The Archetypal Nature of the Soul – The Mortal, Immortal, and Higher and Lower Nature of the Soul

All humans are multidimensional beings in the most basic sense of existing simultaneously on 3 interwoven planes, with a dual (polarized) nature that functions as complementary opposites in forming a single reality. Our dual nature is comprised fundamentally of both a conscious and unconscious mind which are directly correlated with a higher, and lower soul. We are a combination, in every sense of the idea, of both an animal and a god, a product of the group mind of Nature, where we exist as part of a kingdom, class, and species, governed by the group mind of the collective unconscious where we’re shaped primarily by other beings and our environment, and as divine beings endowed with a conscious, self-aware mind and the ability to create ourselves as an individual while determining the course of our own destiny.

These dual aspects of us do not exist independent of each other, but as different aspects of the same mind and soul, which perform specialized functions in creating and maintaining a consistent experience of reality. The organized (polarized) field of starlight (astral light) we have come to call “reality†is formed and maintained by the collective unconscious of Nature and provides us with the means for experiencing ourselves, while simultaneously shaping ourselves through the nature of our own experiences. These two aspects of the group and individual mind are contained within an even greater mind that acts to form and birth them, known as the superconscious mind of universal intelligence, cosmic consciousness, and the Universal Soul. This is the aspect of the mind known as the “archetypal plane†where “ideas†exist in a latent, unformed state of pure potential. This aspect of our mind and self exists as an “archetype†of a “particular nature†and is not based on memory in terms of how we normally think of it as being attained from a personal existence.

The archetypal Soul is “causal†in nature and comprised of a formula of attributes developed to different degrees that imbue us with specific characteristics that express as natural behaviors in telling a particular type of story or myth. Archetypes are “wholes†that contain within them every aspect of what becomes expressed as a cohesive reality that brings a particular type of experience. Each aspect of our mind plays a complementary role in forming a single reality as a mental construct formed as an outer projection of our own inner nature. We shape ourselves as divine beings out of the experiences we act to produce mentally and emotionally based on how we associate and thereby identify with our own mental projection.

Axis Mundi

The Holographic Nature of the Mind and the Law of Polarity

The terms mind, soul, and self are synonymous and like the term’s conscious, subconscious, and superconscious, are names given to different aspects and specialized functions of the same thing. Throughout this article they will be used interchangeably based on what aspect or function is being considered in contemplating the construction and operation of the whole in which they are a “partâ€. There’s no meaningful way to separate them because each one systematically evolves out of the inherent nature of the other as a growth process and are completely interdependent. Any attempts to handle them as separate ideas leads to a misguided perception and distorted interpretation. The 3 aspects of the mind represent fundamental principles in terms how each aspect functions on its own plane, which are all formed and maintained as a projection of each other. The 3-fold nature of the mind is represented symbolically by the Triad (triangle), which reproduces itself as a Triad (whole unit) on each of the 3 parallel planes that are complementary in forming a single reality. The mind is a “hologram†where each aspect or part is a reflection of the whole and contains all the properties and characteristics of the whole in every part.

The Triad represents the Law of Polarity, which forms the basis for vibration as a spinning vortex of energy that constructs a matrix of light as a 3-dimesional form through movement between a positively charged pole (electric), and a negatively charged pole (magnetic), where they both push apart and pull together at the same time, creating “space†as the basis for dimension. These polarized forces can only be reconciled by forming a 3rd element as a “new stateâ€. This 3rd element, represented by the element of “air†(symbolic of thought), is formed by combining heat and moisture to form an atmospheric effect as a field of polarized light that becomes a mental map for condensing into a material form, represented by the element of earth. All material objects appear to both radiate an outer field of light and be encapsulated and sustained by it. Every physical object, no exceptions, is accompanied by an energy field (called dark energy or dark matter) that’s spherical and shaped like an egg, that completely envelops and sustains the material form. This field of polarized light is what “in-forms†and “animates it with lifeâ€, seemingly from within. This idea is represented by the Earth being a material sphere that’s surrounded by and contained within a greater sphere of light that appears to be radiating from it, while also being sustained by it, which also contains all the “memory of Natureâ€, we call “instinctâ€.  

