The deck I chose today is called “The Wild Unknown Archetype Guidebook”. This deck is one of my favorites. And no, I won’t say that everytime I mention a deck. Though, I do have a lot of favorites! Why do I love this one? Because everything about it, from the box, the cards, the book, the way she writes in the book, all of it is so wonderfully vibrant.
As you probably can guess, the cards in this deck each represent an archetype. So if you’re a fan of Jungian archetypes, ya gonna love this deck! When I got this deck I had been binge reading books that had been influenced by Carl Jung’s theories. I think it started with the book “We”, by Robert A Johnson. The author uses the myth of Tristan and Iseult, as well as Jungian philosophy, to help explain the psychology of romantic love. After reading that book, I read two more of his books, “She” and “He”; both books have a similar format as “We”, using myths to describe feminine and masculine psychology. In addition to those books, I was really into reading about the shadow self. Yup, I couldn’t get enough, and it was Jung,Jung,Jung morning, noon, and night. (“That’s what she said”, Freud just interjected in my head.) The really cool thing about archetypes and Jung’s theories surrounding them is that they have been showing up since the beginning of time, in every culture, across the globe. Jung doesn’t take credit for inventing them, he acknowledges that he based his ideas in part from ideas expressed by the Greek philosopher Plato. So yeah, when I say they’ve been around for a while, it goes waaay back.
ANYway, the author of this deck feels that archetypes are infinite and can’t be boxed into any definitive list. (Of course, Jung and his 12 mythical friends might have something to say about that.) She also doesn’t just use archetypal selves, she also uses places, tools (think glass slippers or a sword), and initiations (as in big moments in life). Pulling a card from this deck provides the opportunity to learn about a new archetype and to figure out where it might be showing up in your life.
The card I pulled today is the archetype “The Self”, which it describes as “the soul, the witness, the watcher”. The card asks that we observe ourselves navigating the world and try to see the “you behind the you”. I’m going to admit something…. I didn’t have enough time to pull a card this morning, so it wasn’t until early this evening that I pulled a card. Which means, I didn’t think about the card during the day like I usually would. Because of that, I didn’t spend the day trying to observe myself. I might try and do that tomorrow, though this is something I remember doing before when reading the book “Untethered Soul”. Have you heard of that book? If not, here’s a quote from that book that will give you an idea of what it’s about…
“To attain true inner freedom, you must be able to objectively watch your problems instead of being lost in them.”
Michael A Singer
It’s an interesting exercise, consciously watching yourself react to your life. (I say consciously watching, because disassociation is a similar experience, but it’s not done consciously or on purpose.) The only thing I remember from that book is my reaction to something I was reading in it. I don’t even remember what I read, only that I got all trippy with myself, trying to sit and observe myself and my thoughts. Try it, I’m not kidding, it is trippy. It’s not like meditation, where you’re trying to empty your mind of all your thoughts. With this you don’t try to get rid of your thoughts, you just try and observe your thoughts, and observe yourself observing the thoughts. TRIP-eeee.
“Ummmmm, and you do this because….?” Because it gives you a chance to get to know yourself better. If you were to observe yourself all day, as the observer you might be able to objectively observe and question yourself about why you interact with the world as you do.You might notice things about yourself that you haven’t noticed before. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Haha…. See what I did there? Ok, it’s getting late (almost midnight) and I’m observing myself being super loopy and easily entertained. 🙂
Speaking of easily entertained, gonna leave these two images right here:
Sandy's Short Story Long- This is where I write. 
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