Sunday morning I was deeply touched as I viewed the poignant and moving film, The Corporal’s Diary. This documentary was produced and directed by Patricia Boiko a Seattle film-maker and physician who is over fifty.  One of Patricia’s passions is to help others tell their stories.  In this documentary she put faces on the on-going statistics and stories we hear from Iraq.  Part of what had Corporal Jonathan Santos and his fellow troop members join the military is the warrior archetype* that is part of who they are.  Many of us have a warrior archetype, and in some it is very pronounced. 

The importance of this archetypal energy to our society and to each of us becomes clear.  Not only does the warrior archetype often motivate the people who choose to help defend and protect our country, but at some level it motivates most of us.  One of the ways in which the warrior energy is important is, it gives us the “fighter” instinct.  A friend who is currently dealing with the reoccurrence of cancer has employed her warrior archetype powerfully.  She is a natural fighter and has keep cancer “under  wraps” for 14 years.  She might wink and describe her warrior more as part of being Irish.

Several years ago when I was 56 and going through a separation, a lawyer friend advised that I see a lawyer.  Her warrior instincts sensed that I needed a “defender” of my rights and a lawyer could definitely help.  She was absolutely correct, and I am indebted to her for the difference that it made to me at that time. 

• So, what can your “warrior” or “fighter” archetype  do for you right now?
• What challenge could it help you face?
• If you recognize your warrior energy, how will you fruitfully direct it?

*According to Carolyn Myss “The warrior archetype represents physical strength and the ability to protect, defend, and fight for one’s rights….These patterns (archetypes), often ancient in origin, populate our minds and lives in ways that affect us deeply.  Yet we are generally unaware of them.  These patterns of intelligence are archetypes, dynamic living forms of energy that are shared in many people’s thoughts and emotions, across cultures and countries.” (Found in:  Myss, Carolyn.  Sacred Contracts, Awakening to Your Divine Potential. New York:  Harmony Books, 2001.)

Footnote:  Interestingly, Patricia Boiko is a Quaker, and yet in her own way she and Corporal Jonathan Santos’s mother, Doris, may very well move into their warrior energy to get Jonathan’s story and that of fellow veterans to the public.