve already gone, and often with great success.

One man whom I know, let’s call him Theo (yes, the same “Theo” from Unveiling) had a brilliant military career, from his youth to retiring – with high rank and numerous accolades. He then had an equally stellar career with a well-known company, and then – with a band of comrades – started his own company, which became very successful. Theo’s unique insights, his tenacity and will, his total dedication to his cause, was a significant element in his company’s growth.

Theo has had a great career; a culmination of Heroic Quests.

And yet, there is an Achille’s heel to such exploits.

Ponder on it. (I’ll take this story up in the next blogpost.) But ask yourself: Is there a potential downside to repeating a known “success pattern”?

The "Lord of the Rings": A Classic "Inner Journey"?

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Frodo the Ring-Bearer, selected to convey the Ring of Power into Mordor where he can cast it into the fire, is weary on his journey. He is not yet into the dark lands, but already the responsibilities of bearing the Ring of Power wear heavily on him. Frodo and his band, the Fellowship of the Ring, spend their last moments traveling together as guests in Lothlorien. There, they meet the Lady of the Woods, the Lady Galadriel.

Lady Galadriel welcomes the group of travelers, and gives each a special gift along with an Elven cloak. To Frodo, she gives the Phial of Galadrial, which provides light during their journey. More than that, by touching the vial, Frodo can ease the corrupting power-thoughts induced by the One Ring. Similarly, the light from this vial (Phial) frightens away the voracious spider Shelob, whose web would ensnare him after he’s entered Mordor.

The Phial of Galadriel also seemed to inspire both Frodo and his companion Sam to call out in the Elvish language. Frodo, in particular, called out a reference to Earondil the first time that he used the Phial against Shelob.

Just two days ago, I chanced to watch a segment of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson and released in 2001. This was the segment in which Frodo was brought before the Lady Galadriel. He was mesmerized by her ethereal beauty, and awed by her gift to him.

Rachel Pollack, in her book, The Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, describes this first stage of our adult life-journey as the Worldy Sequence. This is the time in which we come to know, access, and integrate each of our core power archetypes. Two of these are like “reserve batteries,” and I don’t discuss them in Unveiling. The remaining six are our “power modes”: we need each of them to gain our full adult powers.

If this is the case, the Frodo might be a stand-in for each of us. This is not surprising – each of us feels a bit “smaller” than others, and we are each daunted by life’s challenges from time to time. And let’s recall that the purpose of these “heroic” stories is to exaggerate contrast. We are not simply trying to introduce a new process or product into our company, we are saving truth and freedom by delivering the ring to Mordor and sundering the forces of darkness!

So what does Frodo’s encounter with Lady Galadriel, the Lady of the Woods, mean to us? She would have to be one of the three feminine archetypes of our six core power archetypes. This means that she could represent the High Priestess (wisdom and inner knowing), the Empress (or Isis, love and nurturance), or Hathor (the goddess of pleasure and sensuality).

Really, there is not much of the “pleasure and sensuality” aspect in The Lord of the Rings! Hathor, as a choice for the Lady, is clearly out. Also, the Lady is a somewhat remote figure. She is not about warmth and nurturance. When we connect with our “inner Lady Galadriel,” we are not getting the oxytocin feel-good surge that we get when we curl up with our dog, cat, young child, or our “special someone.”

No, there is only one role for the Lady: she represents the High Priestess, or inner wisdom. And her gift to Frodo is precisely related to her role in his life; she gives him light, the ability see – and also to repel dark forces using this power of light.

This is reinforced with an earlier scene, in which the Lady pours water into a silver mirror-bowl, and invites Frodo to look within and see. This, very literally, is the role of the Lady in each of our lives. Our inner High Priestess is that aspect of us that gives us wisdom; she helps us “see rightly.”

When we access our own inner High Priestess – our own Lady of the Woods, we gain not only vision and clarity, but also wisdom. Read about her in Unveiling: The Inner Journey, Chapters 7 & 11.

P.S. Who, in The Fellowship of the Ring, would represent the other two female power-archetypes? There are really only two other women of note that the Fellowship encounters during their travels; Goldenberry and Arwen. As a little test for yourself, why not research each of these two – and think them through in terms of the remaining two feminine core-power archetypes: the Empress (or Isis, in Unveiling terms), and Hathor. Which is which? And why? And do we need them? What roles did each play in The Fellowship of the Ring? What would the story be like without them?

