Working with Archetypes
...navigate our dream worlds
Plato believed that there were two worlds: one was non-physical and the other was of manifest forms. He was one of the first philosophers to refer to archetypes, which he called “Forms.”
Carl Jung took this work further, suggesting that archetypes are a fundamental way we have of working with the psyche. “Archetypes,” Jung wrote in The Structure and Dymanics of the Psyche, “are the living system of reactions and aptitudes that determine the individual’s life in invisible ways.”
Part of the work of Imaginosophy is to discover which guides or archetypes we are working with and to engage these energies with more awareness. Dr Jean Shinoda Bolen, author of Goddess in Everywoman, teaches that we all tend to adhere to an archetype that shapes our lives either consciously or unconsciously and it is best to know which forces we are running with.
Working with archetypes can help us navigate the dream worlds and other dimensions of consciousness, often a natural part of the spiritual awakening process. Working with myth and archetypes can take us on a rich and soulful journey.
Awareness of the Archetype
One way to begin to discover your Archetype is to simply look at the first seven cards of the Major Arcana. See which one draws your attention. Using the cards, you can look at them and simply sense which one intuitively feels correct. You may also want to meditate with each image, allowing the archetype to become more conscious. It is possible that we have all these archetypes within our psyche, but one tends to predominate.
...a Tool for Personal Growth
The Tarot is a tool for personal storytelling. As we work with the archetypes, we begin to locate ourselves in the story and thus Tarot can be used as a tool for personal growth and increased awareness. Carl Jung understood the importance of the individuation process. Working with archetypal images can activate the intuition, and the imaginal process.
According to Carl Jung, there are many archetypes, but four are the most important: the Self, the Persona, the Shadow, and the Anima/Animus. He discovered twelve characters that appear across all cultures and felt these were all part of our collective unconscious. These twelve archetypes we all have in common, although the characteristics of one might be more or less dominant in a person.
1) The Innocent, 2) Jester, 3) Magician, 4) Creator, 5) Caregiver, 6) Ruler, 7) Sage, 8) Lover, 9) Explorer, 10) Outlaw, 11) Hero, 12) Everyman.
When we use our imaginations, these archetypes are reflected in the Tarot in a variety of ways. We can imagine them as:
- The Innocent and Jester as expressions of the 0 Fool.
- The Magician archetype can be explored in I Magician (I Juggler).
- There are aspects of the Creator in II High Priestess and III Empress/Green Lady.
- III Empress/Green Lady can be explored as the Mother Archetype or Caregiver.
- The Ruler can be explored in the IV Emperor/Green Man and/or the Kings.
- V Hierophant has qualities of the Sage.
- The Lover archetype is mirrored in VI Lovers
- VII Chariot invites the Explorer archetype to examine dual forces.
- VIII Strength is a quality that the Explorer and Ruler, and the Hero need.
- XI Hermit has qualities of the Sage, and inner Explorer.
- XV Devil has elements of the Shadow Self or Outlaw.
- Faces of Everyman or Everywoman can be explored in the Court Cards.
- The Hero archetype can be discovered in the Imaginosophy Court Cards.
