A GALLERY of ARCHETYPES
The archetypes listed here in boldface type are just a few of the many ancient patterns that exist in human consciousness. Many additional archetypes that are closely related are mentioned in parentheses, such as Hermit (found under Mystic), Therapist (under Healer), or Pirate (under Rebel). Please read through the entire list, looking at all the archetypes in parentheses, before assuming that the one you're looking for isn't here. Naturally, it's impossible to list all the hundreds of archetypes that exist, but these are some of the most common.
Remember that all archetypes are essentially neutral and manifest in both light and shadow attributes. Accordingly, I have tried to include both sets of attributes for each listing, along with cues to help you determine whether a given archetype may be part of your lifelong support team of twelve. To help you further, I've listed some examples of each archetype as embodied in popular film, fiction, drama, and the world's religions and mythologies. In evaluating whether an archetype is part of your intimate group, pay special attention to whether you can perceive a pattern of influence throughout your history, rather than only isolated or recent incidents. Never evaluate your connection to an archetype only by obvious markers. You have to stretch your imagination and burrow into yourself to discover your life patterns, lessons, and gifts. This inner knowledge does not surface easily.
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These two archetypes are so close that for practical purposes you can consider them together. Midas turned everything he touched into gold, including, tragically, his beloved daughter. The archetype is associated with entrepreneurial or creative ability. That Midas was a king symbolically implies that the Midas figure has the power to generate wealth for an entire kingdom, yet is interested only in his personal aggrandizement. Greed is his downfall. For that reason, lessons of generosity are a large part of the characteristics of this archetype. The shadow Midas or Miser creates wealth by hording money and emotions at the expense of others, and refusing to share them.
Although the desire to earn a living or become wealthy is not negative, this archetype also represents a need to control the forces around you for fear of losing your wealth. The challenges inherent in the Miser and Midas can go so far as to make a person confront what he is willing to do to create a mountain of wealth.
Films: Bette Davis in The Little Foxes; Michael Douglas in Wall Street; James Dean in Giant; Lionel Barrymore in It's a Wonderful Life.
Fiction: Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and Uriah Heep in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens; Silas Marner by George Eliot.
Drama: The Miser by Moliere
Religion/Myth: Midas (a king of Phrygia in Asia Minor who was given the dubious gift of the golden touch by Dionysus); Kukuth (in Albanian lore, the spirit of a deceased miser who cannot find rest).
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The positive aspects of this archetype are fairly obvious: spiritual intensity, devotion, dedication, persistence, and perhaps wisdom. On the shadow side, the role of a religious recluse could be seen as removed from the real world, overly pious, even privileged in the sense of not having to be concerned about earning a living or raising a family. Yet, historically, monks have been extremely industrious and involved in real-world enterprises, whether draining swamps and planting vineyards in medieval Europe, working the rice fields in Asia, building monasteries, teaching, or copying and preserving texts. Today the Monk archetype may show up in the ability to be single-minded, assiduous, devoted to a spiritual path or to any great achievement that requires intense focus. In this sense, novelists and entrepreneurs can carry the Monk as readily as spiritual adepts.
The Celibate reserves his or her energy for work and/or spiritual practice. Yet one can be a Monk, even a religious one, without being celibate, as is the case with some Tibetan lamas, Yogis, and Islamic scholars. Then there were Abelard and Heloise, the twelfth-century Monk and Nun who forsook their vows of celibacy out of passion for each other. Both were superior in their fields--Abelard as lecturer, debater, and philosopher, Heloise as a radical prioress and founder of convents--and, although their passion caused them great suffering, it does not seem to have hurt their spiritual work.
Films: Claude Laydu in Diary of a Country Priest; Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story; Yi Pan-yong in Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East?; Deborah Kerr in Heaven Knows Mr. Allison; Loretta Young in Come to the Stable; Lilia Skala in Lilies of the Field.
Television: Derek Jacobi in Brother Cadfael;
Fiction: The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco
Religion/Myth: Friar Tuck (the mythical swordfighting monk of Robin Hood's Merry Men); Nennius (Welsh monk commonly believed to have compiled the Historia Brittonum, which was used by Geoffrey of Monmouth and others to reconstruct the history of King Arthur); Bernadette Soubiros (19th-century French girl who at the age of fourteen claimed visions of the Virgin Mary.
