Archetypes and the 7 Chakras  

By Charles Mathias

The collective unconscious can be likened to a vast storehouse for the shared memories, experiences, wisdom, and universal archetypes of the human race.  Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, in The Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious, describes archetypes in terms of patterns of behavior.  Because we are connected to the collective unconscious through our subconscious mind, Jung believed these patterns or models of conduct – both positive and negative – serve to organize our experience and guide our unconscious behavior. 

Because archetypes emerge from a core of common human experience, we easily recognize them when we see them in mythology, literature, and movies.  For example, the Warrior hero is courageous and steadfast, willing to risk life and limb in the cause of justice.  Our emotions are stirred as we watch the Warrior struggle against and overcome insurmountable odds.  We want to be like the Warrior.  At a subconscious level, we form an emotional kinship with a collection of archetypes that influence our behavior and make sense of our daily experiences in the world.  The trick is to become aware of which ones, particularly the negative ones, are influencing our behavior.

When the 7 chakras are open and balanced, they are represented by a particular archetype of our subconscious.  When the chakras are unbalanced, they can be either blocked or too open.  If this is the case, the chakras are represented by negative archetypes.  An examination of each chakra in terms of its archetypes can be extremely helpful in understanding where we are along the path of our spiritual journey and the work we need to do to balance chakras in light of the positive archetypes associated with them.  The table below shows the positive and negative archetypes of all 7 chakras.

Take, for example, the Servant or Drudge archetype.  In order to stop unconsciously living like the Servant, it is first necessary to become conscious of the fact that this archetype is informing our behavior.  At that point, however, hypnosis or self-hypnosis can be an amazing tool in helping us tap into the latent Warrior archetype that is already there in the subconscious mind.  In fact, since the archetypes of the collective unconscious can be accessed by tapping into that 95% of the mind that is subconscious, then hypnosis or self-hypnosis may be the best way to facilitate spiritual growth, achieve spiritual insight, develop intuition, and ultimately connect with Universal Mind.

To read more about how you can create your own self-hypnosis script to balance chakras, check out this article.  To start on your own spiritual journey through the chakras, you need to begin at the beginning with the Root chakra.  To learn more, click here.