I’m thrilled to unveil the latest addition to the Alternative Archetypes series: The Medicine Person -a figure of ancient wisdom reborn for modern times.
In cultures around the world, medicine people have long served as healers, seers, and spiritual guides – those who walk between the worlds to restore harmony where there is fragmentation. The Medicine Person archetype emerges not only in shamans and traditional healers, but in anyone who brings soul-level care to their community, weaving together emotional, spiritual, ecological, and physical wellbeing.
At a time when so many are experiencing burnout, disconnection, and imbalance, this archetype reminds us that healing is not a solo journey. It is a relational, reciprocal process rooted in reverence – for nature, for spirit, for community, and for the unseen web that connects us all.
This archetype is part of the Healing & Service Path and calls forth qualities like compassion, presence, ritual wisdom, and integrity. You might see the Medicine Person in a hospice nurse, a forest therapy guide, a community elder, or a trauma-informed coach. Their tools vary – but their essence is the same: to bring wholeness where there is hurt, and to honour the sacred in the everyday.
Want to go deeper? Explore the full archetype description, including a soulful video that brings the Medicine Person to life.
Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning is more than a memoir – it’s a quietly profound meditation on human dignity, suffering, and the transformative power of purpose. Drawing on his experience in Nazi concentration camps and his pioneering work in existential therapy, Frankl invites us to find meaning not in spite of hardship, but through it. A timeless classic for anyone seeking inner depth and soulful direction.
As the sun reaches its peak and the days stretch long into the evening, summer arrives in a blaze of vitality. In the natural world, this is a time of abundance and fullness. Flowers bloom, crops ripen, and animals move with vigour. It is the height of outward expression – a season that invites us to live with energy, connection, and wholeheartedness.
But summer isn’t only about activity and achievement. It’s also a time to embody joy, savour the present moment, and align your outer life with your inner truth. In the journey of living purposefully, summer invites you to step into visibility and live what you believe.
Prefer to watch, rather than read – check out the video below
The Energies of Summer
Summer is the season of radiance. After the inward quiet of winter and the shedding of spring’s transitions, summer encourages us to expand – to share what has been germinating beneath the surface. This is a time for inspired action, creative expression, and meaningful connection.
Spiritually and emotionally, summer reminds us of the value of being present. It’s a time to live fully in your body, in your relationships, and in the moment. If winter is for rest and reflection, and spring for renewal, summer is the season of embodiment – a chance to walk your talk and live your purpose with energy and joy.
Activities to Align with Summer’s Energy
To engage with the energy of summer, try weaving the following practices into your days:
1. Take Purposeful Action
Summer invites movement — – but not just any action. Think of the ideas, intentions, or goals that have been quietly forming during the earlier months. What wants to come to life now? Whether it’s launching a new project, hosting a gathering, or sharing your voice more publicly, this is a season for bringing your purpose into form.
2. Celebrate How Far You’ve Come
So often, we rush ahead to the next goal without pausing to acknowledge our progress. Summer reminds us to celebrate – not just achievements, but the journey itself. Reflect on what you’ve learned, how you’ve grown, and what you’re proud of. Celebration can be a powerful form of self-recognition and motivation.
3. Embody Your Values
This is a wonderful time to ask: Am I living in alignment with what I say I value? Let summer be a season where your choices reflect your inner truth. Whether it’s prioritising relationships, spending time in nature, or making work decisions that support your integrity, summer offers a moment to align the inner and outer.
4. Connect with Others
Summer is naturally social – full of opportunities to gather, collaborate, and commune. Seek out people who energise and uplift you. Deepen relationships that support your growth. Whether through friendship, community, or professional networks, allow connection to be a source of nourishment and purpose.
5. Spend Time in Nature’s Abundance
Being outdoors in summer reminds us of life’s fullness. Sit under a tree. Watch bees gather pollen. Walk barefoot on grass. The natural world offers daily reminders of rhythm, growth, and beauty. Let it mirror your own flourishing – and restore you when the world feels fast or loud.
