Wauters' introduction informs the reader of how she defines archetypes, her journey of discovery, and how to work with archetypes. She is focused and assists the reader to move on to the topic she writes about. Her sections are clearly defined and lead naturally from one to the next. By using psychology, energy, and archetypes, Wauters leads the reader easily to understanding how the archetypes and chakras can be used in conjunction.
The first step is in linking myths and archetypes, particular at how they play out in our culture and society. Instead of just using ancient lore, Wauters brings the archetypes and myths right in to the 21st century by linking them into the movies and television shows; she links both the light and dark side of humanity very like the yin yang symbol. From there the reader is shown how the archetypes and chakras relate. “Energy follows thought (pg 20).” In this section, Wauters discusses how our attitudes towards ourselves and life can affect our behavior, chakras, and archetypes. She touches briefly on how attitude can either heal or harm the individual and briefly describes each chakra and lists off the dysfunctional and functional archetype which coordinates with the chakra. This gives the reader a quick reference for the chakras and their meanings and the correlating archetypes.
However, where most beginners’ books would stop here, Wauters takes her topic further and helps the reader understand what the chakras are supposed to do and how the energy is supposed to flow through each to give the reader the energy to live a true spiritual life. For each chakra she shows a positive and negative archetype, using case histories of each archetype and giving solid examples of how the archetype can affect an individual’s life. She offers affirmations, meditations and exercises to assist in fine tuning the chakra towards spiritual enlightenment; she assists the reader in identifying patterns in life using the tools she provides. Her meditations allow the reader to safely face situation and experiences which may have been unpleasant and also assist in releasing any negative remnants left from these experiences. I found the exercises offer great tools for journaling and acknowledging feelings which may have previously been buried. The case studies illustrate real life cause and effect of the archetype and chakra issues.
Given the ‘heaviness’ of the topic, Wauters nonetheless manages to offer a positive message to work in love and a wish for positive learning – it’s a positive message without getting sappy.
The book is well organized and easy to understand. The Reader is led through each step of the chakras and through the book. Her book follows a logical progression and her writing style is easy to understand and pleasant to read. She discusses her philosophy on spiritual awakening through these archetypes and how it is an internal process which will allow the individual to feel a connection with the universe and higher powers. This is a wonderful second step for the reader to a broader understanding of chakras.
~review by Eileen Troemel
Author: Ambika Wauters
The Crossing Press, 1997
pp. 162, $11.53