Nobel laureate Erwin Schrodinger's What is Life? is one of the great science classics of the twentieth century. A distinguished physicist's exploration of the question which lies at the heart of biology, it was written for the layman, but proved one of the spurs to the birth of molecular bi...[more]
Conclusion of my series of four original articles based on four archetypes which we can all identify strongly with at particular times in our lives. For further information, visit: www.ihvh.co.uk for articles, poetry, podcasts, interviews and much more.
__________________________________________________________________ In this last in my series of archetype articles I will be examining The Prostitute archetype. Like the other three, this archetype manifests itself in all of our lives at one point or another. In order to better understand the spiritual dimension of The Prostitute, we need to consider the topic in a broad sense and beware of limiting ourselves to the mundane, sexual connotations linked with this archetype.
To better explore how this archetype may manifest itself for you personally, carefully consider your answers to these questions:
Have you ever found yourself agreeing to something that went against your own ethical, moral or spiritual judgment in order to make yourself look better in another person’s eyes?
Have you ever laughed along with a joke that you really found offensive in some way just to “fit in” with the group?
Have you ever taken on a task at work that went against your personal morals for fear of losing your job or the chances of a promotion?
Have you ever taken part in sexual activities that you did not feel totally comfortable with in order to please another person?
All of these are typical examples of The Prostitute in action in our daily lives. Any action or decision which leads to you “selling out” on your own ethical or spiritual code is the work of The Prostitute.
The expressions “selling out” and “selling yourself short” sum up the negative energies that this archetype can bring into play in our lives. You may be surprised to discover just how often you prostitute your own energies in the course of a typical week. Try this exercise:
For the next seven days, be extra aware of any occasions in which you prostitute yourself in any way. Make notes at the end of each day concerning even the smallest incident in which you have sold out on yourself in order to look better, to please somebody, to make yourself feel better in the short term, etc. It probably won’t take long before you will begin to find it very easy to recognise the “flavour” of the energy that this archetype emits. At the end of the seven days, read over all of your journal entries and reflect on how you could have acted differently in those situations in order to better reflect the intentions of your True Self. Consider what your True Self would have done under those circumstances and why.
As with all archetypes, the negative, “shadow” side is only half of the equation. If we take notice of the energy of The Prostitute, of the subtle signals which it sends us when we mistreat ourselves in this particular way, we will learn to respect ourselves much more and come to manifest a more accurate representation of our True Selves. The Prostitute can be a wonderful companion on our life’s journey who reminds us to be true to ourselves and use our energy wisely.
To conclude this short series of articles about archetypal energies, I would like to invite you to consider the fact that there are many more archetypal patterns which exist. According to Caroline Myss, we all have the four archetypes of The Child, The Saboteur, The Victim and The Prostitute, but aside from those each individual has a further eight which help to make up his or her unique personality. Other archetypes include: The Teacher, The Magician, The Alchemist, The Queen, The Fool, The Knight, The Poet, The Mediator, The Rescuer, and so on.
Whilst I do not personally subscribe to the idea that we only have twelve archetypes which make up our personalities, I have nonetheless found my study of this area to be very helpful in terms of my own introspective exercises.
This really is a fascinating topic, the study of which can aid in the furthering of our understanding of both our own individual spiritual psychology and that of the human race as a whole.
For more information, read Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss. I can also highly recommend the Free Media section of her website: www.myss.com which features lectures by a wide array of guest speakers. I particularly recommend the talks by Andrew Harvey solely for their motivational factor if nothing else (and believe me, his speeches pick the viewer up in a spiritual whirlwind and when you are finally laid down at the end, you will still be whirling mentally and emotionally from the experience).
May your study of archetypal patterns within yourself help you to more freely and truly express who you are on both an internal and an external level.
Development of the Human Spirit
