Archetype and The Tarot: The Victim and The Ace of Cups

For the week of August 20, 2023

If you’ve just found your way to Witchcraft & Metaphysics…Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here! This community is all about relating with each other and with Magic in its many forms. Just a reminder, there’s an easy, fun mini-ritual to download at the end of this post to help deepen your relationship with this week’s archetype and tarot card. This week’s ritual invites us to explore the inherent power in water itself. Enjoy!

For an overview of what I’m doing with this divination method, please check out this post all about it.

The Victim Archetype

This is one of the archetypes (along with the Prostitute, the Child, and the Saboteur) that Caroline Myss calls a survival archetype. These are archetypes that we all relate with—and through—frequently. They are intimately tied up in our physical survival. Through them we deal with things like safety, integrity, independence and self-esteem.

The Victim is a powerful force in our lives. And it’s one of the archetypes we probably have not-so-great feelings about. Just a gentle reminder here: archetypes are neutral. If we don’t like an archetype, it’s probably because we’re identifying with the shadow side.

So let’s just jump right into the shadow side of The Victim. It’s pretty easy to recognize when we’re in this. It’s that awful feeling of being powerless or that something else has power over us. 

There’s also the idea of the “victim mentality,” which is when we judge others for continuing to think of themselves as being victimized even when there’s no current threat present.

Another aspect of the Victim on the shadow side that we shouldn’t overlook is when we victimize others. We might not even realize when we’re doing this. Oftentimes it’s a coping mechanism we use when we feel powerless. It can be very subtle, such as making a backhanded compliment to someone. Try to notice (without adding self-judgment to the mix) any times when you say or do something to make yourself a little more superior than another. If you can, do a little exploring and see where you might be feeling disempowered.

Because the Victim is all about power, it really is the perfect archetype for bringing up the three levels of experience as Caroline Myss teaches, which are the literal, inner, and symbolic levels. This is a beautiful framework of understanding and it goes like this:

• The literal level is our external physical reality. In terms of the Victim archetype, this is the level where we experience the world as a place that is designed to harm or threaten us. We really do feel victimized here, and that we have little to no authority over our external circumstances. Here, we can be overpowered and overwhelmed. As a result, we often turn to overpowering others.

• Then there is the inner level. When we’ve been in a literal situation long enough, something prompts us to shift our attention. Rather than just enduring and reacting, we get to a point where we tell ourselves, “Okay, enough of this. It’s not working. I HAVE to start looking at this differently.” We turn inward and claim our power of choice. We come to understand that it’s up to us how we’re going to respond. We also stop victimizing ourselves by thinking that we are less than another. The more we practice this, the more we are empowering ourselves. This is how we build self-esteem and where we begin to relate with the Victim more in the light. (I want to interject that it is my personal belief that we first need a foundation of comfort in order to make this shift. You can read my post on my journey of building this foundation here.)

• Then, finally, when we feel really strong about our interior relationship with the Victim, we move to the symbolic level. Here, we can turn our focus again to the outside world, only now we see it with symbolic sight. We see the interconnectedness of everything, especially power and empowerment. We understand that our responses to circumstances are creative in nature. Nothing that happens on this level is personal. The relationship with The Victim is no longer about who has power over whom. 

We progress through these three levels in a journey from outer to inner back to outer again. But it’s not a process that’s ever really finished, nor is it a hierarchy. We move through these levels in waves, depending on many factors, like how we’re feeling and what’s going on in the world.

Please practice kindness with yourself when relating with The Victim. We don’t want to add any layers of shame to a situation where we might feel victimized. In fact, we can further victimize ourselves by having thoughts that we should feel any way other than exactly how we’re feeling.

For me, personally, when I am feeling victimized, the things I seem to need the most are: first and foremost, the trust in myself that I will work through my feelings in exactly the right way in exactly the right time; and, secondly, I need outside validation of my experience and my feelings. I need to be witnessed. This outside validation doesn’t have to come from other living humans. We can turn to our non-human friends and allies, as well as our spirit guides and ancestors for co-regulating.

The fact that this is the archetype I drew means that we will likely be facing some issue of empowerment this week. The fact that it’s paired with a minor arcana tarot card means it’s probably (hopefully) not going to be a big, giant life-altering issue. Again, practice self-kindness and know that you are not alone.

Some things to think about this week:

What situations am I in where power feels imbalanced? Is there any way I can respond differently? Can I take a step back and see the bigger picture, or underlying patterns, of the situation?

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The Ace of Cups

The Aces are the gift of the suit in its purest form, before it has been filtered through any experience. The Ace of Cups is all about the gift of water in its purest essence. It hasn’t yet taken on any of our preconceived ideas. It is purely water. 

What, then, is this pure essence of water? It is the gift of cleansing, eroding, reflecting and quenching. It brings renewal, restructuring and nourishment.

Water is required for life. Animals and plants alike need it to survive. We also need it to be born in the first place. As we grow within the womb, we are surrounded by water.

Given that, the Ace of Cups is a call to return to, or reconnect with, our Source. To let ourselves be still and be nourished in whatever ways we might need. We can take comfort in knowing that it is only a choice away. We only need to decide to receive this gift that is being offered.

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How do they work together?

What I see here is The Victim sitting with a chalice of water. He is looking into the water, seeing what it is reflecting back. Utilizing the water as a potent mirror, The Victim is able to see where he has been looking for a sense of power outside of himself and how he can reconnect with his true Source of power. The power that was within him all along.

Some things to consider as you move through your week:

• What am I trying to get from someone or something else that I should be getting from myself?

• How can I better understand the idea of power WITH another instead of power OVER another?

• How can I respond to outside circumstances in a more empowering way?

• How is my relationship with water an act of empowerment? 

• When we drink water, it becomes us and transmutes into the nourishment we need for life. Can we use this as a metaphor for power? Can we take in the circumstances of the outside world and transmute them into our empowerment? What would this require?

W&M A/T Mini Ritual 8202023

13.3MB ∙ PDF file

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