6. Honour Your Boundaries
With all its energy and invitation, summer can become overwhelming. Don’t feel you need to say yes to everything. Honour your energy and create space for rest and solitude. Just like the sun eventually sets each day, you’re allowed to pause and retreat, even in summer.
7. Infuse Daily Life with Soulfulness
Make space for little rituals: light a candle in the morning, speak gratitude over your meals, listen to music that uplifts you. These small acts ground you in intention and bring a deeper sense of meaning to everyday moments.
Living Soulfully in the Season of Sun
Summer is not just about doing – it’s about being in a way that is fully alive. It asks you to show up, to be visible, and to live in alignment with who you are becoming.
Let it be a time of light and laughter, of bold steps and gentle moments, of wholehearted connection and joyful purpose. When you allow yourself to embody the fullness of summer, you not only celebrate life – you become a living expression of your own deepest truth.
In Dark Nights of the Soul, Thomas Moore reframes life’s painful and uncertain moments as soulful initiations. Rather than rushing to fix or escape our darkness, Moore invites us to listen, reflect, and grow through it. Drawing on myth, depth psychology, and spiritual insight, this profound book offers a wise and gentle path for those undergoing emotional, creative, or existential crisis.
It doesn’t come with a clear map, a five-step plan, or a finish line. It’s more like a spiral – a rhythm of returning, deepening, remembering, and becoming. And the invitation isn’t to arrive, but to cultivate – to tend this way of living, again and again, with presence, care, and inner trust.
This is not a conclusion in the traditional sense. It’s a threshold. A moment to pause and gather what’s been stirred.
Prefer to watch, rather than read? Check out the video below.
Gathering the Threads
Over the course of this series, we’ve explored what it means to live a life infused with soul:
In A Soulful Path, we challenged the idea of purpose as a chase and reframed it as a homecoming.
In The Soul Guide, we explored the quiet presence within us that already knows the way.
Tapping into the Soul’s Language reminded us that soul speaks in story, metaphor, and symbol = not in bullet points or branding.
In Soulful Living and Life Purpose, we brought it all together into a way of being – a rhythm of alignment, intention, and deep presence.
Together, these ideas weave a tapestry – one you can carry with you, reshape, and return to throughout your life.
The Soulful Path Is a Practice
More than anything, this path asks to be practised, not perfected.
That might mean:
Taking time each week for reflection or journaling
Attuning to an archetype that feels active in your life
Honouring small actions that align with your values
Making space for silence, creativity, or sacred rest
Letting your imagination guide you into new insights
The soulful path isn’t about getting it right. It’s about being in relationship – with your inner life, with the wider world, and with whatever you experience as sacred.
Inner Authority and Gentle Courage
In walking this path, you may not always feel understood. You may find yourself stepping outside the stories that others live by. That can be tender work.
But what you’re doing – listening inward, honouring depth, choosing alignment over appearance – is a quiet act of courage. And the more you live from your own centre, the stronger your inner authority becomes.
This doesn’t mean you always feel certain. Soulful living isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about learning to stay with the questions – and to trust the subtle knowing that often comes not as a shout, but as a whisper.
Let the Archetypes Walk with You
You don’t have to walk alone.
The Alternative Archetypes were created as companions on this journey – each one offering a reflection, a possibility, a pattern of soul. Whether you resonate with The Seeker, The Mentor, The Mystic, The Gardener, or another figure still to come, these archetypes are there to remind you:
You are not the first to walk this path. You are part of a larger story.
Let these symbolic figures walk with you. Let them show up in your journaling, your choices, your creative work. Let them help you name what you already know but perhaps haven’t fully claimed.
Living the Questions
As we close this series, here are some questions to carry forward:
What nourishes your soul, and how can you make more space for it?
