ARCHETYPES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

Sexual energy provides great power when properly channeled. Like the Femme Fatale, the Don Juan archetype can make us aware of falling into sex role cliches, misusing the power of romantic attraction and pursuit. Although associated with sensuality and sophistication, this archetype represents a man preying on women for the sake of conquest alone. Sex addiction is not about sex but about the need to gain control of someone. Don Juan radiates an attitude that all women need him far more than he needs them, and that he is invulnerable to their charms.

The positive aspect of this archetype is its underlying vulnerability and its power to open wide a heart that is capable of deep love. As many stories portray, once the gigolo meets his match, he has also found his mate. But his match, in keeping with the profile of this pattern, must have emotional independence and the self-esteem to be immune to his manipulative skills.

Films: Warren Beatty in Shampoo; Richard Gere in American Gigolo; Donald Sutherland in Casanova; Michael Caine in Alfie; Johnny Depp in Don Juan di Marco; Jude Law in A.I.

Fiction: Quiet Days in Clichy by Henry Miller.

Religion/Myth: Satyr (in Greek myth, a creature with a goat's tail, flanks, hooves, and horns, but otherwise human upper body, who drinks, dances, and chases nymphs. The Italian version is the faun, and in Slavonic culture, the Ljeschi); Priapus (Greek and Roman deity of gardens attributed with enormous genitals); Aka Manah (in Zoroastrianism, the personification of sensual desire).

Engineer.

(Architect, Builder, Schemer)

The Engineer is eminently practical, hands-on, and devoted to making things work. The characteristics of the Engineer reflect the grounded, orderly, strategic qualities of mind that convert creative energy into a practical expression. This archetype also manifests as a talent for engineering everyday situations or designing solutions to common dilemmas. The shadow Engineer manifests as a master manipulator, designing and engineering situations to one's own advantage regardless of the needs or desires of others.

Films: Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai; Gary Cooper in The Fountainhead; Jeff Bridges in Tucker.

Drama: The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen

Religion/Myth: Elen (in Welsh myth, the world's first highway engineer, who protected her land by magically creating highways so that her soldiers could defend it); Amenhotep (ancient Egyptian architect who later was venerated as the god of building); Daedalus (renowned Cretan architect who constructed the Labyrinth of the Minotaur and fashioned artificial wings for himself and his son, Icarus).

Exorcist.

(Shaman)

The ability to confront evil in the form of possession by destructive or antisocial impulses in oneself and others is as valuable today as it was in the time of Jesus, the master Exorcist. Just as modern biblical scholars suggest that the demons that Jesus cast out may have been forms of psychological illness, so we can see our own inner demons as arising from forces that we feel are beyond our control. Shamans, for example, conduct rituals for the release of negative spirits from a person's soul. To include this among your family of archetypes, however, you would have to find a life-long pattern or exorcising the negative spirits of others or of social groups or society.

The shadow Exorcist attacks the evil in others without having the courage to face his own demons.

Films: Jason Miller in The Exorcist; Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense.

Religion/Myth: Shoki (Shinto god of the afterlife and exorcism); Zhong kui (Taoist god of the afterlife and exorcism).

Fanatic.

A fanatic is a person filled with excessive, uncritical zeal (intensity/passion), particularly for an extreme religious or political cause, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby.

Father.

(Patriarch, Progenitor)

This archetype combines a talent for creating or initiating with the ability to oversee others, whether a biological family or a group of creative people. Although the Father has taken on negative connotations associated historically with paternalism and male dominance, we shouldn't lose sight of its primary characteristics of courage--think of Abraham leaving the home of his ancestors to father a new race in a strange land--and protectiveness. A true Father guides and shields those under his care, sacrificing his own desires when that's appropriate. The shadow Father emerges when that caring guidance and protection turns into dictatorial control or abuse of authority.

Being a biological father and family man clearly isn't enough to include this archetype in your intimate circle. You will need to uncover a life-long attachment to the role of family patriarch, however you conceive of that family.

Films: William Powell in Life with Father; Spencer Tracy in Father of the Bride; Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer; Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird; Lamberto Maggiorani in The Bicycle Thief; Raymond Massey in East of Eden (shadow).

Television: Robert Young in Father Knows Best; Fred MacMurray in My Three Sons.

Fiction: All the Way Home by James Agee.

Religion/Myth: Most ancient cultures had at least one Father god, usually associated with the sky, who also functioned as creator and patriarch, including Uranus and Zeus (Greece); Jupiter (Rome); Indra and Brahma (India); the "Jade Emperor" (China); Izanagi (Japan); Re and Ptah (Egypt); Olorun and Obatala (Africa/Yoruba).

Femme Fatale.

(Black Widow, Flirt, Siren, Circe, Seductress, Enchantress)

The female counterpart of Don Juan sometimes adds the twist of killing her conquests as an expression of her ability to dominate, thereby reversing the conventional sexual stereotypes. As with Don Juan, the Femme Fatale represents highly refined skills at manipulating men without investing personal emotion. The Femme Fatale is a sexual and a financial archetype, and either comes from or is drawn to money and power. Seducing men with money and power and for the sake of personal control and survival is a classic part of this archetype, although the Femme Fatale is not looking for a home in the suburbs and the pleasures of family life.

As with the Don Juan archetype, the positive aspect of this pattern is the opening of the heart, which often occurs when the male object rejects the manipulations and dependency of the Femme Fatale, as Rhett Butler rejects Scarlett O'Hara at the end of Gone with the Wind.

Films: Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity; Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction; Theresa Russell in Black Widow; Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; Kathleen Turner in Body Heat; Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra.

Fiction: The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain.

Religion/Myth: Circe (in Greek myth, a sorceress/seductress who could turn men into animals with her magic wand); Potiphar's wife (in the Hebrew Bible, when her attempt to seduce Joseph failed, she had him thrown into captivity. Her name is Zeleikha in Islamic tradition); Tapairu (Polynesian nymphs who inhabit the waters that lead to the underworld. The goddess of death employs them to seduce men away from the earth); Lorelei (in Teutonic myth, a beautiful maiden who drowned herself after being spurned by her lover, and was then transformed into a siren whose hypnotic music lured sailors to their death).

Gambler.

The Gambler is a risk-taker who plays the odds. This archetype has far more aspects than are commonly considered, including not just card sharps and racetrack gamblers, but also drug addicts, entrepreneurs, and day traders. The Gambler is also active in the psyche of people who take risks in politics and other social activities that amount to gambling with one's reputation. From an energetic perspective, gambling is an attempt to outrun the speed at which ordinary change happens. Acquiring great wealth in a casino in one throw of the dice or by winning the lottery is a spectacular experience not only because of the money but because of the experience of the compression of time. The drama of trying to outrun the odds is the psychic lock on the Gambler within a person's psyche.

The positive aspect of this archetype manifests in following hunches, and in the belief in one's intuition, even in the face of universal doubt. From real estate ventures to scientific research, hunches have often yielded successful fruitful outcomes. To assess whether you are a Gambler, review your ability to follow your intuition and what others might consider risky inner guidance. Ask yourself how many of your decisions are based on gut instinct rather than facts and figures.

You can evaluate your relationship to the shadow Gambler according to whether you have a compulsion. Some people who are obsessed with winning lotteries and striking it rich at casino tables--or in get-rich-quick and pyramid schemes--may spend relatively little money compared to professional gamblers, but their focus on finding ways to beat the odds is a central part of their life. A related form of gambling may affect the way you are focused on looking for lucky breaks in your relationships, rather than doing the hard psychic work needed to make them succeed.

Films: Steve McQueen in The Cincinnati Kid (shadow); Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, and George C. Scott (shadow) in The Hustler; Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in White Men Can't Jump; Edith Evans in The Queen of Spades; Clive Owen in Croupier; Roger Duchesne in Bob le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler).

Fiction: The Gambler by Dostoevsky

Religion/Myth: Jason, Odysseus (heroic figures of Greek legend who fearlessly gambled against the odds, risking life and limb to achieve their goals); Cunawabi (American Indian--Paiute--figure known as a gambler who takes many risky adventures and who also brings night and illness)

God.

(Adonis, see also Hero)

Whether a great worldly power or a great physical specimen, the God archetype represents the ultimate in male dominance. On the positive side, a God can be benevolent and compassionate, willing to use his powers to help others out of love for humanity. The shadow God easily becomes a dictator or despot, oppressing others with those same powers, or using his physical attractiveness to get what he wants without ever returning the affection he elicits. To claim this archetype among your support circle of twelve, you need to have a life-long sense of great power, used either selfishly or selflessly.

You may feel a powerful connection to a particular deity, so here are a few from the Roman/Greek:

Jupiter/Zeus: father god, head of the pantheon

Bacchus/Dionysus: wine and revelry

Mars/Ares: war

Neptune/Poseidon: the sea

Pluto/Hades: death and the underworld

Films:

Religion/Myth: Like the archetype in human manifestation, mythic and religious Gods run the gamut from omniscient, benevolent deity to arbitrary destroyer. In addition to those listed above are Yahweh (Hebrew); Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Indra (Hindu); Allah (Muslim); Ra, Osiris, Ptah (Egyptian); Baal (Canaanite); Marduk, Ishtar (Babylonian); Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca (Aztec); Enlil, Dumuzi (Sumerian); Osun, Olokun (Yoruba); Wakan Tanka (Native American).

Goddess.

(see also Heroine)

The oldest religious tradition on earth may well be Goddess worship, which some archaeologists trace back further than 30,000 years. It was certainly natural to worship the archetype of woman as the Source of all life, especially in the age before male warriors replaced Her with their combative sky gods. The connection of fertility with exaggerated sexual attributes found in ancient statues of the Goddess survive in modern worship of screen goddesses such as Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. The Goddess can be inspiring to women, embodying wisdom, guidance, physical grace, athletic prowess, and sensuality. This aspect is awakened by our relation to the goddesses of various spiritual traditions, including Kali, Durga, and Uma in India, Tara in Tibet, Quanyin in China, and the many manifestations of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in Western belief, such as Our Lady of Guadalupe or the Black Madonna of Czestajowa.

The shadow side of the Goddess emerges from the exploration of the feminine power, including the exploitation or over-indulgence of movie stars and fashion models.

Identifying with a goddess figure as a major archetype in your chart requires that you review life-long associations with the image and personality associated with it. Athena is the able-bodied warrior woman as well as the classic "powerful woman behind the throne." Today we see this power re-emerging in popular form in neo-mythic characters such as Xena the Warrior Princess and Buffy the Vampire Slayer--attractive women who are also strong and capable. The energy of Venus (Aphrodite) is prevalent in women who form their self-image strongly around their sexuality. Study the specific qualities of each goddess and evaluate how much of your sense of self is reflected in one of those patterns, beginning with a few of the most familiar names from the Roman/Greek pantheon:

Venus/Aphrodite: love and fertility

Diana/Artemis: nature and hunting

Minerva/Athena: strength, clear thinking

Ceres/Demeter: motherhood

Juno/Hera: queenship and partnership

Proserpina/Persephone: mysticism and mediumship

Sophia: wisdom

Films: Kim Stanley in The Goddess; Ava Gardner in One Touch of Venus; Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch; Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite.

