Interpretation and text by Elena Cartotto
APTITUDE ARCHETYPES
Understanding your own archetype can be of great help in identifying your ambitions and learning to use the talents you possess, making order in the chaos of the stimuli that you receive from the outside world and that are often confusing: it is very easy, for example, especially for insecure or particularly empathetic people, to internalize other people’s expectations.
There have always been individuals who can exactly figure out, already at an early age, what they want to be in life, what their natural talents are and what kind of studies or career they want to pursue. Often, astrologically, these people are marked by a stellium of sign ...
Read more click here
ATLAS OR THE CHAMPION
Atlas, a second-generation Titan, according to the myth, was condemned by Zeus to hold up the whole celestial spheres on his shoulders: the king of the gods wanted to punish him because, during the Titanomachy, he had sided with Cronus and the Titans against the gods of Olympus. In the first book of the Odyssey, Atlas is, however, described with poetic inspiration as one of the pillars of the sky. He seems to be fond of astrology and have a special talent for it, so much so that he was the first to represent the world with a sphere and, for that reason, he became the one able to hold the whole sky upon himself.
Those people characterised by the Atlas archetype have generally a lot of energy, great stamina, quick thinking, focus, eagerness to win and, above all, are willing to give up a normal lifestyle to get the result they want: they can therefore be maniacally characterised by an iron discipline.
Some may have a remarkable predisposition for sports, whether this implies sprinting and speed or muscle strengthening: women, for example, may show a remarkable talent for dance and related disciplines like, for example, rhythmic gymnastics or figure skating. Others, on the other hand, will show obsessive rigor and indomitable self-sacrifice in purely intellectual activities that still require dedication and constant commitment.
Such individuals can be entrusted with tasks that involve movement, hard work, travelling, because they know how to bear and modulate physical and mental stress without being crushed by it and are also able, when required, to stick to very strict and binding schedules. They endure loneliness, they can do without benefits and fun, and, above all, they are endowed with a sort of “military” mindset.
Those who choose this type of career are often characterised by this profile which, in addition to physical predisposition for certain activities, efforts, constant and complex training, where psychomotor coordination is essential, often indicates an iron character, capable of imposing itself and, if required, of making decisions, giving orders, but also of accepting other people’s authority, thanks to strong self-control.
They are very disciplined and hardly ever exceed their sphere of competence: if they do that, they are ready to take full responsibility for their mistakes. They tend to respect the rules and values of the environment they belong to, and can focus with such stubbornness on the intended purpose that they sometimes forget about everything else. They have a sort of monastic spirit and are able to give themselves rules of life that help them to live fully, to set their own timetable in the best way possible, to set mid-term goals, to help others to develop customised methods that, if applied consistently, lead to excellent results in any field.
As in all profiles, this one too can have pitfalls: for example, excessive authoritarianism, intolerance to criticism and to the contradiction of their own principles, the risk that physical, intellectual, professional commitment in a generic sense may actually try to compensate for personal frustrations that can have, at times, the upper handover what is the role they play within society. Sometimes, the Atlas archetype demands too much of itself and this may be due to latent feelings of guilt aimed more at seeking expiatory suffering than at carrying out its task in the best possible way.
CAREER
Hostesses and stewards, airplane pilots, train drivers, people in the army, athletes, those who drive service cars or heavy vehicles, people who deal with logistics or who, as long as they are also skilled communicators, work as representatives or trainers in companies: today, several managerial training courses aim at increasing the skills of executives through sports practice and method seen as a possible key to interpreting professional life in its various stages. Gym owners and managers also belong here, as long as they also have an economic-financial profile.
Artists committed to achieving high-value performances (in singing, drama, literature, etc.) can be partially marked by this profile, which gives the individual ambition to excel and competitive drive in order to achieve performances of outstanding quality.
This profile can be highlighted in those people who have strong spiritual values and who are able to choose extreme lifestyles or an existence that can involve significant sacrifices when it comes to the comfortable aspects of life.
