Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel
Dear Jeanne,
After your discussions of the archetypes within us all, and in combination with Chuck’s further exploration of them in “Chuck’s Place,” we are gaining a deeper understanding of how they operate in all of us. I realize that we are loaded with different archetypes that appear when called forth by circumstances in our lives, though we may be dominated by a single archetype over all others. Can you offer us some guidance on how to recognize our dominant archetypes, first of all, and then how to achieve a better balance of them? Do we need to live them all in a lifetime, or do they each take turns living more fully throughout our many lifetimes? I feel like I have more questions on the subject, but let’s start with those.
My Dear One, my preferred metaphorical method is the simple fairy tale when speaking of such hidden aspects of the human psyche. As you know, I have presented the king upon his throne quite often. This is, of course, an expression of the father archetype that resides in all of you. No one is free of this king. Though he may play a minor role for a great part of your life, so is he present in some form. If you feel he is absent, as if he has abdicated, it merely means that you have not constructed the perfect father archetype yet, for one reason or another.
Usually, absence of one archetype is due to over-dominance of another. So, let’s bring in the mother, the maternal archetype, in the shape of a queen upon her own throne. Often a queen rules without a king, or perhaps she rules side by side with her king, in harmony. She may even be the more powerful of the two, or a quiet but sensible aspect of the pair. Such characteristics are true for all archetypes, for they can play many aspects of a role throughout a lifetime, depending on the circumstances of a life. These two roles, the king and queen, the father and the mother, the dominant male and the dominant female, exist in all of you.
In order to study your own dominant archetype, must you be prepared to look, with utter honesty and some deep investigation, at how you tend to operate, first in your uppermost role in life and then in all the other roles you play, or are forced to take on in life. Are you more likely to be dominated by kingly decisions, the all-knowing father who must proceed forward on his path, no matter what comes to interrupt? Do you tend to push aside the signs that point you to your heart over your head, asking for an appointment with the king in order to plead for gentleness and mercy? How does your king act upon hearing disturbing facts and matters of utmost importance? Does he seek to gain control, at all costs, proceeding on his predetermined path, no matter what comes to suggest that another way might perhaps lead to fulfillment? Is it difficult to relinquish your power, your self as ruler-at-all-costs, even when you realize it means that your spirit is dying inside you? Do you stick to your promises, even when they no longer hold any value? These questions, though I ask them of the king, may also be applied to any other dominant archetype. There are so many more questions to ask your self as you deepen your quest, but also your respect, for each aspect of the self and the role each plays in your character make-up.
Is your maternal side, your queen, more dominant than your king? You must also acquiesce to the fact that such roles are not gender specific, but that each of you, male or female, may be dominated by the archetype of the opposite sex in more than one way. It is not unusual for women to carry the king upon their shoulders as they make their way in the world, for it may be necessary to do so in order to secure a place of authority. Even the most gentle of mothers may also be the king in the family relationship, though she may see herself as mother earth herself.
The questions to ask your self, regarding the various archetypes, are not restricted to who is dominant. In order to achieve balance must one be able to acquiesce to the fact that, hidden inside, many archetypes are fighting for dominance. Many receive the privilege of dominance simply because they won the battle a long time ago and have remained in power for many years, while the other archetypes have not had an opportunity to participate in life due to circumstances beyond their control. To achieve balance must one be prepared to investigate, quite truthfully, how one operates in life, looking at the many roles one has played, been forced to play, or chosen to play in a lifetime.
The process of recapitulation, that I speak of so often, allows investigation of the self based on review of past actions, noticing the dominant archetypes at different times in life, understanding the necessity of such an archetype at the time, and proceeding now with allowing long hidden or repressed aspects of the self to live more fully. This is a deep process, and it is also a deepening process, in that it allows for greater knowledge of self in action. By allowing reflection of self, open and honest reflection, to become a partner in your life, so may you find that your actions are no longer simply reactions, but become serious endeavors to maintain balance, integrity, and a striving for rightness of being upon that earth, at all times, and not just when confronted with challenges or discord.
When placed in an uncomfortable position may you often find your self reacting in a usual manner. This is how you will discover your dominant archetype, or at least the one who appears when confrontation is the name of the game. You see, it gets very complicated because your dominant archetype in one situation may be asleep in another! In order to more fully discover the archetypes that reside inside of you, I will once again refer you to your mirror on the wall. Request of your self, as you look into your mirrors in life (i.e., the people around you), that you pause a moment in your assessments of them, in your judgments of them, your so well known answers for them, and reflect upon the aspects of the self that they offer you such a clear understanding of. The kings in your life, the queens, princes, princesses, the knights in shining armor, and the ladies in waiting, as well as the children, the big babies, and the spoiled brats, all show you the propensities and possibilities that lie within the deeper self.
Not only do you give your self the gift of introspection by asking your self, where in me is my own big baby, for example, but you allow your self to begin a more compassionate existence. Each day, as you practice your self reflection, questioning your deeper selves about their true roles, so do you gain a better balanced understanding of self, and thus are you able to, consciously, begin to change, but also to love the self for the many parts you have had to play in life. Perhaps such self reflection will allow for a more compassionate allowance of your inner archetypes to join you in life more frequently, as you reposition your court and your kingdom with not only a new balance, but with new voices, opinions, and with respect and true regard for the importance of each aspect of self and the roles that each has played so well throughout your lifetime.
Perhaps you have had to play a certain role for a long time, yet it no longer fulfills you, for it has played its part, and the play is no longer running on Broadway. Perhaps your old role had just become boring, as you repeat your same lines over and over again, and you begin to notice that even you do not like this role any longer, never mind the fact that the world around you no longer needs such a character. I suggest that your process in life is, ultimately, to change, to change the self, to grow, and to evolve. By this, I mean that you must not play the same role, one role in a lifetime. You must dare the self to shift many times, when appropriate, and when challenged to do so in order to evolve.
Evolution means meeting your challenges, allowing the self to change as a result of them, shifting and growing in all aspects of life, in order to aspire to a newer level of fulfillment. In order to open the doors and windows of your castle, to your inner self and your full psyche, so must you desire the fresh air that will come wafting in to wake you from your slumber and your hibernation. You must desire to grow, to evolve, and to proceed into the unknown. But keep in mind that you are never alone; you are full of the resources offered by the many archetypes that reside inside you all. Your kingdom is complete, but your journey may just be beginning, as you rearrange your stores of power, and seek a better balance, so that all appropriate players are present and accounted for as you continue to explore the possibilities they hold within, even as you retire those who have done their jobs so well up until now.
Who do you wish to be when you grow up? Where will you point your mirror next? Look inward, turning the mirror upon the self and ask: where are the doors and windows so I may open them? Where is the fresh air? What direction does it come from? What does it stir awake within me? Who wishes to sleep now? Who wishes to awaken? All aspects must have their playing time, yet only those most appropriate for an evolving life will, ultimately, get the part.
But it is up to each of you, as you live out your life, to determine who is going to mature and grow with you, and who is going to nestle down inside and hibernate deep within the castle walls, already played to perfection. And yes, many aspects of self may have already been played out in other lifetimes, or they may appear in lifetimes to come. In present life, may they go unexplored, as yet unknown aspects of self, not necessary for this time on earth, or already long ago dominant, and now no longer necessary.
I end now with this idea: perhaps your quest for the truth of self is not too far hidden from your knowing? Perhaps you do not need to look or ponder too far? Perhaps it is quite blatantly apparent in your life, in all that you are presented with each day? In each present moment, are you perhaps being asked to change your self, to shift your archetypal standard bearer, and allow another to lead you to a new place of fulfillment?