“This is a very passionate archetype and is about the sensuality of life and food. At its heart the hedonist wants to experience a heightened reality of life where they have exquisite appreciation of all the subtleties of taste, texture and sensuality in their life. They are people who will be prone to flowery descriptive passionate language and constantly want to experience new tastes and sensations. They are then able to add new enriching experiences to their life.
It is an innately creative artistic and sensual archetype. Any of the pleasurable, sensual delights of life, sex, coffee, cheeses, wine, spices, fabrics, music, chocolate, massage, etc can inspire them. It has a culture all its own. They challenge us with their extroverted quality of self-nurturing. There is a longing to return to nourishing ourselves with good food, maybe even allowing ourselves some more of the goodness of life.”
“She was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. She represents youth and innocence. Zeus’ brother Hades gained permission from Zeus to take Persephone to the underworld to rape her. (Demeter has the strongest fear of loosing her child of any archetype). Whilst down in the underground she is crowned Queen of the Underworld. Persephone swallows pomegranate seeds, an integral feature of the myth.
After a very long time searching for her daughter and even becoming foster mother to a boy, Demeter finally goes to Hecate to find out what happened to her. Hecate knows the truth and has the courage to tell Demeter. Hecate then retrieves Persephone from Hades. Persephone lies to Demeter and says she was forced to swallow pomegranate seeds by Hades. This means she must return to the underworld for about six months every 12 months forever. When Persephone leaves the underworld, she comes as Queen of Spring, bringing springtime to the world.
Those with this archetype have a very strong fear of violation. She is often very fearful of burglaries, being harmed and is sensitive about potential danger. Persephone views the world from the lenses of the underworld, casting an unnecessarily dark shadow across all she sees. They strongly justify their fears as rational and accurate, whilst to others they sound extreme. They often prepare in their minds for the worst case scenario."
“This archetype is based on legend. It is about a king who desires more and more wealth. His greed leads him to assume that gold is the only thing of value, and he is delighted when everything he touches turns to gold. Only when he touches his little daughter and turns her into gold too, does he realise the error of his ways.
Those with this archetype may well be living out the myth. They enjoy the freedom that comes with money and often have interest in money markets, business and other ventures. They love having the best there is, and will not settle for second rate. Many who work with money, as accountants, stock brokers or in positions where they manage money, and/or those who love the financial magazines as books about accruing wealth may have this archetype. They’re fascinated by money and the creative ways you can use and manipulate it.
The miser refers to their capacity to be extremely withholding of their time, energy, love and money. They give nothing of themselves, and while they may be financially comfortable, live dry, barren and potentially miserable lives. This archetype is known for expressing both extreme generosity and tightness with money.”
“This is the energy of camouflage or blending into one’s present environment, and it’s often a survival technique to remain invisible so as to avoid negative attention. This is a fear based perception of the world. The chameleon is an expert at blending in or changing their persona to suit the environment.
Chameleons can be very disconnected from their feelings and often have the greatest difficulty identifying their archetypes. They can become nearly all of the archetypes, depending on what they perceive others would like them to be!
The light chameleon will be recognised as very versatile and talented. Instead of blending in an becoming invisible, they learn to shine and glow, expressing more colourfully than most their unique individuality and diverse talents.”
“The most important son of Zeus and Leto and twin brother of Artemis, Apollo was the God of light and sun, of music, poetry, dance, archery, medicine, religious healing, prophecy and intellectual inquiry.
Apollo brings great creativity and intelligence to the world, with much refinement and appreciation of aesthetics and culture. A prominent theme is to create great beauty that exalts the preceiver as any great art does. He is musical and loves poetry, often dabbling in many of the arts for relaxation and balance in his life. His is cultured and educated, a seeker of knowledge and beauty. Apollo was the favoured son. He is therefore often very loved and admired by many. Those with Apollo are often told they are lucky, appearing to others to achieve effortlessly, despite their hard work. He likes/needs to master all he touches, and has great focus and determination when approaching his goals, as does Artemis.
Apollo can be remote and superior, indifferent to his enormous power and number of talents. He can be somewhat superficial, not attempting to explore the depths underlying life. He likes to have life clearly defined black and white and seeks harmony and logic. His is strong intellectual and rational abilities rule, he is an idealist. He may be cynical of the spiritual and deeper mysterious unseen worlds."
