- It's all about you, just not in the way you think it is
- Just because I've spent (literally) decades studying and practicing the work I do, it does not make me exempt from experiencing life/soul lessons. We're all on the same bus, the only difference is I'm the driver.
- If you are willing to examine your life through your archetypes & symbolism you will be amazed at how clear the lessons become and how the cosmic 2x4 to the head is no longer needed to create awareness in your life.
- How many times do you have to see, hear or experience something before you take it as a sign or a belief? (in other words, what's your convincer number?)
Which brings me to a day in early July and an exchange of Facebook posts between my friends and I on my personal page. It all began with a simple post by me stating that due to torrential rain my finished basement had sustained water damage and I had endeavored to remove the wall to wall carpeting covering a 15x33 ft. room alone and only managed to get about 1/3 of it done before my arms gave out. (For those who don't know, over the years I have broken several fingers, severely broken both elbows and a shoulder - which is another story for another time).
Anyway, my simple post turned into a long exchange of comments from my friends, first asking why I didn't call any of them for help. To be honest, it never crossed my mind to call them (as I told them) which then turned the posts into comments about me being stubborn which I didn't agree with and at the same time found to be pretty funny because they were insistent that I was, indeed, stubborn. While I understood their concern, I didn't see how my not thinking to call for help equaled me being stubborn.
Here's where the points I mentioned above come into this. This was about me; not about the way my friends perceived me or my actions, but instead about something I needed to learn about myself and no, it was not about learning I was stubborn, it was much deeper than that. I practice what I preach, so I looked at the situation through a different perspective, as though the situation had happened to a client rather than me. I figured out which of my archetypes where involved, what their involvement was and the symbolic message that had been delivered to me via my friends. I truly believe in the depth of this work and how powerful it can be if one takes the time to examine their life symbolically. My Guide archetype felt this was the ideal experience to share, so others would be able to see, hear and really grasp how archetypes are part of your every day world.
Here's how it unfolded through the symbolic and archetypal messages. I went down to the basement to check on things the morning after the storm (that's my Visionary wanting to see things). What I found was wall to wall carpeting soaked from the walls to about 4ft towards the center of the room. I needed to do something about it (that's my Alchemist wanting to change it). I pulled up quarter round from around the base of the walls and started to tear out carpet (that's my Shape-shifter turning into a "minion" to get the work done). It was as simple and as fast as one, two, three. Through the Light aspect, my Visionary, my Alchemist and my Shape-shifter had effectively stepped up and into the situation without my conscious thought, so its really not surprising that I didn't call anyone. I'm not blaming my archetypes for not calling others for help, they are not scapegoats, I am merely showing how quickly, unconsciously, and active they are in every moment of our lives. Now, I could have ended my examination of the situation there, however, one has to look deeper if you are really going to uncover what's really going on because this had only shown me how I got from checking on the basement to pulling up carpeting without too much thought in between.
So while my friends had asked "why didn't you call?" my answer was still valid and true; it didn't cross my mind. The bigger question, the important question had not been asked directly, so I had to ask it myself. "Why didn't it cross your mind to call anyone?" There it was and it had nothing to do with being stubborn, however, it does have everything to do with a couple more of my archetypes, symbolism and insight into a bigger lesson.
Here's where my Rescuer, my Orphan Child, and my Victim wander into this. (I recently wrote about the Rescuer archetype here: To The Rescue if you want more insight into this particular archetype.)
So to answer the "why didn't it cross your mind to call anyone?" The Shadow side of these archetypes stepped into the mix. In the past, my Rescuer had spent years rescuing others believing that others would race to rescue me when I needed it, yet when I called, no one came. When no one came, it triggered my Orphan Child into believing that "I have to do it alone" and the Victim believed that "no one really cares because if they did, they would have dropped everything (as my Rescuer always did) and race to help me. "
Now, let me make this very very clear. This is about me, my perception, my beliefs, my feelings. It is not about my friends. (Remember point #1 - It's all about you, just not the way you think it is). I have a two time convincer which means at some point in my past, I had asked for help and no one came, and it had been something I had experienced twice thus fulfilling my two time convincer strategy. Therefore, I became convinced that no one would ever come when I needed them most. This very limiting (and untrue) belief triggered feelings of being abandoned (Orphan Child) and that triggered the Victim into "no one cares". The two time convincer is a pattern, one that I created some time in my childhood. Looking back I can see the pattern ripple through my life. While it has shifted as I've grown older, it hasn't shifted fully out of the Shadows of these archetypes, it has just shifted enough not to trigger them.
You see, there is a vast difference between 'not being triggered' and the Light Aspect of these archetypes. The easy way to not trigger the Shadows of my Rescuer, Orphan Child and Victim was to simply stop asking others for help. If I don't ask there is no expectation of being rescued, no sense of abandonment when others can't come to my rescue and no feeling of being alone and unloved.
From the Light Aspect, the Rescuer would not even be part of this trio. Instead my Pioneer would step in (with a let's try something new attitude), my Orphan Child would recognize there are always people around who are willing and able to help you if you ask, and my Victim would recognize that some times people want to help but are unable to and that's OK, it simply means you need to ask someone else to help.
See the difference?
So through this seemingly random Facebook post about wet carpet and my friends insistence that I was stubborn, I found Shadows lurking that I wasn't consciously aware of. It created the perfect opportunity for me to look within, to gain perspective and to transform Shadows into Light. The lesson came gently, through the love and concern of friends rather than the cosmic 2x4 to the head. Believe me, awareness of my archetypes, looking for the symbolic meaning in events, and being able to see the patterns makes it easier to understand and grasp my life lessons without the need to blow up my life in order to 'get it'.
It is something we can all do if we choose. The more you are willing to look within to understand, the easier it becomes to identify your archetypal patterns and relate them to your everyday life. The better you relate to them, the more aware you become. The more aware you become, the more clarity you gain and with clarity comes understanding - of yourself and others and how we are all inter-connected and are here to help each other with our life lessons.
When seen through the eyes of symbolic sight and archetypal patterning, it all comes together beautifully, perfectly and often gives us insight into the "why did this happen" aspect of our life. We may not be able to grasp all of it, but the threads we are able to pull together help us weave the greater pattern of our life/soul contract and to me that is the most amazing thing to become conscious of.
To my friends who were directly involved in this lesson, I love you and thank you ~ you are all blessings in my life. I know I can (and will) call on you when I need help because now I have the conscious awareness to think of you and ask.
Blessings.
