Santa Claus and Archetypes - gifts of personal development
We invite you to an exercise in imagination in which maybe some of this year’s gifts you will find inside you, with a little help from a symbolic Santa Claus.
Jung calls them archetypes: those "active predispositions (…) that preform and instinctively influence our thinking, feeling, and action," fundamental human motives that remain in the collective subconscious of all people.
There is in the Tarot, this true catalog of symbols, a major arcana named Hermit, a symbol and an invitation to solitude and contemplation. This archetype of The Sage who invites us to descend into the depths of our soul because there is a true treasure. And have you heard of Santa’s other visits except December 25? The gifts he brings us are prepared for a year and brought to light in one day.
Maybe this year you will also accept the gift of introspection, you will accept the invitation to step into solitude, to give yourself time and to withdraw into your intimate and personal world. There you will be able to think of your life, evaluate decisions and prepare for the actions that follow. This true Tarot Pilgrim reminds us, like Santa Claus, that the most wonderful gifts are the ones we harbor in ourselves.
Santa’s hidden gift lies in the very symbolism of the Hermit. It is that time of year that can bring us motivation for the coming year. The archetype of the Altruist is manifested in the desire to do good to others, to take care of those in need and is the motivation that each of us finds when, perhaps at Christmas, we are encouraged to offer more than in other months of the year. And an altruist does not ask for anything in return, except maybe a cake or a glass of warm milk.
This magical transformation, this journey in a night around the globe, in a sleigh pulled by reindeer and maybe without a modern GPS system activates the archetype of the Magician who fills our souls with compassion and love. Here we can learn to transform our reality and find new ways to act, to be and to succeed.
And if you resonate more with a contemporary approach, imagine what a good manager Santa should be and what efficient logistics he has developed. To deliver all the gifts, around the globe, exactly what everyone wants, in the allocated budget and in one night ?! What if you used these qualities to set your goals for the year knocking at the door? And what if, as you believe in Santa Claus, you gave yourself this priceless gift of believing in yourself and your inner strength?
Just a gift idea.
