How to Prepare for an Archetype Reading

How to Select a Natal Archetype
Natal archetypes are those you were born with. In Myss’s theory we are all born with 12, but 4 of those are common to everyone (Child, Prostitute, Saboteur and Victim). In deducing the other eight that you have it is important to read through descriptions of them, see which ones spark recognition in you, and then take those archetypes back in your memory to see if your behaviors were exhibiting them in your childhood. Remember, we all have relationships with all archetypes, so most of them will sound familiar…the key is in whether or not you employed them in your younger years. More information is provided in Archetypes to the Rescue.

How to Write a Question
Starting on page 303 of Sacred Contracts, Myss demonstrates how to phrase an archetype question as “I am open to receiving/recognizing …” During classes with Myss and Shealy we learned to phrase archetype questions as: “Show me how my (natal) archetypes line up in reference to:…” What both of these approaches attempts to do is to put you in touch with your Higher Self. It is important to enter a reading with as many of your expectations and desires as possible tucked away so that you can truly hear what the Universe has to say rather than what your desires wish to produce. After that, the most important thing is to limit your question to something specific that can be found within archetype information. But, one would not ask if a job at so-and-so would be advisable to pursue; it is much more informative to know why you want to quit, or if another position can meet those needs. In other words, changing jobs is equivalent to changing geography-it does no good to move if you are taking all of your negative baggage with you.

How to Cast a Wheel
Once you have your 12 natal archetypes selected you decide what question you will be exploring and then put that intention into your archetype cards. These cards can be ones you make (Archetypes to the Rescue discusses this), the important thing is to not be able to see what is written upon the cards as you shuffle them in preparation to laying them out. The pattern you lay them in is not important, but you must lay them out either on top of cards that have the numbers 1-12 written on them, or in an order to where you know where they belong in sequence from 1st to 12th. Refer to Archetypes to the Rescue for more detail. Once the chart is cast you need to keep the pairs together, the numbered cards and the archetypes, until you write down the combinations either onto a copy of an archetype wheel or as a list. The important thing is to know which house each archetype is going to manifest in and that is determined by the number it was paired with.

How to Select a Second Ring Archetype
The second ring of an Archetype Wheel is the Kairos ring…the ring of “now.” This ring of archetypes is selected consciously through the intentions of the question you are asking. The archetypes in this ring cannot be duplicates of any in your natal ring unless you feel strongly led to use another version of Child. If you were asking a question about changing jobs you may want to incorporate archetypes that are indicative of the job you are interested in (e.g. Author, Counselor, Mechanic, Teacher, Manager), and archetypes that represent the shadow aspects of why you want to move (e.g. Scapegoat, Whipping Boy, Invisible Man, Wounded Healer, Beggar). It is important to get a mixture of archetypes that apply to what you are interested in knowing, you may wish to employ Vampire, Politician, Avenger…any and all archetypes that you feel could empower you in the area you are wishing to explore. Once you are ready to start you would lay out your numbered cards first, or know what pattern you were using, in order to determine which of the 12 houses your Kairos selection will manifest in. You would then cast the chart with the intention of the question you are exploring.

How to Select a Third Ring Archetype
This ring is your Divine ring and it is provided by blindly shuffling through an archetype deck to see what cards wish to be selected. You will know by the feel of the cards or by how they seem to jump from, or pull away from, the deck as you shuffle it. The Myss deck of artful archetype cards mentioned previously can be purchased at Barnes and Noble. Linda has also created a deck of simple cards which can be used with depressed archetypes. If you choose to make your own archetype cards you will need to have an idea of what archetypes to write down. You may wish to consult my book Archetypes to the Rescue for ideas. Once you are ready to start you would lay out your numbered cards first, or know what pattern you were using, in order to determine which of the 12 houses your Divine selection will manifest in. You would then cast the chart with the intention of the question you are exploring.

Source: http://www.drlindamarie.com/casting.html