YOUR ARCHETYPE WON'T WAIT
I believe in archetypes. Not as vague notions, not as nice ideas for self-help books, but as real, unavoidable structures deeply embedded in our collective consciousness. They are built in.
Joseph Campbell popularized the concept of archetypes in myths and storytelling, particularly the Hero’s Journey. Jung and his followers focused on psychological and developmental dimensions of the archetype. Hillman, Estés, and Johnson bridged psychology with culture, narrative, and personal transformation. For me, understanding archetypes was crucial in determining how to be an Elder—both as an individual and as a cultural archetype. So I looked through these lenses.
What I found was that archetypes are universal. They show up in myths, religions, and stories across cultures and time. They show up in your family, work, and community. They show up in you. Archetypes are patterns of being and becoming that evolved over millennia—one of the heavier threads woven into the fabric of being human.
You can’t avoid them. You can’t sidestep them. You can only go through them. Teenagers will always stumble, test boundaries, and rebel. Heroes will always face the call to adventure. These are truisms embedded in human experience.
THE ELDER AWAKENS
In our time and place, the Elder archetype is arising. Not gradually, not politely—it’s demanding recognition. Elders are forming communities on platforms like Substack, LinkedIn, and Facebook. But their ultimate driving force runs deeper: they’ve figured out how to peel away “Older,” allowing the Elder archetype to emerge with unmistakable clarity.
For some of us in late age, we recognize the Elder archetype because it is no longer optional. Your archetype is not a choice; it is given. It is part of who you are. To ignore it is to remain trapped in a culture of aging that treats wisdom as obsolete and experience as dispensable.
The Elder archetype is a template for what the later stages of life can be—calm, discerning, powerful, generative, purposeful. Yet this archetype has been dormant and suppressed in Western culture, where aging is scripted as decline, obsolescence, and valuelessness.
That script is breaking down. The old rules and assumptions that used to guide our understanding of late life no longer command respect or influence. The suppress button is off. The Elder is awakening, and it is calling to those willing to engage, willing to step fully into the final act of life with integrity, presence, and consequence.
WHAT YOUR ANCESTORS KNOW
I asked my Native American Elder colleagues how they distinguished archetypes, given that archetypes are so deeply ingrained in their culture. Robert wrote back: “Archetypes are your ancestors, now present in you. That is why you were born into this life. This is your heritage. This is what you were meant to do.”
Years ago, I attended a talk with Joseph Campbell, the mythologist who identified the “Hero’s Journey”—a universal narrative pattern describing the stages of transformation every hero, or human life, undergoes. I kept my notes from that evening. Examining my life’s work through the lens of archetype was enormously consequential, opening another access channel to my higher purpose.
Campbell taught that following your archetype is central to living a fully realized life. Archetypes are timeless, universal patterns embedded in myths, stories, and the human psyche—essentially, templates for how human life can unfold in a meaningful way. To follow your archetype is to align with your own deepest, authentic pattern of being—the story that your life is meant to enact.
THE ELDER PATTERN
The Elder archetype observes without being consumed, acts without being reactive, and speaks without needing to prove. The Elder is a realized human being in the later stages of life—not because of age, but because of alignment with this archetypal pattern. The Elder knows how to find middle ground quickly, so life remains peaceful despite whatever is going on. The Elder knows that life is precious because it has term limits.
Your archetype won’t wait. It will not accommodate your hesitation or your comfort with the familiar script of decline. It is arising now, in you, calling you to step into what you were always meant to become.
ELDERLY or ELDER II: How Do You Want to Grow Old
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This isn’t a sequel. It’s an opportunity for you to recognize your Elder archetype, with the intention of following it into your later years.
Choice comes after consideration. Consideration comes through contemplation. Contemplation stirs questions, nudges concerns, and prompts you to scrutinize what you genuinely need to know—and what you must figure out for yourself—about growing old, confronting mortality, becoming obsolete, and living in a culture that renders you invisible. Is becoming an Elder your next evolution?
I always know when a breakthrough is about to occur because it occurs powerfully in different people at the same time. It is a "holistic" occurrence. A "Kaboom" occurrence. At our Elderly or Elder Panel Webinar, Barbara Roth, a teacher at Conscious Eldering, spoke about Crone, who they are in the world, and their role in society. On another note, I have a men's Elder group. I believe there are clear distinctions between male and female Elders, both of whom are desperately needed for their wisdom. Not yet ready to be joined. Both men and women Elders are in their early stages of development, but both are digging in. But when examined, they are actually different archetypes, each fulfilling its appropriate role. It would be a great conversation to have with you. Let's talk.
Thank you for this article. I agree the archetype of the wise woman/wise man/elder/crone is calling to many of us looking to break cultural stereotypes on ageing and contribution (and for women, beauty!). A few years ago, (early 2021) I produced an interview series called the Wise Woman's Journey and from that a small gathering of women has constellated. We meet monthly as the Wise Woman Salon. I tried to get a Wise Man gathering going to complement but wasn't successful - perhaps not enough men on my email list! I'm appreciating your work, and while I'm writing about the Queen archetype on Substack, I'm writing from a crone perspective at age 69. After all, the original meaning of Crone is crowned one. To me the crowning aspect is the journey of healing, of taking off the masks of performance and becoming the one with mature spiritual and emotional intelligence. It's more than a journey of ageing, although the inner work obviously happens over time. 🙏