On our journeys of awakening, it is crucial to find where weโre situated on the path so that we know how to navigate the road ahead.
Traveling without knowing how to orient ourselves is kind of like craving to go to your favorite cookie store, but having no map, no direction, and no car. Pretty damn frustrating, am I right?!
If youโve ever felt lost, stuck, confused, disoriented, and alone on your journey, youโll know that this frustration is not only common but also profoundly demoralizing.ย
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Being a lone wolf and a spiritual wanderer is a sacred calling in life โ a unique and alchemical path of awakening. You donโt need to feel lost, alone, or stuck on your journey any more. Itโs time to meet your soulโs deep needs for clarity, self-acceptance, and empowerment. Let us show you how โฆ
Most of us know that weโve got to practice self-love and do shadow work, and perhaps we do as much inner work as we can โฆ but, um, what next?ย
Other than this sense of lostness and rootlessness on our paths, we also often tend to come across the same old inner blockages and barriers over and over again, without having a clue why.ย
One of the core elements I love the most about our work here on lonerwolf is that we focus on the spiritual wandererโs journey as symbolized by the lone wolfโ something that weโve crystallized and clarified across the 10+ years that weโve been devoted to this work.
What Mateo and I have found through our own journeys as wanderers and guides is that there are five main archetypes of awakening โ and all of them are parts contained within the spiritual wanderer, aka., you, the protagonist on this path.
These five main archetypes of awakening are:
- The Seeker (also known as The Hermit)
- The Apprentice (also known as The Witch or Warlock)
- The Shaman
- The Mystic
- The Sageย ย
Weโve written about the empath (or deep feeler), the old soul, the spiritual warrior, and the deep thinker in the past โ and all of these traits are aspects of the five archetypes of awakening contained within the spiritual wanderer.ย ย
Why Finding Where Youโre Situated On the Path (& What Archetype You Embody) is So Valuable
As the saying goes, โThe map isnโt the territory.โ However, having some kind of map is also a vital and necessary tool to help you gain some kind of perspective on your path.
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Weโve clarified the map of the spiritual wandererโs journey and its stages here, but right now I want to discuss why finding what archetype you embody on this journey is essential.
Archetypes are universal patterns of energy or as psychoanalyst and originator of this idea, Carl Jung writes,
Archetypes are images in the soul that represent the course of one’s life.
Finding which of the five archetypes of awakening youโre currently embodying on your path provides a doorway into discovering your deeper needs and Soulโs wisdom.
It also helps you orient yourself and find where on earth you’re currently at in your journey (because this is where we’re often most confused and lost).
Furthermore, by learning how to understand, embody, and integrate each aspect of the journey ruled by the Seeker, Apprentice, Shaman, Mystic, and Sage, you can find more inner freedom, expansion, and spiritual Illumination.ย
You can find your path, place, and purpose.
The Seeker, Apprentice, Shaman, Mystic, and Sage โ A Summary
Hereโs a little breakdown of each archetype of awakening, which weโll be going into more in-depth in our Spiritual Wanderer Course released next week (so excited and proud to be finally offering this after a decade of synthesis!):
The Seeker (Hermit)
The Seeker or Hermit archetype occupies levels one and two of the spiritual wandererโs journey of awakening.ย
This is the part within us that yearns for a new path and a new way of being, yet may feel stuck and resistant to change, not knowing how to move forward.
Yearning for silence, stillness, and solitude, and well as seeking answers and being drawn irresistibly into the โdark forestโ of the unknown are typical features of this archetype within us.
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The main demon that The Seeker/Hermit faces is self-gaslighting, and the elixir to overcoming that inner darkness is cultivating self-trust.ย
The Apprentice (Witch/Warlock)
The Apprentice, also defined as the Witch or Warlock archetype, comes afterward and occupies levels three and four of the awakening journey.
This is the part within us that has accepted what mythologist Joseph Campbell refers to as โthe call to adventureโ by metaphorically journeying into that dark, unknown forest to see what they can find.
Learning, growing in knowledge and self-understanding, as well as dabbling in many different spiritual modalities are all features of The Apprentice archetype.ย
Discovering how to access our inner power and โmagicโ (which is why this stage is also known as the Witch or Warlock phase), is also a defining feature.ย
The main demon that The Apprentice/Witch/Warlock faces is self-disempowerment, and the elixir to overcoming that inner shadow is cultivating self-sovereignty.
