Archetypes for Spiritual Direction
I have long been fascinated by archetypes, so I was delighted to have Amazon recommend to me a book called Archetypes for Spiritual Direction: Discovering the Heroes Within, by Bruce Tallman. I've been enjoying it a great deal, getting some insights on my own psyche, and slowly building a conceptual framework of how my own sense of archetypes relate to the role of spiritual director.
Obviously there are many dozens of possible archetypes from which to choose. Tallman has selected the Sovereign, Warrior, Seer and Lover -- and those have been working very well for me, within his context. He does a good job of describing each individually and also illustrating how the four complement and complete each other. Few of his examples are purely of one archetype. For example, he cites Gandhi as a Warrior-Seer, and John of the Cross as both a Seer and a Lover of God. (In fact, his major point is that all four archetypes need to be strong and healthy.)
As valuable as his assessments of the positive aspects of the archetypes is his examination of the dual-aspect shadow of each: the excessive aspect and the under-developed aspect. The shadows of the Sovereign are the Tyrant and the Abdicator; for the Warrior, the Sadist and the Masochist; for the Seer, the Manipulator and the Fool; and for the Lover, the Addict and the Frigid. All of these make gut-level sense to me, and have helped me do some deeper self-assessment in some areas than I have in a while.
The section of the book I'm in now describes how each of the four healthy archetypes functions in the role of spiritual direction, and it's quite fascinating. I can see my own potential for being a Sovereign, but at the moment my strongest aspect is that of Seer -- and just about everything he writes about how the Seer functions as a spiritual director resonates strongly with me.
Getting back to the Shadow. . . Reading Tallman, I can see very clearly the underdeveloped state of my Sovereign and Warrior aspects in my tendencies toward both Abdication and Masochism. It's no coincidence that Sovereign and Warrior are the most fascinating archetypes to me. I have long felt myself to be of Sovereign nature, but I have fallen far short of claiming and exercising my potentials in that area (not power-over, but in leadership, inspiration, ordering, and etc.). My Warrior is utterly underdeveloped. After reading those chapters today it suddenly was not at all surprising that my daimon most frequently appears as a Warrior-Sovereign: the two things I most yearn to become.
What's fascinating about his discussion of the Sovereign is his stress on the Sovereign as a bestower of blessing, in the tradition of sacred kingship. I would love to quote at length, but I'll settle for a few lines:
First of all, the Sovereign is the organizer, vision-maker and lawgiver. . . . If the Sovereign lives properly, everything in the realm will reflect right order. . . The second major function of the Sovereign is fertility. . . . As part of fertility, Sovereigns know how to create new [spiritual] life in others. . . Sovereign energy also expresses itself in blessing. The good Sovereign affirms others. . . Being blessed by a king (or priest, bishop or pope) can have a great impact on people. By her words a queen can bless or curse her subjects psychologically. . . . Heroic Sovereigns think of themselves as accountable to God, the Most High Sovereign above them, and to their lowliest subjects below. They know that as Sovereigns they rule as intermediaries between God and their people.
There are equally rich, mystical and practical descriptions for each of the archetypes. I was just very pleased to find this kind of language in this kind of book.
For more than a year now I've been wrestling with my own sacred/mythic identity. A year ago last fall, all the old archetypal references which I had used to define myself stopped working for me. I have yet to fully re-build them, or fully re-imagine myself. This book is very helpful in taking classic archetypes, ones to which I feel a strong connection, and applying them to my relatively-newly-discovered vocation. It's giving me new ways to think about myself and my Work, a new way to name and grapple with the under-developed and/or wounded areas of myself (my Sovereign and Warrior are underdeveloped; my Lover is wounded).
During a very long, slow afternoon at work, I did some mapping of the archetypes to the elements and other symbols, deliberately ignoring many of the traditional -- or personally customary -- associations, and working from my gut. It was very interesting and rewarding.
