Archetypes of the Awakening
[Joseph} Campbell described the "hero’s journey" as one we must all take in order to separate the "ordinary world" from oneself, and to sacrifice oneself to righting all the wrongs we observe in the world. We answer a "call to adventure" in order to begin this journey into the "out there" but really we are exploring what we have to learn inside of ourselves in this incarnation. The hero is, in fact, the first archetype. He or she is the protagonist. Without them, the story would fall flat, and so it is our experience in flesh and bone. Though some will argue that the mono-myth falls short of describing all the characters within the play of life, they certainly are helpful in understanding that we all play a role, and that we can choose a different one, just as easily as changing a costume in a Shakespearean play.
The Hero
The hero is everywhere. It appears in every ancient myth, popular culture, ancient culture, and epic story. The hero is often born under unusual circumstances, either under unusually precarious conditions or into royalty, and once they receive the “call to adventure” they leave their homes to continue their journey. They often have super-natural gifts (clairvoyance, and clairaudience, among them) and must face many trials in life in order to atone with the father archetype, thus annihilating their egoic selves, to gain spiritual boons. The hero serves as an idealized person who can deal with trials and tribulations in ways that the average person cannot.
The Mentor
Sometimes the mentor appears as a teacher, or a sage. Their purpose is to test the hero’s will, their commitment to the task at hand, and their ability to stay the path on their epic journey. The mentor can guide the hero, but they can also guide any of the other archetypes represented in the play of life.
The Shadow
This is usually the antagonist of the story. You may find that depending upon your relationship to another person, you are their antagonist. Someone else might be yours. The shadow’s function is to get in the way of the hero or heroine obtaining their objective, but more importantly, represents subconscious detritus that has not been brought to the surface to deal with consciously. [T]he shadow is not all bad. It is simply the unknown ‘‘dark side’’ of our personality ... dark both because it tends to consist predominantly of the primitive, negative, socially or religiously depreciated human emotions and impulses like sexual lust, power strivings, selfishness, greed, envy, anger, or rage, and due to its unenlightened nature, completely obscured from consciousness. It is when the shadow comes to life that we realize our hero’s journey and succeed.
Whatever we deem evil, inferior or unacceptable and deny in ourselves becomes part of the shadow ... the shadow is the sum of all personal and collective psychic elements which, because of their incompatibility with the chosen conscious attitude, are denied expression in life.
The Ally
[C]ompanions that help us on our journey. They show faithful support, and often reflect the positive aspects of our selves we forget about, but that need reflection during certain meetings with other archetypes like the shadow self.
The Shapeshifter
This is the element of the story, your story, that provides doubt. It is the non-believer ... the voice in your head that tells you the story cannot proceed. The shapeshifter will make it difficult for the hero to stay the course, providing all manner of diversion and questioning about the hero’s true purpose.
The Trickster
Also known as the clown, or the jester, the Trickster is similar to the shapeshifter, in that its purpose is to throw the hero off-balance. The trickster has the directly opposite role as the Guardian or Mentor. They represent temptation.
The Seeker
Also known as the wanderer or the dreamer, the seeker is perpetually looking for answers. They can seem like a ‘lost’ soul that never finds an anchor, but they also help to drive the story forward, by all manner of inquiry. The seeker is so driven for answers that they will even put themselves in danger, and act in spontaneous or knee-jerk ways just so that they can "seek" more. [Like] Siddhartha ... the seeker is very valuable, but only the hero finds the ultimate truth.
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