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Mother (Matriarch, Mother Nature)
The Mother is the life-giver, the source of nurturing and nourishment, unconditional fountain of love, patience, devotion, caring, and unselfish acts. This archetype is the keeper and protector of life, from children to the family to the greater Mother Nature archetype whose province is the Earth and all life. Mother Nature, also known as Gaia, is the Goddess of Life, the caretaker of the living environment of this planet. She is recognized as powerful, and when storms leave death and destruction in their wake, she may be referred to as wrathful. The power of compassion and the endless capacity to forgive her children and put them before herself are essential to the Good Mother. The Devouring, Abusive, Abandoning, and Working Mother each represent different aspects of this primal archetype within the entire human community.
Although Mothers have always worked, the contemporary archetype of the Career or Working Mother reflects the crises experienced by many women who seek also to be Devoted Mothers. Measured against the impossible mythic ideal of the Perfect Mother, the Career Mom is sometimes assumed unfairly to be a mother who puts her own needs before those of the children. This is an archetypal crisis for many women.
The Devouring Mother "consumes" her children psychologically and emotionally and often instills in them feelings of guilt at leaving her or becoming independent. The Abusive and Abandoning Mothers violate natural law by harming their own young.
Connections to the Mother archetype are not to be measured only by whether a woman is a biological mother. If you are intimately connected to nurturing and protecting the environment, including through gardening or farming, or supporting any life form, you should strongly consider whether your bond to Mother Nature is part of a life-long devotion that defines you. You may also recognize a strong bond to the Mother archetype in the form of one or all of her shadows. While it is difficult to admit, some women may have to face the fact that their children see them through the shadow aspects of the Mother, including the Abusive or Abandoning Mother.
Just as women can have a real connection to the Father archetype when they take on the paternal role in the household, so some men may relate to being "Mr. Mom," yet another contemporary sculpting of the Mother archetype. The qualities that are associated with this archetype can be expressed in other than biological ways, such as giving birth to books or ideas, or nurturing others.
Films: Irene Dunne in I Remember Mama; Myrna Loy in Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes; Sophia Loren in Two Women; Sally Field in Places in the Heart; Anne Bancroft in The Pumpkin Eater; Rosalind Russell in Gypsy (Devouring); Katharine Hepburn in Suddenly Last Summer (shadow); Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest (shadow); Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate; Gladys Cooper in Now Voyager (shadow); Alberta Watson in Spanking the Monkey (Incestuous).
Drama: Mother Courage by Bertoldt Brecht; Medea by Euripedes; The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.
Religion/Myth: As with Gods, Goddesses, and Mystics, the Mother appears in all religious traditions and myths, usually as the Divine Mother. These are just a few examples: Lakshmi, Durga, Kali (Hinduism); Mary/Miryam (Christianity/Islam); Sarai, Naomi (Judaism); Cybele (fertility goddess of ancient Anatolia, also known as known as the Great Mother); Demeter (Greek myth); Isis (Egyptian myth); Tellus (Roman Mother Earth goddess); Cihuacoatl (Aztec Mother Earth goddess, also patron of birth and of women who die in childbirth).
Fairy Tales: Mother Goose, Mother Hubbard
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Mystic (Renunciate, Anchorite, Hermit)
Perhaps no archetype is more coveted by my students, or more misunderstood than the Mystic. Many want to believe that they have mystical inclinations, yet underestimate how arduous the genuine mystical path is. When they find out, they're usually happy to let someone else have this role. The lives of the world's great mystics often included extraordinary states of consciousness such as prolonged ecstatic trance, and preternatural abilities of precognition or bilocation. Yet they also contained sometimes great physical as well as spiritual suffering, hard work, and mundane activities that made up much of their days. If you truly want to name this archetype as part of your sacred consortium, ask yourself if you are ready to pay the price in blood, sweat, and tears. If mystical consciousness is something you engage in once a day during meditation, or on a weekend retreat or a yoga workshop, you may be a spiritual seeker, but not a Mystic.
The shadow Mystic manifests as an egocentric concern for one's own spiritual progress to the exclusion of others, and an attendant sense of self-importance at having achieved "higher" states of consciousness. It may also emerge in behavior that takes advantage of admirers or students in base economic, emotional, or sexual ways. Since genuine enlightenment manifests as the desire to be of service, this is a pretty good indication that you haven't arrived yet.
