I’m sure you’ve come across archetype quizzes that tell you how to brand yourself, or how to know what stage of business you’re in. Another one I see a lot is how to find your Money or Love archetype.
Quizzes have been all the rage for at least four years now. I know they are engaging, but I see them as the fast food of the marketing world. They give instant satisfaction, but they don’t nourish or provide lasting meaning to our lives or businesses.
Asking questions that dig below the surface can be a wonderful antidote to engage your potential customers. One of my favorite questions to ask my clients is who their favorite characters/celebrities/stories are and WHY. When they are able to see into the mirror of another character, they see into a piece of themselves.
This engages their imaginations! The imagination is the greatest magical tool you possess. Quizzes on the other hand, take imagination out of the equation—the archetype becomes a stereotype.
The word “archetype” comes from the Greek arkhe meaning “beginning, origin, first place” and typos meaning “model, type, blow, mark of a blow.” In essence, it means the first; the original form from which all other models are sculpted.
We tend to think of these archetypes as empty constructs that we can pour ourselves into, as if they were costumes for dress up. However, they are divine blueprints. They bring us into contact with the numinous. Archetypes are meant to deepen our understanding of the nature of ourselves and humanity. They are so much more than simple clothes that one can put on one day and then discard the next.
I am in love with the “archetypes” too. But, are we merely using them as play toys when we should be approaching them with reverence?
Case in point, the tale of Psyche + Eros.
In the story, Psyche becomes so popular that she is given libations and offerings as if she is the goddess Aphrodite herself. All the while, Aphrodite’s temples have moldy food and dead flowers because the people have forsaken the true goddess in favor of a mortal woman.
Aren’t we doing the same with the archetypes today?
As we rush to worship actors, models, rock stars, athletes, fame, money and fortune, we are forsaking the Sacred. In the story, Aphrodite is angered by man’s folly and lack of reverence. She lashes out at poor Psyche with plans to destroy her.
The lack of love for our bodies, and for Pleasure itself, is a sure sign that we are not attending to Aphrodite’s temple.
Archetypes make things easier to explain and to connect to abstract concepts, but I wonder if there is a different way to talk about them that brings them back to where they truly belong—in the realm of the numinous.
Can we create a new language that speaks to the mysteries and depths of the cosmos rather than just sticking to a word that has become completely bland and devoid of its true meaning?
I hope to do this myself and I’ve seen others struggling with “how” this can be achieved.
I’m writing book number two (entitled Unbound) and it’s shifting how I see archetypes and the way we inhabit our physical forms. More on that in the weeks to come.
Nose to the grindstone, as they say!
The book will be in its first print by October 2018 and I’ll get an Indiegogo campaign going for those of you who want to jump in, support the self-publishing process and get it in your hands FIRST.
It’s good to be first.
Be the original. You don’t need to BE another archetype.
Please just be you, wonderful YOU.
You’ll get online individual support daily in our private Facebook group, weekly mini-tarot readings, bi-weekly masterminds, quarterly writing retreats, all of my online business courses and marketing guides, and a treasure trove of meditations.
Higher Ground is your magic carpet ride into the future *you* desire to co-create with Divine Intelligence … and a space for savouring the erotic, the sacred and the mystical within you.
Kris is a brand strategist and marketing copywriter that coaches creative and spiritually-minded entrepreneurs who are determined to find more meaning, magic AND profit in their businesses.
She was a once a corporate marketing director and lead website developer for some pretty big names, including Citrix Online, E! Entertainment Television, Disney, ABC, Paramount Pictures. She even made her employer $1 million with a single e-newsletter once.
But, like you, she heard the siren’s call and decided to pursue a life of pleasure, doing what she loves.
She has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs create a business and livelihood that feels otherworldly … seductive … enthralling … and totally pleasure-soaked.
When Kris isn’t working, you can find her priestessing rituals, writing mermaid erotica, dancing Indian classical and fusion styles, playing her congas, or frolicking in the surf with her 10-year old girl.