The Victim Archetype

In the last blog I gave you  some information about the Saboteur Archetype and encouraged you to use the information to explore within yourself in the privacy of your journal. Today, I am focusing on the Victim Archetype.  This information comes from information from Caroline Myss' work in her Sacred Contracts book and the classes I took from her on Medical Intuition and Sacred Contracts. I have also added information that I have gained from working as a mental health counselor and chemical dependency professional for over 20 years.

Remember that we all have 4 archetypes that we share. These are the Child, Victim, Saboteur and Prostitute.  Each of these archetypes have a positive side to them and with the Victim it is Self-Esteem. This would be the other side of the victim.  The focus of my newsletter is All Healing is Self-Healing. This is also the focus of my book 12 Weeks to Self-Healing: Evolving Through Chronic Pain.

In the process of self-healing, you have to come to terms with your victim self and move beyond this state of being. You can identify your victim, confront the behavior, love and forgive yourself and bring your energy into present time. In fact, unless you can bring at least 80% of your energy into present time, you will not have the power to self-heal. What do I mean by bringing yourself into present time? Watch your thoughts. Do you go off to the future (which can create anxiety) or drift off to the past (which can cause depression) or are you able to be present in the moment?

I will write more about present time, but for now, enjoy exploring this archetype that can bring you high self-esteem once you embrace this part of yourself and move on!

Victim Archetype

Guardian of Self Esteem

Core issue is whether it is worth giving up your own sense of empowerment to avoid taking responsibility for your independence.

• When you don't stand up for yourself after awhile you no longer can tell the difference whether you are being victimized or not; so either you are being victimized and don't know it or you are not being victimized, but act as if you are.
• The victim archetype helps you decide what you will or will not do; a guardian of personal boundaries.
• Lessons associated with the victim archetype demand that you evaluate your relationship to power, especially with people with whom you have control issues and have to set boundaries.
• Primary objective is to develop self-esteem and personal power.
• You have contracts with people whose primary purpose is to help you develop yourself-esteem through acts of honesty, integrity, courage, endurance and self-respect.
• The victim will entice you to feel sorry for yourself.
• You can act like a victim and give in or call upon your companions and guides for help.
• Like the lion in the Wizard of Oz, you need to have the courage to look at your victim and make it your ally.
• Do you victimize yourself in the way you interpret conversations with other people?
• Does your victim alert you to protect yourself rather than letting people take advantage of you?
• Does your victim motivate you to be shrewd in the dealings of whatever house it is in?
• Does your empowered victim allow you to take risks in your life?
• The victim urges us to act appropriately when we are in danger of being victimized.
• The victim can alert us to being victimized through passivity and rash or inappropriate actions.
• It can also alert us to how we victimize others for personal gain.
• In shadow it may show how we play victim for sympathy or pity.

Bless your heart,

Candess

The Saboteur Within - Exploring this Archetype

I was talking with a client earlier this week whose saboteur archetype is in full force and then last night with a friend about relationships after he read my blog on soul mates. According to the teachings of Caroline Myss (I love her work) there are 4 main archetypes we all share. They are the Child, Victim, Saboteur and Prostitute.
I took a class from Caroline many years ago on Sacred Contracts and then taught from her book of the same name. From the information I gained from her and some of my own experiences, I came up with a list of characteristics of these archetypes. Myss explains how each of these four archetypes are like legs of a table in which we build our life. I'll share the information first about the Saboteur Archetype which Myss refers to as the Guardian of Choice. If you journal, this will give you a great opportunity to explore your inner life journaling from these characteristics.
Core issue of saboteur is fear of inviting changes into your life; changes that shape and deepen your spirit

