Interview With The Prostitute Archetype

This interview with the Prostitute Archetype is based on Caroline Myss's book, "Sacred Contracts."

In this self-help/self-healing book, Ms. Myss uses her own theory of archetypes to build on the work of Carl Jung, who is "generally credited in the modern world as having introduced archetypes, although the idea had originally been espoused by Plato." Using her book for guidance, I found the work to be fascinating, enlightening, and helpful.

I shared my breakthroughs with people and they found them so helpful to their own work that I decided to post them on my website so others might benefit also.

In this book, Ms. Myss introduces the archetypes and then has the reader choose the archetypes that resonate most strongly for them (although she chooses the first four as she believes these four are universally embodied.) She then guides the reader through exercises that guide you to a greater self understanding.

The exercise that I share here are the "Interviews with the Archetypes." Every interview begins by naming the archetype, explaining its primary importance in our lives, and a very general description of the archetype. Every interview consists of the same questions, although I added some in a few of the interviews.

I hope you enjoy.

Prostitute Archetype -- Guardian of Faith

-- Shows up when our survival is threatened

-- Core Issue -- how much are you willing to sell of yourself -- your morals, integrity, intellect, word, body, or soul -- for the sake of physical security

-- Also embodies and tests the power of faith. If you have faith, no one can buy you. You know you can take care of yourself and also that the Divine is looking out for you. Without faith, you will eventually meet the price you can't turn down.

-- Most found in bad marriages or jobs

-- People remain in jobs that make them miserable or sick, violate their ethics, or make them feel bad about themselves for the sake of financial security

-- Every time you take one step on your path personal empowerment, you will meet someone who will want to buy a piece of your soul to render you less powerful and themselves more powerful

-- The Prostitute will watch over your relationship to faith. It is an ally who puts you on alert every time you contemplate shifting your faith from the divine to the physical

-- Crisis of faith? Name the fear, especially those asking you compromise yourself

-- Prostitute interactions can be terrifying and humiliating because they make us confront our fears of survival

-- The Prostitute Archetype can act as a guardian that awakens you to situations in which you must decide to "take up your bed and walk." Once you get away from the circumstance that costs you too much -- money, energy, dignity, or time -- lasting transformation is possible

Historical Questions

"Why did I choose you?"

Prostitute Archetype: You were little. You were scared. You weren't sure of you yet. You didn't know who you were but you were putting yourself together, coming to define and describe yourself. You felt lost and afraid, afraid of being left behind. Coerced, gently but it was still coercion, that you needed to change something about you to make things all right. You concluded you had to give up something about you to make things okay. It was your responsibility, therefore your fault, if things didn't work out. You were scared and desperate to have things work out. So you did what you thought you had to do -- you sold off a piece of you to purchase peace. You have been doing it ever since. I am here to keep a record of your purchases so that when you are ready, you can buy it all back. It hasn't been sold, just loaned out, like a pawn shop.

"Where have we met before?"

Prostitute Archetype: A funny question. I have always been by your side, like the others. We are eternally connected so we are not new to one another, so therefore a question of our first meeting cannot be answered.

"How does your shadow self influence me?"

Prostitute Archetype: Again, these are such funny questions. I influence you by loving you, hoping you'll reacquire that which you have sold off. Giving you the opportunity to welcome home that which is circling your home, waiting for the invitation to knock and enter. You see, I don't have a shadow -- I am Light!

"What do I least like about you?"

Prostitute Archetype: The things you like least about yourself and project on to me. Every time you don't believe in yourself, stand firm, stand strong, or believe in yourself, you slump a little. You have let yourself down. You hope others will stand up for you. But why would they? They are just projections also. They will as soon as you do. Stand resolute, but gently so. You will see.

"Which opportunities in my life are connected to your energy?"

Prostitute Archetype: All. Money? You don't consider yourself of worth -- you sold you off for pennies on the dollar for peace. And are you peaceful? A poor investment indeed. When you consider yourself worthy and stand firm, gently resolute, money will rush to you. Romance? It's the same. You don't consider yourself worthy of that which you desire. You have talked yourself into believing that such a person doesn't even exist. How do you think putting all that effort into coming to such a conclusion will turn out? Even your relationship with your daughters. You give and they choose elsewhere. Invite yourself back. Bring back all the real estate that is you under one ownership.

Personal Questions

"Who are you most connected to in my life? How has this connection contributed to our spiritual development?"

Prostitute Archetype: We are connected to everyone, as "reality" is all a projection of you and your beliefs. Each person is giving you a view of you that you can stand back and look at, helping you to become aware of you as you stand today. Becoming whole is the greatest spiritual achievement and each person has given you the opportunity. Bless them and thank them.