Fiction: She by H. Rider Haggard

Religion/Myth: Every culture in the world has mythological stories portraying the power of the Goddess. Besides those mentioned above, you can choose from Tara and Quanyin (Tibetan and Chinese bodhisattvas of compassion); Amaterasu Omigami (Shinto Sun goddess); Shakti (Hindu personification of energy as Divine Mother); Branwen (Celtic goddess of love and beauty); Oshun (East African Yoruba goddess of pleasure, love, and beauty); Pan Jin Lian (Chinese goddess of prostitution); Frigg (Norse goddess of marriage, motherhood, childbirth, and midwifery); Turan (Etruscan goddess of love, health, and fertility).

Gossip.

(see also Networker)

The Gossip archetype is associated with rumor-spreading, backbiting, and passing along information that is exaggerated, harmful, and intended to disempower. On a professional level, the shadow Gossip manifests as publishing misleading information, creating damaging rumors, or hounding celebrities for their photos. Although everyone is prone to listening to and spreading gossip in some way, a Gossip archetype thrives on the power that is generated by passing around information that is secret or private. Most people would hesitate to choose this archetype because of its negative implications, yet many others make their living in the business of political, social, and entertainment gossip in a positive way. The archetype is connected to lessons of truth, integrity, and honoring the trust another has placed in you.

In assessing your connection to the Gossip, review how many of your life lessons have emerged from participating in gossip that has harmed another, and then coping with the consequences. Do you measure the quality of a relationship by whether a person is willing to share secrets with you?

Films: Rosalind Russell in The Women; Richard Hayden in Sitting Pretty; Burt Lancaster in The Sweet Smell of Success; John Malkovich and Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons;

Religion/Myth: Ratatosk (in Norse myth, a squirrel whose name means "swift teeth," lives in the World Tree called Yggdrasil and is a notorious gossip).

Guide.

(Guru, Sage, Crone, Wise Woman, Spiritual Master, Evangelist, Preacher)

The Guide takes the role of Teacher to a spiritual level, teaching not only the beliefs and practices that make up established religions, but also the overarching principle of seeing the Divine in every aspect of life. Clearly you do not have to be a professional Preacher or Guru to have this archetype, as we can all learn to lead others spiritually through developing our own intuitive spiritual awareness and passing on whatever we have learned with genuine humility. To count this archetype as part of your support group, however, you will need to discern in your life a continuing pattern of devoting yourself to teaching others from your own spiritual insights. This presupposes that you have gained wisdom through some combination of self-disciplined practice and study and perhaps spontaneous spiritual experiences. Wisdom also comes with age, and so the Crone or Wise Woman represents the ripening of natural insight and the acceptance of what is, allowing one to pass that wisdom on to others.

The shadow aspect of the Guide is visible in many modern televangelists and gurus of various traditions who are more interested in financial gain and controlling their followers than in imparting genuine spiritual insight.

Films: Meetings with Remarkable Men; Robert Duval in The Apostle.

Religion/Myth: Marpa (Buddhist master and guru of Milarepa who guided him through arduous tasks to become the greatest yogi of Tibet);

Healer.

(Wounded Healer, Intuitive Healer, Caregiver, Nurse, Therapist, Analyst, Counselor)

The Healer archetype manifests as a passion to serve others in the form of repairing the body, mind, and spirit. It expresses itself through channels other than those classically associated with the healing of illnesses, and so you need to look beyond the obvious definition of what you "do." You can be strongly guided by this archetype in any occupation or role in life. Some people, by their very nature and personality, are able to inspire others to release their painful histories or make changes in their lives that redirect the course of their future. Essential characteristics include an inherent strength and the ability to assist people in transforming their pain into a healing process, as well as having the "wiring" required to channel the energy needed to generate physical or emotional changes.

Religion/Myth: Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa (Jewish healer considered to have been in the same class as Jesus); Ninkarrak (Babylonian/Sumerian goddess who nursed sick humans); Bear Medicine Woman (American Indian healing spirit); Mukuru (creator god of the Herero bushmen of Namibia, who sends life-giving rain, heals the sick, and cares for the elderly).

Wounded Healer.

The Wounded Healer is initiated into the art of healing through some form of personal hardship--anything from an actual physical injury or illness to the loss of all one's earthly possessions. Regardless of the shape of the wound, the challenge inherent in this initiation process is that one is unable to turn to others for help beyond a certain degree of support. Only the initiate can ultimately heal the wound; if it is an illness or accident, it will frequently be one for which there is no conventional cure. The Wounded Healer archetype emerges in your psyche with the demand that you push yourself to a level of inner effort that becomes more a process of transformation than an attempt to heal an illness. If you have successfully completed the initiation, you inevitably experience an exceptional healing, and a path of service seems to be divinely provided shortly after the initiation is complete.

The shadow of both the Healer and Wounded Healer manifests through a desire to take advantage of those who need help, including claims that you can heal any and every illness a person has.

Films: Ellen Burstyn in Resurrection; Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (shadow); Rosalind Russell in Sister Kenny; Barbara Stanwyck in Miracle Woman (based on Aimee Semple McPherson).

Fiction: The Citadel by A. J. Cronin; Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis (shadow).

Religion/Myth: Asklepios (Greek hero who later become a plague god, then the god of medicine and healing); Aesculapius (Roman god of healing based on the Greek Asklepios); Garuda (great golden bird with an eagle's beak and wings and human body, the Indian symbol of medicine); Meditrina ("Healer," a Roman goddess of wine and health who was later syncretized into the cult of Aesculapius); Eeyeekalduk (Inuit god of healing); the Medicine Buddhas (most prominently, Bhaishajyaguru in Tibet and Yakushi-Nyorai in Japan, who symbolize the healing and transformative quality of buddhahood).

Hedonist.

(Bon Vivant, Chef, Gourmet, Gourmand, Sybarite--see also Mystic)

This Archetype has an "appetite" for the pleasurable aspects of life, from good food and wine to sexuality and sensuality. As scientific reserach has shown, pleasure can improve our health and extend our lives and needs to be part of a balanced life. Indulging the self is central to the psyche of this archetype, whether treating oneself to a health spa or learning the nuances of lovemaking. That the Hedonist is generally thought of as someone who pursues extremes of self-indulgence is more a reflection of our Puritan heritage than of the archetype itself. In positive terms, it inspires creative energy in the psyche to embrace the "good" things in life. It also challenges in a positive way the collective archetypal fear of being seduced and losing control in the physical world. The shadow Hedonist may manifest as pursuing pleasure without regard for other people or one's own good health.

The search for physical ecstasy parallels the search for spiritual transformation, a truth that is apparent in the dual identity of the famous Greek icon of pleasure-seeking, Dionysus. Besides being a god of wine and fertility (later adoped by the Romans as Bacchus), Dionysus also represents the goal of mystery religions, like those practiced at Eleusis: ecstatic delivery from the mundane world through the physical or spiritual intoxication induced by secret rites. (See Mystic.) The sacrament of Soma (also a god of the Vedic pantheon) played a similar role in ancient Indian spirituality.

Films: Babbette's Feast; Like Water for Chocolate; Big Night.

Fiction: Tom Jones by Henry Fielding; The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera; Les Liaisons Dangereuses by P. Choderlos DeLaclos.

Religion/Myth: Oshun (Yoruba goddess of love and pleasure who is generous and benign); Bebhionn (Irish patron goddess of pleasure); Qadesh (Western Semitic fertility goddess and epitome of female sexuality and eroticism); Bes (Egyptian dwarf god originally associated with royalty and childbirth who became popular among the masses as a god of human pleasures of mirth, music, and dance).

Hero/Heroine.

(see also Knight, Warrior)

Many of the gods of the world's ancient religions began their lives as heroes capable of great feats of strength or skill. The Hero is also a classic figure in ancient Greek and Roman literature, often portrayed as one who must confront an increasingly difficult path of obstacles in order to birth his manhood. Today this archetype holds a dominant position in the social mind as an icon of both male and female power, from the Superheroes of comic books, such as Superman and Wonder Woman, to television and countless movies and popular novels. In the classic Hero's Journey, defined by Joseph Campbell and others, an individual goes on a journey of initiation to awaken an inner knowing or spiritual power. The Self emerges as the Hero faces physical and internal obstacles, confronting the survival fears that would compromise his journey of empowerment and conquering the forces arrayed against him. The Hero then returns to the tribe with something of great value to all.

From a shadow perspective, the Hero can become empowered through the disempowerment of others. The manner in which the Hero uses his physical power is a reflection of the spirit of the Hero, represented through authentic acts of heroism.

Films: Sigourney Weaver in Alien; Dustin Hoffman in Hero; Anthony Hopkins in Zorro; Jeff Bridges in The Last American Hero; Kevin Costner in Postman and Waterworld; Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown; Seema Biswas (as Phoolan Devi) in Bandit Queen.

Religion/Myth: Ulysses (hero of The Odyssey whose most renowned trait was his supreme resourcefulness, the ability to find a way out of the most dangerous situation); Arjuna (in the Bhagavad Gita, his questioning of his Hero/Warrior role leads the god Krishna to instruct him in divine wisdom); Hidesato (in Japanese legend, a killer of many monsters, including the feared Centipede); Saynday (a hero-trickster of the Native American Kiowa tribe); Paul Bunyan (legendary hero of the lumber camps of the American Northwest, whose feats included creating the Grand Canyon by dragging his axe behind him); Theseus (Athenian hero who slew the Marathonian Bull and the Minotaur); Bernardo del Caprio (semi-mythical ninth-century Spanish credited with defeating Roland at Roncesvalles).

Judge.

(Critic, Examiner, Mediator, Arbitrator)

The template for the Judge archetype in Jewish-Christian culture largely derives from King Solomon, who was notable for balancing justice and compassion. So thoroughly do we maintain this ancient template that Solomon's characteristic balancing is now the standard by which we measure all judges. Those who manipulate or disgrace justice or violate this creed are held to be social and moral criminals, having damaged the honor of the courtroom and the nation, and the archetype itself. For that reason, this archetype should be understood as one that has the vision to manage the fair distribution of power in whatever form it takes, from violating military codes to breaking marriage vows.

One need not be an attorney, judge, or critic by profession to identify with this archetype. If you are a natural mediator or involved in interventions between people, you may carry this archetype in your psyche. Personal qualities that inspire in you a commitment to lead a life with high standards related to justice and wisdom as well as the manner in which you interact with other people are very reflective of a strong connection to this archetype. Prolonged suffering from having been misjudged--an experience that walks hand-in-hand with learning forgiveness--should also be considered an expression of this archetype in your life. But as with all other archetypal evaluations, you are not looking for one experience of having been misjudged or misjudging another, but rather a life-long learning process that is centered around the learning of justice and compassion.

