For many of us, our intuitive nature has become buried beneath our rational thinking mind and our instinctual conditioning.  As societal expectations have largely not supported the intuitive function, we consequently rely on the rational mind which offers a limited scope of perspective, choice and possibility. Listening to our intuition serves as our inner compass, guiding and reuniting ourselves with our own inner knowledge; intuition is the language of the soul.

An archetype is a universal pattern or symbol which all humans experience in some form. It is recognized and understood by the image that comes to mind when we encounter a particular archetype, and serves as a symbol to us.

Archetypes have been present from the earliest civilizations; these universal projections belong to what the depth psychologist Carl Jung called “the collective unconscious”: the structure of the human psyche that autonomously organizes human experience through universal vs personal symbols.

Each of us perceives an archetype differently in accordance with our personal backgrounds. For example the archetype of the “Mother” or “Father” bring up distinct individual images for everyone based on their experiences of parent. Some archetypes represent a concept such as “Marriage” or “Death”, which also brings to mind individual beliefs and images.

As well, the astrological signs of the zodiac and planets embody various archetypes which represent aspects of the ego/personality. Here the astrological model adds significance in the way that archetypal patterns work themselves into our lives.

The archetypal journey towards self knowledge involves recognizing ways in which particular archetypes function within each of us; through this understanding we can identify patterns and beliefs that remain hidden or denied and more fully realize ourselves.