The Shaman
The Shaman occupies levels five and six of the awakening journey, and it’s the part within us that feels called to dive into the unconscious on our awakening paths.
In the previous archetype of the Apprentice, we were focusing on reclaiming a sense of self-knowledge and empowerment. But the Shaman archetype takes this desire deeper into wanting to heal deep and old wounds.
Shadow work, trauma healing, and working to shine a light in the darkness of our innermost selves are all motivations of the Shaman archetype, who is a spiritual warrior at heart.
The main demon that the Shaman faces is self-victimization, and the elixir to overcoming that inner shadow is cultivating self-compassion.
The Mystic
After facing our inner darkness, whether through confronting our unconscious shadows or entering a dark night of the soul of some kind (or both), we eventually find the light. That is what the Mystic is all about.
The Mystic occupies levels seven and eight of the awakening journey, and itโs the part of us that may have experiences of Divine Love, profound spiritual revelations, and enlightened awareness.
But the Mystic isnโt without its shadows and within this archetype we often face traps and pitfalls such as spiritual bypassing and dissociation, causing us to favor higher consciousness and lose touch with our grounded humanity.
The main demon that the Mystic faces is self-delusion, and the elixir to overcoming that inner shadow is cultivating self-inquiry.ย
The Sage
Finally, we come to the Sage archetype, which occupies the final two phases of our cyclical journey, stages nine and ten.
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Unlike the Mystic archetype that tends to experience temporary but dazzling shifts in awareness, the Sage, through their commitment to the awakening path, undergoes more permanent and deep โuplevelingsโ in awareness.
In this phase of the journey, the Sage feels motivated to purge the old, make way for new aligned ways of being, and integrate their hard-earned wisdom into their everyday lives.
The Sage feels called to give back to others, to be a mentor and guide. However, the biggest obstacle they often face is letting go of old ingrained patterns of self-involvement that may keep them attached to focusing only on themselves and their paths.
As such, the main demon that the Sage faces is self-involvement, and the elixir to overcoming that inner shadow is developing self-transcendence.ย
How to Test Yourself to Figure Out Which Archetype Youโre Embodyingย
You can find out which archetype of awakening you’re embodying right now in our free What Type of Spiritual Wanderer Are You? test.
You can also figure out which archetype you may be occupying right now simply by noticing which of the above stages resonates with you the most on an intuitive level.
Keep in mind that these five archetypes within the spiritual wandererโs journey are all aspects within us.ย
Weโll occupy them all at different stages of our lifeโs path because the journey of awakening isnโt linear, but is instead cyclical.ย ย ย
Let me know in the comments which of the five archetypes of awakening you think you may be embodying right now. What are the biggest challenges youโre facing?
If you need more help, we offer 3 powerful ways to guide you on your inner journey:
1. The Spiritual Wanderer Course: Feeling lost or uncertain about your path and purpose in life? Gain clarity and focus by learning about the five archetypes of awakening within you. Discover your deeper path and purpose using our in-depth psychospiritual map. Includes 3+ hours of audio-visual content, workbooks, meditations, and a premium test.
2. Shadow & Light Membership: Seeking ongoing support for your spiritual journey? Receive weekly intuitive guidance and learn to embrace your whole self, including your shadow side. Deepen your self-love and receive personal support from us.
3. Spiritual Awakening Bundle: Ready to soul search and dive deep? Access our complete "essentials" collection of beloved journals and eBooks. Includes five enlightening eBooks and seven guided journals, plus two special bonuses to further illuminate your path.
What a nice listing.
By the time I have found you, I have probably been at stage 1 and 2. Looking back, that has been eight or nine years ago. You have been one of my first sources of spiritual knowledge back then, when I started to open up towards Spirituality, after initial Soul connections that awakened me. Long time it has been. Though knowing approximately at which stage I am by now, I am nonetheless lokking forward to your next article.
Be blessed, you two.
Wow, that’s a long time to be traveling alongside us, Wolvenstar. What a privilege ๏ปฟ๐๏ปฟ Lots of love to you!
I find myself somewhere between the Mystic and the Sage. Have gotten a taste of Divine love and it brought me to tears. I look fwd to taking your test.
Beautiful ๏ปฟ๐๏ปฟ
Good luck with the release of the new course and I hope you guys are all doing well ๐๏ปฟ.