BIG FIVE AREA
EXTROVERSION 10%
AGREEABLENESS 15%
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS 30%
EMOTIONAL STABILITY 35%
OPEN-MINDEDNESS 10%
THE DEMIURGE OR THE FASHIONER
The demiurge, according to Plato's myth, is the one who reproduces tangible and material things over time, starting from eternal ideas. It is an artisan-like figure that can count on multiple skills, both intellectual and operational. It carries within itself the integral vision of the work to be created and knows that, in order to achieve the goal, all the pieces have to be connected in a harmonious way. The myth reminds us that the demiurge makes the world’s order and organization out of cosmic chaos and that it is capable of moulding wax, melting metals, working wood, bringing all the parts together of what it wants to build by following a very precise design that it has already within.
This description refers, in today's world, to the figure of entrepreneurs who, as we know, are always a bit of handymen with various skills, able to move transversally within their own organization: they can follow the workers and understand their specialised work by sensing their needs and struggles. At the same time, they are able to draw up a financial plan, speak face to face with managers, brainstorm with consultants: they must be determined, decisive, flexible, resilient and proactive at the same time.
This archetype is often present in those individuals who have the typical business acumen and who can smell money from miles away. People with such a profile are not only lucky, but able to monetise everything they deal with. They are sensitive to material goods, but they do not restrict themselves to only accumulating, which can also be done by those who inherit large amounts of capital because they belong, for example, to wealthy families; no, entrepreneurs really like to build, like the demiurge, an archetype that in today's society is expressed through the ability to invest, to allocate resources smartly, to make them bear fruit while also taking on the calculated risk to which all business activities must necessarily submit.
They tend to be very practical, pragmatic people, who are not very interested in theories and chief systems. Gifted with cunning and shrewdness, they are driven by a sort of animal instinct that smells the scent of the prey, because, in some respects, the smell of blood and that of money are interchangeable: it is not by chance that we say “I have bled myself dry” to allude to large spending of money.
Studies and hands-on experience can shape this instinct, but never replace it, as if to say that talent, including in the financial field, cannot be learned. They have the eye of a film director: they direct the scene having to take into account the script, the actors, the places, the breaks, the costumes and so on. The demiurge has always an overall vision and never wastes time in misleading analyses and details.
Financial skills can certainly have pitfalls, though. Just as an excellent communicator can become a manipulator driven by the worst intentions, so someone who can potentially make the economic fortune of a company, a holding company or even just of themselves, can profit dishonestly by taking advantage of their role, driven by their appetite for accumulation and by the adrenaline of a compulsive gambler, a category that, in some ways, can fit this profile: in such cases, the demiurge can turn from a great builder into a dangerous destroyer.
They are people who are used to giving a positive and optimistic image of themselves, because, often, those who are selling a product or service are first of all selling themselves and their credibility. Just think, for example, of the managers of large public companies, of the crucial role they can play especially in times of crisis, since they are called to instil reassurance and trust.
CAREER
Since in this archetype the predisposition to handle money is predominant, in addition to entrepreneurs we can have bank clerks, film producers, retailers, restaurant owners and sales persons of any kind.
The demiurge can be someone who perfectly knows how to manage a company’s resources, manage small or large budgets, successfully deal with a company’s staff by monitoring all aspects related to wages, holidays, leaves.
They probably prefer studies such as Economics and Business, Public Relations and Marketing, master’s degree courses in Business Management.
This category includes those people who sell and rent properties, insurance agents, but also those who know how to get funds, loans, national and international financing for companies in any field. Politicians, at least partially, can present this archetype since they make real fortunes out of electoral mandates.
The ability to sell and do business always goes hand in hand with a predisposition to persuade and manipulate, also unconsciously, other people: financial and communication profiles that mix well together can make the fortune of those who manage to sell refrigerators in the North Pole. The entrepreneur must combine apparently divergent characteristics such as financial security, the ability to sometimes risk up to the last cent without letting the potential investor know that, the taste for gambling that gives that thrill and pleasure that prevent one's business, although constantly growing, from getting dull and unbearably boring, and an uncontrollable desire to expand, because a company that feels like it has made it and has nothing more to achieve, is inevitably doomed to failure.
Stock market players, e-commerce and online trading experts correspond to this archetype, as well as the financial advisors working in the most various production sectors.
