Art & Inspiration N° 2 - Summer-Fall / Été-Automne 2013 | Page 10

ZOOM ON ARCHETYPES / ZOOM SUR LES ARCHÈTYPES

A&I: Does each family and each country have a Sacred Contract also?

CM: Yes, absolutely. Every single country has its own contract because it has its own identity and it has its own purpose. And if something has a purpose, it has a contract and an identity. Look at England and France. Look at Russia…they call it Mother Russia and it has a very female identity.

A&I: When people want to know their archetypes, how does somebody discern when it is their own archetype or if it comes from cultural conditioning or family upbringing, for example?

CM: The influence of the family comes through your own archetypal patterns. There are “tribal” influences on how an archetype expresses itself in you. For example, your Child archetype would have the influences of your tribe in it. How somebody has their Victim archetype - in the way in which they understand the Victim - would very much be cultural. For example, women who do not come from a feminist culture would translate Victim as “Can they fight back?” I think that women in the West would have a bit more fire in their belly than, say, women who come from a society that does not have as many rights yet. Do you see what I mean?

A&I: Absolutely. Archetypes such as the survival archetypes of the Child and the Victim can be seen through a different lens according to the family or culture.

CM: Yes.

A&I: You have a radio show on Hay House each Tuesday where you discuss archetypes. Recently, you gave great counsel to a caller and helped her see where she had an archetypal conflict with a colleague. Could you share with readers how to recognize when we are in archetypal power plays with other people?

CM: All power plays are archetypal. That’s just a rule. There is no such thing as a power play or a struggle that is not rooted in an archetypal pattern. Every conflict, everything, is basically rooted in some kind of archetypal pattern. Then it becomes how accurately or clearly a person wants to understand which of their archetypes are engaged in a battle with somebody else, which of their own issues or which of their own patterns have locked in with somebody. And this becomes a real challenge because the ego is such a ferocious instrument. That the ego will always tell you, “You’re right and the other person is wrong.” And pride always comes in. So it becomes a real inner discipline to separate yourself from an arena of battle and ask yourself, “Wait a minute here. What am I doing? What am I doing that is engaging this force? Is this a repeat of something that happens to me all the time? What does this person represent to me?” You see?

A&I: Yes.

CM: Then you start looking at yourself and what pattern in you is getting activated when you see this person, and then you ultimately realize that no matter what person has the pattern that guy has, you would respond to it.

A&I: That is absolutely brilliant. I can see how it would be really tough sometimes though to be able to recognize the pattern that is being played out while in conflict with someone. It seems like it would take a lot of practice to detach…

A&I : Est-ce que chaque famille et chaque pays a aussi un Contrat Sacré ?

CM : Oui, bien sûr. Chaque pays a son propre contrat, parce qu’il sa propre identité et il a son propre but. Et si quelque chose a un but, il a un contrat et une identité. Regardez l’Angleterre et la France. La Russie… ils l’appellent Mère Russie et ce pays a une identité très féminine.

A&I : Quand les gens veulent connaître leurs archétypes, comment distinguer l’archétype qui nous est propre de celui qui découle de notre conditionnement culturel, ou de notre éducation par exemple ?

CM : L’influence de la famille passe par les modèles archétypaux qui vous sont propres. La façon dont un archétype s’exprime en vous passe par des influences « tribales ». Par exemple, votre archétype de l’Enfant recevra l’influence de votre tribu familiale. La façon dont quelqu’un aura son archétype de Victime (de la façon dont il comprend la Victime) sera essentiellement culturelle. Par exemple, les femmes qui ne viennent pas d’une culture féministe traduiront la Victime par « Peut-elle contre-attaquer ? » Je pense que les femmes du monde occidental ont plus tendance à avoir la gnaque que, disons, des femmes qui viennent d’une société qui n’a pas autant de droits que la nôtre. Vous voyez ce que je veux dire ?

A&I : Parfaitement. Les archétypes tels que les archétypes de survie que sont l’Enfant et la Victime peuvent être vus à travers un prisme différent suivant la famille ou la culture d'origine.

CM : Oui.

A&I : Vous avez une émission de radio sur Hay House tous les mardi, où vous parlez des archétypes. Récemment, vous avez donné un grand conseil à une auditrice et l’avez aidée pour un

"Every conflict, everything,

is basically rooted in some kind of archetypal pattern.

Then it becomes how accurately or clearly

a person wants to understand which of their archetypes

are engaged in a battle with somebody else."

Chaque conflit, tout,

est fondé sur une sorte de modèle archétypal.

Ensuite, il s'agit de savoir plus ou moins précisément

lequel de nos archétypes est engagé

dans la bataille avec quelqu’un d’autre,.

- Caroline Myss

AUTHORS & ARCHETYPES / AUTEURS & ARCHÉTYPES