As for my Archetype who knows probably the Fool ๏ปฟ๐๏ปฟ
Love and Light
Nick
I would trust 100% someone who considers themselves a fool over someone who is confident they are The Sage ;)
Thanks Nick! And I’d say we’re all Fools ultimately, even at the point where we shift into the Sage archetype. The deepest wisdom of the Sage, after all, says with awareness “I know that I know nothing” (words of Socrates). ๐
I am looking forward to the little test to see and of course the course the up coming course. Iโm very excited!!
I’m so excited to hear that, Erin! So much love and intention has been put into it ๏ปฟ๐๏ปฟ ๏ปฟ๐๏ปฟ
Love this read! I feel most drawn to the hermit and Sharman, so I’m excited about your free test next week to figure out which one I am. Thank you so much for everything you provide here, I love this resource.
I am Michael J Kelly the third.
Grandma said so
I feel a relationship to each type of experienceโฆI am intimate with each, but feel I am stepping into Sage in this moment. I am practicing being present each moment and becoming aware of my emotions and reactions as they occur. I am wanting to have a better idea of how to live in a way I can serve others by sharing my experiences. I allow much of life of happen as it naturally does, but would like to learn more about penetrating the moment in a healthy way. Making changes that will serve everyone including me.
i am looking forward to the next newsletter!
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing this Carol ๏ปฟ๐๏ปฟ
Thank you. This is very helpful stuff. And your content has resonated with me for a long time. At this point in my journey I feel all five jostling for position and itโs very confusing. I think Shaman is where I gravitate to the most. Iโm at a position in life where I can devote most attention to this journey, but the staying in reality is the hard part.
All parts are aspects of your inner nature, so that makes sense, Luke. Thank you for sharing where you’re at on this path ๏ปฟ๐๏ปฟ
Hi, love your work! I find I am resonating towards The Mystic archetype. I had a profound experience, I committed throughout two weeks to always ask myself, ‘am I aware?’ ‘Is this thought/feeling/emotion me or am I the one aware of it?’
By practising this throughout the two weeks and by going into nature, I found myself sitting in a hammock, by a river, in the woods with no thoughts.
None whatsoever.
It was blissful at first, and very profound. I couldn’t congure up a though if i really tried. I had finally silenced my inner critic.
But I found that I had removed myself from society in the process and removed myself from my family, friends etc. I felt like having a thought was bad and that silence was golden.
The deafening silence that I found in those moments was incredible and profound, but, I found that I couldnt function in everyday life as the ‘noise’ around me was incredibly distracting and unless I committed myself to a life of solitary and silence, I felt I would never find peace.
At one point when I was meditating on this, I wondered if this is it. Is this all I have been working toward? All this meditating and self reflection, bringing myself back to my true nature and finding myself. Has it all been to silence myself (inner critic) and to not have a thought at all?
This scared me as I felt that as humans, we have to think and organise, but this left me feeling disassociated with life and people and didn’t know were to turn too. I have now fallen back into thinking too much and over analysing things that I want to get back to that silence and bliss that was so silent and profound.
I would love to know if anyone else has felt this way or has experienced anything similar.
I now long to be back in that silence and I think I am afraid now because of my past experience. Even though I know it will benifit me in so many ways.
Much love
John
John I can relate completely to what you experienced. I am in the process, (ten years+) of being 100% aware of my moment to moment experience, with that awareness me. I fall back into unawarenent often, but I find myself wondering if I am giving up too much. I am not engaged the same way. Things do not affect me the same way. Arenโt I here to have a human experience? Arenโt we Spiritual Beings, so to speak, having a human experience? If so shouldnโt I be engaged enough to still be โhumanโ?
I am afraid I am not helping you. I wanted first to let you know I relate.
I do not want to go back to a way of life that was,โฆ simply reaction without awareness. I donโt believe I could go back now if I wanted to. But I often wonder if a balance is what I am more interested in while I am alive and experiencing a human life.
I am no longer sure I am any help at allโฆI may have only confused you further. Sorry if I have, John. Good luck! (Is it luck?)
No, not confused at all! Completely understand what you mean. It’s a very lonely existence living fully as awareness. I feel I cannot interact with other human beings as the things people complain about or talk about seem so petty and I felt so removed from those things that I couldn’t relate to their pain, or discomfort.