The shadow Judge manifests as consistently destructive criticism, judging without compassion or with a hidden agenda. Legal manipulation, misuse of legal authority, and threatening others through an association with the law are other expressions of the shadow. Such manipulation includes the misuse of business authority as well as conventional legal and criminal authority.

Films: Spencer Tracy in Judgment at Nuremberg; Louis Calhern as Oliver Wendell Holmes in The Magnificent Yankee; John Forsythe in And Justice for All (shadow); Dominic Guard in The Go-Between

Fiction: Billy Budd, Foretopman (Capt. Starry Vere) by Herman Melville; The Ambassadors by Henry James.

Religion/Myth: Skan (creator god of the Dakota Sioux who judges both gods and the souls of humans); Yama (Hindu and Buddhist god of death, judge of the dead, and ruler of death's kingdom or the hell realms); Pluto/Hades (Roman/Greek god of the underworld and judge of the dead); Thoth (primarily the Egyptian patron deity of scribes, also known as a mediator among the gods); San-guan ("Three Rulers," collective name for three Taoist deities who keep a register of the good and evil deeds of people).

King.

(Emperor, Ruler, Leader, Chief)

The King is an archetype of major proportions, representing the height of temporal male power and authority. Both benevolence and cruelty in their extreme expressions are associated with this archetype. (Classic to the cruel King is the collective hope of his kingdom that he should fall from his throne.) The King is associated more with the royal blood and inheritance, whereas an Emperor can arise from common society, as did Napoleon. The bloodline connects the King to the Prince archetype and to attitudes of "entitlement," one of the shadow characteristics of archetypes associated with rulership. A resistance to criticism, questioning, and challenges in decisions about controlling his kingdom. is also part of the King's shadow.

Throughout history, the pendulum has swung from good Kings to evil, from benevolent, even saintly rulers to greedy, gluttonous criminals. King Louis IX of France--St. Louis--combined the qualities of a just ruler, fearless warrior, and holy man. The thirteenth-century sovereign lived for the welfare of his subjects and the glory of God. Charlemagne, King David, and Akhenaton of Egypt were among earth's most enlightened, if occasionally all-too-human, rulers. And then there were Mad King George III of England, who led the Colonies to rebel; King Louis XVI of France was synonymous with decadence and excess; Emperor Hirohito of Japan led his country into a devastating war.

This archetype maintains the same characteristics on an individual level, whether one's kingdom is a corporation, community, or family. The need to rule and exert control over a kingdom is key to this archetype.

Films: Charles Laughton in The Private Life of King Henry VIII; Yul Brynner in The King and I; Richard Gere in King David; Paul Scofield in King Lear (1971); Christopher Walken in The King of New York (shadow extraordinaire).

Drama: Richard III, Henry IV, Henry V, Hamlet, and Macbeth by Shakespeare.

Fiction: King of the Gypsies by Peter Maas; The Godfather by Mario Puzo (shadow); The Once and Future King by T.H.White.

Religion/Myth: Priam (king of Troy); Daibutsu/Daibosatsu (Japanese meditating buddha as world ruler); Sila or Silap inua (divine ruler of the Eskimo seen as the air you breathe and the energy that moves both the entire universe each of us individually); Amun (supreme Egyptian creator god, originally ruler of the air and the force behind wind and breezes); Chief Seattle (Native American leader); Haile Selassie (Emperor of Ethiopia, later deified by the Rastafarian religion).

Knight.

(see also Warrior, Rescuer)

The Knight archetype is primarily associated with chivalry, courtly romance, protection of the Princess, and going to battle only for honorable causes. The Knight serves his King or Lord and so this archetype has spiritual overtones as well of service and devotion. Loyalty and self-sacrifice are the Knight's great virtues, along with a natural ability to get things done.

The Black Knight donning dark armor and riding a black horse represents the shadow characteristics of this archetype, especially the absence of honor and chivalry. Somewhat like the Warrior, the shadow Knight manifests as loyalty to a questionable ruler or principle. In its negative aspect, the Knight can also, like the Rescuer, fall into a pattern of saving others but ignoring his own needs. A true Knight, like the Mystic, walks the fine line between self-sacrifice and self-neglect.

Films: Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; Tom Hanks in Apollo 13; Christopher Reeve in Superman; Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves, Tin Cup, and JFK.

Drama: Man of LaMancha by Dale Wasserman

Fairy Tales: Prince Valiant

Religion/Myth: Knights of the Round Table (in medieval English lore, a semi-mythic group of 150 knights including Lancelot, Gawain, Kay, Mordred, Galahad, and others who served under King Arthur); Sir Percival/Parzifal (Knight of the Round Table who got to see the Holy Grail); Fabian (a good knight turned into a forest spirit by his ex-lover, a sorceress, and now dwells in the hills near Prague); Damas (shadow Knight who trapped other knights so that his brother could fight them).

Liberator.

We tend to think of Liberators as great military and political leaders who free an entire country or people from servitude, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, SimCn Bol_var of Venezuela, Nelson Mandela, and, depending on your politics, Lenin, Castro, and Che Guevara. But in everyday life, any number of people can play a similar role on a smaller scale, helping to liberate us from the tyranny of self-inflicted negative thought patterns and beliefs, spiritual sluggishness, poor nutrition, destructive relationships, or addictive behavior. This archetype can be an invaluable ally in helping to free us from old, entrenched beliefs and attitudes that have been inculcated from without, much like colonial occupying armies. Jesus, Muhammad, and the Buddha were Liberators in this sense, offering options to the violence, suffering, and spiritual stagnation of their respective times and places. You do not have to be a charismatic leader to have this archetype, however. Thousands of people have taken part in long campaigns to win freedom from various kinds of oppression, from the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights movement in this country to the Freedom Fighters of the Hungarian Revolution.

The shadow Liberator manifests in those who would liberate us from one tyrant only to impose their own tyranny over our lives--corporate, political, religious, and spiritual leaders who speak of freedom as a way to their individual aggrandizement.

In evaluating whether this archetype belongs in your circle of twelve, ask whether you have shown a life-long pattern of helping to free others from injustices, from adverse economic or social conditions, or simply from their misconceptions.

Films: Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek; Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame; Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc; Tom Selleck in In and Out.

Fiction: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse.

Fairy Tales: Belling the Cat

Religion/Myth: Dionysus and Eros (both bore other names meaning "the liberator").

Lover.

This archetype appears not only in those who are romantically inclined, but also in anyone who exhibits great passion and devotion. One can be a Lover of art, music, gardening, Persian carpets, nature, or needlepoint. The key is having a sense of unbridled and exaggerated affection and appreciation of someone or something that influences the organization of your life and environment. Although the Lover is present in everyone's life to some degree, as a personal archetype it needs to play a significant role in the overall design of your life and your self-esteem, which is its strongest link to your psyche. The Lover is connected to issues of self-esteem because this archetype is so strongly represented by one's physical appearance. Even if you have the Lover archetype prominently in your psyche, you may repress this pattern out of a lack of self-esteem, especially regarding your physical attractiveness.

The shadow lover manifests as an exaggerated of obsessive passion that has a destructive effect on one's physical or mental health and self-esteem.

Films: Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck; Charles Denner in The Man Who Loved Women (Truffaut version); Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca; Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac.

Drama: Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare

Poetry: Troilus and Cressida by Chaucer

Fiction: Stealing Heaven by Marion Meade (Abelard and Heloise)

Fairy Tales: The Princess and the Frog; Beauty and the Beast.

Religion/Myth: Pyramus and Thisbe (star-crossed Babylonian lovers, described by Ovid, who commit double suicide); Endymion (in Greek myth a shepherd boy and mortal lover of the moon goddess Selene); Hasu-Ko (a Japanese girl who died of love for her betrothed, whom she had never seen); Freya (Norse goddess of love and fertility and symbol of sensuality, lover of music, spring, flowers, and elves); Guinevere and Lancelot (although Guinevere was married to King Arthur and Lancelot was one of his favorite knights, they pursued an affair that led to the eventual undoing of the Round Table).

Martyr.

The Martyr archetype is well known in two arenas: as a classic political or religious figure, and in the self-help world of contemporary psychology. Within the self-help field, the shadow Martyr is viewed as a person who has learned to utilize a combination of service and suffering for others as the primary means of controlling and manipulating her environment. Ironically, in the social and political world, the martyr is often highly respected for having the courage to represent a cause, even if it requires dying for that cause for the sake of others. Suffering so that others might be redeemed, whether that redemption take a spiritual or political form, is among the most sacred of human acts. While people recognize this archetype in others, particularly when they are directly influenced by the individual sporting this pattern, they often cannot see it in themselves.

Films: Paul Scofield in A Man for All Seasons; Meryl Streep in Silkwood; Denzel Washington in Malcolm X; Ben Kingsley in Gandhi.

Drama: Saint Joan by G.B. Shaw.

Fiction: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

Religion/Myth: Many Christian saints, including the Apostles; Mansur al-Hallaj (10th-century Sufi mystic martyred for his belief that God existed within him).

Mediator.

(Ambassador, Diplomat, Go-Between)

Smoothing relations between potentially antagonistic groups or individuals requires patience and skill, an ability to read people and situations with great acuity. If a good Advocate must empathize with those he is helping, a good mediator must be able to see and respect both sides of an argument or cause, thereby bringing warring parties together. One member of a family often assumes this role, so you do not have to be a career diplomat to qualify for this archetype. But you must have a life-long commitment to resolving disputes and bringing people together.

The shadow Mediator manifests as an ulterior motive or hidden agenda, working two sides of an issue for personal gain.

Films: Dominic Guard in The Go-Between;

Fiction: The Ambassadors by Henry James

Religion/Myth: Thoth (Egyptian god of wisdom and mediator among the gods, who always sought his counsel); Genetaska (Iroquois woman so respected for her fairness and impartiality that all disputes were brought to her to settle); Mitra/Mithra (Vedic/Persian god of friendships and contracts and guardian of the cosmic order, regarded as a mediator between the gods and humankind).

Mentor / Teacher.

(Master, Counselor, Tutor)

A Mentor is a teacher in whom you can place your implicit trust. The word comes from the character in The Odyssey to whom Odysseus, on setting out for Troy, entrusted the care of his house and the education of his son, Telemachus. Today the role of Mentor is crucial in a surprising range of life situations, from many forms of art and artisanship to business and spiritual practice. Mentors do more than just teach; they pass on wisdom and refine their students' character. In its shadow aspect, however, the Mentor can take on an overbearing attitude that is more about imposing control than imparting wisdom. A characteristic of the shadow Mentor is an inability to allow the student to move on into the role of Master, maintaining control over the student's development of mind, body, and skills.