One thing is very clear: there may be other ways to describe my current psychological state, but saying that my Sovereign, Warrior and Lover archetypes are primarily shadowed, and I need to work on owning/empowering/healing them, is a pretty good way to name the work I need to do. I'm not yet exactly sure what form that work will take, but I've got some ideas.
I'll let you all know how it goes.
Obviously there are many dozens of possible archetypes from which to choose. Tallman has selected the Sovereign, Warrior, Seer and Lover -- and those have been working very well for me, within his context. He does a good job of describing each individually and also illustrating how the four complement and complete each other. Few of his examples are purely of one archetype. For example, he cites Gandhi as a Warrior-Seer, and John of the Cross as both a Seer and a Lover of God. (In fact, his major point is that all four archetypes need to be strong and healthy.)
As valuable as his assessments of the positive aspects of the archetypes is his examination of the dual-aspect shadow of each: the excessive aspect and the under-developed aspect. The shadows of the Sovereign are the Tyrant and the Abdicator; for the Warrior, the Sadist and the Masochist; for the Seer, the Manipulator and the Fool; and for the Lover, the Addict and the Frigid. All of these make gut-level sense to me, and have helped me do some deeper self-assessment in some areas than I have in a while.
The section of the book I'm in now describes how each of the four healthy archetypes functions in the role of spiritual direction, and it's quite fascinating. I can see my own potential for being a Sovereign, but at the moment my strongest aspect is that of Seer -- and just about everything he writes about how the Seer functions as a spiritual director resonates strongly with me.
Getting back to the Shadow. . . Reading Tallman, I can see very clearly the underdeveloped state of my Sovereign and Warrior aspects in my tendencies toward both Abdication and Masochism. It's no coincidence that Sovereign and Warrior are the most fascinating archetypes to me. I have long felt myself to be of Sovereign nature, but I have fallen far short of claiming and exercising my potentials in that area (not power-over, but in leadership, inspiration, ordering, and etc.). My Warrior is utterly underdeveloped. After reading those chapters today it suddenly was not at all surprising that my daimon most frequently appears as a Warrior-Sovereign: the two things I most yearn to become.
What's fascinating about his discussion of the Sovereign is his stress on the Sovereign as a bestower of blessing, in the tradition of sacred kingship. I would love to quote at length, but I'll settle for a few lines:
First of all, the Sovereign is the organizer, vision-maker and lawgiver. . . . If the Sovereign lives properly, everything in the realm will reflect right order. . . The second major function of the Sovereign is fertility. . . . As part of fertility, Sovereigns know how to create new [spiritual] life in others. . . Sovereign energy also expresses itself in blessing. The good Sovereign affirms others. . . Being blessed by a king (or priest, bishop or pope) can have a great impact on people. By her words a queen can bless or curse her subjects psychologically. . . . Heroic Sovereigns think of themselves as accountable to God, the Most High Sovereign above them, and to their lowliest subjects below. They know that as Sovereigns they rule as intermediaries between God and their people.
There are equally rich, mystical and practical descriptions for each of the archetypes. I was just very pleased to find this kind of language in this kind of book.
For more than a year now I've been wrestling with my own sacred/mythic identity. A year ago last fall, all the old archetypal references which I had used to define myself stopped working for me. I have yet to fully re-build them, or fully re-imagine myself. This book is very helpful in taking classic archetypes, ones to which I feel a strong connection, and applying them to my relatively-newly-discovered vocation. It's giving me new ways to think about myself and my Work, a new way to name and grapple with the under-developed and/or wounded areas of myself (my Sovereign and Warrior are underdeveloped; my Lover is wounded).
During a very long, slow afternoon at work, I did some mapping of the archetypes to the elements and other symbols, deliberately ignoring many of the traditional -- or personally customary -- associations, and working from my gut. It was very interesting and rewarding.
One thing is very clear: there may be other ways to describe my current psychological state, but saying that my Sovereign, Warrior and Lover archetypes are primarily shadowed, and I need to work on owning/empowering/healing them, is a pretty good way to name the work I need to do. I'm not yet exactly sure what form that work will take, but I've got some ideas.
I'll let you all know how it goes.