But his match, in keeping with the profile of this pattern, must have emotional independence and the self-esteem to be immune to his manipulative skills. These archetypes share the common trait of converting some form of matter into an altered expression of itself. The energy of Venus (Aphrodite) is prevalent in women who form their self-image strongly around their sexuality.

Choosing the Wounded Child suggests that you credit the painful and abusive experiences of your childhood with having a substantial influence on your adult life. Films: Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity; Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction; Theresa Russell in Black Widow; Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; Kathleen Turner in Body Heat; Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra. The Starving Artist represents the fear of financial ruin or the belief that fame and fortune come only after death, which often cause artists to suppress their talents. Films: Eve Arden in Mildred Pierce, The Lady Takes a Sailor, The Kid from Brooklyn; Frank Sinatra and Montgomery Clift in From Here to Eternity; Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis in Thelma and Louise.Religion/Myth: Circe (in Greek myth, a sorceress/seductress who could turn men into animals with her magic wand); Potiphar’s wife (in the Hebrew Bible, when her attempt to seduce Joseph failed, she had him thrown into captivity.

The Wizard and Magician produce results outside the ordinary rules of life, whether causing people to fall in love or objects to disappear.The oldest religious tradition on earth may well be Goddess worship, which some archaeologists trace back further than 30,000 years. To count this archetype as part of your support group, however, you will need to discern in your life a continuing pattern of devoting yourself to teaching others from your own spiritual insights. Therapeutic support groups become shadow tribes or families for an Orphan Child who knows deep down that healing these wounds requires moving on to adulthood. In evaluating your connection to this archetype, review your life for experiences in which your primary motivation was to defend or represent a cause in behalf of others. Films: Kim Stanley in The Goddess; Ava Gardner in One Touch of Venus; Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch; Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite.

The Clown reflects the emotions of the crowd, making an audience laugh by satirizing something they can relate to collectively or by acting out social absurdities. The connection of fertility with exaggerated sexual attributes found in ancient statues of the Goddess survive in modern worship of screen goddesses such as Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. Gandhi countered the shadow of social vengeance by emphasizing passive resistance to illegitimate authority. At the same time, because every one of the Child aspects is present in various degrees of strength in every psyche, similar patterns often overlap, making it hard to distinguish which one you relate to most intensely. The Magical Child is gifted with the power of imagination and the belief that everything is possible.

To claim this archetype among your support circle of twelve, you need to have a life-long sense of great power, used either selfishly or selflessly. In general, the messages communicated through a Clown’s humor are deeply serious and often critical of the hypocrisy in an individual or in some area of society. Throughout history, the pendulum has swung from good Kings to evil, from benevolent, even saintly rulers to greedy, gluttonous criminals. Conventional wisdom holds that underneath a bully is a coward trying to keep others from discovering his true identity. Religion/Myth: Ulysses (hero of The Odyssey whose most renowned trait was his supreme resourcefulness, the ability to find a way out of the most dangerous situation); Arjuna (in the Bhagavad Gita, his questioning of his Hero/Warrior role leads the god Krishna to instruct him in divine wisdom); Hidesato (in Japanese legend, a killer of many monsters, including the feared Centipede); Saynday (a hero-trickster of the Native American Kiowa tribe); Paul Bunyan (legendary hero of the lumber camps of the American Northwest, whose feats included creating the Grand Canyon by dragging his axe behind him); Theseus (Athenian hero who slew the Marathonian Bull and the Minotaur); Bernardo del Caprio (semi-mythical ninth-century Spanish credited with defeating Roland at Roncesvalles).