What is an Archetype? The idea of the archetype originated with the great philosopher Plato and is at the core of the influential Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s analysis of human behavior. Simply put, an archetype is a pattern of behaviors that, once discovered, helps you better understand yourself and others. Archetypes are the blueprints of your soul. You are born with them, or a combination of them, and this combination can change according to the time of day or time in your life. Archetypes cut across factors such as age, race, religion, gender, education, and profession. Individual archetypes are often grouped into archetypal families. On our site you will meet these families, which include Caregiver, Creative, Intellectual, Visionary, Royal, Athlete, Spiritual, Tastemaker, Advocate, Rebel, Explorer, and Performer.What’s in it for me? Once you know your archetypes, the world becomes much easier to navigate. Based on your archetypes, you can make more inspired choices about everything from relationships to excelling at work to choosing a piece of clothing. Through the prism of those archetypes, the world is clearer. You can live a truly empowered life knowing which doors you should walk through and which are best left unopened. Knowing your archetypes gives you the vocabulary to help you understand yourself and others better.