Page 14 - My Indigo Sun March 2025
P. 14
Puer and Senex:
Two Archetypes Currently Playing Themselves Out
This is a very complicated subject that I At this time I read a book by Liz Greene
actually delved deeply into in the mid and Howard Sasportas called The
90s. For several years off and on, I was Development of the Personality, where
having a recurring dream of my car being there is a chapter on the Puer Aeternus
damaged or stolen so my unconscious archetype. Marie Louise Von Franz also
(the dream maker) was seriously trying to wrote an extensive book titled Puer
get my attention. The final BIG dream Aeternus on the subject and James
was of a young boy who was stealing my Hillman wrote Puer Papers. There are a
car. This dream was a very detailed story few others … The Peter Pan Syndrome
that said I was his accomplice! I was and The Flying Boy.
helping him escape from the law. I won’t
tell the entire dream as it was long but at Peter Pan, i.e.the puer aeternus — the
the end as we stood together, out of eternal child like the fairy tale who lived
breath from running, we leaned against in never, never land — as an archetype
my car and I asked him, “What day were lives inside everyone. The female version
you born?” He told me the day and the is called the puella. Often drawn to the
year. I wrote the dream down and then vastness of the unconscious, especially
went to the Ephemeris (a book the collective realms where myths,
Astrologers use to see where the planets symbols and archetypes live, I knew from
are to calculate a birth chart) and looked that dream that it was a strong part of
up where the planets were on his my own inherent psychology.
birthday. They were 90% identical to
mine. This was one of the many The Astrological signs that have a
numinous experiences I had when I stronger propensity than others to live
started studying both Jung and out and embody this archetype are
Astrology. From experiences like this, I people with a dominant
knew for certain that the collective Mercurial/Gemini, Jupiter/Sagittarius
unconscious is alive inside of us as Carl and sometimes Aquarius/Uranus and/or
Jung posited. You can’t make this stuff Pisces/Neptune for various reasons.
up. It’s real. My passion for studying Everyone has all twelve signs in different
Jung, astrology, symbolism and dreams strengths and at different times in our
became intense. I was awed, intrigued lives, they become more dominant but
and delighted at the same time. for some it becomes a life-long theme.
14- My Indigo Sun