Are "Hierophants" Really That Important? (McDonald’s Thinks So!)

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Why Do We Need Hierophants?

Gandalf the Grey (later the Gandalf the White), Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, and Professor Albus Dumbledore are all Hierophants. Mr. Miyagi, of Karate Kid fame (whether the first or second film release), is also a Hierophant. With this established, is a Hierophant something (or someone) that we really need – or is this just a nice artifact for certain film and story genres?

McDonald’s, a Fortune 500 company, certainly thinks that Hierophants are important.

A Hierophant is more than a teacher, coach, mentor, or guide – although he (or she!) is typically all of those roles. The “more than” is that the Hierophant is the means by which the traditions, “secret knowledge” (whether of spells or corporate plans), and values are transmitted from one leadership generation to another.

According to a Robert P. Gandossy and Nidhi Vermma, in “Passing the Torch of Leadership”, the implicit role of Hierophants is essential in ensuring that strong companies maintain their competitive edge. Quoting a study carried out by Stanford University researchers James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras, as described in their best-seller Built to Last, these two researchers found that companies maintaining a stellar performance and managing 20th-century endurance had one essential ingredient: a culture of succession management. In other words, internal Hierophants trained the next generation of leaders.

Further, as described by Collins and Porras, and summarized in this article:

Organizations that embrace a formal, ongoing, top-to-bottom succession process that is a fundamental part of the corporate fabric–what we call best-in-class succession management–have developed a key ingredient for long-term success, as Collins and Porras demonstrated.

Is this sound advice? McDonald’s, a Fortune 500 company, certainly thinks so. In a Fortune article on Why McDonald’s wins in any economy (August, 2011), author Beth Kowitt describes a culture instituted by CEO Jim Skinner, who created “Hamburger U,” McDonald’s management training facility. According to Kowitt:

This push for talent development may be Skinner’s greatest legacy at the company, which has 700,000 employees in the U.S. alone…

His push for in-house talent development creates a substantial pool of leaders-in-training:

[Skinner] requires that all executives train at least two potential successors — one who could do the job today, the “ready now,” in McDonald’s parlance, and one who could be a future replacement, the “ready future.” … Every year the executive team, including Skinner, reviews the top 200 positions in the company and the feeder pool, which means it ends up looking at about 400 people. “We talk about all of them,” says HR chief Rich Floersch.

This is an excellent example of the Hierophant notion internalized into corporate values and training. We pay attention to that where we put our money. Clearly, McDonald’s is putting both attention – and money – into internalizing the Hierophant role within its culture.

Who – and What – Is a "Hierophant"?

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Hierophant – Leader of Leaders, and Teacher of Teachers

Those of us who’ve been following Unveiling: The Inner Journey – both reading the book and this blogpost – have probably wondered about this notion of a Hierophant. We never hear the term in any of our “leadership books.” The subject of “hierophants” is not covered in the Harvard Business School, or in the military’s leadership academies. So how can this notion possibly be important? And – perhaps most essential – how can it be one of our “core six power archetypes”?

For the longest time, the idea of a Hierophant puzzled me also. In fact, it was still something of a puzzle as Unveiling was going to press. I still hadn’t figured it out! But here, in a sort of “post-Unveiling epilogue,” a lot of the concepts I’d worked on earlier are becoming much more clear. And surprisingly enough, it was the work on the Hero’s Quest (and the Heroine’s, as well – see Chapter 6 in Unveiling, on that theme), that made the notion of a Hierophant much more clear.

Let’s start with one of the classic Hero’s Quest examples from Chapter 6; Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute. The young hero, Tamino, seeks initiation into a “higher order.” He undergoes trials of initiation, overseen by the High Priest, Sarastro. At first, we might not have a good “felt sense” of Sarastro’s role, other than that he seems to be a necessary figurehead. But let’s move on!

