I've recently been thinking about the role of archetypes in life, and how they help us uncover deeper truths about ourselves that tend to go unrecognized in our daily patterns. I have just begun to dig into "Sacred Contracts - Awakening Your Divine Potential" by Caroline Myss. Already I am brimming over with enthusiasm for her work, and am anxious to explore how this might apply to my own life and those I work with.
So, what is an Archetype? And what is a Sacred Contract? The origins of archetypal theory go as far back as Plato, who saw that there are certain ideas (archetypes) that are inherently perfect, un-originated, and eternal. He believed all souls were imprinted with these ideas before being born into the world. As a psychological concept, it was really Carl Jung who pushed forth the theory that universal "archetypes" exist which underlie all human experience and behaviour. Jung believed the realm of the archetype is a collective un-conscious through which all souls are connected. Some common examples of archetypal figures are "Mother", "Child", "Angel", "Queen" or "Hero". According to Joseph Campbell, one of Jung's greatest disciples, most stories and symbols depicted in myth demonstrate how archetypes express "common human needs, instincts and potentials".
To me, this means we are each more than our individual experience. We live a life that is connected to and represented by a "whole"; a collection of "archetypes" that are grand, cosmic and beautiful. Life is the sum of its parts. All of its parts! People, nature, intelligence, emotion, experience, animals, spirituality, invention and so forth... And each part (of which you are one) contains a piece of this integrated whole. You embody a set of archetypal figures, or primordial energies, shared by others throughout time. And these capture the essence of your role, your contribution, and your purpose in the world. In her book Sacred Contracts, Myss helps you identify a set of 12 "archetypal companions" that represent your unique personal power, purpose and spiritual path.
According to Myss, a Sacred Contract is "an agreement your soul makes before you are born. You promise to do certain things for yourself, for others, and for divine purposes. Part of the Contract requires that you discover what it is that you are meant to do. The Divine, in turn, promises to give you the guidance you need through your intuition, dreams, hunches, coincidences, and other indicators." The idea is that we each have a Sacred Contract, or a destiny, or purpose, that we are meant to fulfill as it relates to our lives. What makes the contract "sacred" is that it is between you and the Divine (or you and your divine self!) and you must put effort and action into fulfilling your part of the contract. You are fully equipped with free will as an equal partner in the contract.
I love the notion of archetypes, and sacred purpose. I believe in it so intensely, that I have directed my own life path to Life Coaching as a means of exploring and supporting these very important ideas.
I am curious as to how many people would say they have good insight into their "Sacred Contract" and the means by which they came to understand it? I know there are many. I am married to one and am inspired by many others! I can see very clearly in my work that most people at least have some sense of a "Sacred Contract" they are seeking to fulfill. I know this because this is exactly what keeps people in search of "something more", the "next steps" or a "deeper experience". I have observed that it is this need to fulfill your Sacred Contract which either (a) keeps you motivated because you are already happily in tune with it, or (b) your lack of connection to it drives that ambiguous and nagging sense of incompletion, or dissatisfaction, because you have yet to figure it out!
The challenge I commonly see is in apprehending one's Sacred Contract, not really in believing its existence. What is my path? What is my vision? Who do I share it with? What are my gifts? In what context are my gifts of greatest use? What will I leave behind when I pass? What is worth sacrificing? Why am I here? Of what purpose is my life? What do I live for? What am I committed to? What makes me special? How have my struggles become stepping stones? What do my dreams depict? What do I long for? Who or what am I drawn to? What do I believe without needing proof? ... I believe questions like these help each of us unravel the mystery of our own Sacred Contract.
Early in the book Sacred Contracts, Caroline Myss states "our biography becomes our biology." This means our "story" becomes "who we are". Kind of like the old "you are what you eat", or in more recent times "you are what you think". I plan to spend some time thinking about "my story" and I invite you to do the same. I want my story to be one of love, choice, strength, compassion, service, creativity, beauty, light, uniqueness, expression, enlightenment, generosity and connection. These are the values I want to embody, exude and share. What values do you wish to embody? How do you embody them?
More on which archetypes are at work and exploration of the Sacred Contract in the next post!
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