Awakening The Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes ... __HOT__

In this bold and original work, Carol S. Pearson shows that the heroic quest isn't just for certain people under special circumstances. Exploring the many heroic paths available to each of us, at every point in our lives, her innovative program enables us to live heroically by activating and applying twelve archetypes in our lives.

Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes ...

Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform Our World Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis tohelp you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:Plot SummaryChaptersCharactersObjects/PlacesThemesStyleQuotes This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz onAwakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform Our World by Carol S. Pearson.This book is a study of a general model for the progression of a person's life. The argument of the author is that a person's life is dominated and constructed around twelve archetypes. Each person can look at himself as a hero who is going out on a journey called life. First the person has to be prepared for the journey, then he or she goes out on the journey, and then the person returns from the journey and tries to reap the rewards of his or her experience. He or she can then look at what they have accomplished for humanity. The author objects to the current idea that only a few people in society are important, like the rich, the famous, or the talented. All people can be looked upon as heroes if they faithfully look at their ego, self, and soul and take up the challenge to develop their own individual life. Although the development of one's life can take on an infinite number of patterns, the author organizes the journey of a person's life in a general sense. These archetypes are not stereotypes, but both positive and negative constructions of a person's reaction to events and stages of life. For example, a child can react to the world as either a trusting Innocent, or as an abandoned Orphan.

The twelve archetypes are grouped into pairs around six stages of life: childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, mid-life, maturity, and old age. They can be further classified around the stages of the journey of life into three groups: preparation, the journey, and the return. The book is largely informed by the views of practitioners of psychology in the tradition of Carl Jung and the Jungians, and heavily references other works and sources. The book ends with several chapters examining the relationship of the twelve archetypes to the age, gender, and culture of the person. Some archetypes affect some people for most of their lives, while others affect them for only a short portion of life. The relation of men and women to the archetypes is discussed, looking closely at the struggle of women to lead independent lives. Along with gender, the influence of people's culture and racial group is examined. This book can be looked at as a self-help book or a New Age type of personal guide. It is also a study of archetypes in literature and the thinking of society, both in the past and the present.

Carol Pearson, in Awakening The Heroes Within, describes twelve archetypes, each of which can go on a heroic quest. It is notable that some of these are not 'traditional' heroes in the sense of having archetypal strength of body or mind.

We are aided on our journey by inner guides, or archetypes, each of which exemplifies a way of being on the journey. Awakening the Heroes Within explores twelve such inner guides: the Innocent, the Orphan, the Warrior, the Caregiver, the Seeker, the Destroyer, the Lover, the Creator, the Ruler, the Magician, the Sage, and the Fool. Each has a lesson to teach us, and each presides over a stage of the journey.

3. Scientists may see archetypes as being similar to holograms and the process of identifying them as similar to other scientific processes. As archetypes are both within and beyond us (and hence are the heroes within and beyond), an entire hologram is contained in any of its parts. Modern science has in fact verified the ancient spiritual parallel of macrocosm and microcosm by determining how a holograph really works. So, too, the science of psychology often determines what is true of the individual human mind by looking at the creations of the species.

The Warrior archetype is an important aspect of heroism-for all people, whatever their age or gender-but it is not the only or even the most essential one. All twelve archetypes are important to the heroic journey, and to the individuation process.

Once we have opened to learning from all twelve archetypes, we might experience all twelve in a single day, or hour. Suppose, for instance, something goes wrong-you become ill or your job or primary relationship is in jeopardy. For the first few minutes, you do not want to look at the problem (shadow Innocent), but then your optimism returns (Innocent), and you plunge into investigating the situation. Your next experience is to feel powerlessness and pain, but then you ask others for support (Orphan). You marshall your resources and develop a plan to deal with the problem (Warrior). As you implement it, you also pay attention to what you and others need in the way of emotional support (Caregiver).

Thinking of the hero moving through stages of preparation, journey, and return, and being aided by twelve archetypes in order, is useful as a teaching device, but in most cases, of course, growth really does not happen in such a defined, linear way. Our guides come to us when they-and at some level we-choose.

Heroic archetypes can be powerful guides to help you discover your hidden gifts, solve difficult problems and transform your life. Although you may think of heroes as mythological creatures or larger-than-life historical figures, the fact is that heroes are often people just like you and me. Carol Pearson speaks to the evolving hero in all of us: "Rather than the hero's journey being something for a few very special people, it's now pretty much a required curriculum for all of us if we're going to adapt to a complex world." (hosted by Michael Toms) 041b061a72