I remember one situation, where someone crashed into me, nothing serious but they came across into my lane and hit my car and run me off the road, I didn’t react at all. I actually felt a giddyness because I couldn’t wait to see where this contrast was going to take me and what the reasoning befind it was. Before I practiced being in awareness I would ha e reacted totally different, but I couldn’t even congure up a thought of disbelief that it had happened, anger or any emotion at all which was scary too.
This brought on my dark night of the soul and because no one around me understood what I was going through it was very difficult and I couldn’t explain what I was experiencing and anytime I tried to explain it I sounded crazy. Trying to tell someone, I have no thoughts, none at all, its silent in my head wasn’t easy to do but I have now fallen back into normal day life and not living as fully in awareness as I would like. But still mjch more aware than I was before.
I loved the silence and would love to get back to it as I feel I am now ready and understand more about myself and the path we are all on. I hope this finds you well and you have found your peace on the awareness path โค๏ธ
Hi John, a short while ago I felt very much ‘in my head’, and wanted to withdraw from my family in order to work through all of these thoughts, experiences etc. I have been meditating almost daily for a few months now, and recently I’ve become aware of being more ‘in the present’. The mind chatter has switched off, and I can be more present with my family, and enjoy being with them more. I think self-care has brought about that change for me; by making time for myself and pursuing this spiritual journey on a regular basis (perhaps 30-60 mins a day, and usually at the end of the day when everyone has stopped placing demands on me), I have found that I am better able to deal with both the demands of my family, and the stress caused by the wider world. How I react/ respond to things is different, how I think is different. I am much calmer, and better able to cope with daily life. Yes, I would like to spend more time focusing on my spiritual journey, but as long as I am doing something on a regular basis, that helps to sustain me. I do what I can, when I can.
So, after reading your comment, my thought was that perhaps you just need to work at getting the balance right, so that you have the time that you need for yourself, but are also able to attend to daily matters without letting them interfere with your own spiritual development. Finding that balance can be tricky, and it will change over time. I wish you luck.
This is such an interesting point you bring up, John. How far into the silence and stillness do we wish to go, and how do we balance this with our human life?
For me, I surrender myself to Divine will and this keeps the ego in check. I want higher consciousness to permeate my being and feel it’s happening in degrees. I am much less invested in outcomes and more able to be present in the body, feeling the moment, and no longer caught in the merry go round of the mind.
I believe we should be able to feel the innate joy of our Being, and that is beyond the detachment we feel as we release our attachments to the world we’re in. If any of this makes sense to you. Hope it helps.
It looks like your comment has resonated with quite a few people, John โ which goes to show you that this experience is a common part of the spiritual wanderer’s path. I hope you find comfort in that.
I’ve had this “I got it, I lost it” experience as well where I was in a state of total mindful presence and aware of my thought stream for quite a while a few years back, feeling deeply connected to the Divine, but then eventually, the transcendent experience faded. This has happened quite a few times to me.
Moments of satori, or temporary enlightened awareness, are glimpses and tastes of our True Nature, but they’re not “it.” They need to be integrated into our human experience as I think you’ve discovered, and as the others here have pointed out, balance is what’s needed. It reminds me of the name of Jack Kornfield’s book, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry.
Thank you for sharing your experience here ๏ปฟ๐๏ปฟ
Thank you all for replying and making me realise that I am not alone when it comes to this experience. The balance that you have all talked about makes complete sense as I have lately been caught up in the busyness of life again. I found that meditating for a solid 30 minutes and going into, ‘the gap’ (from a book I read called, ‘the seven spiritual laws of success’) is where I have found my power again. Finding time in my day to meditate for 30 minutes without distractions, my cat, has proven difficult.
These glimpses of our true nature is what we are made of, spiritual beings. But we are here to have a human experience so when you say ‘it’s not it’ this makes sense as we aren’t here to be still and silent and have nothing affect us. The things that challenge our beliefs, test us, the contrast is there for us to grow and develop into our full power. We need to do the laundry as you quoted.
Thank you again for your replies, I am only now realising that when I done one of the other archetype tests at the start of the year I was in the Seeker cycle and I have now moved into the mystic archetype.
Much love
John
Congratulations on your upcoming course! I don’t fit archetypes very well myself but reading about them is really interesting. I’d likely have most in common with the hermit, I believe.
Thanks Lala, it’s very exciting! What I love about archetypes is that there are so many of them, and we all contain a unique mixture and degree of each. The more we journey inwards, the more capacity we develop to unlock them. ๏ปฟ๐๏ปฟ
This is a very fair point, thank you.