How Many Archetypes? Ten? Twenty? 100? Maybe More?
March/25/2009 06:42 AM Filed in: Ethics &
Archetypes
How many
archetypes are there? Dozens have been described.
Eight are discussed in the Ethics and Archetypes
course; these were chosen because of their relevance
in the interaction between clients and practitioners.
Caroline Myss, in her audio program “Language of
Archetypes” discusses approximately 60 archetypes,
which she groups into nine "families". While we
probably bump into dozens of archetypes through our
contact with other people, we each have a few main
ones that are our most important teachers.
I’ll give an example from my own experience. Apparently I have the archetype of the “Teacher.” My relationship with this archetype began when I started school at age 6. I loved school! I thought my teachers were fabulous! I worked hard and did well in school; putting me in school was like putting a fish into water.
When I was 8 or 9 years old, my younger brother was about 4, a pre-schooler. Every day when I came home from school, we would go into our basement where we always did a lot of our playing, and we played school. I was the teacher and he was the “class”. We had a little wooden school desk that he would sit at, and I had a blackboard and some chalk. I would get the extra mimeograph papers of our school exercises and projects from my teacher, and we used those in our play school. Whatever I learned in school that day or week, we covered in my afternoon teaching of play school with my little brother. By the time he started first grade, he had completed 4th grade at our play school!
When I was in high school, my mother suggested that I should become a teacher. It didn’t interest me at the time because I wasn't attracted to teaching children and I didn't realize that one could become an adult educator, However, when I was about 16 or 17 I was involved in a summer Bible study class with younger kids, where I would take my guitar and teach them folk songs as a way to keep them interested and having fun. That was alot of fun, and I somehow naturally figured out how to "plan a lesson". I chose songs to teach them, wrote out the lyrics for them to learn, and planned review of songs we had already been working on.
It wasn’t until many years later, in graduate school as a teaching assistant, and still later in massage school, that I realized my place for teaching was in adult education. The archetype of the "Teacher" has been with me from a very young age, and I continue to find a great deal of enjoyment through creating courses, leading a class, and facilitating change, growth, and expanding students’ bubbles! I have several other archetypes that have been major guides for my life.
Maybe you are curious about your own archetypes. You probably have at least one or two that have been with you from an early age. Think about the things that you have been attracted to since you were young and are still very prominent in your life. Did you become absorbed in coloring books and finger paints and drawing and compulsively create pretty things? Maybe you have the "Artist". Did you love races against other kids, climbing on the jungle jim, playing kick ball? Maybe you have the "Athlete". Did you play dress-up and put on makeup and create skits and plays? Maybe you have the "Actor/Actress". Did you figure out ways to make money with a lemonade stand, baby-sitting, or making something to sell? Maybe you are an "Entrepreneur".
I hope you have gotten some interesting ideas and new understanding of your self by reading today's entry!
I’ll give an example from my own experience. Apparently I have the archetype of the “Teacher.” My relationship with this archetype began when I started school at age 6. I loved school! I thought my teachers were fabulous! I worked hard and did well in school; putting me in school was like putting a fish into water.
When I was 8 or 9 years old, my younger brother was about 4, a pre-schooler. Every day when I came home from school, we would go into our basement where we always did a lot of our playing, and we played school. I was the teacher and he was the “class”. We had a little wooden school desk that he would sit at, and I had a blackboard and some chalk. I would get the extra mimeograph papers of our school exercises and projects from my teacher, and we used those in our play school. Whatever I learned in school that day or week, we covered in my afternoon teaching of play school with my little brother. By the time he started first grade, he had completed 4th grade at our play school!
When I was in high school, my mother suggested that I should become a teacher. It didn’t interest me at the time because I wasn't attracted to teaching children and I didn't realize that one could become an adult educator, However, when I was about 16 or 17 I was involved in a summer Bible study class with younger kids, where I would take my guitar and teach them folk songs as a way to keep them interested and having fun. That was alot of fun, and I somehow naturally figured out how to "plan a lesson". I chose songs to teach them, wrote out the lyrics for them to learn, and planned review of songs we had already been working on.
It wasn’t until many years later, in graduate school as a teaching assistant, and still later in massage school, that I realized my place for teaching was in adult education. The archetype of the "Teacher" has been with me from a very young age, and I continue to find a great deal of enjoyment through creating courses, leading a class, and facilitating change, growth, and expanding students’ bubbles! I have several other archetypes that have been major guides for my life.
Maybe you are curious about your own archetypes. You probably have at least one or two that have been with you from an early age. Think about the things that you have been attracted to since you were young and are still very prominent in your life. Did you become absorbed in coloring books and finger paints and drawing and compulsively create pretty things? Maybe you have the "Artist". Did you love races against other kids, climbing on the jungle jim, playing kick ball? Maybe you have the "Athlete". Did you play dress-up and put on makeup and create skits and plays? Maybe you have the "Actor/Actress". Did you figure out ways to make money with a lemonade stand, baby-sitting, or making something to sell? Maybe you are an "Entrepreneur".
I hope you have gotten some interesting ideas and new understanding of your self by reading today's entry!