This SoulCollage® suit is the Council of Archetypes. The word archetype comes from the Greek “archetypos” which means “first of its kind.”
When working with the Council Suit, we create SoulCollage® cards for the archetypal figures who are guiding our lives. We do this with openness and reverence, following our intuition and allowing the images we are drawn to reveal themselves to us when we are ready.
My Council cards are particularly important in helping me grown more aware and alert to the invisible but real energies that surround me in my life journey. I can sometimes almost feel these “angels” guiding and supporting and even challenging me.
~ Seena Frost, Founder of SoulCollage®
What Are Archetypes?
This might be a somewhat difficult subject to grasp at first, so be patient. All things will be made clear in time, if you simply trust the process.
Jung described archetypes as part of the “collective unconscious.”
And what is the collective unconscious? He calls it “a system of a collective and universal nature which is identical in all individuals.”
It might help if you think of each archetype as a metaphor for something larger, something universal.
Archetypes are best described or expressed in the form of images.
James Hillman says that they are metaphors whose images grab and hold us.
Seena Frost, creator of SoulCollage®, describes them as…
… the invisible guides, challengers, creators, and destroyers, known across time and cultures by many names, yet being somehow universally in the collective unconscious of the human race.
Whew! That’s a mouthful, isn’t it? Let me give you a small list of some that might be familiar to you:
- Divine Mother
- Great Father
- Wise Old Woman / Crone
- Divine Child
- Creator
- Warrior
- Shaman
- Witch
- Healer
- Fool
- Hero
- Lightbearer
Special Archetype Cards
Seena suggests that you eventually make a Fool Card and a Death Card for your SoulCollage® deck. These are the most universal archetypes of all and need to be included in your deck in order for your intuitive readings to be well-balanced and complete.
The Fool Archetype
The Fool is one of the most ancient, universal archetypes.
It is usually experienced as an Interrupter or Surpriser, entering one’s life as a much needed wake-up call.
Although The Fool does sometimes have a sense of humor, it usually turns our life upside down (much to our dismay).
Other names for The Fool include:
- Jester
- Coyote
- Trickster
- Clown
The Fool’s teaching is usually about lightening up and going with the flow of whatever is happening.
The Death Archetype
Every culture experiences Death as an archetype. More often than not, it is feared, but it doesn’t have to be. Some cultures depict death as The Grim Reaper, others as Transformation.
Like the Fool, Death is seen as a great Interrupter, or Surpriser. But Death (unlike the Fool) has no sense of humor and the changes and losses it brings are usually greater than whatever the Fool carries to us.
When you draw the Death card in a reading, it usually has to do with change or transformation of some kind, and not necessarily the final physical change that we usually associate with Death.
It might mean you are letting go of a meaningful relationship, moving away from a long-held job, or even simply that you are being led to change a lifetime of poor eating habits.
Depending on your own personal view of Death, the images you choose for this SoulCollage® card might be gentle or fierce, transitional or final.
And your Death card (as with any card in your deck, really) may change over time, as you change. This Death card is the second one I’ve created.
Making SoulCollage® Cards
for Your Archetypes
You can make cards for your personal archetypes either intentionally or intuitively.
Intentionally
As you learn more about archetypes, you will undoubtedly recognize some of your own right away. For me, once I was introduced to this concept, I knew right away that Creativity, Divine Mother, Divine Child, and Lightbearer were some of my own.
I added them to a list of cards that I wanted to make intentionally for my deck and sought out images for these cards.
When I found images that resonated with me on a deep level, I made these Council Suit cards.
Intuitively
However, many cards that belong to this suit are made intuitively rather than intentionally. This is the power of the SoulCollage® process! Simply continue to make cards without knowing why you are making them, just because you are drawn to certain images.
Trust the process and go with the flow. Eventually, the cards you make intuitively will speak to you through the I Am The One Who… exercise and you will be more able to discern which ones are your own personal archetypes.
For instance, when I made this card here, I thought I was making a card about a Committee voice who was expressing grief, but when I allowed the card to “speak” to me, I found that it was telling me I am the one who is with you in your grief. I am the one who helps you to carry your grief. You do not grieve alone. I am the Angel of Sorrow.
It was only after working with it like this that I realized it was not representing an inner part of me, but one of my unseen, but very present, spirit guides/archetypes.
Be Patient!
Your Council Suit might take a while to build, but be patient and trust the process. Rip out every picture and image that calls to you, no matter how bizarre it may seem to you right now. Keep these powerful images in a special folder and look at them from time to time. I guarantee that as the months go by, they will each make themselves known to you as you are ready.
Recommended Resources
More Resources
Click here for Seena Frost’s book SoulCollage Evolving. There’s lots more info there about the Committee Suit.
Click here for Seena Frost’s CD where she focuses on the Council Suit.
Click here to read an article on the WaterBearer Archetype by Seena Frost, creator of SoulCollage®.