Our next example (also from Chapter 6) is Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. Young Luke also goes through trials, much as does Tamino. He trains first with Obi-wan Kenobi, and later with Yoda. In Star Wars, this stage of training – of both learning and proving himself – is essential before the young hero takes on his true, defining challenge. But in the early stage, a teacher is essential. As a similar example, Mr. Miyagi is the necessary teacher in the Karate Kid movie series.

The same is true of young women, facing their Heroine’s Quests. Young Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz, has Gilda, the Good Witch of the East, to guide her.

But is this consistent? Is this something necessary?

Let’s look at a few more Hero’s Quest stories. The Lord of the Rings is a great one. We have young Bilbo Baggins first in The Hobbit, and later Frodo and his hobbit-companions, together with warriors from men, elves, and dwarves. But throughout, we also have a certain special character – not Aragorn (who really is a Hero, joined in Quest with Frodo and the others). No, the character who deserves our attention is Gandalf. That’s right; Gandalf the Grey, later Gandalf the White.

One essential component of the Hero’s Quest – since it is really the Hero’s story – is that the Hero needs to be guided by his teacher, the Hierophant, in the early stages. Yet later, he needs to confront challenges on his own. Usually, the Hierophant is killed in this process – in order to make the Hero’s isolation during his final challenge most real and concrete.

During crucial portions of The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf is unavailable to Frodo and his companions; he sacrifices himself while fighting the ancient and fearful Balrog. Similarly, Obi-wan Kenobi sacrifices himself in a duel with Darth Vader, allowing Luke and other to escape. We’re seeing a pattern here; can we find another instance?

One of the greatest “mythological sagas” of our time is the Harry Potter series. We meet young Harry when he is only twelve years old, and is whisked away to Hogwarts to study magic. He meets the Headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore. In a manner similar to that of Obi-wan Kenobi and Gandalf the Grey, Professor Dumbledore dies in the last book – forcing Harry to have his final confrontation with Lord Voldemort on his own.

We see that the Hierophant is a powerful figure. He is essential to the growth and training of a young Hierophant. Often (but not always), the Hierophant sacrifices himself, although this is usually a plot device – and not a necessary Hierophant characteristic!

Our culture focuses on the drama of the young Hero/Heroine, in their respective Quests. We see, now, that the Hero or Heroine does not gain skill, insight, or understanding on their own. Before they go on to their “great challenge,” they must undergo training. The Hierophant is their teacher; their guide.

So in your own life, are you being a Hero/Heroine, or a Hierophant? Learning to see this distinction in yourself, and in those around you, will be the subject of the next blogpost!

The "Hero’s Quest" and the "Hierophant" – Part 1

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The Warrior’s Road to Wisdom: Going from the “Hero’s Quest” to the “Hierophant”

In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, beholding the devastation that once was his uncle’s farm, has no choice. Not only is there no “going back,” there is nothing left to “go back to.” He seeks out his new teacher, Obi-Wan Kenobi, more out of desperation than desire to go off “adventuring.” Yet, as his training and his travels unfold, he finds himself on a Hero’s Quest; one of the grandest sagas of our time.

Princess Isabelle, in a “The Embryo Goddess and the Morpho,” a short story written by Nicole Cutts, Ph.D. (in Many Paths, Many Feet, edited by Phyllis Wilson), leaves the safety of her Queen Mother’s love and her King Father’s castle, and ventures off to reclaim a portion of her father’s lands and restore the kingdom.

The young Tamino, in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, undergoes the trials of initiation into the priesthood of the Sun God worshippers. In The Karate Kid, young Daniel simply wants to survive the daily humiliations of martial arts-skilled school bullies.

Is there something is common to all these stories, and to many other stories of heroic adventure?

As it turns out, they share a great deal in common – so much so that the great Joseph Campbell identified the underlying story-structure of all of these as the monomyth. As he described it, there is only one great story or grand saga. It has a consistent structure. And it underlies all the great stories of human “becoming.” The monomyth describes the journey of Jason and his Argonauts, as they searched for the Golden Fleece. This monomyth similarly underlies many of our current “grand sagas” – both in myth, movies and books, and in our personal lives.

The reason that certain monomyth retellings achieve huge cultural resonance (Star Wars-like resonance) with us is not just the quality of the movie or the book. Rather, it is that the movie, book, or even someone’s personal history faithfully adheres to the core monomyth storyline.

