Trying to Understand Archetypes

Newcomer Corner
21

Part of this reminds me of the idea our desire
is a function of our circumstance. If our
circumstance falls degraded, maybe our
desires likewise degrade, (like hidden factors
in a Markov Chain.)

So dissolving
undesired conditions may be pointing to the
Matrix, a sort of trapped bird that reaches out
toward the potentiator in an act of initiating an
experiential evolutionary endeavor.

Pain as indicating the unmanifested being,
might suggest creative manifestation as a
sort of way to go about leaving it behind.

We share the world. People may not be able
to defend themselves well, they rely on the
government to provide for safe society.

A soldier might be a defender of freedom,
who resides functionally close to some
reptilian agenda to fight off the bad guys.

I agree it may be difficult circumstance when
society is run amok by lawless felons - and
our desire to be free of that accompanies
the help of reptilian specialists.

Thank you to so many service people out
there helping to manage humanity’s inhumane,
paradoxical as that is. Such paradox might
be a Lovers insight.

The Lovers are about Transformation, and
the Chariot seems a Great Path - and yes,
please break out of the Matrix and maybe
create new discoveries!

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22

The Idea of Mastering Fear might branch back here. There’s a Free Solo movie of mountain climber Alex Honnold, and many people watching it may break out in some cold sweat watching the high vistas. They scanned his brain and found an inert amygdala, which may be an advantage in what he does, as better able to focus on whatever section he’s traversing. They’ve found people who meditate undergo changes in the physical structure of the brain - more neuro plasticity and a subordinated amygdala. So I think of Alex Honnold as a climbing meditator, focusing with a singleness of thought not so unlike something like Osho’s active meditation, or multiplexing meditation on top of whatever else is going on. Osho has been described as dangerous, and part of that might be cultivating some degree of fearlessness, fear that might otherwise inhibit risky situations. Assessing hazards objectively, then interpreting risk as the likelihood of getting hurt exposed to the hazard factors into controlling the hazard. Alex Honnold practices endlessly to acquire skill as a control measure. Navy seals who put themselves in highly hazardous circumstance, also acquire skill through heavy practice. Mastering fear likely involves some degree of study and practice for whatever you’re up against. The Tower might relate, the Matrix of Spirit with a desire for greater degrees of fearlessness.

23

In my lifetime, I had three different careers in government service (and in three different governments too). Each began with confusion and frustration because everyone already working there spoke in acronyms. ABC this, XYZ that, and so on. It was maddening. Even if one took the time to break the acronyms into their component words, all English, even that did not add much clarity. (And I was an attorney!)

It took months, and in my last job, a year and a half, to be able to converse in the same technobabble and acronyms as everyone else with some degree of fluency. Turns out, those acrnyms were three letter bundles of some seriously complex concepts.

Think of the archetypes as something similar; bundles of complex concepts that take a long time to understand.

Ra tried to symplify the concepts by drawing pictures of them. (The Tarot.) But much like when I expanded the three letter acronyms at work into their actual words (e.g. “TTD” equals “temporary total disability”) neither the expansions, nor Ra’s pictures, helped overly much.

It just takes time. So don’t make yourself crazy trying to understand these complex concepts all at once.

Some pitfalls to avoid.

  1. The archetypes are not a “complete system” or an encyclodia of everything. If you approach them as THE ANSWER, and as something that, once learned, is a grand solution to all of life, then you will probably be disappointed.
  2. There is a strong, almost irresistible, desire to impose one’s personal beliefs and other systems of metaphyical learning on the cards. Kinda like the way we impute the artist’s intention when loooking at a painting. People can get fixated on the cards, and then they try to impute those understandings backwards into the source material, the archetypes themselves. This creates a lot of friction and heat, but not a lot of light. The moderators and heavy contributors to this forum spend a great deal of time gently unwinding these entanglements. God bless them!

The archetypes are a system, yes. But at first it helps to think of them as a useful vocabulary. Both for Ra’s information, but also for us to talk amongst ourselves about Ra’s information. And also, for us to recognize happenings in our own lives in a practical way, “Oh! I see I am in a Tower situation right now.” (That sentence will make sense some day.)

Give the archetypes time to sink in gradually. Eventually, they will.

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24

Wow, this thread is over a year old. Back at the outset of 2024 this didn’t exist, but now it does: a 3 part discussion on the archetypal mind and the tarot as a tool for working with it.

25

I have an addendum to my earlier post.

The Disney animated movie Inside Out is relevant to this discussion. It presents the girl protagonist, Riley, with five internal, personified emotions. Also within Riley’s mind are locations known as personality islands: Family Island, Friendship Island, Goofball Island, and so on.

It can be beneficial to view the archetypes as places within us, similar to the “personality islands” in the movie. The archetypes reside inside all of us. Regardless of our culture, location, gender, or other factors, the 22 archetypes are inherent to everyone.

The first two cards in each row depict the geography of these areas.

The Mind area is divided into two parts: consciousness and the unconscious (Magician and High Priestess).

The Physical area is always in motion and operates “automatically” so that the conscious mind can engage the body in useful work without getting bogged down in the minutiae of keeping the blood circulating, kidneys filtering, etc. (Justice and Hermit)

The Spiritual area is dark, and there is no longer a sense of connection to God. However, from time to time, lightning will illuminate the landscape. (Devil and Lightning Struck Tower.)

The next two cards describe the function of these areas.

Mind creates, and discerns. Mind is smart. (Empress and Emperor.)

The Body experiences trials and tribulations and learns lessons. (Wheel of Fate and Strength)

Spirit yearns for (re)connection to God and seeks clues for Something Greater than Physicality. (Star and Moon.)

The three Significator cards are not part of the three areas; they are like the personified emotions that reside in Riley’s control center, similar to Joy in the movie. One represents reincarnational biases and goals and the eternal “you” that progresses through many lifetimes (Hierophant), another your current temporary body with all its inherent abilities and faults (Hanged Man), and the last is the current state of your spiritual advancement as measured by the amount of light you shine, or absorb (the Sun).

The final cards are calls to action. Each of the three areas has a strong gravitational field that draws on the three control center aspects of yourself, seeking your attention and guiding you to explore each realm for further critical experience:

• The gravity in the Mind area encourages you to explore polarity if you haven’t already chosen one. (The Lovers) It wants you to delve into the inherent power of your whole self and become a Co-creator of your present and future lives. (The Chariot.)

• The gravity in the Body area encourages you to be fearless and explore all the experiences available to you. (Death) It urges you to advance and accelerate your spiritual growth by undertaking challenging acts that support your polarity choice. (Temperance.)

• The gravity in the Spiritual area wants you to know that your existence is one of many, and that every thought, word, and deed contributes to your spiritual growth (Judgement). It encourages you to reconnect your fragmented parts and commune with God. (The World.)

And the last card? The zero card, or Fool. That’s a plaque on the wall in the control center that states, essentially, “You chose to come here for a reason. You are not here by accident. There is reason and purpose to your existence. Now go find out what it is.”

These internal areas, along with the internal trinity at the control center, can directly influence the external physical world. What begins as an idea in these inner regions, with focus and effort, can transform into a psychological object that escapes the inner landscape and leaps into the physical, a process also known as reality creation and manifestation. (The power of the Adept.)

My descriptions of the cards and archetypes here are overly simplistic and personal. However, visualizing these archetypes as physical locations in your mind may help you grasp what they are and why they matter. This conceptual framework is much easier to understand than Ra’s difficult-to-understand “matrix,” “potentiator,” and “significator” terminology.

And all thanks to a Disney animated movie.