The maiden is often unwilling to take responsibility for their own happiness, imagining that some ‘romantic other’ can fill their need. The live as ‘damsels in distress’ hoping to alert a passing knight to their plight. It invariably leads to disappointment, as the knights are often wounded and immature themselves, unable to look after their own needs, let alone anyone else’s.
Maiden/romantics refuse to mature and become self-empowered women and men. This self-created distress and longing for love and a meaningful life is a tormented way to live.”
“The lion/coward struggles with issues of fear, self-doubt, and intimidation. Throughout their lives they have experienced crippling shame and insecurity. They are master back peddlers and procrastinators. Their great challenge is to develop the noble characteristic of courage. On attaining this characteristic they then can exude quiet confidence, solid in the knowledge that they can indeed face any challenge that may come their way. They can be the most courageous of all, their lion can be brave or bully. Their greatest fear is hate and revealing personal and emotional information to others, something they instinctively avoid at all costs. Lions bully themselves and compulsively shy away from potential conflict and rejection. They fail to realise they are self-rejecting every time they remain silent or say no to an opportunity. They can be physically brave but drown in emotional fear and silence.
“There is an inherent appreciation of history and the value of record keeping for those that have this archetype. Understanding the past gives meaning to the present, and provides a glimpse of the future. They understand and empower us as a society, making sense of life as it is today. Historians love all forms of history, archives, books, museums, family trees, photo albums, family video histories, and form of journal or diary writing. They are excellent researchers and chronicle readers. The challenge for this archetype is to step up and make their mark on history, not merely recording a time line of events for the future to appreciate.”
“The manager-director calls upon their ability to recognise, coach and maximise the talents of each individual. There are two parts, the recognition of the person’s strengths and talents and the enhancement of those talents so that the individual can perform. They must also be practical people. They can read reports, analyse data, see clearly, prioritise their work, delegate when necessary, organise, anticipate future problems or events and plan for them.
Managers have an innate sense of authority and will be obvious leaders. Their strengths lie in direction, focus, productivity and achievement. They must have good communication skills and people skills. They can be bossy, arrogant, self-important and insensitive to others. They tend to manage everything and everyone in life, whether or not asked."
"This is the grandparent archetype and is about wisdom. The sage’s wisdom comes from great experience of life in all its depths, challenges, paradoxes and polarities, with wisdom and experience written all over their face. Those with this archetype have a wisdom beyond their years. It cannot be learnt from books alone. It is wild, untamed, experimental wisdom, more in alignment with the wisdom of indigenous cultures. They have a flair for the value of storytelling.
They understand the flow of life and the value of maturity. The sage can access the unconscious and deep intuitive wisdom more easily than others. As a result they have been able to help others, particularly with emotional and spiritual problems, since their early years. They themselves don’t understand how they know what they know. It feels right and is often profound.
The shadow sage can be arrogant, claim to be wise when they’re not , speak when not invited, impose their views on others and more commonly abdicate from the responsibility of giving support and wisdom because they fear the responsibility it entails.”
‘The scholar has an innate love of learning and of knowledge. They are very quick mentally and can be quite intellectually brilliant. Learning is constantly interesting and new ideas exciting.
The scholar will probably have walls lined with books and think of them as friends. Each book has been saved for some particular gift it imparted. The scholar will never feel alone if there are new books to read or new learning experiences to engage in and share. Usually high achievers, most have a strong fear of failure and humiliation. This is an archetype that continually self-assesses and grades every action, thought and deed. They compulsively enrol in courses throughout life.
In the light the scholar learns to apply his learning to life whereas the shadow scholar compulsively is learning, always the student never the teacher, and doesn’t apply their knowledge.”
“This archetype is a powerful one, because its effect is universal. Most people have felt the influence, for better or worse, of a teacher. The teacher has the power to enhance or destroy self esteem and potential. The teacher compulsively explains most subjects they are discussing. They have great patience but will often have others asking them to stop teaching! The also fill their lives with lists, projects and busy work which may or may not be connected to their passion for learning. They constantly grade themselves and others, unconsciously or consciously. Recognising potential and possibilities for students/others is their strength but must be achieved within first. They can be know it alls or the perpetual student never feeling ready to take the next step."
