From babyhood on, certain archetypes may be welcomed in boys and suppressed in girls and vice-versa. Consciousness-raising is changing “who” we can become, as the range of human potential — in which we activate certain archetypes within us.
In Jung’s psychology, everyone has both male and female qualities. However by his definition which was consistent with the era in which he lived, the masculine element in women, called the “animus,” and the feminine in men, the “anima,” were inferior masculine or feminine attitudes or attributes — less conscious.
A woman could be “animus- possessed” a man “anima-possessed.” Wherever the stereotypical roles are the only acceptable way of being a woman or a man, the contra sexual elements are less developed and less conscious, and are often unacceptable and therefore suppressed.
When our outer roles express our inner archetypes, then there is depth and joy in what we do, but when expressing and developing male archetypes that would be sources of meaning are suppressed as “unfeminine,” we cannot come into our wholeness.
When archetypes cannot be lived out, we are likely attracted to people who are outer representatives of the inner male god-archetypes. In adolescence, we are growing into becoming who we can be: this is responsible for “hero worship” and “crushes,” which lose fascination when we develop them in ourselves. At various stages of our lives, we project what is unconscious but close to the surface in us, onto others, only more discreetly.
More than any time in history, women and men can develop and integrate male and female archetypal qualities into their personalities. At different stages in life, shifts occur in our psyches, as we are drawn toward wholeness, psychological, and spiritual growth.
Hestia was present in the temples of every god and goddess. She was the sacred fire that illuminated and warmed the premises. In their temples, the gods personify the positive qualities of the archetypes that connect to the Self. Each also had shadow qualities.
In this session, you’ll discover:
- An overview of the gods and their elements, which you can integrate them in your heart, mind, soul, and body — instead of projecting these archetypes onto others
- How Zeus, Apollo, and Hermes — the gods of the mental world — can thrive in you
- Two important archetypes of embodied or expressive emotions — Ares and Poseidon
- The ecstatic or mystical experience of Dionysus
- The inner world of Hades as the introverted source of reflection, imagination, and reconnection with cut off parts of ourselves