Empowering your Victim archetype

Date: 19 June 2020 | Author: Edina de Jong – Hodzic

There have been several global events since beginning of 2020 that have served as a catalyst for humanity towards deeper questioning and exploration of ourselves. The corona-pandemic has created a new reality that took us by surprise, the tragic death of George Floyd in the US has started a global anti-racism movement, the instability of the global economy is becoming more and more visible etc. All these external events are triggering our inner unprocessed feelings and fears from our collective (un)consciousness. This period in time can feel both scary and at the same time exciting and shouldn’t be feared because it’s a natural process of human growth and evolution.

Usually when we don’t have a bigger perspective of what is happening outside ourselves we can feel out of control and we naturally turn to our instinctual survival patterns. The truth is that we are not our survival patterns. There is a deeper essence of us that is free of fear and we can learn to tap into it and eventually to free ourselves completely. As human beings unlike animals, we have the ability to transcend our limiting states of survival and to evolve our consciousness and thrive as authentic human beings. 

When we are in survival mode, some of us turn inwards and use our inner judging voice to process what is happening. Others turn outwards and project the emotions unto others blaming them for their state of being. Having the awareness of how we individually deal with adversity is a huge step towards true self-empowerment.

What most of us have learned early on from our parents and caretakers is that feelings of fear, anxiety and anger are not welcome and we either learn to disown them by telling ourselves repeatedly that we’re not angry or we reject them by labelling them as being ‘bad’. The truth is that those ‘uncomfortable’ feelings are the doors to deeper wisdom and our true essence and authenticity. By acknowledging and accepting those feelings we can transform old behavioural patterns that are not serving us anymore and reclaim our authentic power.

There are several ways of understanding our unique survival conditioning and imprinting (programming). In principle, we’re only conscious of 5% of our behavioural patterns meaning that for 95% we’re not aware. When I share this fact with people in my environment I always observe a confusion followed by the remark: ‘impossible’. I believe that we all go through this phase of disbelief when we enter our journey of inner growth, though sooner or later you start to realize how much of your life you’ve been living unconsciously. Human beings don’t experience life from a conscious state, we’re not awake for most of the time. Good news is that the path of growth and evolution is to become more conscious and aware. How? By simply observing ourselves throughout the day. When we interact with others, how do we feel? What is happening inside the body? When we listen to the news or read something, how does it make us feel? Which fears are present in our lives?

A great way to examine our survival patterns is by exploring our archetypes. Archetypes have been studied and introduced to the public by the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. Many modern psychologists and healers have continued the exploration on archetypes including Caroline Myss. Caroline’s work teaches that each individual has four survival patterns (victim, saboteur, prostitute and child) and that by integrating them, we can move into a place of true self-empowerment. Each archetype is characterised by a shadow side and a gift, meaning that there is a lower manifestation of this archetype in our lives (shadow) and a higher manifestation of this archetype (gift). You can see it as a spectrum where you can move from shadow to gift, both are present in you and by personal choice you can choose which side you want to occupy. The more conscious you are the easier it gets to access the gift.

One of the four survival patterns that is often most easy to recognise for us is the ‘Victim’ archetype. In its shadow manifestation, the Victim tells you the story of how you’re always taken advantage of and that it’s never your fault. We like to play the Victim at times because of the positive feedback we get in the form of sympathy or pity. It can also help you recognize your own tendency to victimize others for personal gain. The gift of the Victim archetype comes in the form of resilience and freedom, it helps you to learn how to handle challenges and outrun our fears. We need to develop this clarity of insight and that means learning the nature and intensity of the Victim within.

To gain more insight into your Victim archetype you can ask yourself the following questions:
– Do I tend to blame others for the circumstances in my life?
– Do I envy others who always seem to have it all in life?
– Do I spend time in self-pity?

The quickest way to overcome any negative thought pattern (incl. victimhood) is through a simple practice of gratitude. Gratitude is the practice of moving from a mindset of ‘lack’ towards a mindset of ‘abundance’, meaning noticing and appreciating things in your life . And here I don’t necessarily mean material things like your house, your car but small things like the smile of a stranger, the singing of the bird outside, the light of the candle, the smell of the flowers etc. Gratitude is a very powerful and simple tool to help you overcome the mental pattern of ‘lack’.

I used to keep a gratitude journal where I would write 5 things that I am grateful for each day. By including a new practice into your daily life you help create new pathways in your brain which help you to shift your attitude. By repeating this practice for some time (min. 3 months recommended) you will notice that you start to naturally express your gratitude throughout your day without the need of keeping a journal. Nowadays I have personally included my gratitude practice into my evening meditation. I encourage you to look for your own way and what works for you. Explore and play with it, embrace it and see how your life starts to move into alignment.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Albert Einstein