The distinction between this archetype and the Teacher is mainly one of degree. If you have shown a life-long pattern of taking individual "students" under your wing and guiding many aspects of their life, this may be an appropriate choice.

Films (Mentor): Alec Guinness to Mark Hammill in Star Wars; Takashi Shimura to Toshiro Mifune in The Seven Samurai; Yul Brynner to Horst Bucholz in The Magnificent Seven; Bette Davis to Anne Baxter in All About Eve; Paul Newman to Tom Cruise in The Color of Money.

Films (Teacher): Bette Davis in The Corn Is Green; Sidney Poitier in To Sir with Love; Michael Caine in Educating Rita; Glenn Ford in Blackboard Jungle.

Television: James Gandolfini to Robert Imperioli in The Sopranos.

Fiction: Fagin to Oliver in Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (shadow)

Drama: The Miracle Worker by William Gibson.

Fiction: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (shadow); Hard Times by Charles Dickens (shadow).

Religion/Myth: Krishna (in Indian scripture, the spiritual mentor of Arjuna); Chiron (in Greek myth, a wise centaur who had extensive knowledge of the healing arts and tutored Asclepius, Theseus, and Achilles); Ninsun (in Sumerian legend, the mother of Gilgamesh who serves as his counselor).

Messiah.

(Redeemer, Savior)

This archetype is associated with the embodiment of divine power and being sent on a mission by heaven to save humanity. For all of its Judeo-Christian significance, the archetype of the Messiah has also become associated with psychological behavior. The Messianic complex, for example, applies to a person who is convinced of his divine mission and, in almost all cases, becomes obsessed with his mission to the point of psychosis, reaching an extreme in which a person begins to hear voices directing him to take lethal action. Criminals such as Jim Jones and Charles Manson are evidence of the shadow Messiah in its extreme.

Its subtle expression, however, is far more common and more difficult to identify as a personal pattern. People can become obsessed about their spiritual purpose, convinced that God needs them to do something.

Films: Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire in Pleasantville; Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro in The Mission; Julia Roberts in Erin Brokovich; Marcello Mastroianni in The Organizer.

Religion/Myth: Mashiach ("the anointed one" in Hebrew, the descendant of King David expected to restore the Jewish kingdom); Jesus Christ ("the anointed one" in Greek, believed by Christians to be the promised redeemer; Adam Kadmon ("Primordial Man," in Jewish Kabbalah, described as the most perfect manifestation of God that humanity could contemplate, later identified with the Messiah); al-Mahdi ("the guided one" in Arabic, awaited descendant of Muhammad who will herald the end of history and restore Islamic purity); Maitreya ("the loving one" in Sanskrit, the fifth and final earthly Buddha who will help all those who have not yet realized enlightenment); Kalki (in Hindu belief, a future reincarnation of Vishnu who will arrive on a white horse to liberate the world from strife); Tang (Chinese messiah who saved mankind from a great drought by sacrificing his body in a mulberry bush, immediately inducing rainfall).

Midas/Miser.

These two archetypes are so close that for practical purposes you can consider them together. Midas turned everything he touched into gold, including, tragically, his beloved daughter. The archetype is associated with entrepreneurial or creative ability. That Midas was a king symbolically implies that the Midas figure has the power to generate wealth for an entire kingdom, yet is interested only in his personal aggrandizement. Greed is his downfall. For that reason, lessons of generosity are a large part of the characteristics of this archetype. The shadow Midas or Miser creates wealth by hording money and emotions at the expense of others, and refusing to share them.

Although the desire to earn a living or become wealthy is not negative, this archetype also represents a need to control the forces around you for fear of losing your wealth. The challenges inherent in the Miser and Midas can go so far as to make a person confront what he is willing to do to create a mountain of wealth.

Films: Bette Davis in The Little Foxes; Michael Douglas in Wall Street; James Dean in Giant; Lionel Barrymore in It's a Wonderful Life.

Fiction: Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and Uriah Heep in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens; Silas Marner by George Eliot.

Drama: The Miser by Moliere

Religion/Myth: Midas (a king of Phrygia in Asia Minor who was given the dubious gift of the golden touch by Dionysus); Kukuth (in Albanian lore, the spirit of a deceased miser who cannot find rest).

Monk/Nun.

(Celibate)

The positive aspects of this archetype are fairly obvious: spiritual intensity, devotion, dedication, persistence, and perhaps wisdom. On the shadow side, the role of a religious recluse could be seen as removed from the real world, overly pious, even privileged in the sense of not having to be concerned about earning a living or raising a family. Yet, historically, monks have been extremely industrious and involved in real-world enterprises, whether draining swamps and planting vineyards in medieval Europe, working the rice fields in Asia, building monasteries, teaching, or copying and preserving texts. Today the Monk archetype may show up in the ability to be single-minded, assiduous, devoted to a spiritual path or to any great achievement that requires intense focus. In this sense, novelists and entrepreneurs can carry the Monk as readily as spiritual adepts.

The Celibate reserves his or her energy for work and/or spiritual practice. Yet one can be a Monk, even a religious one, without being celibate, as is the case with some Tibetan lamas, Yogis, and Islamic scholars. Then there were Abelard and Heloise, the twelfth-century Monk and Nun who forsook their vows of celibacy out of passion for each other. Both were superior in their fields--Abelard as lecturer, debater, and philosopher, Heloise as a radical prioress and founder of convents--and, although their passion caused them great suffering, it does not seem to have hurt their spiritual work.

Films: Claude Laydu in Diary of a Country Priest; Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story; Yi Pan-yong in Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East?; Deborah Kerr in Heaven Knows Mr. Allison; Loretta Young in Come to the Stable; Lilia Skala in Lilies of the Field.

Television: Derek Jacobi in Brother Cadfael;

Fiction: The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco

Religion/Myth: Friar Tuck (the mythical swordfighting monk of Robin Hood's Merry Men); Nennius (Welsh monk commonly believed to have compiled the Historia Brittonum, which was used by Geoffrey of Monmouth and others to reconstruct the history of King Arthur); Bernadette Soubiros (19th-century French girl who at the age of fourteen claimed visions of the Virgin Mary.

Mother.

(Matriarch, Mother Nature)

The Mother is the life-giver, the source of nurturing and nourishment, unconditional fountain of love, patience, devotion, caring, and unselfish acts. This archetype is the keeper and protector of life, from children to the family to the greater Mother Nature archetype whose province is the Earth and all life. Mother Nature, also known as Gaia, is the Goddess of Life, the caretaker of the living environment of this planet. She is recognized as powerful, and when storms leave death and destruction in their wake, she may be referred to as wrathful. The power of compassion and the endless capacity to forgive her children and put them before herself are essential to the Good Mother. The Devouring, Abusive, Abandoning, and Working Mother each represent different aspects of this primal archetype within the entire human community.

Although Mothers have always worked, the contemporary archetype of the Career or Working Mother reflects the crises experienced by many women who seek also to be Devoted Mothers. Measured against the impossible mythic ideal of the Perfect Mother, the Career Mom is sometimes assumed unfairly to be a mother who puts her own needs before those of the children. This is an archetypal crisis for many women.

The Devouring Mother "consumes" her children psychologically and emotionally and often instills in them feelings of guilt at leaving her or becoming independent. The Abusive and Abandoning Mothers violate natural law by harming their own young.

Connections to the Mother archetype are not to be measured only by whether a woman is a biological mother. If you are intimately connected to nurturing and protecting the environment, including through gardening or farming, or supporting any life form, you should strongly consider whether your bond to Mother Nature is part of a life-long devotion that defines you. You may also recognize a strong bond to the Mother archetype in the form of one or all of her shadows. While it is difficult to admit, some women may have to face the fact that their children see them through the shadow aspects of the Mother, including the Abusive or Abandoning Mother.

Just as women can have a real connection to the Father archetype when they take on the paternal role in the household, so some men may relate to being "Mr. Mom," yet another contemporary sculpting of the Mother archetype. The qualities that are associated with this archetype can be expressed in other than biological ways, such as giving birth to books or ideas, or nurturing others.

Films: Irene Dunne in I Remember Mama; Myrna Loy in Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes; Sophia Loren in Two Women; Sally Field in Places in the Heart; Anne Bancroft in The Pumpkin Eater; Rosalind Russell in Gypsy (Devouring); Katharine Hepburn in Suddenly Last Summer (shadow); Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest (shadow); Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate; Gladys Cooper in Now Voyager (shadow); Alberta Watson in Spanking the Monkey (Incestuous).

Drama: Mother Courage by Bertoldt Brecht; Medea by Euripedes; The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.

Religion/Myth: As with Gods, Goddesses, and Mystics, the Mother appears in all religious traditions and myths, usually as the Divine Mother. These are just a few examples: Lakshmi, Durga, Kali (Hinduism); Mary/Miryam (Christianity/Islam); Sarai, Naomi (Judaism); Cybele (fertility goddess of ancient Anatolia, also known as known as the Great Mother); Demeter (Greek myth); Isis (Egyptian myth); Tellus (Roman Mother Earth goddess); Cihuacoatl (Aztec Mother Earth goddess, also patron of birth and of women who die in childbirth).

Fairy Tales: Mother Goose, Mother Hubbard

Mystic.

(Renunciate, Anchorite, Hermit)

Perhaps no archetype is more coveted by my students, or more misunderstood than the Mystic. Many want to believe that they have mystical inclinations, yet underestimate how arduous the genuine mystical path is. When they find out, they're usually happy to let someone else have this role. The lives of the world's great mystics often included extraordinary states of consciousness such as prolonged ecstatic trance, and preternatural abilities of precognition or bilocation. Yet they also contained sometimes great physical as well as spiritual suffering, hard work, and mundane activities that made up much of their days. If you truly want to name this archetype as part of your sacred consortium, ask yourself if you are ready to pay the price in blood, sweat, and tears. If mystical consciousness is something you engage in once a day during meditation, or on a weekend retreat or a yoga workshop, you may be a spiritual seeker, but not a Mystic.

The shadow Mystic manifests as an egocentric concern for one's own spiritual progress to the exclusion of others, and an attendant sense of self-importance at having achieved "higher" states of consciousness. It may also emerge in behavior that takes advantage of admirers or students in base economic, emotional, or sexual ways. Since genuine enlightenment manifests as the desire to be of service, this is a pretty good indication that you haven't arrived yet.

Films: Catherine Mouchet in Thérse; Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves.

Drama: Agnes of God by John Pielmeyer.

Fiction: Lying Awake by Marc Salzman.

