Talking Circle: The Warrior Archetype

📍 Pyle Adult Recreation Center – Tempe, AZ

🗓️ Wednesday, Aug. 12 | 6:00–7:30 PM

Inspired by Carol S. Pearson's The Hero Within, the Hero's Journey, Jungian archetypal psychology, Indigenous wisdom traditions, and shadow work, Archetypes of Healing is a Medicine Way Talking Circle series exploring the universal patterns that shape our healing, relationships, and personal growth. Together, we'll discover how each archetype offers both gifts and challenges, inviting us toward greater awareness, resilience, and Hózhó.

The The Caregiver (Altruist) reminds us of our innate capacity to nurture, serve, and care for others with compassion and generosity. At its healthiest, this archetype strengthens community, deepens connection, and reflects the Indigenous principle of reciprocity—the understanding that healing is both given and received. Yet every gift has its shadow. When the Caregiver becomes wounded, compassion can quietly shift into self-sacrifice, people-pleasing, burnout, or the belief that our worth is measured by how much we do for others.

Together, we'll explore how healthy caregiving begins not with self-denial, but with self-awareness, healthy boundaries, and the courage to receive care ourselves. Through the lens of archetypal psychology, shadow work, and non-ordinary states of consciousness, we'll reflect on how authentic service grows from a place of wholeness rather than depletion.

• Compassion, empathy, and generosity
• Meaningful service and contribution
• Reciprocity and community care
• Nurturing healthy relationships
• Living with purpose through caring for others

• People-pleasing and self-sacrifice
• Burnout and compassion fatigue
• Difficulty receiving help
• Resentment from over-giving
• Believing our worth depends on helping others

Together, we'll reflect on how the Caregiver appears in our families, friendships, work, and communities while exploring practical ways to cultivate healthy boundaries, embrace reciprocity, receive support with grace, and serve others without losing ourselves in the process.

Donation-based. All are welcome.

Join us as we continue the Hero's Journey together—one conversation, one archetype, and one step toward Hózhó.