Podcast - Episode 0236 - Gods In Everyman — The Father God Archetypes

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• Animas and Anima – Feminine and Masculine Archetypes
• Goddesses in Everywoman by Jean Bolen
• Gods in Everyman by Jean Bolen
• Episode on Vulnerable Goddesses
• Episode on virgin goddesses
• Episode on Alchemical Goddess
• There are different life cycles for men and women according to Bolen

• Women: Girl, Woman, Grandmother (crone)
• Men: Father, Son
• Some men always express father energy whereas other men may gravitate toward son energy even late in life.
• Tension points exist between these two energies that are not present between the goddess cycles
• No matter how powerful a man is, his son will succeed him.
• Ego is self-referential and understands its existence.
• At some point, we will die, and our ego sees that as the most horrible thing that could ever happen.
• We pass our genes on to our offspring since we cannot survive but we tend to want to download our ego into our children, so they replicate our experiences.
• Lots of stories are told about the push and pull between father and son
• Bolen’s perspective of the patriarchal archetypes may be colored by her time.
• Father Gods:
  • Zeus
  • Poseidon
  • Hades
• One Father God Energy expressed in 3 ways.
• Zeus is the God of the sky
  • His brothers are Poseidon and Hades
  • Their father was Cronos who swallowed all his children so they wouldn’t overthrow him
  • Zeus mother gives Cronos a rock to swallow instead of Zeus
  • Zeus and his brothers kill their father and divide up the world
  • Zeus gets the sky
  • Poseidon the sea
  • Hades the underworld
  • Zeus has more compassion for his offspring than his father
  • He also has some dark aspects
  • He liked to establish his realm, which may show up as alpha male tendencies
  • He sees the forest over the trees.
  • Might makes right
  • Fear of being targeted or overthrown
  • HBO “Succession”
  • Zeus archetypes have a protective streak for anyone under their domain
  • The Old Testament God from the Bible has a very Zeus-like quality – obedience or punishment
  • “Game of Thrones” – Ned Stark is a positive representation of a Zeus archetype
  • There are elements of this archetype that make people uncomfortable
  • These god archetypes come from a time where rape and murder were common.
  • These attitudes can be recontextualized to our modern day as someone who takes what they want.
  • Ambition
  • The difference between father gods and son gods is that son gods are all marked by a need for approval, whereas father gods do not seek approval from anyone but themselves.
  • The father god doesn’t check in with anyone but himself.
  • When a man embodies the archetypical Zeus energy he doesn’t feel accountable to anyone else but himself
  • His path to growth is to have some rigor around his character and avoid the tendency toward tyrannical ownership.
  • Zeus is a sky god, so he tends to intellectualize everything which prevents him from engaging directly with his choices.
  • Zeus archetypes need to remember not to be too disconnected
  • Zeus feels very Te/Fi (Extraverted Thinking/Introverted Feeling)
  • He sees the world as a resource then sees himself as the center of the universe
  • Code of conduct
  • Growth for Zeus comes thru a crisis
  • Could be a literal heart attack that sets off a shift or a heart attack of love that forces him to reevaluate
  • Growth is forced upon Zeus. He isn’t out looking for growth.
  • Zeus needs to be less judgmental and distant.
  • Foster better relationships with family.
  • Willing to be foolish and vulnerable
• Poseidon is almost the exact opposite of Zeus
  • He is swallowed with his siblings and later vomited back up
  • He is the god of water which symbolizes emotion
  • Poseidon can barely contain fits of rage or lust
  • Bearded and holding a trident
  • Ill-tempered, violent, vindictive, dangerous, womanizer, philanderer
  • Children have many of the same characteristics as he does
  • Still waters run deep
  • Poseidon archetype is driven to be somebody important, but he doesn’t have what it takes to create a kingdom as Zeus does
  • Eye for an eye
  • He also has a capacity for deep loyalty and emotional depth
  • Deepest levels of human emotion
  • Hollywood has a high number of men who depict this archetype – actors, writers, directors
  • Zeus archetype will be more likely in banking and big business
  • Bolen may be a bit harsh to Poseidon
  • In a context where emotion is approved, there is no reason why a Poseidon shouldn’t be emotionally stable
  • Poseidon’s gift is that he can be in touch with his emotions without attaching it to the approval of others.
  • Authentic emotional expression
  • Men can be masculine and emotional at the same time
  • Steve Jobs could have been a Poseidon – intense emotion channeled toward his visions
  • Bolen paints Poseidon as perpetually insecure because he played second fiddle to Zeus but that isn’t always the case
  • These leadership qualities as represented in these God archetypes are incredibly important
  • There is some hostility toward father god energy right now
  • These archetypes keep coming up over and over again. We can’t wash them out of society
  • We can express greater kindness through these father god energies
• Hades
  • Brother of Zeus and Poseidon
  • Eaten by father and vomited back up to overthrow his father with his brothers
  • Given the underworld
  • He was feared as sky god energy began to dominate
  • The underworld wasn’t initially a dark, dangerous place, but it became so as the sky god became more prominent
  • Hades had no children
  • The biggest mythological story of Hades is the abduction and rape of Persephone
  • Hades is reclusive. He doesn’t have a persona. He feels invisible, unseen, depressed
  • A man who embodies Hades can be very recluse with men and women
  • Not a lot of friends but can be deeply connected to somebody if he finds a soulmate
  • Rich fantasy life
  • Struggle with being a loner
  • Distorts reality based upon his inner world
  • Hades is that introverted quality inside of us that understands significance and death
  • Ask significant questions about themselves and go deep into the shadow of the self
  • Poseidon would be more like a Feeler whereas Hades would be more IJ, or using Introverted Intuition.
  • A rich inner world doesn’t have to be voyeuristic.
  • Tolkien created an incredible world based on his inner vision
  • Such a rich world inside that the outside world starts looking colorless
  • A Poseidon might gain more territory in art and expression, whereas Hades territory is the inner world
  • Lots to explore inside the human psyche
  • Hades archetypes are usually into writing, history, psychiatry, etc.
  • They are willing to touch on things that others consider macabre
  • Edgar Allen Poe
  • Willingness to go to the places others are spooked by
  • Bolen’s growth strategies for Hades are creating an interface with the world to be more acceptable.
  • Partner up with a Persephone that can help Hades interface with the world
• All of these Father God aspects are complementary to one another
• If one of these fathers gods seem predominant than balance it out with some of the other two
• One way a Zeus can grow is by getting more in touch with the emotional aspects of their personality
• Or grow some awareness about the deep unconscious as in Hades
• Trinity of 3 different energies in one. Trident
• These archetypal energies are a bit under attack
• When they are expressed aggressively, it is hard to remember that there are good aspects of these energies
• Leadership is important
• The greatest gift this energy can give us is the positive leadership qualities that are attached to good character
• Men or women can manifest these energies
• This father god energy represents the encouragement to self-approve
• Remember to honor this energy. Control it. Don’t let it overpower you. Do it for good. Be accountable
• If we take, we also have to give
• The best way to create territory is by having people want to follow you.
• Being a good leader will get you the domain you desire.
• Sky, ocean, underworld – not much on the earth
• If you identify with one of these, remember you need to come up from the depths of the world or the ocean and get real
• Or you may need to come down from Mt. Olympus and be more pragmatic
• What can bring you up from the surface or down from the mountain to be the leader we need?

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