Religion/Myth: All the great traditions have produced mystics, of which the following are a small representative sample: Teresa of vila, Meister Eckhart, William Law, Hildegarde of Bingen (Christianity); Ba'al Shem Tov, Moses ben Nahman, Abraham Abulafia (Judaism); Rabi'a, Ibn al-'Arabi, Mansur al-Hallaj (Islam); Sri Ramakrishna, Anandamayi Ma, Ramana Maharshi (Hinduism); Bodhidharma, Milarepa, Bankei, Pema Chödron (Buddhism); Chuang-tzu, Wang-pi (Taoism); Padrinho Sebastio, Credo Mutwa (shamanism).

Networker.

(Messenger, Herald, Courier, Journalist, Communicator)

Although networking seems like a very modern skill tied to career advancement in the media age, it is actually quite ancient. Networkers expand their sphere of influence by forging alliances and making connections among vastly different groups of people, and can be traced back to the intrigues of the Middle Ages, Greece, Rome, and ancient China. Networking would also have been an integral part of any military alliance as well as all social and clan confederations inprehistory. In its positive aspect, this archetype has a it helps us develop social flexibility and empathy that enables it to find commonality with others who might not at first seem to be potential friends, allies, or confederates. Like the related archetypes of Messenger and Communicator, the Networker has the skills to bring information--or power-- and inspiration to disparate groups of people. The shadow Networker merely uses others for personal gain.

Films: John Boles in A Message to Garcia; Stewart Peterson in Pony Express Rider; Jeff Goldblum in Between the Lines.

Religion/Myth: Almost every culture on earth has or had a messenger of the gods who networks between the divine and human realms, including the angel Raphael (Judaism); Gabriel (Christianity); Jibril (Islam); Matarisvan (Vedic India); Eagle, Coyote (American Indian); Iris, Hermes (Greece); Mercury (Rome); Sraosa (Zoroastrianism); Nusku (Assyria); Nirah (Sumeria); Srosh (Persia); Paynal (Aztec); Savali (Samoa); Gou Mang (China); Narada (Java); Gna, Hermod (Norse).

Pioneer.

(Explorer, Settler, Pilgrim, Innovator)

The Pioneer is called to discover and explore new lands, whether that territory is external or internal. The passion to explore the South Pole is as much a pioneering endeavor as the passion to explore medicine or spiritual practice. Even initiating new fashions, art, music, or literature may qualify as expressions of this archetype. The core ingredient is innovation--doing and creating what has not been done before. To consider this archetype seriously as one of your twelve, your life must be characterized by a need to step on fresh and undiscovered territory in at least one realm.

The shadow Pioneer manifests as a compulsive need to abandon one's past and move on, just as the Don Juan or Femme Fatale "pioneer" ever new conquests. Those who are forced out of their homeland and made into unwilling Pioneers--the Jews of the Diaspora, Africans bound into slavery, Tibetan Buddhists, or Native Americans--should not be included under the shadow, however.

Films: Debbie Reynolds in How the West Was Won; Jean Arthur and Van Heflin in Shane; Judy Garland in The Harvey Girls; Jackie Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story.

Television: Wagon Train, Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie.

Fiction: Lost Horizons by James Hilton; O Pioneers! by Willa Cather.

Religion/Myth: Nana-Ula (seafaring pioneer who led his people on a yoage of 2,500 miles from Tahiti to Hawaii over a thousand years ago); Bodhidharma (Buddhist patriarch who carried the teachings from India to China and established the tradition that came to be known as Zen); Hagar (handmaiden of Abraham who brought her son, Ishmael, to the Becca Valley of Arabia and established the Arab people).

Poet.

Closely related to both the Author and the Artist, the Poet combines lyricism with sharp insight, finding the essence of beauty and truth not only in the great epic affairs of humanity, but also in everyday acts and objects. Great poetry extolls momentous events and great deeds, and also expresses wonder at the hidden joys and sorrows that most of us might overlook. And although you don't have to be a published poet to have this as one of your twelve archetypes, you do need to be driven by the need and the ability to discover beauty in the people and things around you, and express it in a way that helps others, too, see that beauty.

The shadow Poet turns his gift for lyricism to negative or destructive effect, as in songs or poems written in support of military aggression or genocide.

Films: Glenda Jackson in Stevie; Philippe Noiret in Il Postino; Sean Connery in A Fine Madness.

Fiction: The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll (shadow);

Religion/Myth: King David (ruler of Israel credited with writing many of the Psalms); Orpheus (great musician and poet of Greek myth, capable of charming wild beasts); Bragi (in Norse myth, the god of eloquence and patron of poets); Finn Mac Cumhail (legendary Irish hero and leader who was also greatly skilled as a poet).

Priest.

(Priestess, Minister, Rabbi, Evangelist)

The ritual that establishes the unique role of the Priest is ordination, the official capacity to facilitate the making of spiritual vows--commitments made to divine authority. Ordination or similar rituals of initiation allow the Priest, Rabbi, Shaman or Medicine Man to serve as a vehicle or spiritual channel of energy for others. Many of those devoted to spiritual life, such as Monks and Nuns, do not facilitate the ritual exchange of vows and spiritual energy. Ordination also empowers the Priest to convey to the public the power of sacred teachings, rituals, wisdom, morality, and ethics of each spiritual tradition. Because of these profound spiritual responsibilities, the ordained are expected to represent the teachings through personal example. And, so, the shadow side of this archetype manifests through the inability to live according to those teachings, especially in lapses of personal morality. The breaking of vows while conducting vows for the community, or using ordained authority to control the population for personal gain, have always been the dominant expression of this archetype's shadow. From the corrupt temple priests of the ancient Egyptians to the scheming, power-hungry prelates and Popes of medieval Christianity, shadow Priests have interfered in secular politics to gain church power, extorted money from people who need food and shelter just to build larger temples and cathedrals, held back women's rights and gay rights, and misused the people's trust to satisfy their own sexual needs.

Films: Montgomery Clift in I Confess; Karl Malden in On the Waterfront; Don Murray in The Hoodlum Priest; Richard Todd in A Man Called Peter; Richard Burton in Becket.

Fiction: Diary of A Country Priest by Georges Bernanos.

Drama: Mass Appeal by Bill C. Davis; Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot.

Religion/Myth: Eleazar (first high priest of Israel); Pythia (priestess of Apollo's temple at Delphi who went into trance and made oracular pronouncements); Apotequil (high priest of the Incan moon god); Hungan (Haitian priest of vodun); Ishkhara (priestess of Ishtar and Babylonian goddess of love); Kokopelli (in Zuni lore, a priest who brings rain to the people); Utnapishtim/Ziusudra (in Babylonian/Sumerian myth, the priest-king of Shurrupak who is warned by the gods of a coming deluge and builds a large ark to preserve human and animal life).

Prince.

The connotations of certain words is as significant as their literal meaning in determining the nature of an archetype. Our word "prince" comes from Latin roots meaning first or chief, and the word was originally applied to the ruler of a principality or the son of a sovereign. But we often use the term today for anyone preeminent in his field, or for any generous individual. The adult fairy tale The Little Prince by Antoine de St.-Exupérey further colored our image of the Prince as an innocent, awe-struck explorer. Yet the true Prince is a ruler-in-training who is in service to the people he will rule, whether that is a literal kingdom or a figurative or spiritual one, as with Prince Siddhartha prior to becoming the Buddha. The shadow Prince can manifest as a young man with great feelings of entitlement, an heir apparent who uses his position solely for self-aggrandizement, or one who stands to inherit an evil empire and so takes on all the negative characteristics of the "king," like the character of Michael Corleone in The Godfather. Machiavelli's The Prince was a guide to using a ruler's shadow power purely to advance one's career and self-interest without regard for the needs of others.

Films: Laurence Olivier in The Prince and the Showgirl; Henry Fonda in The Lady Eve; Joseph Cotten in The Farmer's Daughter; Paul Newman in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Robert Redford in The Way We Were; Anthony Perkins in Phaedra.

Drama: Biff in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Fiction: The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

Fairy Tales: Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella

Religion/Myth: Rama (the prince of Ayodhya, seventh incarnation of Vishnu, and the hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana); Shotoku (Japanese prince deified as the reincarnation of Siddhartha, the Buddha); Xochipilli (Aztec god of flowers, maize, love, beauty, and song whose name means "Flower Prince"); Beelzebub (originally the patron god of the Philistines and Canaanites whose name meant "Prince Baal," demonized in the Judeo-Christian tradition as the Prince of Darkness).

Prostitute.

(see text for extended description)

The Prostitute archetype engages lessons in integrity and the sale or negotiation of one's integrity or spirit due to fears of physical and financial survival or for financial gain. This archetype activates the aspects of the unconscious that are related to seduction and control, whereby you are as capable of buying a controlling interest in another person as you are in selling your own power. Prostitution should also be understood as the selling of your talents, ideas, and any other expression of the self--or the selling-out of them. This archetype is universal and its core learning relates to the need to birth and refine self-esteem and self-respect.

Films: Jack Lemmon in The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, Save the Tiger, The China Syndrome, Mass Appeal; Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday; Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity; Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront.

Drama: The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.

Religion/Myth: Ochun (Yoruba Orisha of love, marriage, and motherhood, who was forced for a time to become a prostitute to feed her children); Temple prostitutes (in ancient Greece, Rome, Asia Minor, and India, women who engaged in public intercourse as a way of sympathertically activating the energy of fertility).

Queen.

(Empress)

Besides having a rulership position in a court, the Queen represents power and authority in all women. Symbolically, her court can be anything from a corporation to her home. The image of the Dark or Evil Queen has been largely represented by male authors of fairy tales and folklore as a wicked, dark force. She may also be depicted as prone to hysteria and dark powers, influences, or plots, as in the story of Snow White. Gulliver's Travels presents a benevolent Queen who rules the land of the Giants, but that is a rare exception.

The Queen archetype is also associated with arrogance and a defensive posture that is symbolic of a need to protect one's personal and emotional power. Queens are rarely portrayed as having a trustworthy support system; instead, they are lonely figures surrounded by a court filled with potential traitors, rivals, and back-stabbers. Women who have identified themselves as Queens in my workshops tend to have these qualities in common, suggesting that were it not for their aggressive personality characteristics, they would be vulnerable to others' control.

Challenges related to control, personal authority and leadership play a primary role in forming the lessons of personal development that are inherent to this archetype. The benevolent Queen uses her authority to protect those in her court, and sees her own empowerment enhanced by her relationships and experience. The shadow Queen can slip into aggressive and destructive patterns of behavior, particularly when she perceives that her authority or capacity to maintain control over the court is being challenged. The Ice Queen rules with a cold indifference to the genuine needs of others--whether material or emotional. The Queen Bee is a mixed image--the astonishing ability to power the entire hive without leaving her "chamber," yet at the cost of enslaving the rest of her community.

Films: Joan Crawford in Queen Bee; Marlene Dietrich as Catherine the Great in The Scarlet Empress; Geraldine Chaplin in The Three Musketeers; Greta Garbo in Queen Christina; Judi Densch in Shakespeare in Love; Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth.