Monomyths are compelling. They pull us along; they sweep us away. When we go through our own Hero’s Quest or Heroine’s Journey, we undergo a profound personal transformation. We have left the warmth of nurturing love, and the security of a known environment. We even give up our “identity.”

Think of Aragorn, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Yes, the monomyth there is being largely carried out by the young hobbits. However, Aragorn as much as the hobbits is on his Hero’s Quest. In classic heroic manner, he travels – not as a prince of the realm, with servants and retinue – but under an assumed name, as the Chieftan of the Rangers of the North. He has relinquished identification with his “true name” and “true heritage” until he has successfully concluded his Heroic Quest; reuniting the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor.

We have many Heroine’s Quest stories as well; Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz is an early prototype. Sarah in the Labyrinth, and Lyra in The Golden Compass are other young heroines. Each of them steps into their quest to rescue someone whom they know and love. Dorothy wants to rescue her dog Toto, and Sarah seeks to rescue her baby half-brother, Toby. Lyra searches for her friend Roger, and for other children taken by the Gobblers.

Heroic Quests can take on many forms and guises. Consistent to all of them – Hero’s Quests and Heroine’s Quests alike – is the moment when the young Hero/Heroine leaves safety, security, and a well-defined (although limiting) role.

Similarly, we each take on a Heroic Quest – often many times in our lives! When we leave home to go off to college, or join the military, we are beginning a personal Heroic Quest.

When we start a new business, leaving behind the safety, security, well-defined structure, comforting companionship, and certain role of corporate life, we are beginning a new Heroic Quest.

We can undertake Heroic Quests within a corporate structure as well. If we champion a new product or idea; whenever we go into Warrior mode, we are questing.

Questing, although arduous and dangerous, is exciting, More than that, it is self-defining. It is the process by which we individuate; become our own person. We find courage, step out from our parent’s home, or the security of a corporate paycheck, and forge our own pathway. It is through this forging – which may take many years, and require severe and lengthy training (think Luke Skywalker; think Aragorn) – that we become that which we were meant to be. The higher the calling – be it Jedi Knight or Ruler of the united Gondor/Arnor kingdoms – the more difficult, lengthy, and perilous the journey.

Because it is so intense and so self-defining, with such a clear end in sight, we might think that questing leads us to our final goal; that it is the “single defining journey” of our adult lives.

Surpisingly, not so. In fact, even if we undertake successive Heroic Quests, there is still a realm beyond. So suppose that we leave home to go to college, and then get an advanced degree. That’s one Quest. Suppose that we get a corporate job, and spearhead a new initiative within the company. That’s another Quest. Suppose that we then strike out and form our own company; yet another Quest. We can go questing all our lives.

But there really is more. There is indeed a “life beyond the Heroic Journey.” And it is not at all staid and boring! Rather, the journeys of a mature adult, while often more “inner” than “outer,” have just as much challenge as our youthful, self-defining questing – perhaps even more!

A Heroic Quest is obvious. Everyone – including ourselves – knows what we are doing. We are re-uniting the severed kingdoms, getting the “Ring of Power” into Mordor, writing a dissertation, climbing a mountain, or rescuing someone in distress. Our goal and our focus is clear. Further, we shape who we are in the process.

In contrast, the “journeys” that we may undertake as mature adults – something that we may do after we’ve successfully completed a Heroic Quest (or two or three) can be much less overt. Those around us may not even know that we undertaking some sort of “inner journey.” In fact, we ourselves may not even know it – until we come through the other side and say to ourselves, “I really have changed!”

So how do we know the difference? How can we tell if we are on a Heroic Quest, or doing something different? What lies beyond questing? And are there signposts or guides, so that we can know what we’re doing?

That will be the theme of the next blogpost – and perhaps a few more afterwards!

In the meantime, if you have a copy of Robert Moore’s King, Warrior, Magician, Lover – take a look. There’s an error in the basic premise. See if you can discern it. (It will help if you’ve read Chapters 7 and 11 of Unveiling: The Inner Journey.)

More to be revealed in coming posts.

To your health, and the success of your journeys!

