We've Let a Few Archetypes Run Wild
Time to examine our own.
We Elected The Outlaw
During the pandemic by chance I was introduced to the work of Captolia Eaton. Known as The Digital Witch, she is a marketing expert who helps spiritual business owners make more money. My son Silas told me about her—he lives near Captolia and they’re friends.
Right away I signed up for her pop-up workshop called “Unearthing Your Archetypes.” The inciting question was
“How do you tell your brand story using archetypes?”
At that point I knew nothing about archetypes except for the fact that Jung had come up with them.
Actually he didn’t.
Archetypes are as old as human culture itself, and it was Carol S. Pearson, a woman and our contemporary, who created the 12-archetype system we now use, as well as the Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator, which is an assessment.
Archetypes are archaic and mythic images that we unconsciously understand. They’re universal. They symbolize basic human motivations, values, and personalities.
The main 12 (out of hundreds)
The Outlaw
The Creator
The Ruler
The Caregiver
The Sage
The Lover
The Explorer
The Jester
The Hero
The Everyperson
The Innocent
The Magician
Scan that list, if you will. Which archetype do you think you are? Which would you like to be? Which are you trying not to be?
I’m telling you about archetypes because I’ve found it helpful to know where I speak from symbolically and universally, as well as learn to speak from a different place.
Many systems in our culture tell us who we are supposed to be. Religion does. Patriarchy does. Colonialism does. Capitalism does. Family values does. Jimcrow does. Embodying archetypes helps us become the person we—not others—want to be.
Archetypes
sharpen our sense of purpose.
provide greater depth and meaning.
increase life satisfaction.
carry our dreams farther.
assist us when we step into the shapes they provide.
I’ve learned that each of us embody all the archetypes. That’s important to know. All of them are part of us. However, we have a primary archetype and a secondary one or two.
Also important to remember is that no archetype is better than another. None are bad while another is good. But they need to be in balance within us.
I found a random archetype quiz online, and the results indicated that I was equal parts
The Caregiver
The Lover
The Magician
To be honest, that didn’t feel right. At times in my life I’ve been The Lover and The Caregiver, of course, and to be honest I’m still both of those, especially now that I’m caring for my infant granddaughter. But those two particular archetypes no longer fit. Or perhaps I didn’t want them to fit. I’m struggling mightily to break free of old systems, including the patriarchy, and I resist being the caregiver or lover that most women are expected to be.
A second assessment
In her workshop Captolia had mentioned an archetype quiz, free on her website. Thinking the results might be different, I took it.
For my primary, I was equally The Hero & The Magician.
Secondarily I was The Creator.
Imagine being a hero, a creator, and a magician. That fit. I was in a period of radical change—owning my personal power, making more unilateral decisions, moving from author to author entrepreneur, hiring more help, and dreaming bigger in general.
During that first workshop with Captolia I’d jotted down reams of notes, and I kept revisiting them. Much that she had said was fizzing and sparking.
Who told you that you don’t dream?
Who told you that you don’t reach?
Who told you that you can’t have this?
Move through the subconscious mess that makes you feel not worthy.
Move into discomfort, as much as you can safely handle.
Get radically visible.
Take messy action.
Pair strategy with spirit for maximum potential. For maximum potency. For maximum power.
My main three
Archetypes change as we do, thank heavens. After a while the assessments let me know that I am predominantly
The Ruler
The Creator
The Magician
Last year I enrolled in Captolia’s “Witch & Famous” course in online marketing. My journal is full of notes from 8 months of thinking deeply about who I am, what I’ve been told about myself, what I accepted as the truth that wasn’t, and how to step into my real self. Most of all I was learning to activate my archetypes and use them in my work. I’m still swimming furiously in that current.
Captolia says that, in order to heal from the trauma of capitalism and patriarchy, we need to create portals of
Transformation
Visibility
Courageousness
Money
Her motto is “Anything can happen.”
How does all that sound to you? Can you imagine it for yourself? And wouldn’t you like to hang around someone who talks like that?
Nothing is for sale
I’m not marketing anything here. Captolia doesn’t have a current course for sale, I don’t think, although you could book a strategy session with her. I just want to encourage you to think about your archetypes, and maybe start by taking an online assessment. If you’ve already taken one but you’ve changed, take another. Start with Captolia’s. Knowing the mythic and heroic symbols that you inhabit or that inhabit you is helpful. Also helpful is the ability to call on an archetype to help you be the person you want to be.
These next four years
It seems to me that we’ve let a few archetypes run wild in this country. We’ve let men be The Rulers. We’ve kept The Creator from prospering. We’ve relegated The Magician to comedy.
We’re elected The Outlaw.
We’re going to have to call on different archetypes as we try to break the grip of oppression systems in American government. The patriarchy is not just stultifying but toxic, malignant, murderous. Same with runaway capitalism. Same with racism. Same with ageism.
If you have been The Innocent, can you start waking up?
If you have been The Jester, can you settle into your heart?
If you have been The Everyperson, can you start speaking up?
If you’ve been The Caregiver, can you lean into The Outlaw?
If you’ve been The Ruler, can you lean into The Lover?
If you’ve been The Hero, can you lean into The Everyperson?
Obvious to me is the fact that those of us who oppose oppression, destruction of nature, and fascism are going to have to embody some different archetypes.
In the comments
I’d love to hear your archetypes.
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Thank you for this post. I was surprised to learn my archetypes are 50% outlaw, 30% innocent and creator. And there are good outlaws which I attribute to my activism to do good. But I need to kick up the creator because the outlaw is overwhelming at times.
I enjoyed this exercise. The Nurturer 67%, the Creator 17%, the Outlaw 17%.
It feels fairly solid to me. I do prefer the word Nurturer to Caregiver since giving Care to others has at times been a toxic trait in my life. I have had to do a lot of work on learning to heal this behavior and to respect appropriate boundaries.