BIG FIVE AREA
EXTROVERSION 20%
AGREEABLENESS 20%
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS 20%
EMOTIONAL STABILITY 20%
OPEN-MINDEDNESS 20%
PROMETHEUS OR THE CREATOR
In mythology, one of the most prominent figures among the Titans, who were even antecedent to the Olympic gods we all know, was Prometheus, whose name, deriving from ancient Greek, means ‘the forethinker’. Prometheus was therefore a forerunner: he stole fire from the gods to give it to mankind and lead them to civilization. Plato even recognises a divine role in him: it was Prometheus who moulded man from clay, into which life was then breathed. Due to his role as a creator, Prometheus will be considered the inventor of writing, medicine, architecture, the inspirer of metalworking. He will become a symbol of human creative freedom and of the knowledge that derives from it beyond any attempt at ideological or religious coercion, precisely because Prometheus did not hesitate to fight against the gods in order to help the human being he himself had shaped.
Anyone who is astrologically marked by the archetype of Prometheus has the same spark within them, which is why they are often smart people. Their mental attitude is highly intuitive with a remarkable predisposition for analogical thinking. They hardly proceed by schemes, categorisations, standardised procedures: they get to foresee the unfolding of events before anyone else, thanks to a sort of flair, sometimes truly brilliant, which allows them to seize the connections between facts, causes, possibilities that can elude the regular logical path. They are able to find connections and references even between things that are apparently very distant from each other.
Like Prometheus, they have a tendency to instinctively reject the vision imposed on them by others about certain topics because they feel the need to always see things from original points of view, even if this can mean contradicting the majority. They don’t do that because they are contrarians, but because they feel the urge to get out of all that is known, already seen and accepted in terms of knowledge and practice, in order to go on unexplored paths that allow to redefine existing ideas and goals in a different way and to find new ones.
They can be particularly sensitive towards mankind or even be capable, while remaining detached, of embodying collective values in their own way of existing and working, but, above all, they are naturally inclined to understand before anyone else where the wind is blowing: they are one step ahead in terms of tastes and desires, often managing to be the first to propose totally new things that can easily become trendy.
Such an individual can certainly reflect and amplify common feelings, but this won’t imply a real need for contact with the other, from whom, in some cases, they may even want to escape.
The primary impulse of the individual who is marked by the archetype of Prometheus is to generate and create human, cultural and economic value independently, with the desire to give shape to their ideas and intuitions. If they cannot create, the Promethean personality will still try to transform and change what tradition offers.
They frequently feel driven by an inspiration they cannot explain and that, in part, results from the cultural heritage that belong to them and that they receive in terms of values, conceptual and operational tools, experiences passed on, readings.
They are individuals whose energy is hardly stable. They can frequently have ups and downs that also depend on their mood. However, there is always something exceeding in them: an excess of ideas, personality, enthusiasm, stubbornness, anger. In some cases, there is a real energy surplus that can be very useful to those who, in addition to creativity, have a histrionic personality that wants to find fulfilment and success in the spotlight, whatever this may be: on stage in a theatre, or in media politics.
They tend to be people who love working independently and who consider the expression of their vocation to be more important than the financial gain it can guarantee. More than other profiles, they are therefore able to handle the uncertainty and sense of precariousness that can result from choosing a certain type of path and career. This does not mean that they are unable to achieve financial success: on the contrary, if in their personality the archetype of the demiurge, the creator, is also significant, they can make a lot of money.
CAREER
Visionary and multi-aptitude entrepreneurs often present this archetype, which is also significant in the personalities of some famous entertainers, poets, writers, screenwriters, authors in the vast world of media, that is, people who always work creatively.
Among them we also have advertisers, copywriters, stylists, designers and even some scientists whose intuitions overturn existing paradigms.
Heads of State, leaders of companies or political movements often have this archetype in a significant position due to their role as trailblazers, their ability to take risks, because they are able to indicate the paths to follow and the programmes to fulfil by embodying collective needs.
BIG FIVE AREA
EXTROVERSION 20%
AGREEABLENESS 15%
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS 15%
EMOTIONAL STABILITY 10%
OPEN-MINDEDNESS 40%
EXTROVERSION 20%
AGREEABLENESS 15%
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS 15%
EMOTIONAL STABILITY 10%
OPEN-MINDEDNESS 40%
|
