Core Archetypes

Victim/Virgin

Victim: Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman (beginning of the film)

Virgin: Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman (end of the film)

The Virgin archetype seeks to understand who she truly is, apart from societal expectations. She longs to bring this realization to her life.. She finds her power in her self-awareness, vulnerability, and authenticity. She shifts her focus from external goals and influences to explore her internal landscape of love-inspired feelings. She begins to see life in terms of connection and disconnection. As we awaken to our state of connection or disconnection, we open doors to reconnection.

This journey is not about productivity but rather about finding genuine belonging and feeling good in our lives. Through the Virgin journey, we uncover our authentic selves, explore our limiting beliefs and triggers, and find meaning. We create space to connect with our soul, our innate talents, and sense of meaning, and want to make them a part of our lives.

The Lover is on the journey to connect to someone who is not her, while maintaining the authentic self she revealed through her Virgin’s Journey. She listens with an open heart and seeks soul-to-soul connections. In relationships, she ignites passion, enriches lives, and fosters belonging while learning to nurture herself or face burnout.

Despite her goddess-like qualities, she is mortal and needs rejuvenation to avoid draining others, as her shadow side, the Martyr, does. Transitioning from the Martyr to the Lover requires sharing gifts and insights while finding appreciation and replenishment. She must learn to receive to complete the circle of love. This fosters meaningful connections and makes her a perpetual source of life and reconnection.

The Crone, an old soul, possesses wisdom that reveals the interconnectedness of all things, bridging the gap between the earthly and spiritual realms. Through her intuition, she perceives people's true potential and guides them by challenging their comfort zones. While she never lives other people’s lives for them, she may introduce questions or present opportunities that knock people onto their best path, like a trickster. She can also be fairy godmother-like as she sees the connection of all things in a way that is quite magical.

The shadow opposite is the Hag character who has been through all the knocks life delivers yet never received the teachings they offer. The is the harbinger of doom who misuses her access to magic. She manipulates and diverts people from their best life. Sometimes she awakens to her Crone potential for an uplifting transformation, but mostly she’s just terrifying.

At birth, we rely on others for survival, and stayclose to home for safety. Eventually, the hero is called to control his sense of fear and venture into the world. He must develop skills, meet allies and learn to identify the enemy of his survival. He is called to meet these tasks by the impending arrival of an evil force set on destroying his village, a wrong that must be righted or the depletion of the resources needed for survival. When the call is responded to with delays, avoidance and denial, the Coward archetype is activated.

The hero archetype empowers us to shape positive outcomes when faced with challenges. Fear serves as an early warning system, giving us time to take corrective measures. Bravery is not the absence of fear, but rather feeling fear, controlling it, and taking action nonetheless. As we conquer greater challenges, our capacity to preserve and protect what we value expands, pushing the boundaries of our comfort zone, expanding our confidence, and increasing our power to assert our will, even in the face of resistance.

The Warrior King operates in a fear-driven world, where he wields power to assert his will against resistance. He transitions from completing tasks assigned by the Mentor to managing and protecting the Heroes, responsible for minimizing collateral damage and providing resources.

To avoid becoming a Tyrant, he must resist expedient actions and apply the Goldilocks Test of balance. Leading in diverse environments, he faces a challenge when encountering the Lover-Mother, learning to connect by sharing his heart instead of suppressing emotions.

In relationships, his role is to uphold the highest principle and value the unique contributions of the feminine, thus finding his higher purpose. The Warrior King sacrifices projection, assumptions, and control to create a safe space for the Lover-Mother to be herself, expanding the world through his leadership and self-sacrifice.

The Mentor knows that every journey must have an end. Before he passes, the Mentor strives to pass on the knowledge gained in this life and inherited from previous generations. In this way, each generation can stand on the shoulders of those before them and continue the progress.

With his philanthropy the Mentor has an opportunity to shape the future after his death because he gets to choose who to pass the mantle to. This is how he lives into the next generation. It is also a time to relinquish power to the next generation, and he does'n’t fight it too vigorously. Kill the King, kill the King, long live the King!

The shadow side of the Mentor is the Miser. Even though death is imminent, and he can’t take it with him, he clings to his fortune and spends it on his comforts.