Films: Catherine Mouchet in Thér_se; Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves.
Drama: Agnes of God by John Pielmeyer.
Fiction: Lying Awake by Marc Salzman.
Religion/Myth: All the great traditions have produced mystics, of which the following are a small representative sample: Teresa of vila, Meister Eckhart, William Law, Hildegarde of Bingen (Christianity); Ba'al Shem Tov, Moses ben Nahman, Abraham Abulafia (Judaism); Rabi'a, Ibn al-'Arabi, Mansur al-Hallaj (Islam); Sri Ramakrishna, Anandamayi Ma, Ramana Maharshi (Hinduism); Bodhidharma, Milarepa, Bankei, Pema Chödron (Buddhism); Chuang-tzu, Wang-pi (Taoism); Padrinho Sebastio, Credo Mutwa (shamanism).
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Networker (Messenger, Herald, Courier, Journalist, Communicator)
Although networking seems like a very modern skill tied to career advancement in the media age, it is actually quite ancient. Networkers expand their sphere of influence by forging alliances and making connections among vastly different groups of people, and can be traced back to the intrigues of the Middle Ages, Greece, Rome, and ancient China. Networking would also have been an integral part of any military alliance as well as all social and clan confederations in prehistory. In its positive aspect, this archetype has a it helps us develop social flexibility and empathy that enables it to find commonality with others who might not at first seem to be potential friends, allies, or confederates. Like the related archetypes of Messenger and Communicator, the Networker has the skills to bring information--or power-- and inspiration to disparate groups of people. The shadow Networker merely uses others for personal gain.
Films: John Boles in A Message to Garcia; Stewart Peterson in Pony Express Rider; Jeff Goldblum in Between the Lines.
Religion/Myth: Almost every culture on earth has or had a messenger of the gods who networks between the divine and human realms, including the angel Raphael (Judaism); Gabriel (Christianity); Jibril (Islam); Matarisvan (Vedic India); Eagle, Coyote (American Indian); Iris, Hermes (Greece); Mercury (Rome); Sraosa (Zoroastrianism); Nusku (Assyria); Nirah (Sumeria); Srosh (Persia); Paynal (Aztec); Savali (Samoa); Gou Mang (China); Narada (Java); Gna, Hermod (Norse).
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Pioneer (Explorer, Settler, Pilgrim, Innovator)
The Pioneer is called to discover and explore new lands, whether that territory is external or internal. The passion to explore the South Pole is as much a pioneering endeavor as the passion to explore medicine or spiritual practice. Even initiating new fashions, art, music, or literature may qualify as expressions of this archetype. The core ingredient is innovation--doing and creating what has not been done before. To consider this archetype seriously as one of your twelve, your life must be characterized by a need to step on fresh and undiscovered territory in at least one realm.
The shadow Pioneer manifests as a compulsive need to abandon one's past and move on, just as the Don Juan or Femme Fatale "pioneer" ever new conquests. Those who are forced out of their homeland and made into unwilling Pioneers--the Jews of the Diaspora, Africans bound into slavery, Tibetan Buddhists, or Native Americans--should not be included under the shadow, however.
Films: Debbie Reynolds in How the West Was Won; Jean Arthur and Van Heflin in Shane; Judy Garland in The Harvey Girls; Jackie Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story.
Television: Wagon Train, Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie.
Fiction: Lost Horizons by James Hilton; O Pioneers! by Willa Cather.
Religion/Myth: Nana-Ula (seafaring pioneer who led his people on a voyage of 2,500 miles from Tahiti to Hawaii over a thousand years ago); Bodhidharma (Buddhist patriarch who carried the teachings from India to China and established the tradition that came to be known as Zen); Hagar (handmaiden of Abraham who brought her son, Ishmael, to the Becca Valley of Arabia and established the Arab people).
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Closely related to both the Author and the Artist, the Poet combines lyricism with sharp insight, finding the essence of beauty and truth not only in the great epic affairs of humanity, but also in everyday acts and objects. Great poetry extolls momentous events and great deeds, and also expresses wonder at the hidden joys and sorrows that most of us might overlook. And although you don't have to be a published poet to have this as one of your twelve archetypes, you do need to be driven by the need and the ability to discover beauty in the people and things around you, and express it in a way that helps others, too, see that beauty.
