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incantations

week 2. Waning and Washing

CHARACTER STYLING + SHAPESHIFTING + GLAMOURS

Charisma Magic

homework - week 2.

Run through the list of archetypes below. Draw on the power of the eclipse to ruthlessly evaluate which archetypes are your "round-table servitors." These are the archetypes that do not change over time. They've always been with you, serving you in one way or another. 

We all share the following key archetypes: the child, the victim, the prostitute, and the saboteur. Choose eight more from the list and write them each down on a tiny piece of paper. Crumple up the papers and "charge" them in a vessel on your altar or in a sacred space in front of a prayer candle.

Journal Prompt: Over the course of this week, notice how these archetypes show up in your daily thoughts. Notice how they move, how they speak, how they react in your daily life. Notice who is driving the wagon, how, and why that serves the whole of you. During your morning reflections, journal about how you might practice loving and accepting yourself in a unique way that day.

Draw on the power of the eclipse for discipline. Draw on the power of the pregnant pause for wisdom. Continue to say your daily "greatest sorcerer's self" mantra. but explore saying or singing it while integrating the techniques and character styles we cover in weeks one and two.

You are officially dared to share your Mantra recitations via facebook live in the group!

Week 1 - Lesson 1.

Archetypes

shapeshifting 101

You are not who you think you are. Our "round-table" of archetypes share the reigns, driving the oxen of our physical body across the wild frontier of life. The road is long and not one key archetype can drive the whole way. We get tired, bored, or simply aren't qualified to drive for long. Archetypes must work as a team to balance the load. When we deliberately observe and inhabit our archetypes, they are exalted and brought into balance.

When we give our broken, missing, and dangerous archetypes a platform for expression, they are less likely to create out of turn. For instance, when we cast a magic spell, if we are unconsciously rejecting a part of ourself that deeply needs to be expressed, that archetype's creation is likely to dominate our spell.

If you are getting "bad" results in magic, its likely that one of your key archetypes needs compassion and a constructive platform for expression.

According to Caroline Myss we move through life with twelve primary archetypes. Four of the twelve are common among everyone: 

Child, Victim, Saboteur, and Prostitute.

Knights of the round table

Now you'll choose 8 more. As we review the list, the ones most true will stand out on the page, stand out in my voice. Consider that while some may seem negative, we are the ones who decide what negative really means. For instance, the saboteur has it's royal place at our round table and serves us all in both positive and negative ways, much like the child.

An Abridged list of Archetypes

Click here for a detailed description of over 70 archetypes, including most of those in the above list.

• What events or personal characteristics led me to choose this archetype?
• How long has this archetypal pattern been a part of my life?
• What role has this archetype played for me?
• Which prominent people have interacted with the aspect of my nature supported by this archetype? (For instance, if it’s the Teacher archetype, think of the people who have played important roles in your own education or inspired you to be a teacher to others.)
• What relationship might it have to my personal unfinished business – to those people I haven’t forgiven, or to events in the past that I can’t let go of? And might this archetype now help me in healing those situations?
• What myths, fairy tales, or spiritual stories do I associate with this archetype?
• Has this archetype appeared in my dreams?
• Does thinking of this archetype make me feel empowered or disempowered?

You should also look for spiritual resonance in your archetypes. Ask yourself:

• What impact has this archetype had on my spirituality?
• What have I learned about my own shadow aspect through this archetype?
• Has it caused me to block or forgo change that needs to happen?
• What immediate guidance might this archetype have to offer me in the present moment?

After questioning each prospective archetype, weed out those that are not genuinely part of your round table, and then return to the list to select replacements. Continue this process until you have eight additional archetypes that you feel confident play a major role in your life. Combined with the four common survival archetypes, you now have your 12 round table archetypes.

More exploration in archetypes

Week 2 - Lesson 2-B

Drama Queen Archetype

The presence & the poise

Notice three presence hallmarks of the drama-queen, performer extraordinaire, Eartha Kitt.

