September 27-28, 2025. I presented my Archetypal Wellness research at a conference at Birkbeck University of London. The conference, Myth, Archetypes & Symbols was sponsored by London Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (LCIR). It was exciting since it included researchers from the U.K, the U.S., India, Italy, Ireland, Mexico and Poland. We had a common language of archetypes and symbols which energized a planetary exchange on the power of myth, a la Joseph Campbell’s work. I presented the same research I talked about in my July 2025 blog, but I focused more on archetypal identification in this one.
I’ve been interested in archetypes for many years ever since I found mine, Sophia, the goddess of wisdom. The Archetypal Wellness workshops were my chance to research this interest. Archetypal identification is a psychodynamic that opens the mind and changes emotions. Carl Jung proposed three basic archetypes anima (female), animus (male) and the shadow (the unknown). Archetypes reside in the collective unconscious, and children naturally align with one to organize their personality without even knowing it. In workshops, I help people to actually choose an archetype. I expand Jung’s definition of archetypes and explain that archetypes are an energy pattern in the collective unconscious that convey a given characteristic. Choosing an archetype, visualizing it, and interacting with it has a powerful effect since it opens a safe channel to the personal and collective unconscious.
The Archetypal Wellness Workshop: In my workshop, people visualized an archetype by imagining themselves in an outside setting and seeing an entity come to them. Then they visualized a current situation that didn’t feel good, found the emotion in their body and then visualized the color and shape of the emotion. Participants’ emotions included stress, anger, sadness, depression and fear. Once the situation was set and the emotion embodied, they were led to imagine their archetype coming into the scene. Magic happened in the form of imaginal narratives. Negative emotions evaporated or were transformed, and new perspectives and options emerged. They also experienced peace and calm.
The Archetypes: The archetypes that came to the participants were varied. Some were fanciful, some were deeply meaningful, some were trees, animal, deities, family members or mythical characters. These were the archetypes:
Muir Woods, Native American elder, Goofy, Barbie, Purple cloud-shape, feminine divine, floating being of white light, human form that sparkles, Viking, Batman, women riding a horse, butterfly, a brown hand, lion, Nordic fore west deity, mermaid, rock band leader, Kuan Yin, jungle beach tree, wonder woman, hummingbird, father, coyote
Imaginal Narratives
Enhanced Awareness: In this narrative, a man enhanced his awareness about his role at work and what he needed to do to keep that awareness. This man who was in his 60s and was a systems engineer, told this story. He brought the archetype into his scenario, and said, “After bringing my archetype into the scenario I described, I have a deeper awareness of the influence that I can bring to the outcomes of my feelings and emotions”. He also said he would need a deliberate effort to practice mindfulness for the role that his archetype plays in everyday life.
Finding Peace and Calmness: In this narrative, a woman found peace and calmness by interacting with her archetype. This woman who was in her 60s had never experienced imagery before. She visualized a Native American near a stream. He walked to the stream near a large granite rock face, where she was crouching. She said, “He stopped some 15′ away from me. He did not look at me or acknowledge me. I did the same. He stood silently for 20 minutes or more and then continued downstream. When I saw the Native American/Indian I felt peace/calmness.”
Dissipating Tension and Hopelessness: A woman in her 30s who worked as a coach told this narrative. The interaction with her archetype reminded her that she was okay and gave her a feeling of deep unconditional love, peace and calm. She said, “when I invited the archetype to the situation, the form “she” was there. I took a breath and relaxed, and she stepped in front of me moving completely between me and the person I has having tension with, and I couldn’t see them anymore, just the sparkles of light.” Her tension and hopelessness were gone and the embodied image of the emotion of a grey metallic plate in her head dissipated.
Revealing Hidden Parts of Oneself: A woman in her 60s who was a forensic consultant was surprised at the archetype she had found. It was a woman galloping on a horse with an orange bandana on her head. She had grey/brown hair and was dressed in forest green. She said this woman on horseback was her awareness of her female counterpart. “The female is a part of myself that I am only now becoming familiar with.”
Decreasing Physical Pain: A woman in her 60s saw a butterfly archetype.
In her scenario she was in a dark room and a heavy hammer was pounding on her heart, making her breath become shallow, and she felt like the walls were closing in. She invited the butterfly into the dark room where she was standing. It fluttered and briefly touched the hammer. She said, “As the butterfly touched the hammer, it got a little smaller, and the pounding on my heart became less intense.”
Other comments people made in their imaginal narratives:
“It was confirmation to always go with my gut feeling to keep walking by faith and not by sight”.
“I felt utterly alone, isolated and threatened, like a cornered animal. She came and stood behind me and calmed me with her soothing presence. I felt calm and collected. Even protected. “
“I have increased awareness of my own well-being and forces that support my well-being I will more likely work with my Elder to support my well-being in situations where I might experience lack or fear.”
“I think of my father, (now deceased) as the archetypal person who opened my heart and mind to the forest and brought the passion that allowed for the awareness in the first place.”
Archetypal Identification Transforms the Inner World: Using imagery people found archetypes, visualized a scene that was uncomfortable, and embodied an emotion seeing its shape and color. Then the archetype came into the scene and activated transformation. Archetypal Identification opened the mind. An archetype, an energy pattern, is a structure that creates an opening to the unconscious mind, releases emotions and enhances awareness. Archetypes prisms between the conscious and unconscious mind, calming emotions and giving space for calm and perspective taking.
Deep Relaxation and Finding an Archetype Audio
https://annabellenelson.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Podcast-1.mp3