This invisible energy field “is†what’s also called the etheric double which exists in the fundamental sense as an “organized field of memory†that endows the lifeform with an “inner nature†and personality. This memory, in the typical sense, is also a material construct formed on the inner planes of the “mind†out of subtle energy called “astral lightâ€, which is what not only forms the “etheric blueprint†for constructing and regenerating the material form, but also serves as a “medium†between the different planes and aspects of the same mind. This etheric sheath that connects the higher mental plane with the lower material plane can be conceptualized as an “embryo†and “womb†of creation. The higher conscious mind of the divine soul, which is endowed with the ability to “create itself†as an “entire realityâ€, acts to “seed†the lower, material mind with a suggestion that serves as a metaphor for creating as an outer experience. The material mind of the subconscious conceives and gestates it by building it into the existing mental model (etheric template) being used to perceive the outer world, where it appears as a natural part of reality, allowing us to “experience itâ€.

Resonance - torus of the human energy field

How We Build Our Own Outer World

While we’re incarnate in a physical body, we consistently project the outer reality of our inner nature as a means of experiencing ourselves, and through our self-generated experiences, we come to know ourselves as we exist in whole form. We come to know who we “are†as a higher, divine being capable of also creating ourselves through our entire reality, because we’re the one producing all of it. Not as a finite material construct or objective reality that exists independently of us or our ability to determine it, but as the mental construct necessary to experience ourselves through our own mythology. Our outer reality is formed through our perception of it, and our perception is formed through a dynamic correlation of mental filters that only activate, abstract, and call forth (order information) what matches our archetypal nature and reconstructs it into a complementary outer variation necessary to have a particular type of experience.

Our mental model is formed as the synthesis of all our life experiences built into a single memory. This holistic memory forms the perceptual lens we “look through†and the basis for how we “interpret†what we see to make it “mean somethingâ€. The meaning we give things simultaneously creates on 3 levels (is holographic), and means something about others, the way the world is in general, and about us in relation with it all. Meaning forms a “theme†out of which our life story naturally takes shape, giving all our life experiences continuity. This theme is born out of our initial conditioning as a child where we tried to make sense of what was happening in the world around us while making everything “about us†or our fault somehow. We were operating purely out of the group mind of our subconscious, while our rational, reasoning mind was only beginning to develop. From this perspective we “became†whatever we heard being said about us because we didn’t have the ability to discriminate or make accurate judgments about what was happening. We thought that whatever was happening with our parents and family was somehow our fault or that we deserved what was happening to us.

The primary theme of our life-story started taking shape out of the emotions we were consistently experiencing and the family dynamics we were a part of as a child, and by the time our rational mind began developing, our emotional life shaped the nature of our thoughts and what we began telling ourselves as a way of trying to understand what was happening to us and around us. The beliefs we formed about ourselves out of our childhood conditioning became a self-fulfilling prophecy and formed the basis for how we continued to create our experiences as a means of providing us with more and more of the same type of experiences. This is because memory, like the mind that forms it, is archetypal in nature and acts as a metaphor for producing endless variations of the same overall idea, while simultaneously acting to shape our inner nature as a correspondence.

Inner Being

The Nature of an Archetype

An archetype is what we can call an “idea†that’s holistic and thematic in nature and serves as a prototype or generalized pattern for producing an infinite number of variations that all still hold true to the same basic idea. It’s comprised of a select set of attributes and qualities that form distinct characteristics as an “inner nature†that expresses naturally through behaviors and activities that come automatically in a spontaneous manner. It’s a “whole unit†that contains everything needed to produce a variety of forms that all possess the same nature and express to form the same type of outer reality as a standard universal theme. While it fluctuates by adapting to numerous situations and circumstances, its intrinsic nature remains consistent. These fluctuations come by whatever it combines with, blends into mentally, and forms into as a unique variation of the same overall theme.

Archetypes, like all creative forces of Nature that manifest as a physical form, exist as polarized pairs (twins) that are complementary in nature. In the divine realm they are represented as couples that are gods and goddesses, who are endowed with masculine and feminine attributes that are complementary in nature, and as male and female gender that are portrayed as being married or siblings, and sometimes both. Polarities act “on each other†to stimulate each other into an active state of expression. We only develop new qualities by interacting with complementary energies outside of us that serve to activate and bring out matching qualities that are latent within us. We never actually “acquire†attributes from an outside source, but once a quality that was previously latent within us begins expressing in creating “new types of experiencesâ€, they serve to transform and evolve our “inner nature†to a new level of self-awareness and self-expression. Our inner nature is what forms how we experience ourselves as a part of everything around us and is what forms the basis for all our thoughts and activities. The most basic way we transform and grow ourselves is by learning how to form new types of experiences.

