Sovereign Archetype
Authenticity: Showing Up for You
The sovereign archetype reigns over our free will and choices. The word “sovereign” means “supreme ruler”. Here we know all the ways have the power to change our destiny.
“Sovereign” also means “acting or done independently and without outside interference”. This is the definition that gives us even more to work with. Are you committed to breaking free from familial and cultural conditioning? This is the sovereign archetype within asserting your independence.
How important is authenticity to you? How hard do you work to break the habit of people pleasing to show up for yourself? This is also the sovereign at work within.
Inherent Dignity
Cole Arthur Riley opens her book Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human with this contemplation:
“I don’t know what dignity is. Not cognitively. But I know what it feels like. To be loved, to receive honor, to be encountered as human, not because of any demonstration or performance of such, but because, in mystery, your very being is a miracle, your existence a delicate stitch in the cosmos. Dignity will never depend on anyone’s belief in it, certainly not your own…It is inherent.”
The sovereign archetype within us is what carries our inherent dignity. This is the power to rise up out of the ashes and assert that we matter, that our lives matter despite what the world, its systems, and its societies tell us. The sovereign has the power to usurp self-loathing and self-doubt and replace them with self-love. We are worthy no matter what.
Challenges of the Sovereign Archetype
The sovereign also has its challenges. There is so much that is out of our control, but so many ways in which we struggle to maintain control.
All of us have an innate desire to make our lives unfold how we’d like. At times, we find ourselves trying to dictate how other people talk to us and treat us. We plan and strategize so that things go smoothly. We want to know what to expect and when to expect it. All of this falls under the purview of the shadow sovereign.
We get caught up in planning and managing life. Our attention goes outside of ourselves.
The Strategist Archetype
An important sub-archetype of the sovereign is the “strategist archetype”. It is a sub-archetype because it is more limited in scope and carries important themes within the sovereign.
When we get caught up in the excitement of strategizing and planning we think the choices are in the details. The choice is not about the exact date we initiate a new project or who we initiate it with or even what that project is. Uncertainty is inevitable. We can’t plan for it all despite how much the strategist archetype within wants to.
The important choice is the SPIRIT in which we enter into that project and the way in which we navigate surprise obstacles. It’s not about managing to minimize uncertainty. It’s about how we manage ourselves in uncertainty.
Historically, it was the sovereign’s duty to provide for the people of the land and protect them from famine, natural disaster, and invading armies. A true sovereign knows that instability is inevitable. The work is to have a strategy for weathering the uncertainty while leading with integrity.
The Sovereign Sets Boundaries
Most of us think that setting boundaries has to do with telling people how to treat us and making them respect our “no”. This is the quickest way to give away our power. We end up trying to manage someone else’s behavior. A futile endeavor indeed. When we step outside ourselves to force our will on others, it usually doesn’t work.
In the shadow the sovereign archetype says to her friends, “Here are my rules and I expect you to abide by them. If you don’t there are consequences. I’ll be really mad at you, I’ll make you feel bad, I’ll get on your case, and I may even stop being friends with you.”
In the light the sovereign archetype says to herself, “I am called to be in a friendship with this beautiful person before me that I know also has flaws and wounds and hangups. I trust that I’ll be able to navigate what comes as a result of opening up to this love.”
In the light the sovereign archetype keeps us inside our own boundaries, our own kingdom. We refrain from stepping outside of ourselves to manage someone else’s actions.
We choose to focus on the power of our own choices, which is the ultimate choice.
The Saboteur Archetype
When I originally taught archetypes in a prescribed system, I taught about the “saboteur”, which was a maddening affair. That name is a trap that results in affirmation of the problem without providing solutions. When talking about the saboteur students ran in circles railing against how they procrastinate, doubt, ruminate and stall out.
By identifying with the name “saboteur” we fixate on the ways we undermine ourselves. This makes sense because the definition of sabotage is “to deliberately destroy, damage or obstruct something.”
Analyzing the patterns of the saboteur archetype is a maze that gets us nowhere. We know we’re making the wrong choices, but berating ourselves for doing so doesn’t help.
The saboteur archetype is another sub-archetype of the sovereign. The saboteur defines aspects of the shadow of the sovereign. Meanwhile, the sovereign archetype as a whole gives solutions through her gifts.
Power of Choice
The sovereign archetype is one we all have within. It is a core archetype of human nature. We all have free will. Even when our material choices are taken away and life is not going how we want, we still have a force within that determines how we will approach, think, and feel about what we are experiencing.
- The amount of hope and despair we hold and conjure is a choice.
- Whether to open up or be protective is a choice.
- To love or fear is a choice.
We go through so many choices in any given hour, it is no wonder that we miss most of them. It’s no wonder that mindfulness is something we have to learn and practice. It’s overwhelming and sometimes paralyzing to think about how many choices we make and how those impact our lives. Hello karma!
Great world religious leaders and avatars have come to teach us about the power and consequences of our choices. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna stands on a battlefield at the precipice of war and gives a sermon on what choices matter. In the end, it’s all about the choice to follow divine will and surrender the fruits of our actions.
The Buddha teaches the paramount importance of choosing compassion.
This is the peak of the sovereign archetype in the light.
The sovereign archetype in the light asks, “Where am I called to serve right now? What choice aligns with my soul? What can I hand over to Spirit? How do I choose love?”
The sovereign in the light is not interested in ruling over our lives and others. She’s interested in following her soul and the soul of the world.
Related Archetypes
Most people equate the sovereign archetype with royalty, but the sovereign archetype is broader and more universal than that. You can explore royalty through this link:
The sovereign archetype is one of the four core archetypes that all of us have. Learn about the others via these links:
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