Which archetypal energies feel most alive in you right now?
What does soulful purpose look like in this season of your life?
How might you honour the deeper rhythm beneath the surface noise?
What are you being asked to tend, protect, or grow next?
Let your answers unfold slowly. There is no rush.
This Is Only the Beginning
While this is the final post in this series, it’s not the end of the journey. You’ll continue to evolve, shift, remember, and rediscover your path in new ways. And you’ll likely return to these ideas when the next crossroads appears.
Keep listening. Keep creating. Keep trusting your way of knowing.
The soulful path is not a fixed track – it’s a living relationship. One that you cultivate with attention, imagination, and heart.
🌿 Explore the Archetypes
If you haven’t already, visit the Alternative Archetypes page to meet the symbolic companions of this work. New archetypes are added regularly, each offering a mirror for your own soulful unfolding.
And if you’d like to keep walking together, you’re warmly invited to subscribe to the monthly Alternative Archetypes newsletter—a quiet space for reflection, meaning-making, and soul connection.
A Gentle Introduction to a Depth-Oriented Psychology of Wholeness
Stephanie Sorrell’s Psychosynthesis Made Easy is a compassionate introduction to a psychology that honours both personality and soul. Grounded in Assagioli’s transpersonal model, the book offers practical tools for inner integration and spiritual growth. With warmth and clarity, Sorrell invites us to meet our many selves and align with a deeper sense of purpose. A soulful companion for seekers, coaches, and anyone craving wholeness.
What if life purpose wasn’t a destination you reach, but a way of being you return to – again and again?
In a world that pushes us toward speed, certainty, and achievement, the idea of a slow, evolving, soul-led life can feel almost countercultural. But for many of us, that’s exactly what we’re longing for – not another productivity framework, but a more meaningful rhythm. One that honours the inner seasons of our lives and lets purpose emerge from within.
This is the heart of soulful living.
Prefer to listen or watch? Here’s a short video reflection on soulful living and life purpose, covering the ideas explored in this post. (Feel free to pause and return as needed—it’s here to meet you where you are.)
Beyond the One Big Purpose
So many of us carry the weight of “figuring it out” – as if purpose is a single, crystallised calling we must identify in order to live fully. We’ve been told to find our passion, discover our why, or chase our dream job.
But soulful living invites a different perspective.
It says: What if purpose is less about what you do—and more about how you live?
What if it’s found in the way you listen to life, the choices you make in alignment with your values, and the courage to follow the quiet call of your soul, even when it doesn’t make sense to others?
Soulful Living as Alignment
At its core, soulful living is about alignment – living in a way that feels congruent with who you really are.
It’s not always dramatic. Sometimes it means making space in your week for rest, creativity, or solitude. Sometimes it’s a boundary. Sometimes it’s an act of service or an honest “no.”
When you live soulfully, you begin to:
Honour your values in everyday decisions
Recognise archetypal energies playing out in your life
Stay attuned to what brings meaning, not just momentum
Let go of old identities when they no longer feel true
This kind of life often looks quieter from the outside – but it feels truer on the inside.
The Role of Archetypes in Soulful Purpose
Soulful purpose isn’t about creating a perfect five-year plan – it’s about recognising the deeper pattern already living in you.
This is where archetypes become powerful companions.
You might find yourself resonating with:
The Mentor, whose presence nourishes others
The Gardener, tending life with patience and care
The Truthteller, who brings clarity through honesty
The Mystic, living with reverence and reflection
These archetypes aren’t jobs. They’re soul expressions – ways of being that carry meaning whether you’re in a classroom, a forest, or a family kitchen.
Even if not all the archetypes have been shared publicly yet, many readers find that just encountering one or two opens up a sense of this is me. That recognition is a doorway into a more authentic life.
Soulful Purpose is Not Linear
One of the most liberating truths is that this path is not linear.