 An archetype, in the most basic sense, is a coherent memory that forms a metaphorical idea as a life-theme, which fluctuates through a range of possible states based on what qualities are developed to what degree, and in what way in terms of the dynamic that was used as the means of developing them. Dynamics, which are behavioral patterns of a relationship where each person plays a particular role in how they interact, all correspond to greater universal themes. All of life as we know it is comprised of various archetypes that play specialized roles in forming a greater universal theme. Archetypes are highly adaptable to their environment and form modifications of themselves as a process of evolving to higher and lower states of consciousness, while still maintaining the same basic nature and set of natural behaviors.

Galaxy

How the One becomes the Many

This idea is expressed as the “One†being infinite and eternal in nature, always remaining the “sameâ€, while acting as the progenitor for an infinite number of various forms, each bestowed with a somewhat unique personality and outer appearance, while being of the same basic nature and displaying the same type of behaviors and activities attributed to their “class, type, and speciesâ€. In the animal kingdom, for example, all canines display the same behaviors assigned to their class and breed, yet each one does those same behaviors in a way that’s unique to them based on their “personalityâ€. It’s only their personality that distinguishes them from all others of the same breed and class. Humans share this same tendency through their “lower, animal natureâ€, where they behave in very similar ways, differing only in how they do those same behaviors. Every person lives out of a story of their own making that follows a common universal theme yet has a unique twist to it based on the patterns formed through their formative conditioning.

Humans are the only beings on the planet who are “self-awareâ€, able to perceive themselves as independent of their environment, and endowed with ability to “create themselves†using the mental capacities of self-realization, creative imagination, reasoning, and will in the ability to make decisions for themselves that separate them from the crowd.  We form an image of ourselves based on how we associate with other people, our immediate environment and what’s going on around us that we’re a part of, and the story we’re always in the process of telling ourselves about things as a means of creating how we experience them. We act to form our perception of reality, create how we experience it, and then associate with our own experiences, shaping our identity as a result. No other animal or being on the planet acts to form their own “identity†as an “individual†that sets them apart from the group. This is a unique attribute of human beings that comes through the “conscious aspect of the mindâ€, which is “creative in natureâ€.

In terms of our lower nature as an animal soul, we’re all members of the same class and kingdom, called the kingdom of man, where we all have a similar appearance and set of natural behaviors and tendencies, driven by emotional impulses, with the only real difference being “how we do†those same activities through our personality. Once we enter puberty, we begin developing our higher mind in being able to “shape our identity†by deciding who and how we’re going to be in any situation, and in being able to intentionally develop desired qualities in ourselves that act to shape our inner nature. As we begin taking control of our own development, we also begin shaping our perceptual lens which changes how the world appears to us, bringing us new types of experiences. Through creating new experiences of ourselves, we act “on ourselves†to grow and transform us to a new state of being. No other being or soul on this planet has this ability because no other animal has a “conscious mind†that can “think†and project the reality of their thoughts. All animals and beings with a soul reside completely within the class of the group mind they’re associated with formed out of the “memory of the Earth’s soulâ€.

Earth glow in space

One of the problems we have in understanding this idea is that we often fail to recognize that the Earth is a “living sentient being†and an archetype (like all planets are), comprised of a set of attributes, qualities, and characteristics as “memory†inherent in its “astral body†(atmosphere illuminated by the sun), that generate the dynamic lifeforms of the planet, all of which play a particular role and function in a greater, unified, eco-system. All life on Earth functions as a single entity and coherent reality. We experience this as being what we can safely call an “objective reality†comprised of the same basic material elements of Nature and human invention, which is “perceived differently†by every person. All reality as we’re capable of knowing it is “subjective†in nature because we’re the one forming it as a projection of our own mental paradigm. Our mental paradigm, which is formed as the synthesis of all our life experiences into a “single memoryâ€, is an archetype that emanates its own outer reality as a perception of itself on a greater scale.

The outer world is formed as the “theme†inherent in the inner world of our character, which sets the stage for consistently producing a particular type of experience of ourselves. The outer world only changes in terms of how it appears to us when we work on ourselves to develop our character to form a new “stateâ€. The outer world changes in the exact same way and proportion as our inner world, because they’re formed out of the same archetypal matrix as a continuation of each other. The outer world is the stage and setting we use as the means of expressing ourselves in telling a story about who we are as a means of experiencing ourselves through and as our own creation.

