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Have you ever reflected on why you are alive? Although you may not have ever really explored that question in depth, I bet there is a knowing within you that believes there is more to your life than driving to a job that does not fulfill you, interacting with people you don’t enjoy and generally living a passionless life. At least for this article, consider that there is a purpose for your life and you made an agreement prior to your birth that would help you fulfill your purpose and bring your unique gifts into this lifetime, gifts that would serve humanity. These agreements, according to Caroline Myss, are our sacred contracts.
Caroline teaches that prior to our birth, we set in place situations and people that will help us evolve or unfold into the person we are destined to become. These agreements are made for us to learn certain lessons. It is important to understand our contracts or agreements, for our response to them will determine the level of empowerment we experience as we move throughout our every day life. We have the free will to respond any way we want, however, if we live our life unconsciously and without depth, as many of us do, we will most likely be more reactive and fearful. If we had been living our life consciously, would we be experiencing such internal chaos? We resist being conscious, otherwise we would not demand drugs for anxiety and depression at such alarming rates. They keep us unconscious. I am not proposing that there is not a place for these medications, however, we need to ask ourselves if they are being abused in an effort to numb us from feeling what we need to be feeling in order to live our lives more consciously. Who makes necessary changes when they are in la la land?
We all have sacred contracts in place to help us live more consciously so we can ultimately live our destined lives. Our sacred contracts are contained within a set of 12 archetypes that are unique to each one of us and provide the foundation for our beliefs, attitudes, motivations and personality. Carl Jung, a 20th century Swiss psychologist, brought archetypes to modern consciousness many years ago and Caroline Myss has expanded on his work so we, in our modern life, can use them and work with them as tools to reveal the magical us. Don’t we all really want to know the essence of us and the essence of others? If we understood the archetypes of our children, what powerful guides we could be for them!
I want you to leave this article with practical information, therefore,I will briefly discuss one of the survival archetypes inherent in all of us and how we can recognize when it is influencing our life. This archetype is the saboteur. This archetype will alert us when we are faced with choices that may undermine, betray or block our success. Suppose for a moment that you have wanted to change jobs. A friend proposes you meet her and her friend for lunch the following day to discuss options her friend has for you within her company. You respond by saying, “I am too tired to meet tomorrow”, or “I am not feeling well” or “It is crowding my schedule tomorrow”. You have just wallowed in the shadow energy of the saboteur archetype and blocked your potential success, an opportunity to fulfill your desire. When we are on the cusp of empowerment, the saboteur will yell the loudest. If you have ever been in a meeting overflowing with a desire to share a great idea and don't because of the fear of humiliation; you have just shared the seat with the saboteur. If you have ever said, "I wish I would have", the saboteur has taken center stage. We all have the saboteur archetype. There is nothing wrong with this archetype. We just need to be aware of its animation and power and make a more empowering choice.
The other 3 survival archetypes are the prostitute, the child and the victim. Perhaps we will discuss these three in a subsequent article. The remaining 8 archetypes are unique to you. By the end of September 2009, I will be a Certified Archetypal Consultant and will gladly assist in helping you discover your uniqueness!
If you are interested in beginning the journey of discovering your sacred contracts, below are a few resources you may find helpful:
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