Archetypes to Support You on Your Spiritual Journey

Imagine you are the hero (or heroine) of your own life story and the curator of your own destiny. As you play the leading role of your life, notice that people that appear on your path. There are those here to guide and support you, and also those that may not have your best intentions at heart. Within this article, I am going to speak with you about the archetypes you meet on your journey as you grow, evolve and become who you were meant to be. You will be able those that play a positive role on your journey and those that bring about karma, I like to regard these groups as your Soul Tribe and your Karmic Circle. So lets explore these archetypes as we connect with your spiritual journey and Soul Pathway…

I’m going to begin this article by speaking about your Soul Tribe who form a part of what I like to describe as your archetypal team. They are always there to guide and support you on your spiritual journey, you just have to notice the role they are playing in your life.

Soul Tribe

Your Soul Tribe are very much a part of your Soul Family, they will pick you up when you are feeling down and will always be by your side when you need encouragement. In essence, the play a positive soul on your spiritual journey. Your Soul Tribe consist of You (The Hero or Heroine), A Mentor, Sidekicks, Threshold Guardians and The Divine Feminine. I will describe more about these characters below:

The Hero or Heroine

You, the Hero or Heroine are the architect of your own life and story. You are the protagonist and central character of your journey. Your purpose it to separate yourself from your Ego and conditioning in order to live in alignment with your Soul’s calling. As coaches, healers and therapists, you want to make a difference in the world, and you see yourself as a hero or heroine in your life as you give back to others. As you embark on your journey and heal, your role then shifts towards serving others. As Joseph Campbell states: “A hero (or heroine) is someone how has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself” – You begin your adventure by answering your Souls Calling…

The Mentor

Your Mentor is the key character within your journey, they act as your spiritual guidance as you shift your consciousness and awareness and transcend on your spiritual journey. Your mentor supports you through your phase of transcendence as you face challenges and obstacles on your path. They provide you spiritual guidance and tangible steps as they assist you through the trials in your life. As a mentor, they will often have experienced similar obstacles as yourself which is why they act as the ideal character to support you.

One of the mentors that stands out for me in Jimminy Cricket from Pinocchio, he acts as Pinocchio’s conscience as he guides him on his journey to become a real boy. Not only does he help Pinocchio throughout his journey, he also steers him away from any temptations that appear on his path. As the in the film “Always let your conscience be your guide…” – As a mentor an guide here at The Soul Pathway, it is my role to help you find and connect with your Soul. I don’t give you answers but help you to find answers within yourself which I believe it the true role of a mentor.

You can have spiritual mentors such as Spirit Guides, though I do believe it is essential for you to also have a physical mentor to play this role in your life!

Threshold Guardians

Throughout your journey, you will often face Threshold Guardians, you will find these at each gateway on your journey. According to Christopher Vogler (author of the Writers Journey), these powerful guardians are placed to keep the unworthy from entering. These can represent people who come into your life and hold you back, maybe someone who doesn’t believe in you. They can bring up feelings of self doubt and may not believe you can make the necessary changes in your life. More often than not though, these are merely gatekeepers as they soon become your allies and will be by your side to fight your battles.

A Threshold Guardian is much like Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. Initially he prevented Frodo from passing, until he realised his intentions. Soon enough he became an Ally on as he not only allowed him to pass but also supported him on his mission. These characters are here to prepare you for the next phase of your journey and they mark the place between the original world in which we know and the unknown world in which we are entering. In order for you to cross the threshold, you have to believe in yourself and your worthiness for life you are choosing.

On a physiological level, your Threshold Guardians represent your inner demons. This is where other archetypes can act as a support mechanism to help you grow. Your archetypal team will help you to heal any doubts or limiting beliefs you have about yourself. When you identify some of your inner demons, you can begin the process of healing.

Sidekicks

Sidekicks are very much the cheerleaders that are always be your side cheering you on. They don’t have to know your journey but are there to give you encouragement through life challenges. More often than not, you will already know who these people are. On my journey, I have found these to be people who are part of my Soul Family. They come into your life when you are in need of encouragement and uplifting, and they have your back through the hard times as they lift you up when you are feeling down. These play an essential role on your spiritual journey even though the may not connect with your path specifically.

The Divine Feminine

This is an archetype that is often neglected when people speak about archetypes, though it is much more spoke about today. From my personal perspective, the Divine Feminine plays one of the most essential role in our spiritual journey. As the Hero (or Heroine) in our life, we are often going in pursuit of our desires and dreams, in doing so we tend to embody more of the Masculine energy. The masculine is often externally focused as they strive to create, achieve and materialise what they want in their lives. As the masculine focuses on the external expression, the feminine seeks to connect with her inner world.