Alay’nya

P.S. There’s a clue – and it’s in the title of this post. What’s the role of the Hierophant? How does the Hierophant relate to our Heroic Quest (if at all)? See if you can figure this out before my next posting!

Your Six "Power Archetypes" – What Happens When One Doesn’t Function?

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Six Core “Power Archetypes” – The Key to Personal Power

Imagine that you’re John Wayne, with the thundering power of six galloping horses under your control, as he had in the movie Stagecoach.

Your six core power archetypes take you through life, just as six horses pull the stagecoach.

Your six core power archetypes take you through life, just as six horses pull the stagecoach.

Such stirring, viscerally exciting stagecoach “powerhouses” still exist; and are still drawn by six powerful horses. There are still people who are excited by real stagecoaches and the power of their six-horse “engines.”

Now, imagine that you’re in the driver’s seat, thundering along at full speed. Your “six horses” are in fine form, as you cover dusty plains, heat-seared deserts, and mountainous terrain. You know each member of your team; each is integral.

And suddenly – one of your horses takes a stumble; he breaks a leg, and you no longer have that essential horse on your team. That crucial “balance of power” that enables you to move at top speed, easily covering the most difficult terrain, is broken. Now, lacking just one of your integral “powerhouses,” you are much more vulnerable – to attacks by Indian war parties, to raiders and bandits, and even to rivals who will beat you to the next town with important news.

The value of archetypes?

You are the stagecoach. Everything that you are, that you value, that carries you through life, is your “stagecoach.” It’s your job, and the skills and abilities that enable you to perform on your job. It’s your special interests, and the skills that you’ve built up over a lifetime that lets you cultivate your interests. It’s your role in your community, your church, your family, and society at large.

The six horses that get you through life? These are your core power archetypes. You need each one. Doing without a single core power archetype is like driving a six-horse stagecoach with only five horses. It can be done, certainly, but not nearly as effectively as when all six are in harness.

From the last blogpost, we remember advice from author Michael F. Andrew, in How to Think Like a CEO and Act Like a Leader, which talked about “treating issues coldly and people warmly.”

Your Emperor archetype is the one that “treats issues coldly.” However, without your Isis/Empress archetype, you wouldn’t be able to to “treat people warmly.” Many of our most masculine heroes – from Ronald Reagen to yes, John Wayne, had the ability to “treat people warmly.” They had a fully-developed feminine Isis/Empress archetype. In fact, they each had a complete set of all six power archetypes. Having and using all their “core power archetypes” was what let them be so effective.

How about you? Do you have, know, and use at will each of your “core power archetypes”? Check through your core masculine archetypes. How strong, potent, and effective are your inner masculine roles? These are your: Magician (visionary and strategic thinker), Emperor (organize, lead, and get-things-done), and Hierophant (teacher, mentor, guide).

How vital and well-formed are your three core feminine archetypes? These are your: High Priestess (wise, contemplative, intuitive; your deepest sense of internal-steering), Isis/Empress (nurturing and caring), and Hathor (fun-loving, sensual, and playful).

Are each of these functioning in good order?

For more, read Chapters 7 and 11 of Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

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

Alay’nya – author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey

Very best wishes as discover and empower each of your core archetypes during your own 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 September 15, 2011. Revised and updated, October 22, 2013.

Related Posts: Archetypal Roles and Everyday Life

Mastering the "Power Archetypes" – Essential for CEOs and Strategic Leaders

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Using the Six Core Power Archetypes – A Leadership Essential

Why are successful CEOs paid so much more than other key members of a leadership team? It’s not just the responsibility; the “buck stops here” factor. It’s not just business experience and ability to “perform.” Rather, there is a skill required in leadership situations – a very special skill – that very few have. So few people have this skill, really, that those that do command the most prestigious jobs. They have the most influence and leverage. While each of us creates a “ripple effect” in the world around us, those few people who have this unique skill have a “ripple effect” that can travel around the world (multiple times), and persist long after the person is still in place, carrying out his or her role. In some cases, the impact of these people lasts for centuries. They create true legacy.

This skill, I’m convinced, is not just the ability to deal with complexity, but something more complex in itself.

Imagine that you – or anyone whom you know – works within an “imaginary room.” There are different “walls” in this room. Each “wall” represents a kind of interaction that is required for the job.