When we hear the saying “we all manifest our own realityâ€, this doesn’t mean in the literal sense of the actual material world of Nature that makes up our “common realityâ€, it means we only “notice and abstract†from the outer world the same attributes and characteristics that are inherent in our paradigm-archetype, and reorganize them to form a new variable that mirrors back to us our own feelings, thoughts, values, and beliefs about it. Our expectations going into any situation shape how we experience it based on what we notice, pull forth, and use as the means of creating how we experience it. Our archetypal model forms the mental filters that shape the perceptual lens we look through as the means of experiencing the outer world. We only perceive outside of us what also exists inside of us, and what’s inside of us is formed out of the memory we have formed of ourselves.

Memory is the etheric blueprint as an energetic infrastructure that gives rise to our material existence and forms the metaphorical theme that shapes all our experiences. We only perceive outside of us what matches and can be interpreted to mean the same thing as what’s formed in our mind and imagination. In this sense we are the sole creator of both our self and our life. What tends to make this difficult to fully comprehend is that the greater part of the process is conducted below the level of awareness, where it happens instantaneously and in a completely natural and automatic way. No other animal on the planet lives in a reality of their own making, creates how they experience that reality, and shapes themselves by how they associate with their own creation. This is a unique attribute of human beings who are bestowed with a conscious mind.

The astral body

The One and the Many – Our Mortal and Immortal Soul

In the most fundamental sense, archetypes, which serve as a “classification†for all creation, are “immortal†and exist eternally, while the wide variety of forms produced by that archetype are “mortal†and temporary. What this means is that when an animal dies, its consciousness, which is a part of the collective memory of its species, is absorbed back into its archetypal class as the collective memory of that species and type. This “collective memory†is what forms the “instinctual field†that exists within the atmosphere (Soul) of the Earth and is what not only acts to produce the living being, but also imbues it with all its natural qualities, intelligence, and behaviors. This is what you might call the Earth’s consciousness experiencing itself through its own creation. The Earth is an archetype, just as all heavenly and planetary bodies are, and is comprised of a wide variety of archetypes it acts to generate, all of which play a specialized role in forming an even greater theme as a universal archetype. All life on Earth, and all beings with an animal soul, return to the archetypal memory of the Earth’s soul when they die, because they don’t possess a “conscious mind†or “individuality†that sets them apart as a class of their own. Their consciousness returns to and remains a part of the group consciousness of the collective memory of its archetypal class.

This same principle applies to human beings in terms of our physical existence in an “animal bodyâ€, which is bestowed with a personality and set of natural behaviors employed by all humans in general. This part of us forms what’s called our “first birth†as our “formative conditioning†where we take on the qualities and traits being expressed by everyone around us and are shaped as a part of a group dynamic. We’re all born into this world with only our subconscious-animal mind functioning, where our conscious mind exists in a latent state as a form of “seed†that begins growing as we mature. While in a purely unconscious state we’re shaped in “association†with others and our environment, where we function as a part of a group (family unit and living situation) and lack any form of individuality outside of our personality. We are conditioned with the same attitude, values, beliefs, tendencies, and dynamics (behavioral patterns) that are consistently playing out around us and that we’re a natural part of. This forms what you can think of as our lower nature, animal soul, and personality.

The conscious aspect of our mind is the part of us that’s “creative†in the most basic sense and develops in four stages of seven-year increments. This can be easily understood by recognizing that a child is initially completely dependent on and perceives itself as being one with its parents (particularly the mother) and family group up until around the age of 7 or 8, and lives completely out of its personality and genetic makeup. At around the age of 7, the conscious mind begins developing and coming into play where the child begins thinking for itself, forming interpretations about what’s going on around them, and begins developing the ability to problem solve, discriminate, make judgments of their own, and begins forming their “own memories†as the basis for shaping their own experiences. This is self-evident in realizing that we have very few memories of ourselves and our life before the age of 6 or 7, because we live solely out of our natural instincts and the tendencies formed out of our genetic makeup shared by all family members. Memory, in terms of a mental picture, is actually something we “create†as an internal representation using our creative imagination, which is a faculty of our higher, conscious mind.

