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, and how to bring that to life. Power lies in her self-awareness, vulnerability, and authenticity. She shifts our focus from external goals and influences to explore her internal landscape of love-inspired feelings, embracing both connection and disconnection. As we awaken to our state of connection, we open doors to reconnection.

This journey is not about productivity but 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, innate talents, sense of meaning, and bring them to life.

The Lover is on the journey to connect to someone who is not you, while maintaining the authentic self she revealed through her Virgin’s Journey. She listens with an open heart and seeks soul-to-soul connections, supporting others in realizing their potential. 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. Transitioning between the Lover and the Martyr requires sharing gifts and insights while finding appreciation and replenishment. She learns to receive which 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. With this insight, 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 goddess-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 and never seen the connection to growth. The is the harbinger of doom who misuses her access to magic and manipulates and diverts people from the best life. Sometimes she awakens to her Crone potential for an uplifting transformation.

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.