"How do you help me fulfill my Contracts with people?"

Prostitute Archetype: I hold your hand while you look at what you have made. I protect you a bit but for the most part I am just with you so you are not alone. I stand next to you, offering you my faith in you, which is the exact same faith in you God has. My faith in you recognizes that at any time you can choose differently, have a different outcome, a different reality. The faith that I have in you and that God has in you is the same faith you are justified in having in yourself. And it is the same faith you are justified in having in God. Putting your faith in God is the same as putting faith in your highest self. Selling pieces of yourself off to purchase peace is the opposite of putting your faith in God. God would never ask that you sacrifice parts of yourself to attain anything. In fact, God promises that if you put your faith in Him you will have everything. Does it make sense that to have everything you must part with some things? Of course not, but this is what you must believe if you sell parts of you off to attain peace. The contract I am here to help you fulfill is your contract with yourself and God -- have faith that you are whole. That's it. The rest will be done for you. Is there anything that you could pay or sell off that would give you what wholeness offers for free?

"Who in my life do I associate with your power?"

Prostitute Archetype: Mostly women. You tried to buy safety from your grandmother and love from your mother. You paid dearly for those items and received neither of them. (That explains your fears of getting ripped off in the marketplace, doesn't it?) But you cannot find peace nor love anywhere outside of yourself. Peace and love are the experience of God so they can only be found by putting your faith in God. Selling bits and pieces of yourself off to acquire safety and love in the world doesn't work. It never has and it never will. But think about your relationship with the women in your life and you will see the clearest picture of who you associate the power of the Prostitute Archetype and what you have been willing to sell to acquire that which you think you are without (and therefore that which you think you need and want.)

"Who are you connected with from my past that I still have unfinished business with? In what way can your influence helped bring closure to each of these relationships?"

Prostitute Archetype: Let's start with the second question first. It is time to take your tickets back to the pawn shop and retrieve the pieces of yourself you have sold off. You need not buy those pieces back -- you can claim breach of contract -- none of the things you bought performed as promised. All those parts belong to you free and clear. Simply invite them back in and that will close the accounts. As I said, the women in your life hold most of these accounts. You need no one's approval or permission to welcome home that which is yours. These women have stored your vouchers on dusty shelves in long forgotten closets and they care not if your vouchers are picked up or not. Like I said, you do not need anyone's approval but you also don't need to feel like you are stealing something that belongs to someone else. Recall yourself to wholeness and you will have all you dreamed of and more.

Energy and Intuitive Questions

"How do I know when your energy is influencing my thoughts or actions?"

Prostitute Archetype: Whenever you agree to, or are considering agreeing to, something that just doesn't feel good or right to you. Many times you have felt this and through the manipulations/positioning/cajoling/coercing of the other person/people involved, you agree to it, even though it didn't feel right. Again, mostly women but men too.

"How do you present your energy to me through the dream state?"

Prostitute Archetype: You have had terror dreams of people crawling into your childhood bedroom window and hurting and robbing you and your loved ones. You've heard them coming but couldn't wake up completely or been unable to move, paralyzed by fear, until it is too late. This is the Prostitute Energy -- hearing it coming, knowing what is going on, but doing nothing to prevent it, feeling powerless to prevent it. Which is about your feeling powerless to say "No." When you feel powerless to say "No" to something you know you should say "No" to, the outcomes are not good for you or your family, which leads to deeper feelings of powerlessness. Next time you have this dream, while in the dream, get up, protect you and your family while yelling, "No!" And in your life, stop selling yourself off -- to incompatible partners (romantic and business), to business deals that don't work for you, to friendships that do not support you. Say "No," stand firm instead of being talked into or talking yourself into a "Yes" and put your faith in God and surrender it, let it go. This is why salesmanship was attractive to you: You wanted to undo to you what was done to you in the exact way it was done to you. You got tired of sales which is why you hated it (and yourself for doing it) so strongly at the end. Most importantly, have faith in yourself and your worth.

"In what ways does your influence enhance my sense of personal power?"

Prostitute Archetype: I shine the light when you are feeling confused so you can see through the fog. When something doesn't feel quite right to you, you try to understand it, rationalize it. And anything can be rationalized if an intelligent argument is allowed to gain a foothold. It may be intelligent while still being insane. Turn to me when you are being presented with an intelligent argument that is trying to persuade you to do something that helps the energetic cause of another but necessitates your own loss of integrity and personal power. It is okay, even wise, to help the cause of another that is in alignment with your own purposes, integrity, and wishes. In those cases I will be revving up your engines, so to speak, so that you will have more energy and love to put into that project.

