Lwa and Archetypes

What is Ego

So for us, the Ego is everything that you cultivated from the time you were born till your current age. We are not afraid of the ego, we love the ego, and we embrace the ego to do whatever it is meant to do, which is to be a safety check. Your Ego is your checks and balances. It lets you know when something is in an alignment with society, with your beliefs and your patterns. Now, there is a limit to how you can healthily allow your ego to dominate your beliefs. And so for us, spiritual workers, we are not afraid of the ego, we like to embrace the ego, but we also need to go beyond the ego and that is where spiritual work comes in. You have yourself, you have your personality, you have your identity, and for us, you also have your guides, your spirits, the forces that be, that have existed prior to your current incarnation and they will exist after. So who you are is a little part of the important essence, that is incorporated into many parts of yourself.

When we are working with other spiritual beliefs and paths, a lot of times people try to suppress the ego, or dismantle the ego, but that’s not possible. The ego is strong. We like to think of it as a seed, something that is very strong and it is used to cultivate greater gifts.

Carl Yung and Archetypes

When you talk about the many many parts, it reminds me of Carl Jung, he talked about types or archetypes let’s say. How is that related to this tradition?

I love Carl Yung and his philosophy. I love how he relates to the archetypes. However, in our work, mysterios, our spirits, our saints,the lwa,, are not archetypical they are not archetypes. Archetype is something that is a representation of something greater than the self, greater than the ego. The archetype is something that dominates the ego. It’s something that’s broader and bigger.