Drama: Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare

Religion/Myth: Mary (Mother of Jesus later elevated in Catholic tradition to Queen of Heaven); Mab (Queen of the faeries and often a trickster who steals babies, possibly derived from the Welsh Mabb or Gaelic Maeve); Anatu (Mesopotamian queen of the sky); Antiope (in Greek myth, the queen of the Amazons); Marisha-Ten (Japanese queen of heaven); Guinevere (King Arthur's queen).

Fairy Tales: Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs (shadow).

Rebel.

(Anarchist, Revolutionary, Political Protester, Nonconformist, Pirate)

Our images of the Rebel may be too closely aligned with cliches of youth culture to let us see the deeper significance of this valuable archetype. Whether politically inclined like Martin Luther King, Jr., Betty Friedan, or Lech Walensa, or an artistic innovator such as Van Gogh, Joyce, or Coltrane, the Rebel is a key component of all human growth and development. The Rebel in a support group can be a powerful aid in helping the group break out of old tribal patterns. It can also help you see past tired preconceptions in your field of professional or creative endeavor. The Rebel can also lead you to reject spiritual systems that do not serve your inner need for direct union with the Divine and to seek out more appropriate paths. The shadow Rebel, conversely, may compel you to rebel out of peer pressure or for the sake of fashion, and so become mired in another manifestation of conformity. The shadow Rebel may also reject legitimate authority simply because it is asking you to do something you find difficult or unpleasant. Be especially careful in evaluating your rebellious impulses; even if the Rebel is not part of your intimate circle of archetypes, you probably have it to some extent and should pay attention to its urgings.

Films: James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause; Marlon Brando in The Wild One; Kirk Douglas in Spartacus; Sally Field in Norma Rae; Meryl Streep in Silkwood.

Fiction: The Rebel by Albert Camus; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

Religion/Myth: Iblis/Lucifer (in Muslim/Christian belief, a rebellious angel who refused to worship Adam or acknowledge the supremacy of God).

Folklore/Fairy Tales: Jack and the Beanstalk; Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.

Rescuer.

In its empowered profile, the Rescuer assists when needed and, once the rescue mission is accomplished, withdraws. A Rescuer provides an infusion of strength and support to help others to survive a difficult situation, crisis, or process that they lack the stamina or the inner knowledge to maneuver through themselves. Unlike the Knight, to which it is related, the Rescuer is more common among women, especially in its shadow aspect. The shadow Rescuer often surfaces through a romantic connection in which one party seeks to establish an intimate bond by lending emotional support, with a hidden agenda that assumes the rescued party will return the Rescuer's romantic feelings. Such romances are destined to fail, because the shadow agenda has to keep the "rescuee" in need of being rescued, lest the Rescuer lose her significance.

Healing and empowering the Rescuer within is a common emotional challenge, because being needed is essential to our nature. Most people can relate in part to the characteristics of this archetype which somewhat parallel the Knight, Healer, Hero, and even Servant. If you feel drawn to this archetype, then, be careful to compare the characteristics of those others before deciding to add the Rescuer to your family.

Films: Sigourney Weaver in Alien III; Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan; Jason Gedrick in Iron Eagle.

Television: The Lone Ranger.

Religion/Myth: Bidadari (in Javanese myth, a lovely nymph who uses her knowledge of magic to rescue a hero from a dangerous situation and marry him); Lancelot (Knight of the Round Table who rescues Guinevere--with whom he is having an affair--when King Arthur threatens to execute her for adultery); Bran (in Welsh lore, a giant who rescued his sister Branwen from enslavement by her Irish husband).

Retentive/Hoarder/Collector.

Holds onto everything, not just physical objects, but also:

• Memories
• Unhealed issues.
• Attitudes and beliefs.
• Hurts, rejections.
• Old relationships.
• Outdated life roles (eg: Mother/Father role).

NEGATIVE EXPRESSION: The retentive archetype makes us very rigid, robotic, inflexible, and restricted, in other words "stuck." We are stuck with all our past and unable to move into the present or a consciously managed future.

POSITIVE EXPRESSION: The collector/curator. A personality trait that understands the importance of history in shaping the present. The collector reminds us of the past in terms of our cultural and intellectual heritage. The collector grounds us in history and reminds of our foundations and roots.

Saboteur.

The Saboteur archetype is made up of the fears and issues related to low self-esteem that cause you to make choices in life that block your own empowerment and success. As with the Victim and Prostitute, you need to face this powerful archetype that we all possess and make it an ally. When you do, you will find that it calls your attention to situations in which you are in danger of being sabotaged, or of sabotaging yourself. Once you are comfortable with the Saboteur, you learn to hear and heed these warnings, saving yourself untold grief from making the same mistakes over and over. Ignore it, and the shadow Saboteur will manifest in the form of self-destructive behavior or the desire to undermine others.

Films: Greta Garbo in Mata Hari; Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate; Woody Harrelson in The People vs. Larry Flynt. Judy Holliday in The Solid Gold Cadillac;

Drama: Amadeus (Salieri) by Peter Schaffer; The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux.

Religion/Myth: Loki (in Norse myth, a Shape-shifter and Trickster who is crafty and malicious, but also heroic); Eris/Discordia (Greek/Roman goddess of discord, said to have caused the Trojan War); Bamapana (Aboriginal hero-trickster who causes discord and misunderstanding); Serpent (in many cultures, a figure who deceives humans, often sabotaging their only chance at immortality).

Samaritan.

The Samaritan is closely related to the Martyr archetype, with the essential difference that Samaritans make sacrifices for those they might be least inclined to serve, as in the Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan. The act itself can be as simple as stopping in the street to give a stranger directions when you are in a hurry to get somewhere. The shadow Samaritan helps one person or group to the detriment of another, one's own family, or the greater good of society. A simple example is the driver who stops in traffic to let another driver make a turn against the flow, with the result of holding up many more drivers in the process. There seems to be implicit in such shadow Samaritan behavior a kind of self-importance that says others must adhere to one's own choice of who is most deserving.

Films: Richard Dreyfuss in Down and Out in Beverly Hills; Gary Cooper in Good Sam; Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier; Liam Neeson in Schindler's List.

Religion/Myth: Ninlil (Sumerian goddess of heaven, earth, air, and grain who shows compassion to the unfortunate); Parzifal (Arthurian knight who heals the wound of Anfortas, the Grail King, by compassionately asking about it);

Scribe.

(Copyist, Secretary, Accountant--see also Journalist)

The Scribe differs from Author or Artist in one significant way: scribes copy existing works rather than create new ones. The Hebrew scribes were originally secretaries who wrote down the preachings of the prophets, but evolved into a priestly class charged with writing and maintaining the laws and records, copying previous scrolls, and committing oral traditions to paper. Medieval Christian scribes copied manuscripts and helped preserve learning. In India, the sages who compiled the Vedas are known as vyasa, a Sanskrit word that means "collector" but could be translated as "scribe." We can expand the definition to cover modern journalists, who also record the existing knowledge and information of their day and uncover secrets (investigative reporters). And we would also have to include that largely anonymous horde of copiers who are busy uploading everything imaginable onto the Internet in the hope of preserving it by distributing it to millions. What makes the Internet the modern equivalent of the medieval scriptorum is that so much information is transcribed onto it not for personal gain but for the sheer joy of preserving and sharing these artifacts with the rest of the world.

The shadow aspect of the Scribe can manifest in altering facts, plagiarizing, or selling information that belongs to others.

Films: Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in All the President's Men; Sally Field in Absence of Malice (shadow); Kirk Douglas in Ace in the Hole (shadow); Nicole Kidman in To Die For (shadow); Holly Hunter in Broadcast News.

Fiction: Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville

Religion/Myth: Ezra (Hebrew scribe and priest, best known for collecting and editing the books of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, in the fifth century B.C.); Imhotep (in Egyptian myth, an architect, physician, and scribe in the court of the Pharaoh Zoser); Thoth (Egyptian god of wisdom, inventor of writing, and patron of scribes, often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis, holding a scribal tablet and reed pen).

Seeker.

(Wanderer, Vagabond, Nomad)

This archetype refers to one who searches on a path that may begin with earthly curiosity but has at its core the search for God and/or enlightenment. Unlike the Mystic, which has the Divine as its sole focus, the Seeker is in search of wisdom and truth wherever it is to be found. The shadow side of the archetype is the "lost soul," someone on an aimless journey without direction, ungrounded, disconnected from goals and others. The shadow emerges when seekers become infatuated with the trappings of a certain practice or guru--what Chögyam Trungpa so aptly called "spiritual materialism"--but never actually change their underlying egocentricity.

Films: Tyrone Power in The Razor's Edge; Brad Pitt in Seven Years in Tibet; Peter Weller and Judy Davis in The New Age (shadow); Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore; Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath.

Drama: A Doll's House (Nora) by Henik Ibsen

Fiction: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse; Lost Horizon by James Hilton.

Autobiography: Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie; My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi; Be Here Now by Ram Dass; Longing for Darkness by China Galland.

Religion/Myth: Arjuna (who questions his role in life in the Bhagavad-Gita); Siddhartha Gautama (before his enlightenment as the Buddha, Siddhartha undertook the classic path of the Seeker).

Servant.

(Indentured Servant)

We all serve someone or something. Because the spiritual path is essentially one of service to others, anyone can relate to this archetype. The Servant engages aspects of our psyche that call us to make ourselves available to others for the benefit and enhancement of their lives. This task can only be done in a healthy manner if the Servant is able to simultaneously be of service to the self. Without the strength to maintain your own well-being, the Servant becomes consumed by the needs of those around you and loses all focus of the value of your own life.

From a mundane perspective, the Servant is associated with money because servants are hired help. This aspect is witnessed within the psyche of the Indentured Servant, a person who sees himself bound by conditions of service that are not of his choosing or preference because of an inability to "buy his freedom," or symbolically coming into your own power. Therefore, the core challenge with this particular archetype is making choices that serve your highest potential. If this describes a substantial personal issue for you, then consider this archetype as a possibility for your own chart.

Films: William Powell in My Man Godfrey; Anthony Hopkins in Remains of the Day; Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy; Dirk Bogarde in The Servant (shadow).

Fiction: The Turn of the Screw (Mrs. Grose ) by Henry James

Religion/Myth: The names of many spiritual masters and teachers often contain a reference to service. The Sanskrit word dasya, for example, means "servant," and appears in the names of modern mystics such as Ram Dass, Bhagavan Das, and Lama Surya Das; Obadiah (Hebrew prophet whose name means "servant of God"); Ganymede (in Greek myth, the young, beautiful boy who was one of Zeus' lovers and cupbearer to the gods); Thialfi (Norse servant of Thor and the messenger of the gods).

Fairy Tales: Cinderella

Shape-shifter.

