Archetypes for Recovery

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Archetypes for Recovery

Each archetype that comes into our lives brings with it a task, a lesson, and ultimately a gift. The archetypes together teach us how to live. And the best part about it is that all the archetypes reside in each of us. That means we all have this full human potential within ourselves.

Carol Pearson – Awakening the Heroes Within

Archetypes Sugggest Ways of Being

A Roman gladiator, Basil Fawlty, and a Zen monk are walking along a narrow mountain path. There has been an avalanche, and an enormous boulder is now blocking their way. How would each of these characters relate to this situation?

Well, Basil Fawlty is likely going to be frustrated with this unmovable object, and he might start shouting at it and hitting it with a stick. The Zen monk might just accept the rock and calmly sit down to meditate on impassable obstacles. The Roman gladiator is likely to keep attacking the rock with the intention of overcoming it.

We could say that in the above situation, each of these characters is demonstrating a certain way of being with the situation (e.g. angry, accepting, and empowered). More significantly, these ways of being go beyond the individual character (e.g. it isn’t just this Roman gladiator who demonstrates the warrior spirit – see below). We could look at these different ways of being as representing archetypes.

What Are Archetypes?

An archetype is like an old watercourse along which the water of life flowed for centuries, digging a deep channel for itself. The longer it has flowed in this channel the more likely it is that the sooner or later the water will return to its old bed.

Carl Jung

We Humans have an impressive ability to see patterns. When it comes to our way of being in the world, we have known since earliest times that we can see patterns there too. Take the image of the wise old man. This pattern has been repeated over and over again in stories (e.g. Merlin, Obi Wan Kenobi, Gandalf, and Dumbledore). We could refer to these patterns as archetypes. It is a recognizable pattern that that we find is repeated in different people, living in different places, and times.

Archetypes – Not One But Many

The poet W.H. Auden tells us that “we are lived by powers we pretend to understand“. Given his interest in the ideas of Carl Jung, he is almost certainly talking here about archetypes; those patterns we can observe in our own life and the lives of other. While we usually take our own life very personally, these patterns are universal. It is like they operate beyond the individual, and there is something deeply mysterious about them.

The point I’m trying to make is that we are not these patterns of behaviour. Archetypes existed before we arrived on the scene, and they will almost certainly be there when we are no more.

It would also be a mistake to think of ourselves in terms of just one archetype. Our best self is multidimensional. We could think of archetypes as similar to tools in a tool box with each providing a different possiblity – life would become difficult if our only tool was a hammer.

Archetypes for Recovery – Working with Archetypes

Working with archetypes is where we deliberately unlock the resources they provide. Doing this allows us to tap into our full potential. It requires rejecting the toxic belief that “it’s just the way I am” and opening up to the possibility of that there is far more than one way we can be. There are specific archetypes that can be particularly useful for those in early recovery.

The Perfect Mother Archetype Can Unlock Unconditional Love

A common problem when we begin our journey into recovery is self-loathing. We just don’t like ourselves very much, and this means we have been settle for the crumbs of happiness found in substance abuse. We can use the archetype of the perfect mother to teach us self-love.

The way we do this is to select an image of a perfect mother. Here in Thailand, this can be the image of Kwan Yin who is the goddess of compassion, but we can use any image that fits. Some people might choose the Virgin Mary, or Gaia (Mother Earth). It doesn’t really matter which image we choose, it doesn’t even have to be based on anything real, so long as it is a convincing representation of unconditional love.

We can begin working with this archetype by visualizing this perfect mother. We imagine what it is like to be with somebody who loves us unconditionally. Knowing that there is nothing we have done or could do that would make this mother love us less. Next, we can practice seeing ourselves through the eyes of the perfect mother. Eventually, we can get let go of the image because we are now experiencing unconditional love for ourselves. What we practice we become, and doing this regularly means we start to effortlessly experience self-love.

The Warrior Archetype Can Give Us Strength and Courage

A modern representation of the warrior archetype would be someone like David Goggins. This ex-Navy seal is all about pushing yourself to the limits. His book Can’t Hurt Me, has inspired millions around the world to adopt the warrior spirit.

Just like we worked with the perfect mother above, we can do something similar with the warrior archetype. We can visualize what it is like to have this level of strength and courage. Doing this regularly can unlock the warrior spirit within ourselves; it is almost certainly there, we just need to tap into it.

Inner Child Archetypes – The Innocent and the Orphan

The innocent archetype can be unlocked by visualizing ourselves as young children. Going back to a time when the world appeared new and fascinating. A time when we were filled with wonder and excitement about life. We need some innocence in our lives, so we can begin a new chapter and start to love the world again. In Zen Buddhism, this is referred to as beginner’s mind.

The orphan archetype allows us to acknowledge the hurt that we have previously ignored. We live in a world where the usual response to such pain is that we should “grow up”, but this just denies the hurt rather than dealing with it. Working with the orphan can help us to feel whole again.

Working with archetypes can help us get the most out of our one precious life. Remember, what we practice, we become. Our habits mean that we are already practicing something, but too often this can be reinforcing a negative way of being.

If you would like to find out more about what we offer at Hope Rehab Thailand, please contact us for more information.