The shadow Poet turns his gift for lyricism to negative or destructive effect, as in songs or poems written in support of military aggression or genocide.
Films: Glenda Jackson in Stevie; Philippe Noiret in Il Postino; Sean Connery in A Fine Madness.
Fiction: The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll (shadow);
Religion/Myth: King David (ruler of Israel credited with writing many of the Psalms); Orpheus (great musician and poet of Greek myth, capable of charming wild beasts); Bragi (in Norse myth, the god of eloquence and patron of poets); Finn Mac Cumhail (legendary Irish hero and leader who was also greatly skilled as a poet).
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Priest (Priestess, Minister, Rabbi, Evangelist)
The ritual that establishes the unique role of the Priest is ordination, the official capacity to facilitate the making of spiritual vows--commitments made to divine authority. Ordination or similar rituals of initiation allow the Priest, Rabbi, Shaman or Medicine Man to serve as a vehicle or spiritual channel of energy for others. Many of those devoted to spiritual life, such as Monks and Nuns, do not facilitate the ritual exchange of vows and spiritual energy. Ordination also empowers the Priest to convey to the public the power of sacred teachings, rituals, wisdom, morality, and ethics of each spiritual tradition. Because of these profound spiritual responsibilities, the ordained are expected to represent the teachings through personal example. And, so, the shadow side of this archetype manifests through the inability to live according to those teachings, especially in lapses of personal morality. The breaking of vows while conducting vows for the community, or using ordained authority to control the population for personal gain, have always been the dominant expression of this archetype's shadow. From the corrupt temple priests of the ancient Egyptians to the scheming, power-hungry prelates and Popes of medieval Christianity, shadow Priests have interfered in secular politics to gain church power, extorted money from people who need food and shelter just to build larger temples and cathedrals, held back women's rights and gay rights, and misused the people's trust to satisfy their own sexual needs.
Films: Montgomery Clift in I Confess; Karl Malden in On the Waterfront; Don Murray in The Hoodlum Priest; Richard Todd in A Man Called Peter; Richard Burton in Becket.
Fiction: Diary of A Country Priest by Georges Bernanos.
Drama: Mass Appeal by Bill C. Davis; Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot.
Religion/Myth: Eleazar (first high priest of Israel); Pythia (priestess of Apollo's temple at Delphi who went into trance and made oracular pronouncements); Apotequil (high priest of the Incan moon god); Hungan (Haitian priest of vodun); Ishkhara (priestess of Ishtar and Babylonian goddess of love); Kokopelli (in Zuni lore, a priest who brings rain to the people); Utnapishtim/Ziusudra (in Babylonian/Sumerian myth, the priest-king of Shurrupak who is warned by the gods of a coming deluge and builds a large ark to preserve human and animal life).
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The connotations of certain words is as significant as their literal meaning in determining the nature of an archetype. Our word "prince" comes from Latin roots meaning first or chief, and the word was originally applied to the ruler of a principality or the son of a sovereign. But we often use the term today for anyone preeminent in his field, or for any generous individual. The adult fairy tale The Little Prince by Antoine de St.-Exupérey further colored our image of the Prince as an innocent, awe-struck explorer. Yet the true Prince is a ruler-in-training who is in service to the people he will rule, whether that is a literal kingdom or a figurative or spiritual one, as with Prince Siddhartha prior to becoming the Buddha. The shadow Prince can manifest as a young man with great feelings of entitlement, an heir apparent who uses his position solely for self-aggrandizement, or one who stands to inherit an evil empire and so takes on all the negative characteristics of the "king," like the character of Michael Corleone in The Godfather. Machiavelli's The Prince was a guide to using a ruler's shadow power purely to advance one's career and self-interest without regard for the needs of others.
Films: Laurence Olivier in The Prince and the Showgirl; Henry Fonda in The Lady Eve; Joseph Cotten in The Farmer's Daughter; Paul Newman in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Robert Redford in The Way We Were; Anthony Perkins in Phaedra.
Drama: Biff in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Fiction: The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Fairy Tales: Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella
Religion/Myth: Rama (the prince of Ayodhya, seventh incarnation of Vishnu, and the hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana); Shotoku (Japanese prince deified as the reincarnation of Siddhartha, the Buddha); Xochipilli (Aztec god of flowers, maize, love, beauty, and song whose name means "Flower Prince"); Beelzebub (originally the patron god of the Philistines and Canaanites whose name meant "Prince Baal," demonized in the Judeo-Christian tradition as the Prince of Darkness).
