Personal growth first of all means maturation. Discover your archetype and become the man (or woman) you should be.
"Maturity means not having to ask anyone's permission to realize ourselves."
M. Williamson.
Arche what ?! What did you make up today Andre '?! Listen, speak like magni, that I like simple and immediate things. Let's try to shoot a few shit and focus on the practical.
Have you ever had a clue about yours direction in life, not to feel fulfilled and maybe to have one low self-esteem? This can be linked to a lack of maturation: it does not matter whether you are 20, 30 or 40, if you continue to behave like a frigno-frignonis chances are you have not yet acquired those behavioral patterns typical of adulthood.
The purpose of this series of articles is to help you understand what they are and what they are archetypes of the adult human being, but above all how you can "absorb" them to complete your path of personal maturation and growth.
Archetypes, rites of passage and personal growth
Since the dawn of time, the maturation of human beings has occurred through clear rites of passage: traces of it can be found in the vast majority of past cultures. In our society these rites of passage have been severely weakened, leaving droves of eternal children to reach the age of 30, 40 and even 50, with their load of inadequacy, anxiety and immaturity.
The primary purpose of these rites of passage was to transmit those behavioral and thought patterns that characterize the adult human being, that is, the archetypes. The concept of archetype is therefore fundamental for your personal growth: you can learn the rules for making money, you can learn the best tricks of personal productivity, or maybe you can learn a memorize a book of 200 pages in 40 minutes, but if you never become a real man (or a real woman) these skills will always and only be ends in themselves, mere tools for your ongoing search for approval from others.
In today's post we will introduce the 4 key archetypes (Warrior, Lover, Mage, King) and how they work. In the coming weeks, we will see in detail the individual archetypes, their characteristics (including the "dark sides"), but above all we will see the practical actions that you can immediately take to absorb these archetypes. At the end of the mini-series you will also find a test to discover yours dominant archetype.
The 4 archetypes of the adult human being
The concept of archetype is well known in psychology and was first used by Carl Gustav Jung. Starting from Jung's studies, several psychological models based on archetypes have been developed: one of the most famous, and widely used in marketing, is the one conceived by Dr. Pearson, which includes 12 different human archetypes. For this series of posts, on the other hand, I was inspired by what is covered in the text King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine written in the 90s by the Jungian psychologist Robert Moore and the mythologist (not mythomaniac !!!) Douglas Gillette.
The book focuses on the development of the male personality. However, several studies have shown how the salient features of the 4 key archetypes identified by Moore are also well suited to the female personality. According to the KWML authors there are therefore 4 fundamental archetypes that describe the behavior of the adult human being:
The warrior
Courage, discipline, emotional detachment, Resilience, physical and physical strength: these are the key characteristics ofarchetype of the Warrior. Present in most of ancient mythology, the figure of the warrior is still re-proposed today in various shades thanks to the Hoollywodian filmography. The warrior is a servant of the king, whose strategies he follows. Its strength lies in constant training and its resistance to adversity.
The lover
Love for beauty, the gratitude, appreciation for the pleasures of life: these are the salient features ofarchetype of the Lover. Another fundamental characteristic of the lover is the ability to relate to others, to give comfort and transmit positivity. In the common imagination, romantic love is often depicted, that is, love experienced between two people; in reality the archetype of the lover is more closely linked to the concept of universal love.
The magician
Wisdom, intuition, knowledge, learning ability: L 'archetype of the Magician represents the classic mythological figure of the sage. But the magician is not only an old man with a beard and years of experience behind him, the magician is also the one who is able to create his own destiny, forging it at will. From this point of view, in the modern era the archetype of the magician is well represented by successful and creative entrepreneurs à la Steve Jobs.
The king
authority, ability to inspire, charisma, assertiveness (remember this word because we will talk about it soon), leadership: L 'archetype of the King (or of the Queen) is an inclusive archetype, in the sense that it embodies and synthesizes the key characteristics of the other archetypes as well as adding its own, such as the ability to guide and inspire others. This archetype is as complete as it is at risk of being sucked into the "dark side" of the shadow archetype (let's see what it is now).
The structure of the archetype
According to Moore, each of the 4 archetypes just described is made up of 3 parts: the full and complete expression of the archetype and two opposite "shadows" that represent its dark side. I'll make you a little sketch so we understand each other immediately without mincing words.
If you want to fully develop an archetype, you must first of all be able to find a balance point between the two "shadows" that distinguish it, without falling into the trap of putting too much effort into the development of your personality or, on the contrary, of bringing such character traits to the 'excess. Once again, personal growth is synonymous with "middle ground". However, do not worry: analyzing the individual archetypes we will see what are the possible risks of the dark side and the practical actions to avoid these traps too.
The mature form and the immature form of the archetype
The last aspect of Moore's model of the 4 archetypes, and the one with which we close this introductory post on the subject, concerns the level of maturation of the archetype. According to Moore, it is not possible to fully embrace an archetype without first experiencing it in its "adolescent" form. Here is another schemino to understand us on the fly:
Each of the 4 adult archetypes (Warrior, Lover, Magician, King) corresponds to a "child" archetype, in the classic tripartite form: the Warrior corresponds toHero, to the Lover it corresponds Oedipus, to the Magician corresponds the Precocious child, to the King corresponds the Divine child. The adult archetype cannot be accessed if the child archetype has not fully matured first, that is, its shadows have not been overcome: this should happen in adolescence, but today it is not surprising to find "adolescents" aged 20-30. . In the detailed analysis of the individual archetypes we will also see how to manage this delicate step.
Well, how's it going? Are you dazed? I realize that in this post we have dealt with many topics, maybe not all of them digestible at the first try, but the message I wanted to convey to you is actually very simple: if you want to become a real man (woman), some personal growth technique is not enough, caught here and there. To fully realize yours path of maturation you have to absorb the salient features of the archetypes that have characterized the history of humanity for millennia. Only through a complete development of your personality will you be able to learn to live with the awareness of yours capacity, with a clear direction of life and with that motivation necessary to conquer your most ambitious goals.