• Other side of destruction is rebuilding and rebirth
• Use saboteur to consciously dismantle areas of your life you need to fix or heal
• Makes itself known through disruption and resistance
• Is the mirror that reflects your fears of taking responsibility for yourself and what you create
• You can silence the saboteur with acts of courage and following your intuition
• Listen to the small voice and make choices - small ones to begin with
• Shadow saboteur will play on your fears that you are not good enough to accomplish anything on your own
• We are afraid that if we are enlightened we will be alone, wont' be vulnerable, capable of sensual love, so we feed the shadow saboteur, the part of use that is fragmented
• We fear empowerment because we think it will remove us from the warmth and comfort of loved ones
• We fear empowerment because we don't want to be responsible for our actions and therefore consciously or unconsciously encourage our weakness and hold onto our fears; we do want to be around others that are empowered or enlightened though
• Do you sabotage your personal growth for a little comfort or does your inner saboteur alert you to stay on the Yellow Brick Road
• Work with your saboteur to see where you may be doing yourself in (what are you doing you know you should not be doing and what you are not doing that you know you should be doing?
• Have you blown an opportunity to follow a dream?
• Saboteur is made up of the fears and issues related to low self esteem that cause you to make choices in your life that block your own empowerment and success
• When you make the saboteur your ally it can call your attention to ways you might be sabotaged or sabotage yourself and then you can make other choices The intellect of the scarecrow can work with your saboteur to alert you to when you are doing yourself in

I love the Spokane River!

During the blogging workshop this morning put on by Jeff Gish and Pia Hallenberg Christensen, I met a young man who was new to Spokane. We chatted about what brought him here and I thought about having lived in Spokane all my life. I remember saying when I left, check out the Spokane River.

When I think about Spokane, what I love is the river.
I’ve walked the Spokane River for nearly 30 years now.  Originally I walked near Gonzaga University and now in Peaceful Valley where I live.

Domingo, my Cairn terrier mix and I love the walk to People’s Park. We walk across the Sanifer Bridge and I delight in feeling the water mist up on my skin.  A cacophony of birds lead us deeper in the park where Latah Creek intersects with the Spokane River.  The creek, also known as Hangman Creek changes seasonally from being like a rolling river, to a frozen lake and in late summer to a few puddles you can walk across. My favorite time is in the early spring when the frozen creek breaks and 6-inch ice chucks feed the river.
The Spokane River is a photographer’s dream!

Latah, or Hangman Creek is an area where the Spokane Indians used to camp. My friends, Bill Kostelec, The Blue Ribbon Tea Company wrote a song, The Pride of Vinegar Flats about this.
Enough writing, we’re going for a walk!

Listening to my body at the Ashram!

The last 10 days of July I had an incredible experience at the Yasodhara Ashram in beautiful British Columbia. I was aware of this Ashram because of the Radha Yoga Center in Spokane where I have taken yoga and dream classes for several years.

You may be aware of my experience with adrenal fatigue in 2008 and 2009. At the retreat one day our focus was on Relaxation and Rest. What happened for me was I realized (again) I didn't know how to rest. Previously, I would get tired and use caffeine and sugar to push through. We experienced Hidden Language Yoga and it was wonderful. After the pose, we journaled. First we did the Bridge and Tranquility Poses to become aware of our spine. Then we did the Cobra. We dialogued with ourselves after each pose. The question I journaled with was "What do I surrender to?" The answer could be another blog or newsletter. For me my back clearly disclosed that it needed further support and in the cobra I understood my abdomen needs to support my back. This will alleviate the back twinges I get occasionally.

Also, I contemplated the relationship between Joy and Surrender. I clearly understood I fight with mySelf inwardly by choosing confusion and indecision rather than surrendering and moving into a state of wait. I fight outwardly by resisting rather than accepting and letting life unfold. When I surrender, there is no struggle and I feel JOY!

Class focused on rest and we did some relaxation and visualization exercises. It was delightful. During lunch and on our break we were asked to be in silence. I spend a lot of time alone, but I became aware of how much rest I get when I am in conscious silence.




I spent time on the beach of Kootenay Lake and had quite a walk back up to my room in Saraswati. As I began the journey back I decided to bring rest into my life. I will write more about this when I write and share my Karma Yoga experience. On the way back I decided to stop to rest after a number of steps. I looked at the flowers, the trees, the birds, the cherries and the apples on each rest stop. When I got to the steps I decided to take 10 steps and rest, 10 steps and rest. It was an incredible experience. Whenever I stopped, the colors were so much more grand!

My desire for the retreat was rest. Now I am rested, have learned incredible tools and am more conscious of my life and my relationship with the Divine!

Bless your heart, Candess