Jump to the following paragraphs:

1. What are ideals?
2. A list of "ideal archetypes."
3. The purpose of ideals.
4. Techniques for managing our relationship with ideals.   

What are ideals? They are archetypes which are associated with "states"; in contrast, other archetypes are associated with "actions" (e.g., Birth, Games, Analysis, Service, etc.)

A list of "ideal archetypes." Beneath each archetype, there is a list of ways in which that archetype might express itself.

1. Beauty. The ideal of sensory state.
   • Aesthetics. Artistry. Attraction due to sensory pleasure. Evocation of pleasure.
2. Duty. The ideal of action.
   • Responsibility. Dharma. Intuition-based action.
3. Freedom. The ideal of movement.
   • "Movement" includes more than just physical activity; it also includes mental and emotional activity. Mobility. Opportunity. Choice.
4. Happiness. The ideal of emotional state.
   • Joy. Emotional pleasure.
5. Health. The ideal of function.
   • Physical health. A functioning machine (e.g., a car or computer).
6. Justice. The ideal of interaction.
   • Balance. Lawfulness. Fair exchange. Karma. Laws. Police. Punishment. Revenge.
7. Logic. The ideal of mental state.
   • Reasoning.
8. Maturity. The ideal of growth.
   • Completion. Resolution. Fulfillment. Fullness. Wholeness. Maturity is both a completion and a beginning; maturity is the end of youth.
9. Order. The ideal of relationship.
   • Hierarchy. Consistency.
10. Power. The ideal of capacity.
    • Potential.
11. Victory. The ideal of action.
    • Attainment. Success. Manifestation. Ability to succeed.
12. Virtue. The ideal of personality.
    • Morality. Integrity. Conformity to values.
13. Wealth: The ideal of material state. This is the abundance of any material possession, not just money. The wealth archetype does not pertain to numerical quantity of the possessions but instead to the ideal of abundance; if we have a billion dollars, but we believe that it this not a lot of money, we are not experiencing the archetype of wealth.
    • Money. Abundance. Ownership.

The purpose of ideals. They provide goals for which we can strive. However, ideals are unattainable by humans; they are complete only in the world of archetypes (i.e., the world of spirit). If we strive for ideals with the belief that we can attain them, we become perfectionistic (i.e., we believe that we can attain a perfect expression of an ideal); and when we realize our failure, we become shamed (i.e., we believe we are innately flawed).

Techniques for managing our relationship with ideals.  

1. Archetypal field-work.  
   • Self-talk. For example: "I strive for the fulfillment of ideals." "I accept myself when I attempt to fulfill ideals."
   • Directed imagination. For example, we can visualize ourselves being happy when we have performed well in our attempt to fulfill ideals.
   • Energy toning. We can develop the energy tones which are associated with each of the ideals.
   • The "as if" principle. We act as if we can attain ideals; i.e., we give our best effort (although even our best effort will never attain absolute perfection).
2. Intuition. We can use intuition to perceive the dynamics of the archetypal situations in which the "ideal archetypes" appear. As we understand these dynamics, we learn about the archetypes themselves.
3. We explore our values. Values are based on our relationship to ideals; for example, we might value the ideal of "beauty."
4. We develop self-acceptance, in contrast to perfectionism. We accept the fact that we will not become a perfect example of any ideal.
5. We eliminate shame. When we realize that ideals are unattainable, we do not interpret our inability to attain them as an indication that we are innately flawed.