Suppose that someone has a relatively simple job, in terms of “interaction complexity.” They might be doing a very highly skilled task – such as programming a complex system. But their “interaction complexity” is limited to just a few “walls.” This person has their boss or team leader, their co-workers or those who are providing inputs to the system design, and – of course – the “system” itself. This person may be paid a great deal, depending on the complexity of the system that they’re programming, and the level of insight and skill that they bring to the task. But there is a “cap” on their salary – and on their growth within the organization. This “cap” relates to the complexity of the “room” in which the person lives. In this case, their “room” has just three “walls”; team leader, co-workers, and computer system.

Now, think of yourself in a CEO (or similar leadership) role. Your job requires you to live in a “room” with very many “walls.” There is your Board and the Board Chair, your direct reports, your clients, and – of course – the product or services that your company offers. Within the realm of “direct reports,” there is further complexity. Marketing, for example, is a very different “wall” than is finance, which is different from operations, etc.

What makes your job both interesting and demanding is the need for you to “switch gears” as needed. Your job environment is the Swiss Alps race track; as described in a previous blogpost on Your V8 Power Car Engine.

The most effective, and successful, CEOs manage by calling on their different power modes as appropriate, and as needed.

One good example of this kind of power mode integration is described by author Michael F. Andrew, in his book, How to Think Like a CEO and Act Like a Leader. One of his first points is to “treat issues coldly and treat people warmly.” This is direct advice to combine two power modes; your Emperor (your logical, facts-and-figures, results-oriented mode), and your Empress/Isis (your caring, feeling-oriented, relationship-building mode). These are entirely different modes of being. Successful leaders use both – and four others as well! (They also, for “filling their well,” draw on their two reserve modes also.)

I know of several people who do this kind of “gear shifting” very well. Two well-known luminaries are current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. (They are both profiled in Chapter 11: “Switching State” of Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

Closer to home, Maestro Dingwall Fleary, Musical Director for both Reston Community Orchestra and the The McLean Symphony, is an excellent example of a leader who can “shift roles” as need be. He finds this ability essential to his success in leading people and in bringing out their “best possible performance.” And just as as business offers quarterly profits as immediate and direct feedback on the CEO’s skill, a symphony’s performance is a direct feedback on the conductor’s skill. It’s partly the quality of the musicians, and it’s mostly what the conductor can get out of them.

For more, read Chapter 11: “Shifting State,” in Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

Your "V8 Power Car Engine" – Accessing Each Core Archetype

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Using Your “Power Archetypes” for Career Direction and Life Focus

Recently, I visited with a friend who is (as many of us are) in the midst of a life-change/career-change. (How often these two are combined!) She consulted with a “career counselor” (good step), who advised her to take a questionnaire that would help her figure out her “personal archetypes.” (Again, a good step.)

The problem was – the selection of the available archetypes was skewed. They contained some that were “spot on” for being “power archetypes.” They contained some “disempowered archetypes.” And they contained some “transitional” ones as well. And – what makes questionnaires such as this difficult to use as a life-course-charting tool – there was no real “underlying model” that generated the archetypal set. (Although they were drawn, somewhat hit-or-miss, from the archetypes presented in Carolyn Myss’s Sacred Contracts and related works.)

This mix-up of “which archetypes are what” is understandable. That doesn’t mean that it’s good. And it certainly does not mean that all archetypes are created equal!

I found a similar problem in historical works. When the Tarot became popular (starting around the late 1400’s), several different Tarot decks were produced. Now the Major Arcana in the Tarot system are – if anything – the most central archetypes of our culture. All of our “big ideas” about the meaning of life – important events, life-stages, huge transition points in an adult’s search for meaning and wisdom – these are all contained within the Major Arcana.

And, as I found during research for Unveiling: The Inner Journey, the first six Major Arcana are all “personal role archetypes.”

The “six power archetypes” that I describe in Unveiling (see Chapter 7: “A Real Woman’s Path (Really Does Exist!)”) are six of the eight “core archetypes” that define or describe our human psyche. Unveiling, following the logical model of the Major Arcana, focuses on six of the eight. (The remaining two are like “archetypal battery packs” – they help us recharge and regenerate our “inner juice.” They help us get grounded when we have become too disconnected, or too stressed. But they are not our power archetypes. And Unveiling, as with the Major Arcana, focuses on the “power modes.”)

