The Archetypes By Ross Bishop

Carl Jung identified 12 core archetypes that are recurring patterns in humanity's collective unconscious. They generally describe common human behavior types. Examples include the hero, the villain, the wise person, the artist, the caregiver, the trickster, and others.

All of these appear in various mythologies throughout history, showing their universality. Jung believed these patterns were innate and that they influenced and reflected both how we perceived and interacted with the world.

For our discussion, I will focus on one universal archetype that stands out more than the others in shaping our personal growth: the archetypal Mother. The Mother is prominent because she embodies qualities that are both universal and uniquely hers. These qualities go beyond typical archetypes and highlight compassion, including caring, understanding, kindness, and empathy.

These qualities are often undeveloped in us because they emerge in later stages of spiritual growth. They require the individual to step outside themselves and take the risk of connecting with others, which involves the possibility of rejection or misunderstanding.

Here’s how the transition works: In the etheric realm, you need to develop essential qualities in yourself, such as compassion, nurturance, and especially self-love. It may seem strange, but the way this gets resolved is that you come to Earth, take on a physical body, and then face a series of negative experiences—mainly from your Earth parents who were specifically chosen for you to provide exactly what you needed to grow and move forward. 

And while teaching you many valuable qualities, they also, because of their own unresolved fears, perfectly amplified the issues you came to work on. This is not accidental. When you examine anyone’s issues, you’ll see a clear link between their problems and the wounds caused by their parents. This pattern is too universal to be just a coincidence.

The goal is for you to confront your limiting beliefs, ultimately reject them, and embrace the truth. This must happen because you have free will; therefore, the truth cannot simply be handed to you. We have to discover it ourselves. And once we do, we will hold the truth so firmly that it cannot be shaken. That is the beauty of the Creator’s scheme.

The downside of this process is that we have to challenge what we believe about ourselves. And this is no small task! So, take a moment to list the areas where you're out of sync—those places where you feel tension or conflict with others, such as feelings of unworthiness, unlovability, fear, and other character flaws.

Now that you've made your list, review it. These qualities are a key part of who we are. Letting go of them, even if we dislike these parts and know they hold us back, and we are told we would be better without them, feels like leaving a piece of ourselves on the dining room table.

There is a brief period during transition when you've left behind the old ways but haven't fully embraced the new, which can be very disorienting. You’ve given up the safety of the old, and you lack confidence in the new path you’ve chosen.

Luckily, there's a two-step process to help you manage this all. The first step is to build a strong, working connection with the Creator. This creates a reliable link to the truth that acts as a vital anchor for what's ahead. If you've attended my previous workshop, you already know how to do this, so you can skip this step. 

For the rest of you, the idea is simple and easy to overlook. But it is extremely powerful! I encourage you to use it often to build a strong foundation for yourself. I can't stress enough how impactful this resource can be in your healing journey!

Note: All these exercises might feel threatening to the part of you that believes it isn't lovable or worthy—your wounded inner child. If you notice yourself resisting, take a closer look at where that reluctance comes from. If either of your parents had issues, they would have acted in ways that sent your otherwise innocent child messages that something was wrong or defective in them. This is where your beliefs about yourself began.

As a result, your inner child may have agreed with a negative entity that offered you “protection” from outside influences. This “protection” involved your maintaining negative beliefs, which caused you to hold back from life and stay at least temporarily safe. Recognizing this is essential because otherwise, it will sabotage your progress, no matter how badly you want to move forward. If you notice troubling or disruptive thoughts, pay attention to their “flat” energy. Tell them to back off. And yes, you have the power to do that. If your pain becomes overwhelming, seek professional help. Find a good shaman.

But if you stay focused and clear in your intention, know that the Creator’s love and support have always been there for you. So, get calm and centered in your heart, then feel the chakra at the very top of your head. There is a column of energy there that extends straight up into the heavens. Notice how safe it feels. Connect with that energy and ask to be taken up to meet the Creator.

A warning: this is where most interference happens. Keep asking to be taken. Don’t get discouraged if it takes a few tries. You will know when you arrive. Once you are in the Creator’s presence, feel His compassion. It is quite unmistakable.