You don’t have to get it all right. You don’t have to know the whole map. Soulful living asks only that you walk with presence, make meaning as you go, and trust the unfolding.
Sometimes you’ll be in a season of stillness. Sometimes movement. Sometimes dismantling. All are part of the spiral.
Rather than asking, What’s the plan? you might begin to ask:
What feels meaningful now?
What’s quietly asking to be expressed through me?
What does my soul need at this stage of life?
Practices to Support Soulful Living
You don’t need to overhaul your life to begin living more soulfully. Small shifts can make a profound difference.
Here are a few gentle invitations:
1. Morning or Evening Reflection Ask yourself: What mattered most today? When did I feel most myself?
2. Weekly Soul Check-In Instead of a to-do list, ask: What does my soul need this week? Rest? Creativity? Connection? Stillness?
3. Archetype Journaling Choose one of the archetypes (like the Mystic or the Seeker) and ask: How might I honour this energy in my daily life?
4. Walk Without Destination Let your body lead. Walk in silence and notice what calls your attention. What metaphors arise?
5. Align a Small Action with a Deep Value For example, if you value beauty, make a corner of your space more intentional. If you value truth, have the conversation you’ve been avoiding.
Living Soulfully Is Living Purposefully
When we live in alignment with our soul, purpose is no longer something to seek—it becomes something we embody.
It shows up in how we greet the day. How we love. How we listen. How we create. How we respond.
And that is enough.
An Invitation
If this way of living speaks to something in you, I invite you to slow down, listen inward, and begin again – not with pressure, but with presence.
The world may not always recognise a soulful life. But your soul will.
And that’s the only recognition that really matters.
I’d love to hear what this stirred in you. If you feel called, share a reflection in the comments – it could be a small moment of alignment, a whisper from an archetype, or simply where you are on the path right now. Your words might be just what someone else needs to read.
Here are a few gentle prompts to begin with:
What small shift have you made – or could you make – that helps you feel more aligned with your soul?
Is there an archetype or inner energy you feel quietly drawn to right now? What does it invite you to explore or express?
When in your life have you felt most ‘on purpose’ – even if just for a moment? What was present in that experience?
🔍 Explore the Alternative Archetypes To meet some of the symbolic companions that support soulful living, visit the Alternative Archetypes page. Each one offers a mirror to who you’re becoming—and what matters most to you now.
In Fully Alive, Elizabeth Oldfield invites us to reimagine the good life – not as productivity or performance, but as rootedness, connection, and wholeness. Through personal story, spiritual insight, and cultural reflection, she tends to the soul’s quiet longings amid noisy times. A hopeful, grounded book for those yearning to live with more depth, grace, and integrity.
Reclaiming story, symbol, and soul in a world of literal thinking
What if your life isn’t a problem to be solved- but a story to be lived?
In a culture that prizes clarity, logic, and step-by-step plans, it can feel almost radical to speak in metaphor, to think in symbols, or to make meaning through poetry. Yet for many of us on a soulful path to life purpose, imagination isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.
Welcome to the realm of mythopoetic imagination -the soul’s native language.
What Is Mythopoetic Imagination?
The term “mythopoetic” joins two powerful forces: mythos, the deep stories and symbols that shape cultures and individuals, and poiesis, the creative act of making. Mythopoetic imagination is the capacity to see your life not in terms of tasks and timelines, but in terms of story, metaphor, and soulful meaning.
It’s a way of seeing the world symbolically. A way of listening inwardly for the myth that is trying to live through you. Not the myth society hands you, but the one that fits the shape of your soul.
The Loss of Soul Language
Many of us have been trained to dismiss this kind of imagination. It’s been filed under “childish,” “unrealistic,” or “unproductive.” But this disconnection from imagination comes at a cost. Without it, we lose our ability to:
Interpret inner experiences symbolically
Recognize the soul’s longings
See beyond surface appearances
We flatten our lives into lists and labels, forgetting that we are storied beings. And as psychologist James Hillman reminds us, the soul doesn’t speak in bullet points. It speaks in image, mood, symbol, dream, and story.
