The Power of Archetypes

Chapter 2| Writer's Commentary

Thanks for your comments, questions, and edits for Chapter 1! You are really making this process very rewarding, thank you! I hope you enjoyed the first audio episode as well.

We’re now going to be moving to Chapter 2, which is actually where the story starts. This chapter is based on my grandfather who I would love to make this chapter a tribute to him.

He taught me many things at a very early age and I looked up to him and sometimes wish I can sort of ‘download’ some of his qualities: A passion for creativity, a deep practice of forgiveness, and a childish sense of curiosity.

He once explained to me how important hobbies were for one’s life. He was much more than an army general, but a writer, photographer, and painter. Losing him wasn’t easy, but it is only after he died when I realized that these qualities are still accessible. I just have to find some way to practice them, and maybe bring a little part of him to life every now and then.

An idea that struck me as I continue to explore who I am, is the idea of archetypes as first described by Carl Jung as “models of people, behavior, or personalities”. The idea is that these live within our psyche, and we can access them anytime and invite them to be part of our conscious selves.

Think of them as incredible vintage original records that are stored away in a bookshelf, but you know that you can blast any of them at any time and bring in the words of Frank Sinatra, Pink Floyd, or Gunsn’Roses. Just like different artists, different archetypes have different roles in our lives and help us at various stages, all we have to do is play the right song at the right time.

In order for us to make a good choice, we have to know what kind of albums we have in the library and sort them out a little so that we know what songs we have and how to find them. Carl Jung wrote a lot about how we can explore these archetypes that are within us through dream journaling and art therapy, and are mostly related to where we come from and who we come from.

The archetype that I explore in Chapter 2 is Maskat’s grandfather and he is the first of many that will be exposed in each chapter. This archetype is a creative, world-loving, and kind one. One that brings wisdom and a fierce strength of knowing.

There is a lot of that that comes up in both old-school religions and new-age mumbo jumbo that calls towards that idea of learning from our ancestors, and that is because it works. The only way I have found it to be meaningful though is when the archetype I am trying to access is someone I know rather than some deity/fictional hero.

I am not a religious guy, but I am trying to use drama and stories to explore my own consciousness. I hope that my explorations of characters and archetypes in these coming chapters allow you to reflect on the people in your life who have provided guidance that served you, whether they are still with us or not.

It may sound freaky, but leveraging my grandfather as some sort of spirit guide has helped me immensely in the past few years, and I am going to invite my sister to talk about this in the next episode, where together, we shall attempt to summon my grandfather’s spirit!

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• Every 2 weeks: I will open up one of the chapters for discussion. You can see which chapter we are on by clicking on ‘Top’ on the homepage. You’ll see all relevant posts to the current chapter.

• For each chapter, I will add some commentary on the themes within it and I will occasionally interview some of the folks that inspired this writing.

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