There’s a reason why there are eight total “core archetypes”; not ten, not twelve, not twenty. There’s a reason that they are exactly the ones that they are, and not some hob-scobbling together from a grab-bag of god and goddess personas, or modes that emerge from our damaged or weaker or “transitional” states.

And there’s a reason that six of these eight are “power modes.” These are the means by which we attain higher consciousness.

Sound strange?

Maybe, at first.

But I didn’t invent these “power archetypes.” The earlier Renaissance developers of the Tarot decks didn’t invent them, either. (That is, the ones who produced the “accurate” decks. There were a lot of different, individualistic interpretations and made-up decks, just as there are today. But those were one-time offshoots, not the “real thing.”)

The “inventors” – if we want to call them that – were the persons who “invented” the Jewish Kabbalah, and understood the “Tree of Life.” That meant that they were scholars and mystics, seers and sages. They had rigorous minds, and subjected themselves to challenging “inner journeys” that led them to standing in the presence of God, and knowing their oneness with the Divine.

They understood how to get to this state. They expressed it as the “pathways” in going from one center (Sephiroth) to another within this cosmic “Tree of Life.” And they taught their students how to do the same. This is what resulted in the Kabbalah (later the Qabalah).

They expressed this “journey” as a series of 22 steps. One step was the starting point – a person identified himself or herself as an “aspirant.” It was like asking for initiation into a Masonic guild. (This tradition, of course, is where the various esoteric schools and “orders” have supposedly received their knowledge.)

Once a person identifies that he or she is starting on an “inner journey,” there are three major stages of growth, and seven steps to each stage. (That gives us 21 steps, which combined with the first one, gives a total of 22. Twenty-two cards in the Major Arcana, twenty-two Sephiroth, and twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet. And yes, of course they’re all related.) These 21 steps (after identifying that we’re on a journey) comprise our adult life stages.

Most of us know about “growth stages” in children, such as the “terrible twos.” If we’re more familiar with childhood growth stages, we understand that each one is a distinct stage of cognitive and personal development. Much of this was elicited by Piaget, and has helped us with current childhood development theory.

We also understand that there are “adult life stages.” The “mid-life crisis” that men and women alike experience is a good example. (Although it’s fairly simplistic, and when we start working with the “real” life stages shown to us by our archetypes, we get a much better handle on things.)

As taught by the ancient Kabbalistic masters, each “life stage” had a distinct purpose in an adult’s growth as a human being. The first of these three “life stages” was that a person had to come to know – and gain mastery of – each of their six “power archetypes.” (They figured that they didn’t have to teach the remaining two; they assumed that people innately understood and could use their own “battery pack” archetypes as needed.)

Six power archetypes. That’s what we’re after now. that’s what the “aspirants” were after then. After gaining understanding of each of their six power archetypes, they moved on to the seventh step; integration.

The goal then was the same as it is today. Master each of six different “power modes.” Use them at will. Use them all, together, as needed.

So – what are these “power archetypes”? I’ll write about them soon – and also the “disempowered” ones, and the “transitional” ones as well. And I’ll explain how each has an important role in our life; they’re like magnetic “points of attraction.” Part of our inner journey is to release the less powerful (and less fulfilling) ones, and access the ones that help us be more powerful, functional, happy, and fulfilled.

And then, of course, a big part of our inner journey is that we learn to use each archetypal mode as appropriate and necessary, and to combine them at will.

Knowing, and accessing, each of the six power modes, and having your two “reserve modes” to back you up – that gives you a total of eight modes.

It’s like being your very own V8 engine.

The Saleen S7 Twin Turbo. Missing a core archetype is like driving a powerful V8 car when one of its cylinders is misfiring.

The Saleen S7 Twin Turbo. Missing a core archetype is like driving a powerful V8 car when one of its cylinders is misfiring.

Suppose that you were a V8-engine racing car, and you were going to take on a tough Swiss Alps road course race, involving dangerous turns through mountain passes.

You wouldn’t set off on your journey if one of the cylinders in your engine didnt’ work, would you?

