Are you a Victim? A Saboteur? A Prostitute? What if I told you that you were all of these and then some?
Offended? Please don’t be. I’m right in the middle of Caroline Myss’ Sacred Contracts and I’m enthralled with the concept of archetypes that we carry throughout our lives.
Myss explains we all carry different arrangements of archetypes within our psyche. No two make-ups are exactly alike. There are four archetypes we all share (child, victim, saboteur and prostitute) and eight that are uniquely ours.
According to Myss, we naturally play out certain patterns throughout our lives. Each pattern has it’s strength and weakness. Right now I have a strong “Rescuer” archetype that is challenging me to assist my family in a healthy and respectful way and not simply save them from themselves (I probably need to get over myself that I think I even have the power to do this!).
Do you have any patterns you see playing out right now? Do you wonder why you always get yourself into the same situations over and over again? Myss’ work may bring insight to a pattern you have not quite named but experience.
Do you constantly feel depleted or overwhelmed by the needs of others? Perhaps you are playing out a “rescuer” archetype but rather than offering guidance (a life line) and allowing the individual to choose to take the life line or not, you are trying to “save” them.
There are many, many interesting patterns that Myss discusses in her work. I recommend picking up Sacred Contracts (http://store.myss.com/finding-your-sacred-contract-p537.aspx) at your local bookstore or library. She has her work on CD which makes it easy to listen while doing all those millions of activities you haven’t yet committed to dropping off your massive task list.
I’m starting to view my behavior through a new level of curiosity and that is always a good thing. When you learn about yourself simply by observing yourself without self-criticism or judgment, it is truly amazing what you can learn.
If you decide to check out this work I’d love for you to stop back and tell us about it. If you are already familiar with archetypes and Myss’ work, please leave a comment below!
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