1. Repetition: Ms. Kitt repeats several words, several times. Focusing on the beginning of the phrase, "I think..." or the question, "For what!?" This adds drama and is a common hypnosis element that is a hallmark of charisma.
2. Pacing: A natural charismatic varies their pacing. Notice how Eartha Kitt varies her speech in the beginning of the video from quick and repetitive to staggered towards the end. When she makes her final case, the instinctively injects space and pregnant pauses around her point. The variation draws the viewers' attention to the point with the added drama and creates a sense of true conviction.
3. Eye Contact: Charisma like being possessed by conviction. In this case, Ms. Kitt presents as highly charismatic due to her eye contact patterns. She looks up, back, all around, as if she is surrounded by unseen entities that are part of her posse. At one point she looks back and up and repeats a phrase as if talking to an angel in the corner.

1. repetition practice

Take a few breaths and write a few sentences about something you want to change in the world or within yourself.  Make it something you care about deeply. It could be your family, a lover, your emotional state of being, your community... make it something important. Write down a question that relates to the subject.

Mimic Eartha Kitt. Read the question aloud and repeat it a few times, pretending to be a drama queen, like Eartha.  Read your sentences aloud and add, "I think..." to the beginning of each point. Consider repeating the most important word for change.

2. Pacing practice

Now rehearse making your point using the repetition practice but add in variance of pacing. Explore asking the question quickly. Explore asking it slowly. Explore making your first points about it very quickly with a slightly louder volume and finally, draw all the attention to your final, most important point by pausing just before you say the phrase slowly, clearly, deliberately and maybe even quietly... as if you had so much attention from everyone in the room that you don't need to yell.

3. EYE contact

Rehearse your monolog using pacing and repetition, this time adding eye patterns that support your conviction. Imagine you have a posse of angels all around you. They are there to support whatever idea or point you want to make. You can be as sassy or conceited as you want because your angels have 100% faith in whatever you have to say. Look all around at them as though they are like your "yes men", egging you on to make a charismatic point to your audience. Over dramatize this effort. Feel free to look behind you and repeat a sentence to the angels like Eartha does in the video. 

4. Physical Possession

Rehearse your monolog using all the techniques above. Now add in a subtle melody or pitch that feels appropriate to your level of conviction. Keep focused on the message more than any performance. Only add melody or pitch if you feel it adds to telling the story.

Let yourself really feel your conviction. As you do, let yourself be moved to make gestures if it feels appropriate. You might flail your fists or wiggle your neck, or throw your head back.  Your leg might start to wiggle.  

Consider recording yourself to capture some of the things you may be doing unconsciously. When we are truly possessed by the spirit of our conviction, we may not realize some of the things we do physically. Recording ourselves helps us become aware of our innate charismatic traits. Remember, you are NOT performing for the camera. You are making a point!

Week 2 - Lesson 4

ego glamors

Character acting your archetypes

Choose one archetype. Consider the subtle ways this archetype shows up in your way of being. How do they dress? How do they walk? How high do they hold their head? How do they breath? What would their mantra be?

Take a moment to consider how other people in your life might inhabit the archetype. Notice the subtle habits.

Amplify the subtle queues.

1. Recite: repeat the archetype's mantra again and again until you actually feel it resonating true within your bones. 
2. Sing and Pace: now that you feel it in your bones, let yourself be moved by that conviction, adding melody and the pace to amplify the conviction behind the mantra so that you feel it even more truly in your bones. If the melody and pacing feels inauthentic or distracting, either change it up or remove it until you get to a place where you feel the mantra to be deeply true for this archetype within. Play with volume as you go!
3. Poise: explore physical movements that embody the archetype as you recite the mantra. What are the eyes doing? What are the finger tips doing? What are the shoulders and back doing? What parts of the body lead the walk? The dance? What tells the story best within your body? Consider costume as well. (Consider this: No child wants to be a child. Remember that some archetypes do not express themselves the way we perceive them.)

Again, this experiment is not a performance. It is about inhabiting the glamour of the archetype enough to tell the story. The story is the glamor. The more you allow yourself to be moved by the authentic expression of the archetype, the more glamor you learn. Allow the archetype to teach you.