Our life is our road course race. We need each of our “power modes.”

Want to learn how?
Read Unveiling.

It May Seem Silly, But …

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How to “Reward” Yourself for Task Completion

In my blogposts yesterday, I wrote about using the Unveiling archetypes to help refine our Franklin-Covey Day Planner roles. Using our roles, in the context of a Weekly Compass, is a great way to organize tasks and priorities.

By the end of a multi-hour planning session yesterday, I had July’s tasks and priorities laid out, a full column for each of six different roles. (one of them, High Priestess, doesn’t require much “doing.”) But the total set of tasks was overwhelming!

So I’m reclaiming one of my old little psychological self-motivation tricks. It may sound silly, but: I use stickers.

That’s right, stickers.

The kind of stickers that little kids use.

I use little sparkly “stars” (multicolored, or gold) for completing each “task” on my to-do list. I use them on my task lists, so that as I complete the tasks, the total number of little, sparkly stickers mounts up, and I get motivated to get as many as possible. These are a lot more “rewarding” than simply checking off the tasks!

I use different kinds of “heart” stickers on my calendar page for each time I work out. That way, simply by glancing at my calendar page, I know whether I’ve been keeping up with my workout goals for a month, or if I’ve been distracted (or simply slacking off).

And I use “rainbows” for major achievements, such as performances or big presentations.

All this may sound juvenile. But we each have a “little kid” inside ourselves, and this “kid” can get overwhelmed by the prospect of a month of hard work. Sometimes, acknowledging that our “kid” needs a “reward” is just what it takes to get our “inner adult” motivated to carry through!

Unveiling "Archetypes" and Franklin-Covey "Roles" – A Practical Step

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Personal Integration: The First Adult Life-Journey

I’ve just posted to the Unveiling blog about how I’m using the Unveiling archetypes to help myself clarify and prioritize tasks for my different roles, using the Weekly Compass in the Franklin Covey Day Planner system.

The more complex our life gets, the more it helps us to organize ourselves in terms of roles.

Just in these past two weeks, I’ve been teaching myself to connect my different roles with the various archetypes from Unveiling.

We each have six core archetypes; three male, and three female. Our masculine ones are Magician (visionary, creating “something” from “nothing”), Emperor (building structures, systems, and social order), and Hierophant (teaching and mentoring, within a well-defined and structured system). Our three female roles are Isis (also known as Empress; nurturing and caring), Hathor (perfumes, pleasure, and play – the “sweet things” of life), and High Priestess (contemplative, intuitive, insightful). We also each have two “reserve” modes; our Hestia (our hearth-and-home goddess; very comforting) and our “Green Man of the Woods” (our inner wild-man or wild-woman, who connects with nature and instinct). (For women, we may think of our “Green Man” as our “Green Woman,” or Artemis – the original goddess who “ran with the wolves.”)

These eight modes, taken together, are the eight “cylinders” of our “power car engine.” We need all eight. If we lose touch with any single one, it’s like trying to run a Corvette when not all the cylinders are firing. Dysfuction.

But operating in society, we tend to over-emphasize our Amazon (which for women is a combination of all of our masculine modes), and our Isis – leaving little or no time for Hathor or High Priestess. (No wonder we not only feel stressed, but – from time-to-time – disassociated. We’re missing at least two of our “power modes.”)

So as we use time-management and life-organization systems such as the Franklin Covey Day Planner, we can consciously factor in and identify roles that incorporate each of our core archetypal modes. Sometimes, we’ll blend two or more archetypes into a single role, but we can do this consciously and purposefully, so it will work.

Then, as we start allocating time, we can make sure that we identify Hathor-time, and factor pleasure and play into our daily lives. We can identify High Priestess time, and be certain that we step away from society, and from “digital distractions,” and commune with our inner being. We can associate simple housekeeping chores with our Hestia, and know that we’re nourishing an important part of our inner reserve by caring for our physical surround. (“Wax on, wax off.” This can be very refreshing.) And we can group our various nurturing and caring activities into our Isis mode, where we consciously choose and know how much time we spend on caring for others – and the trade-off in terms of caring for ourselves.

This gives us the basis for wisdom and discernment, two superior life-skills.