WEEK 1: My Crowned Core
The Sovereign Archetype
The Astrological Sun
John William Waterhouse, Echo and Narcissus
“Ah, if I were not king, I should lose my temper.
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Week One Meditation
While you once more listen to the music from the Introduction, get completely calm, exhale, feel the ground beneath your feet (or your whole body if you are lying down), and focus on the spot between your eyebrows, your third eye. Then imagine a ball of light emanating from a tiny spark from that point, getting bigger and bigger until you are completely engulfed by this light, until you radiate.
You are illuminating your seventh Chakra.
"It is called Ajna and is in the center of the forehead, also known as the "third eye." Its corresponding planet is the Sun, and it governs the principle of pure consciousness in its most active, visionary, and expressive form, as well as the higher will. In its balanced state, it rules creativity, spiritual energy, and self-expression, while in unbalanced form it can manifest as egoism, willfulness, "dry" awareness without compassion, and the drive for attention." -- Ray Grasse, Astrology and the Chakras
The Sovereign Archetype
Who is at the core of your being? This week we explore your inner Sovereign, that kingly, royal, magnanimous center within you. From Shakespeare and others we know that there are many kinds of kings. Is yours a warrior king? Or a philosopher king? Or something else altogether, perhaps a dreamer who does not want to lead? We explore the Hero/ine's journey and the stages of development that your Sovereign embodies now. We also explore the shadow of the Sovereign. There, we find narcissism, megalomania, and selfishness. This week, immerse yourself in your inner Sovereign. What is he wearing? How does he organize your decisions - or does he?
When we study archetypes, we must remember that we all have an inner Sovereign or King and an inner Nurturer or Queen, regardless of our gender. More about that here.
Key Words for This Week
Read the following key words with your journal nearby. Then, note and reflect on your instant reaction to these words. Imagine they describe a person. Would this person feel like a friend, an enemy, or a stranger?
Sovereign, Identity, King, Hero, Self-expression, I Am, Ruler, Pompous, Vitality, Wants, Ego, Creativity, Desire, Generosity, Grandeur, Daytime, Heart, Center, Me, Father, Ambition, Loyalty, Vigor, Royal, Sovereign, Narcissist, Creativity, Childish, Radiant, Generous, Playful, Selfish, Generate, Overpower, Childlike, Energy Source, Life, Irreverent, Regal, Hero(ine)'s Journey.
Can you add words to this list? Words that fit the "overall feeling"?
Know Thyself
"Inscribed over the entrance at the oracle-shrine to the Sun god Apollo in Delphi were the words: Know Thyself. In order to understand your personality you must first understand the King. When you enter a castle you first go to the King, not to the kitchen. We know already that at the least he is the energetic source of your life. The pursuit then of this most unrelenting of our psychological needs, the quest to know ourselves, begins with knowing the King. This quest has been the core of existential searching from Oedipus, through Socrates, Hamlet and Faust." -- Laurence Hillman, Planets in Play.
“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.”
Exercise
Describe your inner Royal. Write a short essay describing him or her. You can get inspiration from the key words above and the images throughout this week's material. You can also do this in prose, a poem, or in a short story. Or, if you play music, you can compose something to describe this part of you.
Exercise
Ritualize Royalty, Sovereignty, and the King archetypes in your life.
Wear a crown around the house.
Take a self-esteem class, speak from your heart.
Perform a Sun Dance ritual.
Go sun tanning (careful!).
Learn to take responsibility for your actions. Don’t say, “It broke.” Say, “I broke it.”
Think about your generosity (it comes from the royal heart). Are you magnanimous towards your enemies? Do you give to the poor?
Ask yourself what you are doing to leave the world a better place than you found it. The king, as the leader, has to set the tone for such work.
Be playful. Sometimes this is easiest around kids. Do something silly with them. Dress up. Play a king in a play with kids.
Do something meaningful for children. If you have your own, raise them well and be a good role model. If you do not have any, mentor some or help with after-school programs. If by chance you don’t like children, give money to an organization that helps them.
