Archetype models: Map + compass
Roman Odintsov, Pexels
I’ve encountered quite a few archetype models over the past decade – the Myers Briggs system (MBTI), Human Design, astrology, even Ainslie McLeod’s Old Soul Types. An entrepreneur that I once knew in the beginning stages of her own business released in the new year a set of proprietary intuitive types (which one are you?).
I find these structures relevant, as I too have been developing a suite of identities to be observed and identified with.
But why do we like these models? Why are we attracted to structure and why are we uncomfortable with the lack of it? Besides being a novel, low-commitment-level sort of experience anyone can enjoy, do the predeterminations of archetypes have deeper value for us?
Control is just asserting agency, and reducing ambiguity. Structure provides a sense of control in an unpredictable world. Archetype models offer psychological and emotional frameworks that empower individuals to navigate uncertainty, define roles, and make sense of their lives. By aligning yourself with an archetype, you suddenly feel a sense of direction and mastery over your circumstances. More than domination, control through archetypes is more like adaptive self-regulation. They may provide you with the flexibility to explore different facets of your identity while maintaining a consistent narrative and connection to a broader human experience.
Stress often arises from uncertainty, chaos, or an inability to make sense of overwhelming circumstances (a day in the life of a budding entrepreneur). Archetypes can make us feel a bit less helpless, as they provide a roadmap for interpreting struggles and navigating solutions. Decision-making can be stressful too, for anyone, especially in complex or seemingly high-stakes situations. Archetypes simplify this by imposing an identity onto us; when you adopt the traits, patterns, strengths, and weaknesses of an archetype, you are reducing the cognitive load required to evaluate endless possibilities. The validation and attunement of resonating with a particular archetype can therefore reduce feelings of isolation.
What is interesting to me personally is how it relates to the concept of traditional storytelling. I’m fascinated constantly by oral tradition and information being passed down generationally. There is security and some emotional relief in normalizing and sharing about struggle, for instance, and also highlighting pathways to recovery. There are archetypes in our blood (considering now roles of hunters, gatherers, and healers in our prehistoric communities, for example).
This is partly why I think art and creative expression are important too – do we not strive to be our fictional counterparts? At the very least, we can identify our jesters, rebels, and heroes in television, film, and books. We can look to Marmee March for warmth and a mother’s soft touch, to Jack Sparrow for a laugh, and to Matilda Wormwood for hope and vindication.
Not that she is a personal hero of mine per say, but we know that Glinda the Good Witch was a symbol of relief and safety and goodness. As a designer, I find myself wondering if Glinda would have been perceived any less safe or good if she wore blue instead of pink, or if her sleeves weren’t so puffy? If she were less sparkly?
Sometimes I think Cave is simply an ongoing investigation of the relationship between things we feel inside and things we see and touch.
So what do archetypes have to do with interior space?
Well, I recently launched Foundations. Besides there being some magic for me in the first few sessions, it occurred to me that the conversation around spirit and space is not one that many have. So as to make this work more relatable, I’ve been developing another unique offering (that doesn’t yet have a name).
It does have a lot to do with archetypes, but I want to start emphasizing now truly how much flexibility we have with our lives and how different they may look from each other. I once ate so many archetype models that I got sick of all of them for several years… I started to feel overwhelmed and ashamed for some reason. I wondered if I was throwing my power away by believing in something that was not borne by me? For not having an original thought? Was I treating my agency like a hot potato?
In retrospect, no. I was just learning and growing. And to further this point, I’ll borrow words from Deepak Chopra:
If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish you for another. The universe has no fixed agenda. Once you make any decision, it works around that decision. There is no right or wrong, only a series of possibilities that shift with each thought, feeling, and action that you experience.
So maybe its a matter of emphasizing this idea of adaptive self-regulation. The balance between committing you to yourself, while being guided by the somehow wizened, whose energy fields have coagulated over time to tell us vaguely: caregiver, lover, sage, etc.
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