Confronting the Archetype of Domination
The drive to dominate has been part of our human story since our early beginnings. Some may argue it’s a basic survival instinct. Until we confront the archetype of domination in ourselves and in our cultures, the path to peace will crumble on false hopes. The following section from our book Return of the Avatars explores this theme in greater depth.
“Rose can’t be stopped now. Dark clouds close in over the forest, causing the temperature to drop. The forecasted thunderstorm has arrived earlier than expected. Erik leaves the injured boy behind and turns to face Rose.
“You don’t scare me,” the man hisses, reaching down to grab a hefty stick of his own. “Come on, Pim. We can take her.”
But Pim is sneaking away into the forest, trying to escape.
“Fine!” Erik yells at his brother. “I’ve been in fights all my life. I don’t need you.” His eyes flash as he sizes up his opponent.
Lightning strikes the ground nearby. The deer stand alert, watching Rose, and so does the raven. Erik clenches his stick and gathers his energy for the attack. Pim finds a hiding place behind a tree and shits his pants. The boy’s body has collapsed on the forest floor. He doesn’t move. Sophia sees her opportunity and rushes to him. He is bleeding heavily in several places, and has passed out. Sam’s dog limps toward her, yelping in pain. The poor animal is barely able to walk.
The forest holds its breath; the air crackles with tension. Thunder clouds roll over the nearby fields and shake the trees of the forest. Rose lifts her stick. The dragon inside her rises up and gives her the raw force she needs. Erik strikes first. “CLACK!” Their sticks clash loudly. Lightning strikes again, this time even closer to where the fight is taking place.
“THIS STOPS NOW!” Rose yells with the full force of her Viking voice. Images of horrific violence, bloodshed, and human sacrifices flood into her mind; not just from the history of this place, but from all over the world. Mother Earth shows her how humanity has been under the cloak of this violence for eons. Each time it arises, they’ve given another justification for the insanity. Rose realizes with painstaking clarity that these nightmares will never cease unless we all declare that THIS STOPS NOW.
Rose is not just fighting Erik; she’s confronting violence itself, and with it, the pattern of domination and oppression that has plagued our world for far too long. She screams at the giant to wake up. Erik has now become a direct conduit for the giant of domination and the shadow forces of a violent darkness that have plagued this Earth for centuries. He is no longer conscious of himself.
The war in Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Sudan, and many more places demonstrate how the archetype of domination is on the rise. “THIS STOPS NOW!” has to manifest as a collective outcry followed by concrete actions that address the root causes of our violent patterns and thri. The forest scene from above is from chapter 9 of Return of the Avatars: The Cosmic Architect Tools of Our Future Becoming, book 2 of the Future Humans Trilogy, which I co-authored with Dr. Jean Houston.
Rose plays the lead role in this allegory of the future humans, where fictional characters are woven together with real-life events to change how we play the game of life on planet Earth. See also our interview with Hazel Henderson and Dr. Mariana Bozesan who feature as real-life characters in book 2 of the trilogy to address the necessary mind-shifts and predatory patterns of mainstream economics and politics.
We wrote Return of the Avatars to address how we play out the archetype of domination in ourselves and our systems and cultures. To become aware and change how these archetypal patterns of violence and disunity play out. The archetype of domination has taken many different forms throughout history, yet ultimately this is a human lesson that concerns us all. To explore the systemic dimensions of this archetype, see also my article on “The Sustainability Crisis is a Moloch Game.”
The build-up to violence and war is always complex. Superficial approaches or dualistic strategies don’t work to shift this. The bully Eric in the scene above beats up the boy Sam because he is furious being caught and potentially stopped. This pattern plays out in similar ways nations and organizations.
The archetype of domination will continue to rise as long as we give it a place and function in our lives. This archetypal pattern can mobilize enormous ambition and toxic power dynamics. When people are acting from this archetype they often believe themselves to be larger than life, and justified in their actions. Dominators will use whatever systems they can to further their influence. The more condemned and wronged a bully feels by the world around them, the more forceful they become in their resolve to put everyone in their place. Dominators are not interested in the inner transformations that can bring an end to these violent patterns.
People around the world are starting to realize that our fundamental agency as Earth citizens has been undermined and eroded by people we trusted or elected. The shadow dynamics of human division have been institutionalized and economized in most of humanity’s dominant cultures and systems.