"Do you have a negative influence on my self-esteem or on my behavior or attitudes?"

Prostitute Archetype: You project those things on me and I happily accept them so what you are valuing can be held up in front of you so you can see it, so it is no longer hidden in your subconscious.

"What have I learned lately that comes directly from you?"

Prostitute Archetype: We have been working together for so long. When you would stand up to the girl's mother -- that was you and me. And remember the dream you had of your daughter and you at the beach? That was me helping you see what it was costing you and those you allow to go along with what you knew was wrong. You were trying to be okay with and support something that was not supportable. I was so proud of you and filled with love when you grasped the meaning of that dream so quickly and acted on it so quickly. When you got out of sales, when you left that waitering job -- these are all huge leaps in no longer selling off pieces of yourself. And I know you are struggling right now -- you feel you should have stuck it out so you could have made more money. But you also know that what you did -- quit -- was right. It was better for you. You will look back on this and know it was the right thing to do. So you might as well relax into it now. It is great that when you are worried and conflicted about this that you consciously place your faith in God. This is incredibly powerful, more than you are yet aware. But soon, My Child, soon. It was also great that you decided you wanted that restaurant to do well -- you have been hoping it did poorly so you can feel good about your decision but when you decided that you wanted it to do well so those you love and care about could do well -- that was wonderfully loving. That was a growth spurt. So I am always with you, always loving you.

"When and where in my life have you communicated with me most directly?"

Prostitute Archetype: I already answered that.

"What do you make me afraid of?"

Prostitute Archetype: I make you afraid of nothing. I hold your projections up to you and those you find fearful. But these are just shadows on the wall you interpret to be scary. I offer my assistance in reintegrating those shadows so you can see them for what they really are and set them free.

"What positive characteristics do I have that you enhance and help me with?"

Prostitute Archetype: Self knowledge, self-esteem, self confidence, faith in yourself, trust and faith in the Divine. I help you follow your own path. I am one of the many helpers that illuminate your path for you.

Spiritual Questions

"What is your central contribution to my spiritual development?"

Prostitute Archetype: I help you place your faith wholly where it belongs -- in the Divine.

"What are the most important personal lessons that you have taught me?"

Prostitute Archetype: That you are not alone. And that being separate from God and doing things on your own is not a sign of strength, it is just lonely.

"What immediate guidance can you give me in this present moment?"

Prostitute Archetype: Choose God. Every time and at all times. In so doing, you're actually choosing yourself.

"How do you help me work with my agreements and Contract?"

Prostitute Archetype: I hold them up to you so you can see which cost you and which benefit you. Once you become aware, the difference is so obvious your choices are clear and easy with no confusion -- always make your contracts and agreements with God. Those are the only ones that work. Any time you make an agreement with littleness, fear, and lack you are setting yourself up for losses, defaults, and betrayals. Any time you make an agreement with grandeur, love, and abundance you set yourself up for joy, happiness, and rapture. It really is that simple.

"What is the most immediate personal change connected to your influence that I can make that would best empower me at this point in my life?"

Prostitute Archetype: Trust that you have helpers all around you all the time so you are never alone, which you fear constantly. Trust that you are successful 100% of the time. You are either successfully proving your beliefs of loneliness and inadequacy are true or that your beliefs of unity and rapture are true. You choose your beliefs and they always prove themselves true. Therefore you are 100% successful all the time. So value your beliefs in grandeur and your participation in that. And put your faith in God, trust God, no other.

"How do you cause me to block personal change?"

Prostitute Archetype: I cannot answer that question the way it is asked. I do not block anything in you or anyone else. I help you open. You project your blocks on to me and, when you let me, we work through them together.

"What do I fear most about your influence?"

Prostitute Archetype: You are afraid that by accepting and stepping into your greatness you will be setting yourself up to let yourself down. You are afraid of not living up to your potential and letting yourself, your loved ones, and all those who listen to you, down. But all of us are not your mother -- when you make mistakes, when you fall down, when you stumble, we won't be judging you so harshly. You fear that if you take my hand you will eventually be humiliated. You are sure you will stumble and fall. I promise you if you do stumble and fall you will get back up again! You will share this part of the process, this part of your journey, with those who look to you for guidance and in so doing you will help them yet again. Take my hand, Wesley! Where you will go is beyond your imagination (which is not that hard to accomplish since what you imagine is humiliation.) Take my hand. Discover who you really are and you will be amazed!

Thank you for reading this interview. If you enjoyed this interview and would enjoy reading interviews with other archetypes, please click on Prostitute Archetype and you will be able to do so.

Thank you!