(Spell-caster--see also Trickster)

This archetype has long been known to shamans of the American Indian and other native traditions for having the ability to change appearances for a variety of reasons. The Shape-shifter can navigate through different levels of consciousness, dream and waking states and the astral plane. Somewhat related to the Trickster, it is more flexible and less tied to a specific goal. The shadow aspect emphasizes instability, fickleness, and lack of conviction, as can be seen in any number of modern day politicians who reinvent themselves to appeal to the latest popular trends.

Films: Wolfen; Lon Chaney, Jr., in The Wolf Man; Aaron Eckhart in In the Company of Men.

Religion/Myth: Because most deities or mythological figures who have the ability to shape-shift are also Tricksters, many of them overlap with that archetype: Tezcatlipoca (Aztec god of night who changes shapes and uses his "smoking mirror" to kill his enemies); Estsanatlehi ("Woman who changes," the most powerful Navajo deity, a fertility goddess and shape-shifter associated with transformation and immortality).

Slave.

The Slave archetype represents a complete absence of the power of choice and self-authority. Yet it is precisely the absence of will power that gives the Slave its potential for personal transformation. The ultimate spiritual task is to surrender one's will to the Divine--in effect, to become a Divine Slave. The goal in many monastic practices is to release one's individual power of choice and become subject to the will of a spiritual mentor, trusting that individual to have your best interests at heart. This act of releasing your will to a higher authority is also witnessed within organizational hierarchies, such as in the military and corporations. One becomes a Slave to the system.

For tens of millions of African Americans, the Slave archetype carries a historical freight that is impossible to overlook. If Slavery is part of your genetic history, you need to take a close look at the possible presence of the Slave archetype in your intimate family. Others who may dismiss this archetype as having no role in their life may discover that it is more prevalent than most people imagine, because of its many different expressions. We don't think of a soldier armed with weapons as a Slave, yet following orders unconditionally is an aspect of the Slave--especially when these orders personally violate your integrity. The Puppet, for instance, may be manipulated by others. Regardless of how this archetype manifests, however, its core learning is to understand the paradoxical truth that you are only truly free when you have surrendered all power of choice to the Divine.

Films: Djimon Honsou in Amistad; Ossie Davis in Slaves; Russell Crowe in Gladiator; Yvette Mimieux in The Time Machine; Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening in American Beauty; Victor Mature in The Robe; Charlton Heston (Moses) in The Ten Commandments.

Television: LeVar Burton in Roots.

Drama: The Emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill; Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by August Wilson; Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet.

Religion/Myth: Euryclea (in the Odyssey, the slave of Laertes, wet nurse of Odysseus, and the first to recognize the hero when he returned home from the Trojan War); Black Peter (medieval Dutch name for the devil, who was chained and enslaved by Saint Nicholas, who on Dec. 4 made Black Peter drop candy and gifts down chimneys into the waiting shoes of the children); Sisyphus (in Greek myth, he chained the god of death, Thanatos, so the deceased could not enter the underworld, for which he was enslaved for all eternity to roll a boulder up a steep hill, only to have it tumble back down when he reached the top).

Fairy Tales: The Flying Monkeys in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Storyteller.

(Minstrel, Narrator)

The classic Storyteller/Minstrel archetype relays the wisdom or foolishness, mistakes and successes, facts and fiction, and tales of love and the impossible, on a plane that is often exaggerated beyond ordinary life. Love is greater, power is more daring, successes are more astonishing, foolishness is more obvious. We have an archetypal need to be spoken to through stories because they bring us into contact with our inner being. We are, in fact, storytellers by nature. Those who have this archetype find that the Storyteller's voice and methods are essential to their way of communicating and perceiving the world. Some teachers are also connected with the Storyteller archetype, but not all Storytellers are teachers. Not all writers are Storytellers, but authors of fiction must be. A Storyteller communicates not just facts but also a metaphoric learning or experience. Storytellers abound in any walk of life, not just among professional writers.

The tradition of the Minstrel reveals how essential the Storyteller's role was in medieval culture, because Minstrels were expected to tell stories and sing stories as a way of entertaining a group as well as passing on the news of the day.

The shadow Storyteller is, in the extreme, a liar, and, in moderation, an exaggerator. The temptation always exists to misuse the skill of storytelling to your own advantage when sharing information. The shadow aspect manifests when we can't resist making up a story to conceal something we don't want to be truthful about. But the universal appeal of storytelling throughout history suggests some deeper connection of this archetype with the human soul. The oldest written works we possess, from the Gilgamesh Epic to the Bible to the Odyssey, use storytelling to make their points. Maybe it's simply a reflection of the sense that each of our lives is a story worth telling, or a desire to impose order on what sometimes seems like a chaotic and random universe.

Films: Rod Taylor as Sean O'Casey in Young Cassidy; Laurence Harvey and Karl Boehm in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm; Judy Davis as George Sand in Impromptu; Barbara Bel Geddes in I Remember Mama.

Fiction: Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad; Beloved by Toni Morrison; A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.

Religion/Myth: Homer (combined history and mythology in the action adventures of the Odyssey and the Iliad); Blaise (Welsh storyteller who in Arthurian legend became Merlin's scribe); Thamyris (Thracian minstrel who won so many contests that he challenged the Muses themselves, and in return for his presumption was struck blind).

Fairy Tales: Arabian Nights (Tales of Sheherezade)

Student.

(Disciple, Devotee, Follower, Apprentice)

The student archetype suggests a pattern of constant learning, an openness to absorbing new information as an essential part of one's well-being. The Student archetype suggests an absence of mastery of any one subject but rather a continual pursuit of intellectual development. Within the spiritual aspect, the Student, Disciple, Devotee, and Follower imply that one has found a source of teaching, such as a Guru or Spiritual Master, who becomes the instructor and spiritual guide.

The shadow Student usually manifests in tandem with the shadow Teacher or Mentor, avidly learning all the tools of the wrong trade or misusing the knowledge learned. This was graphically depicted in Walt Disney's animated imagining of Paul Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in Fantasia, in which Mickey Mouse portrays the Student Wizard who gets carried away with his own unperfected talent and causes havoc. The sahdow can also show up as the eternal Student who never embarks on the sea of life in earnest, but manages to find ever new reasons to continue being schooled without ever putting that knowledge to the test. People who continually use the excuse that they are not ready or have not yet learned enough to advance with their dreams should take special note of this archetype and whether they have a shadow bond with it.

Films: Julie Walters in Educating Rita; Jean Pierre Leaud in The 400 Blows; Matthew Broderick in The Freshman.

Drama: Pygmalion by G.B. Shaw.

Fiction: Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes.

Autobiography: The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams.

Religion/Myth: Dervish (Sufi term for the student of a sheikh); Hunsi (Haitian term for a devotee on any African deity, derived from the culture of Dahomey); Telemachus (student of Mentor, whom Odysseus assigned to teach and care for his son); Medea (devotee of Hecate, Greek goddess of the crossroads and a great sorceress); Ananda (renowned disciple of the Buddha); Peter (leading disciple of Jesus); Abu Bakr (one of the Prophet Muhammad's disciples, called Companions).

Teacher.

(Instructor, see also Mentor)

Teaching is the art of communicating knowledge, experience, skill, and wisdom to another. Teaching, or offering instruction of any kind, can manifest through parental guidance, business apprenticeship, or by inspired instruction in ethics or kindness. To determine whether this archetype is part of your support team, ask yourself if others look to you as a teacher in any situation. Are you the one that others seek out for the richness of your experience, or to teach them the ropes?

The shadow Teacher manifests as a desire to manipulate or abuse those you are instructing; to be more concerned with recognition than with imparting knowledge; or, like the shadow Mentor, to teach negative traits and destructive skills, like burglary or how to cheat on the job.

Films: Bette Davis in The Corn Is Green; Sidney Poitier in To Sir with Love; Michael Caine in Educating Rita; Glenn Ford in Blackboard Jungle; Deborah Kerr in The King and I; Ian McKellen in Apt Pupil; Maggie Smith in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (shadow).

Drama: The Miracle Worker by William Gibson.

Fiction: Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton.

Religion/Myth: Socrates (classical Greek philosopher who taught, and was accused of corrupting, the youth of Athens); the Fisher King (in Arthurian legend, teacher of Perceval); Nommo (African culture hero and teacher of the Dagon people of Mali, Sudan, and Upper Volta); Chiron (teacher of the mythic Greek heroes Jason and Achilles); Dhanvantari (Hindu deity credited as the teacher of medicine to humanity).

Thief.

(Swindler, Con Artist, Pickpocket, Burglar, Robin Hood)

The Thief is thought of as a nocturnal, hooded figure who slips silently into places and takes what he wants. In the hierarchy of thievery, the most respected is the Jewel Thief, associated with glamour, class, and sophistication. The Good Thief steals on behalf of others, as in the case of Robin Hood, and appears to be relieved of all wrongdoing because of his benevolent motive to be of service to others, but often that is just a rationalization. The Bank Thief maintains a degree of respect because the target is corporate and impersonal and the implication is that the thief has an intelligent and strategic mind. The Street Thief and Pickpocket, on the other hand, rank lowest because they rob ordinary individuals and their methods yield small gain.

Symbolically, theft can take many forms, including plagiarism, stealing ideas and even affection. Taking what is not yours because you lack the ability to provide for yourself implies the need to learn self-respect. This archetype prods you to learn to generate power from within. As with so many archetypes that initially strike you as completely unrelated to who you are, this archetype should be evaluated from its symbolic meaning. You may never have stolen one thing at the physical level, but you also need to take into consideration your emotional and intellectual arenas.

Films: James Caan in Thief; Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroiani in Big Deal on Madonna Street; Jean-Paul Belmondo in The Thief of Paris; Sabu in The Thief of Baghdad (1940); Steven Bauer in Thief of Hearts (shadow); Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves; Angelica Huston in The Grifters (shadow).

Fiction: The Adventures of Robin Hood (various authors).

Religion/Myth: Raven (Among Northwestern Indians, a helpful thief who stole the moon and sun from the Sky Chief and placed them in the sky); Prometheus (in Greek myth, hero who stole the sacred fire from Zeus and the gods); Autolycus (grandfather of Odysseus renowned as a thief who stole the cattle of Eurytus); the Good Thief (in the New Testament, one of two men who were crucified with Jesus, repented, and asked for forgiveness).

Trickster.

(Puck, Provocateur)

Almost as far back as our earliest written records, the Trickster appears as a key figure in the human drama. According to the great historian of religion Mircea Eliade, a Trickster is a human or animal character that plays dubious jokes or tricks, makes fun or is made fun of, and may be camouflaged as one of the demigods of a religious tradition. The serpent who tempts Eve in the Bible was based on similar characters in Sumerian and Babylonian mythology from the third millennium B.C., in which a serpent tricks humanity out of the gift of immortality and assumes it for itself. (Observing snakes shedding their skin led some to believe that the reptile was capable of renewing its life indefinitely.) In many cultures, though, especially among Native Americans, the Trickster can also be the Creator's helper or messenger.