The archetype of domination is part of our collective consciousness. When you confront it as something ‘external’ to yourself, like a liberator or persecutor, you risk becoming it ‘in disguise’. You then get caught in the classic drama triangle, which the following section from chapter 8 illustrates.
“Grandma, this is all very interesting, but before we dive deeper into this particular subject, I’d like to ask you something else. It ties back to what we talked about earlier. Do you believe in evil powers or is power always neutral, and we make it good or bad? And what happens if we abuse the laws of nature to serve our own selfish agendas?”
“Why do you want to know, Rose?”
“Oh, no particular reason.” Rose’s cheeks flush pink. “I just want to better understand what magic is all about. And…you know…how we can protect ourselves from any subconscious manipulations of the puppet masters and the addictive algorithms of our social media programs.”
Verdandi suspects that the real reason for her granddaughter’s question has to do with Diego and her fascination with his power. “Be careful with those explorations, love. Evil is not an algorithm or program that you can decode and disarm. Evil is a kind of wicked and reversed intelligence that grows out of our own unconscious shadows. If we are not sufficiently self aware it can take over like a virus by animating its host with programs and promises that ultimately cause the person to self-destruct. Once it’s been able to hook you in, it won’t let go that easily.”
“But viruses aren’t evil,” Rose protests. “They’re part of nature. They play an important role in evolution.”
“Yes, my girl, they do, but they can also be highly contagious. Evil does not have inherent existence. It’s an illusionary state, but one that can be highly attractive and appealing to people. This reversed intelligence or shadow dynamic, as I prefer to refer to it, keeps us stuck in the drama triangle of the savior, victim, and persecutor.”
“What’s a drama triangle?” Rose asks. “I’ve never heard of that.”
“Neither have I,” Li adds.
“The drama triangle is commonly known through the work of Stephen Karpman, which is from before you were born, love. He called it the drama triangle to describe harmful interactions between people that keep us trapped in a loop of pain. Ask your dad more about it. I’m sure he uses this model in his therapy with people.”
“How does a person get into a drama triangle?” Li asks.
“We get into a drama triangle when, although wanting to help, we keep perpetuating the same problems by not resolving the underlying dynamics, and especially our own needs. We get stuck in a drama triangle between victim, rescuer, and persecutor if we identify with any of those roles to satisfy our own emotional needs, rather than examining the bigger picture of what’s truly causing this.”
“Oh, I see now why it’s so attractive to the shadow,” Rose says.
“Yes. The shadow uses any of these three roles to keep us from taking responsibility for our pain and emotional needs. It can project itself as an empathic friend who understands your pain completely and promises to rescue you in its role as savior, or else to convict those who harmed you in its role of persecutor. Or it may convince you to step into the role of savior, rather than helping people to heal their pain and remind them of their inner resourcefulness. Or it could lure you to get onto your high horse and right the wrongs for others, rather than helping the person who has been harmed to speak their truth and discover their own power to stop the abuse.”
“Interesting. So in each of these roles, there’s a kind of co-dependency, and even a kind of self-righteousness. It all sounds very dualistic,” Rose says.
“So how can I help a person who’s in pain without disempowering them?” Li wonders.
“By reminding them of their own healing power, their own authentic, inner voice, and their own wisdom,” Verdandi explains. “You can support a person who’s been hurt with your love, compassion, and friendship, but not by creating a dependency on you. Don’t try to save them from their pain or to make things right for them. And most importantly, don’t see a person who’s been hurt or wronged as weak or a victim. Remember the person is not the pain or the harm. They’re so much more than that. We each are a divine spark of the greater consciousness.”
“This is really helpful,” Rose smiles. “I do need to get to know my own shadow better.”
“So do I,” Li agrees.
“Good,” Verdandi replies. “And please remember that the shadow never shows its true face. It is always cloaked and masked as something you identify with and deeply desire. It doesn’t have a face of its own. It is a faceless construct that preys on our insecurities and hides in the darkness of ignorance, not the darkness of wisdom. It projects itself as a trusted friend who understands you completely. If it appeals to your victim complex, it will show you how you’ve been wronged. If it appeals to your savior complex, it will show you how to rescue those helpless beings who depend on your interventions. And if it needs to appeal to your persecutor complex, it will tell you all that’s wrong with the world and how to persecute those who need to be corrected.”
War and violence will continue to exist as long as there are people and industries who benefit from it. What can you do and change today to give peace a chance?
To go deeper, read also “The Sustainability Crisis is a Moloch Game.”
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