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Technical Analysis vs. Archetypal Contemplation

In order to orient you to the method we use, we would like you to reflect upon the difference between technical analysis and archetypal contemplation, a distinction that will be central in the work that we do together. When we analyze technically, we think representatively or equivalently with our left-brain, i.e., we think "inside the box." Technical analysis also means thinking in a conditioned pattern, i.e., the conventional, safe, acceptable "well-worn path."

When we contemplate archetypally, we reflect or meditate with our right-brain in order to encompass an original pattern or model after which a thing is made, thus realizing it to be prototypical or universal. An archetype is an unconscious idea, pattern of thought, or image, inherited from our ancestors, but present in each of us individually that we must make conscious. Each of us has the ability to analyze technically and contemplate archetypally, and to naturally realize as a result that we have within ourselves both a technical and an archetypal story.

Our technical story emerges primarily from a thinking process that originates in our left-brain, and which corresponds to the conscious ability that we have to analyze our potentialities, actively pursue our goals, and in general, to do. Are we taking the necessary steps in order to succeed in the various arenas of our lives? Our archetypal story emerges primarily from a reflecting process that originates in our right-brain, and which corresponds to the preconscious ability that we have to contemplate our innermost natures, to discern what is most enduring about the overall quality of what we pursue, and in general to be ourselves. Are we as genuine with others and ourselves as we could or would like to be?

If we are to lead lives that are as happy, balanced, and successful as possible, both of these stories must work cooperatively and synergistically with each other. In other words, one story should not happen without or at the expense of the other. What we do in our lives must be securely integrated with who we are and can fully be as friends, and family and community members. Most of us were raised to analyze the technical dimensions of our lives, but not to contemplate their archetypal significance, so for each of us this truly is a new form of self-awareness.

When you contemplate an archetype, you must use your right-brain to imagine a prior pattern in human consciousness. As you do this, be careful not to allow your left-brain to intrude into what is essentially a right-brained activity. In other words, do not allow your left-brain to stereotype or make a standardized conception of something that your right-brain naturally embraces in its fullness and entirety. Stereotyping an archetype means that rather than using your awareness to think outside the box about something, your awareness limits or puts whatever you are considering into a box

The left-brain, with its intrusive tendency to over-analyze, easily succumbs to interpreting information in ways that reduce their overall value and significance. If you are to fully develop your archetypal awareness, your right-brain must freely perform its natural function: to mirror original information about each archetype to your left-brain. Then, your left-brain can interpret what it sees without stereotyping the information that it has received. You will find yourself contemplating the significance of what your right-brain is reflecting to you, rather than analyzing it away.

To further your understanding of technical analysis vs. archetypal contemplation, consider the following examples. Then decide how you would describe each one, both in technical and archetypal terms. We hope this will stimulate your perceptions about the difference between these two dimensions of yourself and intrigue you enough to explore deeper aspects of your own archetypal nature.

To fully grasp what the above exercise demonstrates, we must become aware of the hemispheric "disconnect" that occurs when we allow an exclusively left-brained way of analyzing these examples to intrude into and even dominate a right-brained way of contemplating them. Whether we are male or female, most of us are much more adept at technically knowing that the Sun is 93,000,000 from the Earth, than intuiting how and why the Sun corresponds in archetypal psychology to our individual ego, or masculine conscious self. On the same note, men may be more disposed to technically knowing that the Moon’s gravitational pull controls the Earth’s tides, and women more to intuiting the archetypal significance of what it means to have an unconscious self or a feminine, feeling nature.

Similarly, when we see a film, we tend to find the technical prowess of cool, confident, sexy, heroes and heroines to be admirable and worth emulating. Their motivations are less important to reflect upon than those characters with greater archetypal depth whose struggles and sacrifices, however daunting, reveal something valuable to us about ourselves. When we consider modern heroes and heroines in sports, politics, and popular culture, we find that our society tends to admire them far more for their talent than whether or not they underwent a crucial inner transformation in order to succeed in life. In this regard, mythic heroes and heroines such as Gilgamesh, or Joan of Arc have far more to teach us about ourselves.

Along similar lines, our culture conditions us to immerse ourselves far more readily into the "alarm clock" and the "commute" than in "community rituals" or "finding our bliss." While finding a secure livelihood and seeking personal achievement are both necessary for our outer survival, we must balance these endeavors with developing a secure, authentic relationship with ourselves. We must replace our unhealthy drives and addictions with the courage to honestly face ourselves. This will empower us to take the necessary actions to bring greater balance and healing into our lives.

This brings us to the last category — you. You probably know all kinds of technical traits and qualities about yourself, but what do you know that endures beyond them? What about you remains constant regardless of where you have been, and what you have been through? What can never be compromised, lost, or wounded beyond your ability to grow and heal? The answer is your archetypal self, or who you are prior to the alarm clock, the commute, your job, and your social standing. All great spiritual traditions allude to the same truth when they identify this prior Self as our Buddha Nature, the Tao, Christ Consciousness, etc. If we are to realize the profundity of these teachings, we must recognize and transform what is unconsciousness within our archetypal relational styles, and in doing so, lead better, more fulfilling, and peaceful lives.

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