Somewhere between the age of 7 and puberty (12 to 14), we start becoming more independent, forming our own thoughts about things, start forming friendships outside our family group and immediate environment, become a part of social groups, and begin separating mentally and emotionally from our parents where we begin sensing ourselves as an individual. Once we enter puberty our hormones kick in and we begin a quest of self-discovery by trying on different ways of being, sensing ourselves in different ways where we can “decide†what we like and what we don’t like. We begin experimenting by exercising our ability form “who we are†as our own person. We move from relating primarily with our family and immediate surroundings to building our identity and self-image as a part of a social group.

within the astral sphere of consciousness

By around 21, we officially become an “adult†where we take over responsibility for our own life creation through our ability to make calculated decisions for ourselves that impose a direction on our life, and we become independent in our own right. By the time we approach 28 to 30, we’ve usually established our own life, have a career in place that provides us with financial stability, and have often started our own family and become parents ourselves. Up to this point we’ve developed ourselves and our life out of the patterns, traits, and tendencies of our conditioning, where all our activities come automatically in what seems like a completely natural way, forming our “identity†as an individual. Our identity emerges naturally as an extension of our personality born out of our conditioning and forms the basis of our “life story†as a universal theme. This is the part of us that strives to be accepted as a part of a group, fears being alone, and needs to be “in a relationship†to know who we are and have a sense of purpose. While we’ve developed the ability to create the reality of our beliefs and thoughts, we haven’t yet realized that’s what we’re doing, or more importantly, “how it is†we’re doing it. We imagine life is happening “to us†in a random and unpredictable way and is beyond our ability to control or determine it.

Our conditioned self is what’s called our lower self, our lower nature, subconscious mind, animal soul born out of the group mind of humanity, and the ancestral memory inherent in our genes that’s developed through our family dynamic. This part of us, lacking any true form of individuality achieved by actively creating our identity from a conscious and self-aware state, is born out of the archetype of humanity as a “class and species of the Earthâ€, and is “mortalâ€, because at death, it returns to the group memory it was formed out of. It’s absorbed back into the collective consciousness of humanity and forms the basis for future generations and personalities of the human species, all endowed with the same basic nature.

Our conscious mind and higher self, also referred to as our “divine natureâ€, is what gives us the primal ability to create ourselves as an individual that’s unique in our own right and sets us apart from the group mind of humanity. This is the part of us that’s self-aware, forms realizations about ourselves as a form of self-analysis and judgment where we can actively “choose†how and who we want to be in any situation. This is our “morality and conscience†that perceives and works with ideas of right and wrong, good and bad, constructive and destructive, and is the “decision maker†that employs willpower in disciplining ourselves to take the actions necessary to turn our decisions into a reality, moving out of an unconscious existence and into a fully awake and self-aware one.

When we step into our higher, divine nature as our own creator, and we become responsible for who we become as an individual, we fashion ourselves as an “archetype†that’s unique in nature. We do this by intentionally developing latent qualities to a new level of expression, changing our “internal formula of qualitiesâ€. By working on ourselves to develop our own character to a new level of self-expression, we produce new experiences that are simultaneously molded into our existing circle of experiences, upgrading and evolving them to a new level of consciousness. As we intentionally “act on ourselves†to evolve ourselves by growing our internal nature to a new level of self-expression, we become responsible for what we create. The part of us fashioned by our own hand is the part of us that’s “immortal†and forms the archetype (karmic seed) for all our succeeding incarnations into new physical forms. This is what’s called our “second birthâ€, where we step out of our unconscious conditioning and begin shaping ourselves in our own image, fashioned by our own hand. We become self-made, self-determined, and an immortal god.

Etheric body

Death and Separation

When we die, our conscious mind separates from our subconscious mind, and our bodily form begins dissolving, returning to the earthly substance it was formed out of. Our lower, group-oriented nature returns to the archetypal memory of humanity, while our higher, divine, self-created nature returns to the archetypal memory of our own making, formed out of the synthesis of all our incarnations. Only the part of us that’s consciously fashioned using the capacities of our higher, creative mind are immortal in the sense that we “maintain†our individual status as an archetype of a unique classification, which forms the basis for our eternal souls’ future incarnations as a unique individual. The conscious aspect of mind returns to its own plane, and the subconscious aspect of the Earth remains in its own plane.

When we live out of our conditioned mind through numerous lifetimes, we become a permanent part of the group mind and lose our individuality, rendering ourselves “mortalâ€. When we’re reborn in our life and begin taking over creating ourselves in a conscious and deliberate way, we shape ourselves as a divine, archetypal being of our own making, and we become immortal in our own right. All humans are born into this world with 2 minds as a personality and identity, and are both mortal and immortal, and through our awareness, desires, decisions, and willed actions, or lack of awareness, inability to make well thought out decisions, and always going along with the will of others who make our decisions for us, we either shape our own destiny and reside in the heavens with the gods, or reside on earth as a permanent part of the human species.

Dr. Linda Gadbois      

Transpersonal Psychologist, Integrative Mind-Body Medicine Consultant, and Spiritual Teacher

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