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Prostitute
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The Prostitute archetype engages lessons in integrity and the sale or negotiation of one's integrity or spirit due to fears of physical and financial survival or for financial gain. This archetype activates the aspects of the unconscious that are related to seduction and control, whereby you are as capable of buying a controlling interest in another person as you are in selling your own power. Prostitution should also be understood as the selling of your talents, ideas, and any other expression of the self--or the selling-out of them. This archetype is universal and its core learning relates to the need to birth and refine self-esteem and self-respect.
Films: Jack Lemmon in The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, Save the Tiger, The China Syndrome, Mass Appeal; Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday; Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity; Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront.
Drama: The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.
Religion/Myth: Ochun (Yoruba Orisha of love, marriage, and motherhood, who was forced for a time to become a prostitute to feed her children); Temple prostitutes (in ancient Greece, Rome, Asia Minor, and India, women who engaged in public intercourse as a way of sympathetically activating the energy of fertility).
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Besides having a rulership position in a court, the Queen represents power and authority in all women. Symbolically, her court can be anything from a corporation to her home. The image of the Dark or Evil Queen has been largely represented by male authors of fairy tales and folklore as a wicked, dark force. She may also be depicted as prone to hysteria and dark powers, influences, or plots, as in the story of Snow White. Gulliver's Travels presents a benevolent Queen who rules the land of the Giants, but that is a rare exception.
The Queen archetype is also associated with arrogance and a defensive posture that is symbolic of a need to protect one's personal and emotional power. Queens are rarely portrayed as having a trustworthy support system; instead, they are lonely figures surrounded by a court filled with potential traitors, rivals, and back-stabbers. Women who have identified themselves as Queens in my workshops tend to have these qualities in common, suggesting that were it not for their aggressive personality characteristics, they would be vulnerable to others' control.
Challenges related to control, personal authority and leadership play a primary role in forming the lessons of personal development that are inherent to this archetype. The benevolent Queen uses her authority to protect those in her court, and sees her own empowerment enhanced by her relationships and experience. The shadow Queen can slip into aggressive and destructive patterns of behavior, particularly when she perceives that her authority or capacity to maintain control over the court is being challenged. The Ice Queen rules with a cold indifference to the genuine needs of others--whether material or emotional. The Queen Bee is a mixed image--the astonishing ability to power the entire hive without leaving her "chamber," yet at the cost of enslaving the rest of her community.
Films: Joan Crawford in Queen Bee; Marlene Dietrich as Catherine the Great in The Scarlet Empress; Geraldine Chaplin in The Three Musketeers; Greta Garbo in Queen Christina; Judi Densch in Shakespeare in Love; Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth.
Drama: Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare
Religion/Myth: Mary (Mother of Jesus later elevated in Catholic tradition to Queen of Heaven); Mab (Queen of the faeries and often a trickster who steals babies, possibly derived from the Welsh Mabb or Gaelic Maeve); Anatu (Mesopotamian queen of the sky); Antiope (in Greek myth, the queen of the Amazons); Marisha-Ten (Japanese queen of heaven); Guinevere (King Arthur's queen).
Fairy Tales: Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs (shadow).
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Rebel (Anarchist, Revolutionary, Political Protester, Nonconformist, Pirate)
Our images of the Rebel may be too closely aligned with clichés of youth culture to let us see the deeper significance of this valuable archetype. Whether politically inclined like Martin Luther King, Jr., Betty Friedan, or Lech Walensa, or an artistic innovator such as Van Gogh, Joyce, or Coltrane, the Rebel is a key component of all human growth and development. The Rebel in a support group can be a powerful aid in helping the group break out of old tribal patterns. It can also help you see past tired preconceptions in your field of professional or creative endeavor. The Rebel can also lead you to reject spiritual systems that do not serve your inner need for direct union with the Divine and to seek out more appropriate paths. The shadow Rebel, conversely, may compel you to rebel out of peer pressure or for the sake of fashion, and so become mired in another manifestation of conformity. The shadow Rebel may also reject legitimate authority simply because it is asking you to do something you find difficult or unpleasant. Be especially careful in evaluating your rebellious impulses; even if the Rebel is not part of your intimate circle of archetypes, you probably have it to some extent and should pay attention to its urgings.