The role of the feminine is to provide you with the love, nurture and support to help you connect with your inner emotions and feelings. They help your to bring balance and harmony to your life and spiritual journey, and provide you with the necessary introspection to assist you with your personal growth.

As a mother, the Divine Feminine nurtures her children as she gives them the loving support as they progress through their lives. They teach you to self reflect, helping you to detach from your Ego in order to connect to your Soul. This allows you to embrace the core of who are you are as you live in alignment with your Soul essence. Balance is the key with our Spiritual Journey as the Divine Feminine allows you to nurture your Soul and bring your Masculine and Feminine into Alignment.

Like with the other Archetypes, I do believe it is essential for you to have a role model to help you connect with your inner feminine. If you embody more of the Feminine energy, it would also be valuable to connect with someone who expresses the masculine to help bring your Soul into Alignment.

Karmic Circle

Your Karmic Circle as much different that your Soul Tribe as they bring karma to your life and Spiritual Journey. These people are just as important as your Soul Tribe though as karma also brings you important lessons to assist you with your Soul growth. Your Karmic Circle consists of Tricksters, Shape Shifters and your Shadow. I will describe these characters in more detail below:

Tricksters

Tricksters embody the energy of mischief and have the desire for change, their role is to cut big egos down to size and bring them back down to earth. As an archetype, they can also be described as the fool as the often don’t take life too seriously. They often bring about change by bringing imbalance or absurdity to a situation and often create laughter. Tricksters are catalyst characters who affect the lives of others and yet often go unchanged themselves. In some ways, these characters have similar characteristic as the shape-shifter though the don’t usually have any malice to their actions. When a hero (or heroine) gets carried away on their journey, they can come across as over confident, the tricker is here to humble you. In the act of bringing you back down to earth, they help you to realise we are all equal and on this journey together.

The Shape Shifter

Many characters of your journey have good intentions, you can place your trust in them as you know deep down they want you to succeed. The Shape Shifter isn’t someone you should place your trust in though… as a character they represent both trust and mistrust. On the surface it can seem as though they there to support you, though behind your back they don’t have your best intentions at heart. Shape shifters usually bring up issues of loyalty because they are literally two faced. They will usually appear when you are at a low point on your spiritual journey where things are not working out. They can often come in the form of a temptation where they offer a way out of your troubles.

Initially they can seem to have your best intentions at heat though ultimately they will lead you off your spiritual journey and pathway. This is why I believe it is essential for you bring your Soul into Alignment as you will know which path is right and true for you as you follow your Soul. As you connect with your Soul, you will also be able to discern from those with good intention and those who may lead you astray.

Shape Shifters will also wear a mask as they live through their conditioning and Ego, projecting a false persona to the world. You can appear as a threat to them as you are following your own Soul calling which is why they can bring karma to your Spiritual Journey. Your lesson here it to stay true to who you are as you connect with your Soul.

Shadow

When it comes to our Spiritual Journey, many people speak about the Shadow that lurks within us. Within this section, I am going to be speaking about the Shadow that is external to us in the form of an archetype. In films there is always an arch nemesis or villain who represents the energy of the dark side. It is said that the function of the shadow is to challenge you and give the hero (or heroine) a worthy opponent in his or her struggles. In life the shadow has many admirable qualities that humanise them. Most Shadows do not see themselves as the villain, but merely heroes in their own myth.

As you grow and transcend on your spiritual journey, you begin to connect with your Soul Purpose and Mission. You come to realise that the world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, it can be a mean and nasty place at times. The Shadow in many ways is the cause your are fighting against as you serve and support others. I’m passionate about natural and holistic health, and would love to see more people turn to natural forms of medicine before going to drugs that can cause them harm. With regards to the Soul Pathway, I love to help people live from the Soul of who they are so they are truly fulfilled in their lives. The Shadow from my perspective, is the societal and cultural systems that keep people bound to a life that keeps feeling alone and disillusioned in this world.

We each have a Shadow and cause we are fighting against. The take away message here is: What do you stand for?

As you bring these characters together, they become your Archetypal Team to assist you on your Spiritual Journey. You will have your Soul Circle who bring you beautiful and soulful experiences and your Karmic Circle who bring more challenging situations. It’s important to know that everyone plays a vital role in the becoming of who you are though. You have to learn to embrace the journey and notice the messages being shown to you.

I hope you have found this article to be valuable. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below and I wish you all the best on your spiritual journey and Soul Pathway!

P.S. I wanted to give credit and thanks to Kim Wymer for producing the amazing artwork of the archetype images that I have used in this post! You can follow Kim Here: https://www.facebook.com/kim.ladypainter