Once you arrive, ask Him to reveal the truth about yourself to you. You will hear only a few words, or be given an image or symbol, or feel a certain sensation. Whatever it is, accept it because it is the truth! Make sure to write down what you receive. Learn to use this exercise whenever you're uncertain or have doubts about yourself or the process. It will provide a strong anchor to the truth and help you dispel your false beliefs.

When you're done, say thanks and then return. You can use this method to verify facts, question your beliefs, or explore any other questions about life. Once you're reasonably comfortable with the Creator, move on to the next step. Keep the same space you used with the Creator and invite the archetypal Mother to join you.

The Mother can help you identify, if you don't already know, where your beliefs block the truth. In her presence, your bodily sensations will guide you to where your beliefs are rooted. Ask her to help you see what’s beneath what you feel. Your response might differ from this, but generally, when you feel pressure in your head, your mind is overpowering your heart. Tension in your neck and shoulders usually indicates a reluctance to connect physically. Pressure in your chest often points to issues with being compassionate. Turmoil in your abdomen generally signals a reluctance to be open and engage. 

Beneath each of these are one or more beliefs. Ask her for help in connecting with the inner child who holds the beliefs that underpin these sensations. The beliefs your inner child holds are where you are out of alignment with the truth. You will feel her gentle yet firm support, which will help you realize that what you believe is not true.

Your next step is to accept the truth, which, in a broad sense, you have already received from the Creator. While it's easy for me to write this, it can be challenging to do. If you feel unlovable or unworthy, those qualities have become part of your self-image, and because you believe them, this is how you've acted. As a result, what kind of feedback has life given you?

Review the “list” you made earlier. Do you truly feel worthy? Are you lovable? What other negative qualities do you see in yourself? This is where truth comes in. The simple truth is that you can feel these things, but none of them can be true. I repeat, none of the things you think can even possibly be true! You may act in a certain way, but the truth will conflict with the beliefs you hold. Your childhood and life experiences point in one direction, but the Creator and the truth point entirely in the opposite. 

Does this feel like you have a choice? You really don't. If you observe other people’s life experiences, you'll notice that negative beliefs always lead to pain and suffering, which ultimately result in a crisis, and then lead to embracing the truth. For example, if you don’t believe you are lovable or worthy, you're headed toward some kind of crisis or series of crises that can only have one outcome. Life cannot tolerate false beliefs. 

So, when your beliefs clash with the truth, you often create problems for yourself. But the thing is, those problems will eventually force you to confront your negative beliefs! The reality is, we all end up at the same destination. There is only one place you can go, and the only difference is how much pain you cause yourself along the way. Holding the truth, on the other hand, makes for a much smoother path. When you're kind, thoughtful, and compassionate, life and the world will respond in kind.

I have created a workshop that addresses these concepts in detail and provides some good exercises to help with the transition. You can find it at: https://www.rossbishop.com/workshop/ 

About Ross Bishop: I became a healer as an outgrowth of my own need for healing. My pain and dissatisfaction with my life brought me to leave the corporate world and begin a journey to find and root out the sources of the considerable pain I carried within myself. I found western psychology to be woefully inadequate to help me and so I set out to find more meaningful answers. 

My teachers all encouraged me after working on my own stuff to go outside myself and help others to heal, not as a humanitarian service but as a way to deepen my own healing process. I found that I had a gift for the work and that my teachers were absolutely right. Serving others is a remarkable learning process. My clients over the last 25 years have taken me to places I could not have gone on my own. I am deeply grateful for the gifts of personal growth that our work together has given me. 

In a former life, Ross was president of an advertising agency and a communications executive for the former Northern States Power Company (NSP) in Minneapolis. After leaving NSP, with a colleague he founded Creative Power Workshops and traveled the country teaching creative thinking to advertising writers and art directors. Seeing the limitations fear placed on people’s creative passion led Ross to undertake a spiritual journey in search of answers. That journey covered many miles and several years and brought him to many teachers. Finding some answers, Ross also found he possessed a natural gift for shamanic healing. He returned to this country and conducted vision quests for spiritual pilgrims throughout the Southwestern United States. Today he concentrates his energies on writing and on an active healing and counseling practice in Santa Fe. 

Ross Bishop’s website: https://www.rossbishop.com/