Living a Mythopoetic Life
To live mythopoetically is not to escape reality – it is to deepen into it.
It’s to ask:
What story am I currently living?
What archetype or inner figure is active in me right now?
What does this longing, dream, or crisis want to teach me rather than fix?
When we shift into this mode of perception, challenges become initiations. Despair becomes descent. Breakdowns become thresholds.
This is not magical thinking. It is symbolic thinking – an older, wilder way of understanding ourselves and the world.
Imagination and Life Purpose
So how does this connect with life purpose?
Purpose is often framed as a career goal or long-term plan. But the soul rarely moves in straight lines. It curves, circles, and spirals. Purpose, in this deeper sense, is not something you achieve but something you live into – by listening to what is unfolding and allowing it to change you.
Mythopoetic imagination helps us:
Hear the soul’s whispers amid daily noise
Recognize archetypes and symbols as signposts
Make meaning of difficulty, transition, or longing
Create a story of self that is rich, rooted, and real
Archetypes as Story-Carriers
Alternative Archetypes often show up as guides within our personal myths. The Seeker, The Mystic, The Wounded Healer, The Visionary – these are more than concepts. They’re living energies that call us into new chapters of ourselves.
Not all of the Alternative Archetypes I’ve developed have been released yet, but each one is designed to act as a mirror, a mythic figure that helps you recognize an inner pattern trying to emerge.
When you resonate with one, it’s often a sign that your soul is speaking: This is the story I’m trying to live. And that story deserves to be heard.
Practices for Awakening the Mythopoetic Imagination
You don’t need to be a poet or a mystic to work this way. You only need to be willing to listen differently.
Here are a few simple ways to reconnect with the soul’s language:
1. Keep a Symbol Journal Write down images or themes that appear in your dreams, art, or passing thoughts. Look for patterns or figures that return.
2. Rewrite Your Biography as a Myth Imagine your life as a mythic tale. What were your thresholds? Who were the helpers and adversaries? What powers have you been learning to claim?
3. Dialogue with an Archetype Choose one that intrigues or unsettles you. Ask it what it wants you to know. What chapter of your life might it be calling you into?
4. Make Soul Collage or Visual Maps Gather images intuitively. Don’t aim for logic. Let the symbolic and aesthetic lead the way. Later, reflect on what story is emerging.
5. Walk with a Question Take a question for a walk in nature or your neighbourhood. Let metaphors find you: a bird on a wire, a winding path, a broken gate. Ask yourself what the image is saying about your life.
A Different Kind of Knowing
Mythopoetic imagination doesn’t replace logic or action. But it complements them with depth.
It’s the kind of knowing that doesn’t arrive through thinking harder—but through sensing, dreaming, creating, and listening differently. It reminds us that the soul speaks in symbol, that purpose is poetic, and that imagination is not an escape – but a way home.
An Invitation
If something within you stirs at the sound of these words, pay attention. That stirring is the soul’s language.
You are not here to live someone else’s story. You are here to honour the myth that lives in you – and to live it with courage, creativity, and care.
Let imagination lead you. Let symbol accompany you. And trust that the story you are living… is sacred.
🔍 Explore the Alternative Archetypes If you’re drawn to these ideas, I invite you to visit the Alternative Archetypes page which is the portal into the whole project. These mythic figures are companions for the inner journey – reflecting back the deeper truths and patterns of your evolving self.
Thomas Moore’s A Religion of One’s Own invites us to rediscover spirituality as a personal, soulful practice beyond formal religion. Blending poetry, psychology, and sacred traditions, Moore offers a rich, contemplative guide for crafting a spiritual life rooted in ritual, beauty, and imagination. Ideal for seekers, creatives, and quiet rebels, this is a book that speaks to the sacredness of everyday living.
