DENISE GROBBELAAR - JUNGIAN ANALYST Clinical Psychologist & Psychotherapist
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The Warrior archetype

8/12/2020

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The way of the warrior is not one of wanton destruction, but of judicious use of violence in appropriate situations. “Proper aggressiveness in the right circumstances… (which the warrior) knows through clarity of thinking, through discernment” (Moore & Gillette, 1991, p. 80).
 
The Warrior archetype as expressed in the great Japanese samurai tradition speaks of a sense of duty, loyalty, commitment, discipline, nobility and courage. The warrior energy embodies the capacity to endure great hardship and personal sacrifice for the sake of a greater good.  The warrior epitomizes decisive action, control and mastery over body, mind and emotions. Therefore, the warrior is always alert, awake, focused, mindful and flexible.  It embodies aggressiveness as “a stance toward life that rouses, energizes, and motivates.” (p. 79). It represents a readiness for action, an aliveness and vitality.
 
​In the Toltec warrior-sorcerer tradition, the warrior walks silently in the world, not needing to prove his/her power through aggression, unless there is a call for action. As a symbol of personal power, the warrior archetype infuses us with confidence and assertiveness to fight our daily battles. Without the warrior energy we might be push-overs against potential invaders in the same way peaceful civilizations were overrun by more warlike tribes. It is important to develop discernment to recognize when to be roused into battle and when to conserve the warrior energy in order not to fight unnecessary battles, which may only deplete and wound you. 
 
The warrior represents our natural instinctual aggression to defend against an invasion of territory, oppression or maliciousness directed towards us. The warrior demands a respect of boundaries: Do not invade me, my family, my land/country and, ultimately do not invade my Soul! Always in defense of our survival, safety and a specific way of life/culture/ideology, that which we deem the highest good.  The warrior’s destructive energy is necessary to destroy corruption; systems of injustice and oppression; and, bad life circumstances, marriages and work situations – in the service of spiritual renewal and an increase of consciousness.
 
The shadow of the archetype of the warrior plays out when the energy is used to invade, oppress and subjugate others. The warrior archetype in its negative manifested in the conquering and colonization of other tribes, nations and civilizations. The concept of loyalty can be taken too far if it is allegiance to a corrupt system or outdated ideology. The shadow of warrior archetype plays out in relationships in the wrestle for dominance, who is right, or even worse, in domestic abuse.

 
Source:
Moore, R. L., & Gillette, D. (1990). King
, warrior, magician, lover: Rediscovering the archetypes of the mature masculine. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco.
 
Image credit:
Tomoe Gozen (1157?-1247?) was an onna-bugeisha (女武芸者, female martial artist) and one Japan's 12 most famous samurai
https://allabout-japan.com/
 
A social media post I wrote for @jungsouthernafrica 

#jung #carljung #jungpsycholog #jungianpsychology #depthpsychology #analyticalpsychology #unconscious #consciousness #innergrowth #jungianconcepts #archetypes #warrior #shadow #samurai #toltec #aggression #aggressiveness #violence #boundaries #defend #confidence #vitality #aliveness #dominance #dailybattles  #capetown #capetownlife #capetownliving #southernafrica


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What is archetypes?

8/5/2020

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“Man ‘possesses’ many things which he has never acquired but has inherited from his ancestors. He is not born as a tabula rasa, he is merely born unconscious. But he brings with him systems that are organized and ready to function in a specifically human way, and these he owes to millions of years of human development.”(1)
 
According to Jung countless archetypes are coded in our collective unconscious.  Archetypes are unconscious infrastructures of the psyche that may correspond to the deep strata of the brain. (2) Plato referred to archetypes as Forms, which he saw as pre-existing ideal templates or blueprints. Jung called them ‘primordial images’ and the ‘fundamental units of the human mind.’ Jung wrote that archetypes “are the living system of reactions and aptitudes that determine the individual’s life in invisible ways.” (3)

​As basic prototypes, archetypes are instinctual patterns of behavior. Like the human genome, archetypes contain information/code transferred from one generation to the next, mapping the evolution of humankind and consciousness. Archetypes manifest in universal symbols in religion, mythology and fairytales as well as in the dreams and fantasies of ordinary human beings. Archetypes are enduring motifs in art, literature, ritual and the underlying themes of our lives.
 
The archetypal realm is inhabited by non-ordinary numinous beings; gods, goddesses, superheroes, villains, angels and demons/devils, the basis of the myths and religious lore of humankind. Archetypes manifest in different symbolic images in each person. Archetypes provide the structure or mold. The specific symbolic form of the images differs from culture to culture. The manner in which an archetype finds expression in the psyche differs in everyone. Each person will experience the archetype through his or her unique lens of perception, depending on individual experience.
 
Jung considered four major archetypes as separate systems within the personality:  persona, shadow, anima/animus, and the Self. Other examples of archetypes include the mother, father, child, hero/heroine, warrior, witch, wise man/woman, wounded healer, trickster, lover, fool, savior, thief and many other.
 
By becoming increasingly aware of the immense role that archetypal patterns play in our lives, we can expand our consciousness. When we increase our awareness of and understand the narratives that run like threads through the fabric of our lives, we are able to be mindful and responsive in the world, instead feeling at the mercy of the fates and eruptions of feeling.

 
Sources:
  1. Collected Works of C.G. Jung: Volume 4, para 315
  2. Knox, J. (2003). Archetype, Attachment, Analysis Jungian psychology and the emergent mind. East Sussex: Brunner-Routledge.
  3. Collected Works of C.G. Jung: Volume 8, para 339  
 
Image credit: Vitruvian Human -  Amanda Sage  @amandasageart  https://www.amandasage.com/
 
A social media post I wrote for @jungsouthernafrica

#jung #carljung #jungpsychology #jungianpsychology #depthpsychology #analyticalpsychology #unconscious #consciousness #innergrowth #jungianconcepts #archetypes  
 #capetown #capetownlife #capetownliving #southernafrica

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Denise Grobbelaar 

Clinical Psychologist
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