the primary archetypes and the 12 zodiac signs (and planets) #4
all images don't belong to me. credits to the appropriate authors.
10 - The Wise Old (Sage) - Saturn/Capricorn
The old sage archetype (or senex archetype). It's an archetype related to a person with profound knowledge about life, who has a lot to teach others precisely because she/has has learned a lot from life. Good for giving advice and showing the value of time and the importance of knowing how to make the right choices.
Capricorn is the sign of duties, often linked to being more rigid and hard on yourself for recognizing the need to say no to some things, in order to achieve others in life. It's the sign of what will be built and achieved in the course of life, and it usually relates to the lessons that life gives us, the need to learn from them. Capricorn has an aura of hardness, but at the same time it's melancholy. It seems to bring knowledge and certainties [of the more complicated side of life] that come from years ago. That's why they say Capricorns look old. In the soul they are indeed.
Saturn is very related to this archetype since it's the planet of karma, of what we must learn over time (and that we sometimes learn from difficulties). From difficulties we can build many learning that will serve as a basis for future experiences.
11 - The Trickster - Aquarius / Uranus
Rebel archetype. When searching, you find descriptions like: "A trickster is, in mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal that plays pranks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and norms of behavior". And that's right. The trickster energy that is within the rebel archetype is one that brings a certain pleasure to the person in disobeying the rules already imposed, in going against what is expected in certain patterns of behavior. It's the archetype of the person who criticizes, but of the person who also makes use of humor and her/his ability to deceive and make fun of others, going against what is expected of her/him. Possessing, many times, a noble objective behind this rebellious attitude. This is the case with Robin Hood.
No one better than Aquarius to represent these characteristics. We know they are very rebellious, they don't like to appear predictable to others. Some, because they like it, prefer to show themselves against others because they feel pleasure and sometimes because they really like it. Robin Hood definitely sounds very Aquarius: critical and aimed at social groups, especially the less fortunate.
Uranus is the planet that I usually call different, precisely because it has an unique originality with it, a desire to do something different in those matters it touches and influences.
12 - The Self - Pisces/Neptune
And finally we come to the end of the list of the main archetypes. The Self archetype is undoubtedly one of the most important as it deals with the one that dissolves all existing barriers between the Ego and the Self, making both create an axis so that the person not only lives attached to what her/his Ego says she/he is, but let it be the whole integrality of what she/he was born to be: the Self. The Self or self in Jungian psychology means the unification of the conscious (Ego) and the unconscious, presenting the psyche as a whole. It's what we must seek to know throughout our live, and for this to happen we must embrace all our sides - from the most fragile and vulnerable, to the most solidified and convinced. It's the archetype of the end of everything, the sensitivity and dissolution of the "ideal" personality to find its original personality.
(This image represents the way that a person connected to his Persona, and therefore to his Ego, ends up living).
In terms of personality development and reaching your Self, it's right to stay true to who you were born to be, rather than molding and getting lost in what is most predominant, what the crowd expects of you. And where are YOUR desires? And your fears, and your desires? Do you allow them to flow without repressing them for fear of what you will find through them? Would you rather be more you, or be what others expect of you?
What else does Pisces mean if not all these characteristics?! Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, and no wonder. Pisces closes the whole cycle because it's the one who has a little bit of everything inside, and it managed to develop enough empathy to transcend, enough ability to touch all of its sides and allow the vulnerability to also transcend and know who he really is. It's the sign that feels everything, but at the same time can't describe everything it feels - but knows how to play in these experiences like no one else. When Pisces decides to give in to deep self-knowledge, this sign has this ability to reach the Self like no one else.
Neptune, ahhh, Neptune... it's the planet who gives these characteristics to Pisces, Neptune ruler of the seas, of sensibility, of the unification of being.