Learn how to open your heart. Find your passion. In Joseph Campbell’s words: “Follow your bliss.”
Take a ropes-course that calls on your courage your courage and gives you self-esteem. Do a fire walk.
Honor your father. If he was mean to you or absent, write him a letter. You may not need to mail it.
Get creative. Take a ceramics class. Or watercolors. Or nude figure drawing. Write something, even if it never gets published.
The Hero(ine)
"The modern hero, the modern individual who dares to heed the call and seek the mansion of that presence with whom it is our whole destiny to be atoned, cannot, indeed must not wait for his community to cast off its slough of pride, fear, rationalized avarice, and sanctified misunderstanding. "Live," Nietzsche says, "as though the day were here." It is not society that is to guide and save the creative hero, but precisely the reverse. And so every one of us shares the supreme ordeal – carries the cross of the redeemer – not in the bright moments of his tribes great victories, but in the silences of his personal despair." -- Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”
Reflections With your Journal Throughout the Week
Who is a hero in your life? Why?
What was your most heroic moment in your life so far? Why?
Are you selfish? How? Can you tell the difference between "self-centered" and "selfish"?
If others are selfish, does it bother you? Why?
Who is the most selfish person you know? What makes them selfish?
If you were standing in the middle of a field at night, and you were glowing, what color would the light be?
What is the most courageous thing you ever did? How did it feel before, during, and after? Would you do it again?
What is an unshakable, core truth about you? How do you know that?
Where are you the most sovereign? How do you know that?
How do you think the Sovereign King archetype most expresses him/herself in the culture you live in?
Can you name three distinct differences in how the Sovereign King archetype is expressed in cultures that are different from yours?
Can you give three examples throughout history where your culture had a very different expression for the Sovereign King archetype?
Do you often act a certain way but know that you are not like that? Why?
Some Kingly Music
Go through your personal music list. What is the most royal, dramatic, pompous, radiating, charming music that you have or know?
Too Much Sovereign: The Inflated Ego
Too Little Sovereign: Low Self Esteem
Exercise
Too much, Too Little. Name several public figures with an inner Sovereign gone amok. Donald Trump comes to mind. Why? Or consider Richard Nixon who said, "I would have made a great Pope." List other narcissists, and add some megalomaniacs and dictators. Name several social phenomena that are particularly royal. The social trend since the sixties that so many are "finding themselves," through self-help, therapy, and a myriad of other paths, comes to mind. Also the concept of individuation.
Reflecting upon yourself, do you find that your inner Sovereign is too loud, or too quiet? Or, have you found that sweet spot on the scale? A place from where you express your Sovereign Self just right (for you)?
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The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.’”
Exercise
Leadership. Where are you the center of something? What do you lead? Whom do you lead? If there is a leader in you, what does s(he) look like? What is her/his leadership style? And, how well do you know your reluctant inner leader? The one who may be insecure, unmotivated, lazy, or incompetent? Write in your Journal about such ideas.
Exercise
Royal movies. Can you think of some movies that well represent the Sovereign archetype? Here are some to get you started: Hercules, The Lion King, It's a Wonderful Life, Evita, and The Color Purple. Why do these movies belong here? Can you name others?
Exercise
Royal Food. This week find and enjoy some royal food. To get you started, here are some examples: Golden foods, such as Golden Delicious apples, pineapples, oranges, lemons and grapefruits. Corn on the cob. Now add some of your own. As you eat food fit for a King this week, imagine that you are feeding your inner Sovereign King.
Reading List
Here is a list of books if you want to study the Inner Royal in depth. It would be particularly useful to learn from these books if you have come to find that your inner King could use some help.
Images
These images are a sampling that represent some aspects of the inner King. Can you see the royal aspect of each picture? Could you write a caption? Can you think of other, similar images that would fit naturally in between these? Then find some that really speak to you and paste them in your journal.
There are arrows on the left and right of the pictures to change them. They also change themselves.
That's it for this week. Feel free to me in Slack with any thoughts about your first experience here.
See you next week!
End of Sovereign Lesson