Have you ever tried to identify your archetypes and felt like you were squeezing your body, soul and spirit into a box that didn’t quite fit? You are not alone.

Many people wrestle with this because the descriptions provided can be too generic, too rigid, or simply not true to the layered, evolving nature of who you are at your core. So, you find yourself second-guessing your choices.  This is one big reason why I created the Self-authoring process. It’s a mental-contrasting exercise where you deconstruct the archetype by brainstorming positive and negative word associations in equal measure to produce a narrative that describes the archetype. You can use the Self-author process to:

• Check if an archetype is an accurate reflection of your personality
• Identify a fit-for-purpose archetype to assist you with out-of-the-box tasks.
• Add wings to your personal archetypes.

While you might resist cookie-cutter descriptions and feel called to self-describe your archetypes, true self-authoring involves inner work. It’s not always easy because authentic self-definition never ends. You need courage and curiosity to meet your true Self, which is sacred, undamaged and cannot be harmed.

Your Sacred Self is found at the core of your soul around which your personal archetypes (at their best) are grouped. At their worst, your archetypal patterns infiltrate your thinking and how you feel, which in turn influences your decision-making and how you behave. All of which creates havoc in your body, soul and spirit. This situation asks for your presence, honesty, and a willingness to see your archetypal patterns clearly, even when the reflection is challenging.

It often comes down to the ego resisting the call from your Sacred Self. I don’t mean in a judgmental way, but in the way the ego protects, deflects, and seeks absolutes. I’ve come to learn that there are layered reasons why people struggle to self-describe their archetypes, or they second-guess their choices, or get caught in the loop of endless research instead of turning inward toward their soul. Beneath the surface, there’s often a quiet fear of misidentification, of being too much, or not enough, or of meeting aspects of your soul that feel unfamiliar or inconvenient.

But.

You’ll find that the Self-authoring process is a powerfully creative way to rewrite your inner narratives. Let me add, not as a means of spiritual bypassing, but as a way of genuine transformation.

You are not your archetypes. You have archetypal patterns. Archetypes aren’t just roles you play.  Each one is like a mirror. Naming one can feel like exposing your soul. To avoid the discomfort, people cling to generic, polished “one size fits all” definitions that feel safer and less vulnerable.

People tend to lean on pre-written archetype lists and textbook definitions rather than trusting their lived experience. It’s easier to outsource the work (“Tell me who I am”) than to risk being wrong in self-interpretation. However, when archetypal information is soul-sourced, it is not wrong. It’s always insightful. And you can always gain feedback from friends, colleagues and experts in the field.

The very nature of archetypes means they live in your unconscious. What’s most active in your life can be invisible to you. Let’s say a friend is caught in the Saboteur pattern of behaviour. They genuinely haven’t noticed how they talk over the top of others until another person points it out to them.

Maybe you’re caught in the Victim mindset. You may not realise that you’ve been abdicating your sense of personal agency by refusing to develop a budget and operate within it, and so you blame others for your financial struggles. It takes either deep self-reflection or an external mirror, often in the form of another person, to see it.

Many confuse who they think they should be with who they really are. At the risk of repetition, you are not your archetypal patterns. You have patterns called archetypes that influence your thoughts, feelings, choices and behaviours. You are not your thoughts. You are not your feelings. You are not your choices. You are not your behaviours. You are not even the roles you play. You are your true, authentic Self, which is sacred. You might choose archetypes that sound noble or aspirational like the Hero, Sage, or Visionary instead of wrestling with the gritty archetypes actually shaping your thoughts, feelings, choices and behaviours.

People often worry that ‘if I claim this archetype, am I stuck with it forever?” They hesitate, constantly questioning their choices, not realising that there are no bad archetypes. But there are unhealthy, undeveloped, immature, broken, burdensome or distorted archetypal patterns. Your personal archetypes reflect, capture and contain your personal history, so yes, if examined honestly, then your twelve historical archetypes are with you for life. They are permanent, but your current reality archetypes and your future thinking archetypes are temporary. And furthermore, there is a higher potential to be accessed in every archetype. It’s their gift to you, to take and accept as a strength of your character. Archetypes are dynamic so they evolve with your conscious awareness.

It takes real, creative, inner work to go beyond generic labels to personalise an archetype. Many stop at the surface with generic descriptions because deeper exploration would mean confronting paradoxes: the trap and the gift, the outdated survival strategies and their strengths, but when you do, the alchemy happens. Transformation occurs when opposing elements are brought together and unified. When positive and negative forces coalesce, they create something new, but only through the presence of a third, catalytic agent. That catalyst? Being present in the energy of your Sacred Self.

Readiness to deepen your relationship with your archetypes emerges when you enter the energy of your Sacred Self and from there you recognise, allow, explore and nurture your archetypes. When you’re in the energy of your Sacred Self, you feel steadier, and life feels kinder. Honouring this part of you by not forcing it develops trust, and trust opens the door to true archetypal intimacy. 

I’ve added some journal questions below to help you move past surface-level archetype labels and into a more authentic relationship with your archetypes. As with any form of Body Soul Spirit Archetype Work, pause, enter the sanctuary of your soul, and relax into the flow of your Sacred Self energy as you begin to journal:

Journal Questions

1. Choose an archetype to work with. What part of you said yes, that’s me?
2. What part of you resisted or said no, that can’t be me?
3. Can you recall three real-life situations where this archetype has clearly shown up in a constructive and/or destructive way?
4. How did it shape your decisions, actions, and relationships in those moments?
5. When this archetype shows up in its worst form, what does it look like in your life?
6. When it shows up in its best form, how does it empower you?
7. What does the voice of this archetype say to you when it’s active? Write it as if it’s speaking directly to you.
8. What do you usually say in return?
9. What lesson is this archetype here to teach you right now?
10. If you consistently expressed the best of this archetype, what would your life feel like?
11. How does the archetype influence your thinking?
12. How does it influence your emotions?
13. How does it influence your choices?
14. How does it influence your behaviour?
15. What happens when you let go of being defined by this archetypal pattern and instead see it as a teacher, ally or guide?

The trick is to create a dialogue with the archetype. When you brainstorm both its traps and gifts in equal measure, the archetype reveals itself to be a pattern you can lead from the seat of your soul, from your Sacred Self, rather than it being something imposed on you. 

Reference: Van Der Kolk, B 2015, The body keeps the score: brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma, Penguin Publishing Group, New York.