Like the Prostitute and Servant archetypes, the Trickster seems at first to have only negative connotations, but it can be a great ally in presenting you with alternatives to the straight and narrow path, to people and institutions who seek to hem you in through peer pressure and conformism. The best modern illustration of this dual role show up in the film work of Jack Nicholson and Groucho Marx. Although the characters they portray are often unsavory or duplicitous on some level, their antics can also be liberating by transcending convention, stuffiness, and predictable behavior.

Films: Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve; Wilfred Bramble (Grandfather) in A Hard Day's Night; Peter Cook in Bedazzled; Michael Caine, Steve Martin, and Glenne Headley in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Drama: The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder.

Fiction: The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike.

Religion/Myth: Kaulu (Polynesian trickster god); Blue-Jay (among Pacific Northwest Indians, a trickster who tries to the other animals); Spider Woman (trickster among the Dakota Indian tribes); Seth (ancient Egyptian god of chaos and adversity); Esu (West African god of passage and trickster who guards the home of the gods).

Fairy Tales: Little Red Riding Hood, The Fox and the Grapes, The Gingerbread Man.

Vampire.

The Vampire is a mythic creature associated with both blood-sucking and eroticism. Vampires require blood, which they get by biting the neck of their victims during a nocturnal visit. The female victim has been portrayed in the paradoxical circumstances of wanting to repel the Vampire while at the same time welcoming the erotic nature of the connection. The Vampire returns every evening to his source of life until there is no more to be had. The parallels between human lust and vampiric blood-lust are rich: as the Vampire satisfies his thirst for blood, his host grows increasingly helpless and submissive, eventually being drained of any capacity for self-protection. Symbolically, this relationship speaks of the power dynamics that frequently drive male-female relationships, in which the male drains the power of the female for his own psychic survival, and, once bitten, the female submits even though this will eventually take all of her power. (In some relationships, of course, the roles can easily become reversed.)

Beyond the sexual level, we sometimes form psychic attachments to others because we desire their energy, a desire that manifests through a need for approval, a need to have the "other" take care of our survival, and a fear of being abandoned. What has been defined as a co-dependent relationship could easily fall under the Vampire template. You may find it hard to identify yourself as a Vampire, yet it is essential to review this archetype personally. Patterns of behavior such as chronic complaining, over-dependency, holding on to a relationship emotionally or psychically long after it has ended, and chronic power struggles are all indicators of Vampire patterns. Holding onto someone on the psychic level is as real as holding on to them on the physical.

Interest in the Vampire archetype has re-emerged through the literary and entertainment fields. It may well be that the archetypal opening of humanity's psyche during these past five decades has resurrected the Vampire, empowering it with a force on the psychic plane of consciousness that was not engaged prior to this time.

Films: Bela Lugosi in Dracula; Tom Cruise in Interview with a Vampire.

Fiction: Dracula by Bram Stoker; The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice; "The Vampyre: A Tale" by John Polidori.

Religion/Myth: Vlad Tepes, aka Vlad The Impaler (in fifteenth-century Walachia--in modern Romania--a bloodthirsty count who reportedly impaled and beheaded his enemies); Langsoir (Malayan vampire, a woman who died in childbirth and now assaults infants and children).

Victim.

(see text for extended discussion)

The negative traits of the Victim are self-evident. But when properly recognized, it can be a tremendous aid in letting us know when we are in danger of letting ourselves be victimized, often through passivity but also through rash or inappropriate actions. It can also help us to see our own tendency to victimize others for personal gain. In its shadow aspect, the Victim shows us that we may like to play the Victim at times because of the positive feedback we get in the form of sympathy or pity. Our goal is always to learn how to recognize these inappropriate attitudes in ourselves or others, and to act accordingly.

Films: Hillary Swank in Boys Don't Cry; Jodie Foster in The Accused; Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice; Glenn Close in Reversal of Fortune;

Fiction: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert L. Stevenson; Misery by Stephen ing.

Drama: Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey Fierstein

Religion/Myth: Isaac (son of Abraham whom God orders Abraham to sacrifice); Heracles (seized by Busiris, mythical king of Egypt who sacrificed all strangers to the gods to avert famine, Heracles avoided being victimized by using his great strength to break his chains and slay Busiris).

Virgin.

(see also Celibate)

This archetype is associated with purity, applied primarily to young girls. The Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome lived in service to a goddess and were often severely punished if they lost their virginity. The Virgin Mother of Jesus represents the purity of motherhood, bringing forth the perfect form of male life, a god. Your identification with the Virgin needs to be explored symbolically as a pattern that represents as association with purity as well as the beginning point of creation. To bring forth virgin ideas is as much an aspect of this archetype as is its application to maintaining virginal aspects of Mother Nature, as in virgin forests.

The shadow side of the Virgin is the prudish disgust with or fear of genuine sensuality. Resisting sex not to save one's energy for other endeavors, but because it seems inherently repellant, is not a virtue but a denial of an essential aspect of oneself. Celibate Monks or Nuns ideally learns to channel their sexual energy rather thanmerely repressing it.

Films: Sean Connery in The Medicine Man; Kirstin Dunst et al. in The Virgin Suicides; Jennifer Jason Leigh in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Religion/Myth: Parthenos (Greek for "Virgin," an epithet of the goddess Athena, who was the virgin mother of Erichthnonius). Hestia/Vesta (the Greek/Roman virgin goddess of the hearth, and, by extension, domestic life.

Visionary.

(Dreamer, Prophet, Seer--see also Guide, Alchemist)

The Visionary archetype lets you imagine possibilities that are beyond the scope of your individual life and that benefit all of society. The Visionary brings into view what could be if certain choices are made, or what is inevitable given choices that have already been made. The Prophet proclaims a message associated with divine guidance, as in the Hebrew Prophets, some of whom also appear in the Quran. (Islam reveres both Jesus and John the Baptist as prophets). Both the Visionary and the Prophet engage their abilities in behalf of humanity rather than for personal use, but while many Prophets are rejected by the group they were sent to enlighten, Visionaries tend to be celebrated for their capacity to read what is just over the horizon.

The shadow Prophet or Visionary manifests as a willingness to sell one's visionary abilities to the high bidder, or to alter their vision to make it more acceptable to society. In extreme cases, tainted visions may lead entire societies into murderous or destructive rampages; then the Destroyer archetype may supersede the Visionary, as in the case of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.

Films: Eriq Ebouaney in Lumumba; Peter Finch in Network (shadow).

Religion/Myth: Hebrew Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others who often chastised powerful leaders while calling the people's attention to their own failings); Muhammad (the final Prophet of Islam, who directed God's message to the Arab people through the Quran); Baha'u'llah (nineteenth-century Iranian prophet who founded the Bahai Faith, spreading his vision of "one universal Cause, one common Faith"); Cassandra (in Greek lore, daughter of the king and queen of Troy, who was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo in an attempt to seduce her; because she refused his advances, he made all her prophecies fall on deaf ears); Zarathustra (prophet and founder of Zoroastrianism).

Warrior.

(Soldier, Crime Fighter, Amazon, Mercenary, Soldier of Fortune, Gunslinger, Samurai)

The Warrior archetype represents physical strength and the ability to protect, defend, and fight for one's rights. Whereas the Knight is associated with protecting Damsels, the Warrior is linked to invincibility and loyalty. Both the Knight and Warrior appear on the battlefield, but the Knight's romance, chivalry, and abundant castle are not associated with the Warrior. Warrior energy is erotic for the male, representing the height of virility and physical power as well as toughness of will and spirit. To be unbreakable and to fight to the death is a large part of the Warrior archetype, which is also associated with the passage from boyhood to manhood.

The Mercenary and Soldier of Fortune are variations on the hired killer who sells his power on the open market, often with complete disregard for the buyer's cause. These archetypes are much like the Prostitute in that, although they appear negative, in their favorable aspect they warn us when we are in danger of aligning our might with an unjust or purely self-interested cause.

The Gunslinger and Samurai represent a double-edged sword (pun intended). They appeal to our fantasies of independence and the power to defend ourselves and right wrongs, yet they also carry the historic weight of savage, predatory evil. On the one side are all the heroic characters portrayed by John Wayne, Gary Cooper and others--standing up to injustice and holding off the forces of evil singlehandedly. The Lone Ranger and the figures of wandering samurai warriors in the films of Akira Kurosawa also epitomize this fiercely independent warrior that the American and Japanese past seem to share. And on the other side are all the selfish, evil thieves and killers who embody our worst nightmares of lawlessness and unchecked male dominance. Somewhere in between are the ambiguous Crime Fighters and lone wolf Gunfighters epitomized by Clint Eastwood, whose heroism is often tinged with anger, vengefulness, and more than a little sadism.

The shadow Warrior distorts or abandons ethical principles and decency in the name of victory at any cost. What can be a virtue--heroic indifference to risk and pain--becomes contemptible when the indifference is directed not at oneself but at others.

The Warrior archetype is just as connected to the female psyche as to the male. Women have long been defenders of their families, and the Amazon tribe of Warrior Women has become legendary because of their ability to engage in fierce battle--even sacrificing part of their female physique to facilitate warfare. Loyalty to the family and tribe is among the Amazon's notable characteristics, along with nurturing their young and transmitting lessons of power and self-defense. In today's society, the Warrior Woman has emerged in its glory once again through women who liberate and protect others, especially women and children who need vocal and financial representation.

The concept of the spiritual Warrior has been pioneered by Dan Millman (The Peaceful Warrior), the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa (Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior), Prof. Robert Thurman, and others. They direct us to use the classic Warrior virtues of heroism, stoicism, and self-sacrifice for conquering the ego and gaining control of our inner lives.

Films: Gary Cooper in High Noon; John Wayne in The Searchers; Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, Pale Rider, and Unforgiven; Mel Gibson in Road Warrior and Mad Max; Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were (political activist); Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment (battling cancer); Denzel Washington in Glory (Civil War soldier); The Seven Samurai.

Television: Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Xena the Warrior Princess.

Drama: A Soldier's Story by Charles Fuller .

Fiction: In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck (migrant workers)

Religion/Myth: Bhima ("the Terrible One") warrior hero of the Mahabharata known for his great strength; the son of the wind god Vayu and a brother of Arjuna, he later became a Hindu warrior god); Oya (woman warrior of Yoruba myth, goddess of fire, wind, thunder, and the river Niger); Andarta (Celtic-Gallic warrior and fertility goddess); Popocatepetl (Aztec warrior who, with his consort, was transformed by the gods into a mountain after they both died of grief for each other); Brunhilde (female warrior, one of the Valkyries, in the German epic Niebelungenlied); Alyosha Popovitch (epic hero and mighty warrior of Russian folklore); Durga (warrior manifestation of the Hindu Mother goddess).

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