Films: James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause; Marlon Brando in The Wild One; Kirk Douglas in Spartacus; Sally Field in Norma Rae; Meryl Streep in Silkwood.
Fiction: The Rebel by Albert Camus; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.
Religion/Myth: Iblis/Lucifer (in Muslim/Christian belief, a rebellious angel who refused to worship Adam or acknowledge the supremacy of God).
Folklore/Fairy Tales: Jack and the Beanstalk; Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.
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In its empowered profile, the Rescuer assists when needed and, once the rescue mission is accomplished, withdraws. A Rescuer provides an infusion of strength and support to help others to survive a difficult situation, crisis, or process that they lack the stamina or the inner knowledge to maneuver through themselves. Unlike the Knight, to which it is related, the Rescuer is more common among women, especially in its shadow aspect. The shadow Rescuer often surfaces through a romantic connection in which one party seeks to establish an intimate bond by lending emotional support, with a hidden agenda that assumes the rescued party will return the Rescuer's romantic feelings. Such romances are destined to fail, because the shadow agenda has to keep the "rescuee" in need of being rescued, lest the Rescuer lose her significance.
Healing and empowering the Rescuer within is a common emotional challenge, because being needed is essential to our nature. Most people can relate in part to the characteristics of this archetype which somewhat parallel the Knight, Healer, Hero, and even Servant. If you feel drawn to this archetype, then, be careful to compare the characteristics of those others before deciding to add the Rescuer to your family.
Films: Sigourney Weaver in Alien III; Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan; Jason Gedrick in Iron Eagle.
Television: The Lone Ranger.
Religion/Myth: Bidadari (in Javanese myth, a lovely nymph who uses her knowledge of magic to rescue a hero from a dangerous situation and marry him); Lancelot (Knight of the Round Table who rescues Guinevere--with whom he is having an affair--when King Arthur threatens to execute her for adultery); Bran (in Welsh lore, a giant who rescued his sister Branwen from enslavement by her Irish husband).
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Saboteur
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The Saboteur archetype is made up of the fears and issues related to low self-esteem that cause you to make choices in life that block your own empowerment and success. As with the Victim and Prostitute, you need to face this powerful archetype that we all possess and make it an ally. When you do, you will find that it calls your attention to situations in which you are in danger of being sabotaged, or of sabotaging yourself. Once you are comfortable with the Saboteur, you learn to hear and heed these warnings, saving yourself untold grief from making the same mistakes over and over. Ignore it, and the shadow Saboteur will manifest in the form of self-destructive behavior or the desire to undermine others.
Films: Greta Garbo in Mata Hari; Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate; Woody Harrelson in The People vs. Larry Flynt. Judy Holliday in The Solid Gold Cadillac;
Drama: Amadeus (Salieri) by Peter Schaffer; The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux.
Religion/Myth: Loki (in Norse myth, a Shape-shifter and Trickster who is crafty and malicious, but also heroic); Eris/Discordia (Greek/Roman goddess of discord, said to have caused the Trojan War); Bamapana (Aboriginal hero-trickster who causes discord and misunderstanding); Serpent (in many cultures, a figure who deceives humans, often sabotaging their only chance at immortality).
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The Samaritan is closely related to the Martyr archetype, with the essential difference that Samaritans make sacrifices for those they might be least inclined to serve, as in the Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan. The act itself can be as simple as stopping in the street to give a stranger directions when you are in a hurry to get somewhere. The shadow Samaritan helps one person or group to the detriment of another, one's own family, or the greater good of society. A simple example is the driver who stops in traffic to let another driver make a turn against the flow, with the result of holding up many more drivers in the process. There seems to be implicit in such shadow Samaritan behavior a kind of self-importance that says others must adhere to one's own choice of who is most deserving.
Films: Richard Dreyfuss in Down and Out in Beverly Hills; Gary Cooper in Good Sam; Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier; Liam Neeson in Schindler's List.
Religion/Myth: Ninlil (Sumerian goddess of heaven, earth, air, and grain who shows compassion to the unfortunate); Parzifal (Arthurian knight who heals the wound of Anfortas, the Grail King, by compassionately asking about it).
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