My 2025 Big 4 Archetypes: A Guide to Archetype Embodiment

"what would [INSERT YOUR ARCHETYPE HERE] do?"

Hi! Just a reminder that the doors close to the North Node today at midnight — if you want to join us you can learn more here. We talk allllll about archetype embodiment in the North Node, too!

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I'm standing in my kitchen at 1 AM on January 2nd, slapping and folding what I know is an overproofed blob of dough. Is this how I wanted to start 2025, with a late night kitchen failure? No, not particularly.

Even though I’ve been on the gluten train for a long time — hundreds of loaves have been baked in my dutch oven, some more successfully than others — I still occasionally absolutely blow it while trying to whip up a casj loaf of sourdough.

Which is what’s happening right now, and due to the lateness of the hour I’m thisclose to crashing out and microwaving my starter to death out of frustration. Instead of committing culture-icide, I mutter to myself, "What would M.F.K. Fisher do?”

Not talking to myself because I'm having an MB (though the neighbors might disagree), but because I've discovered the secret to navigating life's chaos: when in doubt pretend to be other, more competent people.

Let me back up.

For years, I tried to be One Coherent Person™. You know the type — someone who can explain their "personal brand" in less than 30 seconds without breaking into stress hives. Someone who has A Style, A Personality, An Aesthetic.

But here's the thing: trying to be just one person is like trying to convince yourself that you only need one pair of shoes. Sure, you could wear Asics Gel-Kayanos to both a wedding and a gym class, but … should you? 🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️

That's when it hit me (somewhere between sourdough attempts #4 and #5): what if instead of trying to be One Perfect Person, I could be a carefully curated collection of fascinating weirdos to embody? What if — stay with me here — personality isn't something you find but something you build, like a really excellent playlist or a questionably legal cheese aging operation in your basement?

Remember in ancient Greece, how they'd pray to different gods for different occasions? Need to win a battle? Athena's your girl. Looking for love? Ring up Aphrodite. Having a weird Tuesday? Dionysus has entered the chat. They understood something we've forgotten: you don't need to be everything at once. You just need to know which aspect of yourself to summon for the task at hand. That’s what I do when I practice archetype embodiment.

Here's the thing about archetypes: They're not costume changes, they're cheat codes. This isn't about pretending to be someone else — it's about recognizing that you contain multitudes (Walt Whitman cooked with that, fr fr). It's about understanding that somewhere in your psychological DNA, you've got the coding for every type of person you might need to be.

Want to channel the energy of someone who could definitely kill you but chooses to teach you pottery instead? That archetype's in there. Need to embody a person who can make a five-course dinner while explaining quantum physics? You've got that, too.

Think of it like this: You're not a single-player game, you're an entire character selection screen. And just like how nobody questions Mario's ability to suddenly become Metal Mario or Cat Mario (the 80s were a fever dream), you too can transform into whatever version of yourself the situation demands.

This, my friends, is where archetype embodiment comes in. Not in that dusty Jungian way (though Carl, baby, you were onto something with your collective unconscious business), but in the "what if I could actually be all the cool people I want to be at once while still being 100% myself?" way. Think of it as personality mixology — you're not just picking one flavor, you're crafting a signature cocktail of characteristics that makes people slap the bar and yell "I don't know what's in this, but I’ll take 17 more."

What Even Is Archetype Embodiment?

Imagine you're playing The Sims, except instead of making a virtual person do your bidding, you're giving yourself permission to access different aspects of your personality. It's like having a wardrobe full of different versions of yourself (very Narnia, very chic) that you can slip into depending on what the situation calls for.

The beauty of archetype embodiment is that you're not pretending to be someone else — you're accessing parts of yourself that already exist but might need a little encouragement to come out and play. According to Yung Jung and the like, we all contain infinite archetypes inside of ourselves. We have the capacity to embody any of these archetypes when we want to, for better or worse.

What stops us from playing archetype dress up? Our limited self-concept.

If I believe that I’m a Pig Pen-style messy person who walks through life with a cloud of debris following me around, I will find it challenging to troubleshoot cleaning up my kitchen.

But if I can bench my messy archetype for a sec and allow my inner Container Store organizer to shine, I suddenly start to see what I need to do to make sure my kitchen looks spotless. I literally think to myself, “What would a naturally tidy and organized person do? How would they start cleaning this kitchen?”

And BOOM — I know exactly what to do.

It's the difference between cosplaying as Wonder Woman and recognizing that you already have the capacity to be a badass warrior princess who also works in middle management.

The Benefits of Archetype Embodiment

Confidence Expansion Pack